"To discern my ability with a single glance, it seems you've also read the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia!"
"That's right, I'm a Clone Human who ate the Paramecia-type Clone-Clone Fruit!"
"Every one of my clones is both me and my clone. Unless all of me are killed!"
"One of me can't beat you, but what about five of me?"
"Or rather, if three of me surround you, and the other two go to kill the two behind you, can you stop us?"
The five Sirens smiled, each speaking a sentence, their tones identical. The crucial point was that despite their exquisite, beautiful loli faces, they spoke with coarse male voices, making it both bizarre and terrifying.
The onlookers, Duke Attawa and Countess Shanna, swallowed hard in fear, cold sweat beading on them. The former, especially, was almost paralyzed on the ground after a series of frights tonight.
"Stop trying to scare us with your tricks!"
Cross narrowed his eyes, carefully observing the five Sirens before him. He then sheathed Shusui at his waist and, with a swift lunge, actively charged forward to attack.
Seeing this, the five Sirens showed anger, shouting in unison, "You're asking to die!"
The three Sirens in the middle actively met Cross's charge, while the two on the left and right split off, heading towards Duke Attawa and Countess Shanna behind Cross.
"Scáthach, Brick Bats!"
Cross's expression remained unchanged. He merely snorted, and the shadow beneath his feet immediately materialized, rapidly splitting into numerous bat-shaped shadows. They flapped their wings, flitter-flutter, like a real swarm of bats, quickly spreading and flying in all directions.
"What is this?"
"Bats?!"
"No, it looks like shadows!"
"Damn it, these things are biting me!"
"..."
The five Sirens were besieged by a large number of shadow bats. Not only were they unable to continue attacking Cross and the two nobles, but they were also bitten by the shadow bats from time to time, screaming in pain.
Seizing this opportunity, Cross, like a ferocious tiger descending a mountain, went straight for the lone Siren on the right. His Shusui struck down without hesitation.
Boom—!
This Siren was startled, frantically rolling on the ground to awkwardly dodge Cross's slash. However, an invisible yet sharp blade wind shot out, instantly shearing off a section of a protruding rooftop in front.
"Damn it, how did you find out?" This Siren was both shocked and panicked, scrambling to get away from Cross's attack range.
"Your clones are very real, so real that even Observation Haki almost can't distinguish them!"
Cross pursued this Siren, attacking relentlessly. The Shusui in his hand was like a long spear or halberd, each move heavy and powerful, forcing the opponent to retreat steadily. He explained in a deep voice, "But you forgot one thing: Haki, this ability, was specially developed to counter Devil Fruit abilities. I can't distinguish your true body, but I can hear the size of a person's life force. After all, a clone is just a clone; it can't possess all the power of the true body. Otherwise, the strongest ability wouldn't be Whitebeard's Tremor-Tremor Fruit, but your Clone-Clone Fruit!"
Clang, clang, clang, clang... clang, clang, clang, clang...
The long blade and umbrella-sword clashed rapidly, sparks flying in the air and chaotic gusts of wind erupting.
"Damn it!" Siren gritted his teeth and growled softly, his delicate, smooth, and tender face flushed crimson, filled with shock and anger.
Although the clones he created only possessed one-third of his true body's strength, he had never encountered anyone who could distinguish his true body with a single glance. Even his sworn enemy, Ivankov, would have to destroy each clone one by one to slowly find his true body.
Most importantly, from Cross's words, he detected a weakness in his Clone-Clone Fruit ability, which made him unbearable, as he had never discovered it before.
Suddenly, Cross noticed a momentary distraction from the Siren in front of him. He immediately seized the opportunity. The Shusui in his hand lunged out like a venomous snake, then swept upwards, clang!—knocking the umbrella-sword from the opponent's hand onto the ground.
"Not good!"
Siren paled in alarm, watching wide-eyed as Cross twisted his wrist, the black blade, undeniably a renowned sword, slashing horizontally. In that instant, a Siren clone, covered in several shadow bats, appeared and crashed into the real Siren, allowing its own body to be bisected by Shusui.
"Troublesome ability!"
Cross looked displeased at the Siren clone vanishing like an illusion. He clenched his left hand into a fist and roared, "Scáthach, Black Box!"
The next second, all the shadow bats swarmed the remaining three Siren clones, then rapidly merged together, forming three black box-like cubes that trapped the three Siren clones inside.
"What kind of joke is this?!"
Siren's expression was horrified. He suddenly recognized the shadow beneath Cross's feet that was attacking his clones, stating almost incredulously, "This ability to manipulate shadows... isn't that the ability of the deceased Gecko Moria?!"
"Take your questions to hell!" Cross wasn't in the mood to answer Siren's questions and attacked Siren again.
"Damn it—"
Siren was startled, angered, and panicked. A bestial growl escaped his throat. His originally slender body, about 1.7 meters tall and considered delicate in this world, suddenly grew much larger. His height directly rose to about two meters, his graceful figure and slender limbs gained noticeable muscle definition, and even a prominent Adam's apple appeared on his throat, giving him a striking heroic aura.
If the previous Siren looked like a rather tall, somewhat frail loli, the current Siren had completely transformed into an agile female warrior, like a leopard, and with his exquisite, beautiful face, he resembled a legendary female elven warrior.
"Gulp"
Cross looked at the current Siren and couldn't help but be slightly stunned, his throat bobbing as he swallowed, even stopping his preparation to attack. Such a beautiful little brother... making a decision against ancestral traditions might not be unacceptable after all!
"Bah—!"
But the next second, Cross violently shook his head, as if trying to shake off the thought from his mind. He muttered to himself, "I don't want a big-breasted older sister, I want a little brother... bah, I want to duel with a man. Am I crazy?!"
Almost simultaneously, Siren, having completed his transformation, covered his head, growling like a beast, "I am... Randy Mathias!!!"
Boom—!
As his words fell, he stomped and shattered the castle rooftop beneath his feet. Like an arrow shot from a bowstring, he charged towards Cross. His slender right leg, clad in white lace stockings and resembling a female leopard's, suddenly kicked up like a steel whip, sweeping towards Cross's head.
Cross's expression changed slightly. Feeling the strong gust of wind, he immediately raised his arm, thwack!—blocking the opponent's whip kick. But the heavy force vibrated the air, creating a visible ripple of shockwaves that exploded outwards.
Even the castle rooftop beneath his feet couldn't withstand the impact and quickly cracked, forming a huge spiderweb-like pattern.
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