Chapter 404 - Illusionist Duo
"Theo, there are only four of them. We need to gamble here because if those guys appear again, we won't be able to do anything." Agata warned him with a serious expression.
"Hmm?" Xavier frowned and took a look at his back, finding ten people missing. "What?! Where are they?"
The others also began to glance back and were as shocked as him. It just showed how clean, smooth, and quick the assassins killed them. This was a real assassination. They didn't leave a sound and killed their target without anyone realizing it.
Theo, on the contrary, remembered what Agata's ability could do. He thought for a moment and nodded. "If it's only four of them, I can do it. Confuse them with your skill and support me by showing their location and illusion. I will handle the rest."
"Got it." Agata nodded and stopped, placing her hand on the ground. Pink smoke started rising from the ground, surrounding them.
"What?!" Xavier gritted his teeth and said, "Anyone can blow away this pink smoke?"
Before they could reply, Theo appeared in front of him, waving his spear.
Xavier gritted his teeth and raised his sword, blocking Theo's spear.
Clink.
A clicking sound echoed as Xavier released all his strength, planning to blow Theo away.
However, he soon got another pressure from above his head, pushing him down and making him bend his knees.
"What is this?" Xavier widened his eyes and said, "I'm losing in strength? I'm losing to a mere new Hero Rank brat?"
In terms of strength, Xavier took pride in being the strongest, second only to Alea. That was why he couldn't accept this loss.
Suddenly, he sensed another presence on his back and dropped to his knees. This allowed him to gain enough distance from Theo's spear and use it to block this incoming presence.
It turned out another Theo appeared behind him.
He stopped both Theo's spears without a problem while shouting, "I'm here, fighting two of them. He and his clone are here!"
The other three picked that call and quickly located their leader, heading straight to him.
Wanting to stop them, one Theo pulled back and disappeared within the smoke.
"Wait. One of them is aiming at you guys. Use your Awareness!"
Clink.
The clicking sound echoed in everyone's ears as they thought Theo went to them.
They had yet to realize Theo had been incorporating his own illusion and clone to Agata's Illusion Smoke. This time, each of his teammates found Theo coming toward them and fighting them. The sound looked perfect, even though it was only another illusion from Theo. He produced that sound like how he produced blood illusion in the competition.
Theo really had fun manipulating their hearing and vision, stopping the other three in an instant.
Meanwhile, the one that stopped Xavier from moving retracted his spear and disappeared inside the smoke.
"I won't let you escape!" Xavier slashed the escaping Theo and sliced him into two. Theo's voice then echoed in everyone's mind and no one could pick up which direction the sound came from. "You won't be able to catch me in this smoke. And you are so pitiful that you have been fighting this way for a minute. I guess I expected too much from you all, so I will give you a handicap."
"Retract the smoke," Theo shouted.
Agata widened her eyes and doubted Theo's decision. However, Theo's order was absolute, so she decided to trust it.
The pink smoke soon disappeared, revealing everyone's position.
Agata was shocked when only one person died in this smoke despite Theo fighting them. She even assisted Theo with her illusion, so she couldn't understand why Theo only killed one person.
Still, the thing that shocked her the most was when Theo revealed himself in front of Xavier, sitting on top of his spear and yawning like nobody's business. It was like when he played a certain guy in the competition.
Theo facepalmed and shook his head helplessly. "Seriously… Come on. I'm sitting here and one of you already dies? Are you even the people who come after my life? Not very professional. No, should I say, you are too weak?"
Xavier gnashed his teeth as he couldn't handle such an insult. Theo had been playing with him this whole time.
Meanwhile, Agata soon realized Theo didn't lie but didn't tell the whole thing either. She muttered, 'He didn't say he's sitting there the whole time because he is not. He has been fighting them the whole time and no matter what, the distance between them is huge. That's why Theo can only kill one person within a minute.
'But why did he order me to retract my Illusion Smoke? He should kill a few more to gain an advantage. I can't comprehend his decision. Did I miss something? No, if his plans were so easy to figure out, we wouldn't have so much trouble during the competition. In fact, when his plan became too ridiculous, Theo was considered the most dangerous… Right… Right?' She truly doubted Theo's decision this time.
However, her answer soon came in the form of action.
Xavier charged forward with anger filling his heart. "You bastard. Die!"
Theo smiled and remembered a certain scene in his mind. It was when Fenrir used his Blink and momentum to kill him.
He couldn't help but mutter, "Momentum is great. Isn't that right?"
Theo extended his hand slowly as if trying to catch his sword.
Xavier didn't care about Theo's movement anymore and only thought about killing Theo.
"Theo!" Agata called his name out loud, panicked.
Theo smiled and reached Xavier's wrist, touching it gently. In that instant, Theo used his Blink and brought Xavier to the back of his comrade.
With that momentum, Xavier split his own comrade into two.
"What?!" Xavier and Agata dropped their jaws, not believing what they just saw.
Xavier's anger began to waver as he relaxed his grip for a split second, comprehending what happened first.
Theo smiled and used that chance to turn around, pull him up to the air, and slam him down while muttering, "Your skill doesn't really matter. What matters the most is how you use your skill, right… Fenrir?"
*****
Author's Note: We are back to our usual schedule.