Chapter 244: Taking the Initiative

"It's time for the second round!" Sheira began the round with another announcement. "On the opposite side, our country has sent Enrica Herrero, Ignazio Guero, and Lavinia Pintor. After the first win, will they be able to carry the momentum?

"Or will Thersland snatch the momentum in this round?" Sheira paused for a moment. "Challenging them are Thersland Team's Theodore Griffith, Sihan Raskaka, and Ellen Marcines. This is an exciting match to see."

All of them appeared in the arena that had been restored to its former appearance. However, everyone took a special focus on Theo, who had gotten a haircut that turned him from above average to a handsome guy.

"Look!"

"That's right. He is better than the one I've seen on the news."

They began to discuss Theo's new appearance since it certainly piqued many people's interest, considering Theo was the center of Thersland.

Diego had positioned himself on top of the arena, observing their movement.

After confirming that the two were ready, he announced, "Start!"

"Let's start with this, shall we?" Theo smiled and summoned ten Magic Bullets as an opening, shooting it to the sky. He had measured the distance and the direction of the other gate, so he knew exactly where to aim. "Go."

Ten Magic Bullets flew to the sky and turned sharply to the ground, falling on top of Enrica and the others.

However, Enrica simply looked at them before raising her hand.

A translucent golden barrier appeared out of nowhere and received all Magic Bullets simultaneously.

"You guys need to go right now. I will be luring him here," said Enrica while smiling, feeling the power of the Magic Bullets. And there were only ten bullets, not forty. If all of them hit her at once, her barrier might not be able to block it completely. She didn't suspect him at all as she thought Theo used only ten because it was easier to control compared to forty with a blind aim like this.

Ignazio agreed with her and nodded to Lavinia as they began to move. They went around to avoid Theo's detection, so they needed to be fast since Enrica might go down within ten to fifteen minutes.

"Oh! After a ferocious welcome from Theodore, Ignazio and Lavinia are moving forward." Sheira's announcement became the signal for the battle. "Theodore Griffith has also made his move, advancing forward. His aim must be Enrica. Ignazio and Lavinia don't respond to Theodore's movement, so we can safely assume that they're aiming for Sihan and Ellen."

Theo made his way through the labyrinth, knowing Enrica hadn't moved from his position. To speed up the progress, Theo summoned his clone and used him to launch him to the top of the wall like Phyrill did.

He then moved forward and leaped to the sky, finding Enrica alone. "It seems I have made you wait."

"Not at all. You can take your time…" Enrica smiled.

Theo summoned all forty Magic Bullets and rained them down to hit Enrica.

Enrica furrowed her eyebrows and summoned the same golden barrier, but she didn't expect anything from it. After all, she seemed to have seen the real power behind those Magic Bullets.

She quickly clasped her hands together as if she wanted to pray. "Protection."

Another golden barrier in the form of a half-sphere appeared as Theo's Magic Bullets suddenly turned to the side as if it knew the barrier would stop them again before returning to its original target, Enrica.

Boom.

Forty Magic Bullets hit the barrier in succession as Enrica could feel the pressure coming from all these bullets. She had yet to realize that the pressure was actually generated by Theo's Illusion Manipulation skill.

After enduring that relentless onslaught, Enrica smiled and faced Theo. "What a powerful skill…"

"I should be the one saying something here." Theo shook his head helplessly as he landed on top of the wall in front of her.

As they were about to start, a loud "boom" echoed in everyone's ears as it certainly gathered all the attention.

"What is this?!" Sheira drew a gasp as she saw a huge Ice Boulder hitting the center of the arena, crushing all the stone walls they had prepared for this game. "Did they just destroy the center of the arena?"

Sheira soon saw Sihan and Ellen moving to the center as if they destroyed it to gain a bit of a clear area for both of them to work with. At the same time, it also became an invitation for Ignazio and Lavinia.

Sheira even announced it so everyone could hear. "Sihan and Ellen are making their way to the center, the area they have cleared just now!"

"!!!" Ignazio twitched his eyebrows and came to a halt. "As expected, this is not going smoothly."

"Ignazio?" Lavinia didn't understand why it became that way since they only needed to go after them.

"The fact that the battlefield is going to be at the center of the arena, Theo doesn't need a long time to reach us, compared from one side to the other. Even Enrica will be forced to move away and who knows if there will be a trap he has set before facing her. That guy is indeed different." Ignazio sighed in defeat.

"Then…"

Before she finished, Ignazio already had the plan in his mind. "Nevertheless, our strategy won't change just because of this. All we need to do is to watch out for a potential ambush, okay?"

"I understand." Lavinia nodded with a serious expression as they changed their direction, planning to attack Sihan and Ellen on their battlefield.

Although Enrica didn't know Theo's intention, she noticed that move certainly made a big difference. She tried to poke him a little bit. "Why don't you destroy the stone wall over there first to make a spear for you? I can wait."

"No, I don't need them. I only want to ask you one big question."

"Ho? I shall answer it like a long essay…"

"Can you heal your own body?"

"!!!"

Theo had two intentions in that question. First, he wanted to know whether he would fight her like fighting Aisha, the immortal. Second, it was just a simple distraction.

He used his Blink to transfer him behind Enrica as he gathered all his strength into one punch. "Because I am not a person who cares about gender in a fight."

Bam.