Chapter 180: Witch of Batomata (5)

He had planned this from the very start. He knew that the witch wasn't an easy figure so he had to use elements of surprise to get the upper hand. 

The witch blinked.

The hand that was reaching out to her grabbed empty air and he felt a figure standing behind him.

Koshikawa had no expression of shock on his face. 'As expected, it won't be that simple.' He swung his hand to his back and the same thing happened.

By this time, everyone recovered from their shock and approached the witch from different directions. The witch was the closest to Asuka.

'I can do this…' Asuka took a deep breath. With everything she had, she tried to reach out to the witch.

*Swish*

The witch didn't even need to use her powers. With a single sidestep, she dodged the hand.

However, at this moment, she failed to notice that a man had arrived behind her.

It was the magician!

While everyone was busy approaching the witch, he was the only one who didn't take any immediate actions. He waited for the witch to let her guard down, then strike while the iron is hot.

Eventually, the witch noticed him and let out a mutter. "Impressive. However…"

His hand went through her body as if her body was transparent.

"... don't forget that I am an illusionary master." She softly said, before her transparent body faded into air and  appeared away from him.

The magician looked at her for a while, then raised both of his hands with a smile. "I give up." 

Stepping out of the circle, he looked at the teens. "Previously, I thought that she wouldn't use her illusionary techniques but it looks like would. Let alone three minutes, even if three days were given, we would still not be able to touch her. Don't believe me? Go ahead and try."

Imada and the others' faces fell.

Indeed. The power difference is wide and it's not something that can be covered with numbers and tricks. Now that the witch had shown that she would even use her illusionary skills if needed, the situation turned even more bleak.

"Come!" Imada shouted. Despite the odds, he still wanted to try his luck.

The others thought the same and joined him.

Just like that, three minutes passed by.

The result was something… everyone had expected.

The witch calmly sat back on her sofa and watched the teens on their knees out of exhaustion. She didn't immediately say anything. 

Imada, Koshikawa, Asuka, Aya, Koyami and Sakai looked at each other and saw the look of disappointment on everyone's faces. "Damn it." Clenching his fist, Imada muttered his breath. 

A while later, everyone got up and left the circle.

The magician shrugged but didn't pull a 'Told ya!' on them. 'It's better this way. If they were to give up before, they would be indignant.' 

"Let's go back. Six months will pass by in a breeze." To lighten the heavy atmosphere, he said.

Imada, Sakai, and Aya sighed. Koyami had his hands on his face. Asuka seemed to be on the verge of tears when imagining the living conditions of the island.

"Do you know of any easy jobs?" Koshikawa asked with a carefree smile.

The magician responded with a smile. "You can be my assistant."

"Haha! No, thanks. Being an assistant of a small-time street magician is a risky job."

The magician laughed, then turned to the others. "Should we leave? We are going to have a long journey ahead of us."

This sentence pulled the others out of their short-term depression. 

"Yes, it's better to leave right now." Imada declared, then turned back along with others and turned to leave.

Just then, the witch opened her mouth. "I have a proposition that you people might be interested in."

Imada and the others stopped.

"Is it going to be another game?" Koyami asked with an anxious face.

The witch calmly spoke. "Of course not."

Imada suppressed the delight in his heart and asked plainly. "Please tell us. If---"

The witch cut him off. "I don't know if the proposition is out of your bounds or not. All I want to know is are you interested in hearing it out?"

Imada didn't get offended and nodded after getting nods from his friends. "We can't promise anything."

"That works." The witch said in a nonchalant manner. "The sub-humans that you people had encountered came to this island as well."

"What!?" Koyami couldn't hold his calm and started panicking.

"They left the island as soon as they came." The witch continued. "However, within the short time period of their stay on this island, they attracted a beast tide. From my estimates, the beast tide will reach the local village on the island by next week. What I want you people to do is deal with the beast tide and secure the safety of the village. If you manage to do that, I'll send you people to Central."

"A beast tide!?" Sakai freaked out. "Imada, we shouldn't be staying here. Don't make a stupid decision. Even Mitsuhara-sensei who was a Silver-ranked Gruer User couldn't deal with a couple of beasts. It would be suicidal if we agree to this proposal."

Imada was not stupid. He turned around and saw that everyone had difficult faces, then made his decision. "I'm sorry---"

"What if I tell you that the beasts are way weaker than the Zonal Lions you encountered?" The witch interrupted him again and asked.

"Way weaker? How much weaker?" Imada had second thoughts about his decision. 'A beast tide normally consists of ten to thirty beasts. No, no, no. No matter from which angle I think, this is a risky deal.'

Sakai and the others also looked at the witch with an expectant face. Sure enough, the witch wouldn't give them an impossible task, right?

The witch didn't give a reply.

At this moment, the magician opened his mouth. "Answer me one thing. Are the beasts weaker than any of us?"

"Yes." The witch answered unhesitantly.

"Not a single beast can overpower any of us if we were to fight it one-on-one?"

"The possibility of that happening is low." The witch answered.

"Well." The magician turned back to Imada. "You should have gotten your answer, right?"

Imada felt pressured.

He didn't want to bear the responsibility in case a failure occurs because of his decision

Till now, he had never made a difficult decision. His decision was always followed by support from his friends. But right now, nobody spoke up in support of anything. The primary reason for this is that while there were gains, there is also a risk involved. 

This is the responsibility that a leader has to bear. 

Imada inhaled a mouthful of air and said, "I agree to the deal… but we can't promise anything. If there comes a situation where we have to prioritize our lives over the deal, we'll run away. Does it work? Also, I have a personal question."

"It works. I won't answer personal questions. Alanine, send them out." The witch got up from her sofa and walked away.

Alanine sent them out and the group started their journey back to the local village.