Chapter 174 - Retreat

Although her aura isn't as powerful and scary as that expressionless woman, it is still enough to overwhelming Zack's aura. The reason behind it is simple; If it's the experience speaking, Sheila had way more experience in combat and killing in comparison to Zack. After all, she needs to kill monster after monster in the Trial Tower to become stronger. Sheila didn't realize it yet but, the more she kills monsters, the stronger her aura became. Even without the use of the Intimidation skill, her aura had long turned into something incredible. Because she keeps her aura mostly isolated while in disguise, no one can sense it. But the moment she decided to let it loose, that is when the people would start shitting in their pants.

With the sweats trickling down his forehead, Zack was surprised to see that there's another monster other than Ice Empress. 'This is bad. I only have this single-use sealing ball. Because I already used it on the Ice Empress, I don't have anything else with me. If she is as strong as that woman, whatever is in my pocket, is nowhere enough to defeat her! What should I do?' thought Zack while his eyes wandering around the restaurant, perhaps looking for a way for him to beat her. He needs to think up a plan ASAP as the longer he took the time, the stronger the pressure he felt from that masked guy. Even now, it's increasing at a frightening rate even though the culprit is just sitting calmly on his seat.

During the time he was observing his surroundings, Zack realized that only he was acting 'strange' as the other didn't look that much different to him. It's like he was the only affected by her aura while they didn't. Upon closer inspection, he was right. Normally, her aura is not as powerful as the one Zack felt right at this moment. Without the use of Intimidation skill, at most, they would get frightened by her aura which gives off an illusion of a fearsome being standing right behind her like a ghost. 

But this time is different. To make it easier to understand, everyone at a certain point would unlock a passive aura skill like a character in the game. And the skill type is actually AoE(Area of Effect). Now imagine this, if AoE skill is already strong as it is, what would happen if one can change it from AoE into a single target? The answer is obvious!

'Damn it! I'm just wasting my time like this. I will be at a disadvantage if I keep this on, that can't happen. I need to do something, anything works so long as I can escape from this pressure and when that happened, I'll have enough time to think of a plan to beat this guy.' If look can kill people, Sheila would have died multiple times with the way Zack is glaring at her. It was at this moment that his sight caught onto Mia seating right next to the suspicious masked guy. Suddenly, an idea crossed his mind.

'Though I'm not sure if it will work out, it's better than nothing.' With that thought in mind, Zack immediately sprang to action. With a swing of his hand, a blade of wind flew toward Sheila at a considerable speed. If it has been someone at Mia's level, they won't be able to dodge it in time from such a close range. 

Sheila responds back by calmly raising her hand toward the incoming attack and all of sudden, a strong gust of wind flew out of her hand, stopping the blade of wind from reaching her. Although her wind magic level is not as high as her fire magic, it is more than enough to stop the incoming blade of wind. Zack clicked his tongue in annoyance upon seeing how easily the guy blocks his attack. But that was within his expectation, without wasting time any further, he sent another blade of wind toward her. And within that split second, he quickly pulled an actual grenade out of his pocket before throwing it toward Mia.

"Hahaha! Now let's see if you can stop this!"

"Damn it! everyone, get down!"

Gerald immediately shouted to warn the others of the incoming explosive the moment he saw Zack pulling a grenade out of his pocket. Even though he knows that they won't be left unscathed once the grenade explodes and without a doubt, they will also get caught in the explosion, he still lay down on the ground after warning others. 

"So that is your plan, huh? Too bad, that won't work because I can just do this."

With her right hand stopping his magic attack the same way she did a moment ago, Sheila used her left hand with the telekinesis to 'grab' onto the grenade before 'throwing' it up toward the ceiling. If she didn't train most of the skill she finds useful, Sheila might only be able to save Mia by bringing her into the shadow. Technically, she can also bring the other into her shadow along with Mia but, she won't because they are not in her priority list. After all, she had been hiding in the shadow so that she can protect Mia, not them. Though she didn't mind acting as a hero once in a while, she didn't want it to distract her from the actual goal.

Plus, being a hero is not as nice as what most of the people claimed to be. In fact, being a villain seem much better and relatable. Rather than people causing trouble for them, they cause trouble for people instead. So if she had to choose between the two, she would go for a villain.

Right after she throws the grenade into the air, Sheila immediately taps on Mia's shoulder, bringing her into the shadow as a safety measure from the explosion. To be honest, she can just bring Mia to the Trial Tower but, since it is not the time yet, she wanted to have fun as much as possible before telling the latter about her real identity. Though Mia might get upset at her later for playing a joke on her, Sheila can just say it was all part of her plan, which is not exactly wrong either.

Once the smoke caused by the explosion had dispersed, Sheila immediately jumped out of her shadow following by Mia. Looking down at the people m.o.a.ning painfully on the floor, it seemed there are still people that get caught by the force from the explosion, despite having her thrown it up to the ceiling. Thankfully, the ceiling for this particular floor is very high, so they don't have to worry about the falling debris. However even if the grenade managed to hit the ceiling, Sheila believes it won't leave any scratch as this building is, after all, not a normal one, but one that was strengthened by mana. 

"See, I have told you, it won't work on me."

'Since he didn't use that poke-, I mean that strange-looking ball, that means it's a one-use item. That's good to know. I don't want to find myself sealed into endless darkness. Just not playing a game for a week already brought me to exhaustion both in mind and body, there's no way I can handle that despite having a strong will. Also, who knows whether it is possible for me to enter the trial Tower from inside that ball? There are so many uncertain that I would rather sit tight and let my curiosity die down instead.' thought Sheila.

"Damn it!"

Seeing him with an aggrieved look on his face put a smile on her face. Because she's wearing a half-face mask, Zack could clearly see her smiling at him.

"Oh right, you were saying that I can't escape from this room with you around, was it? I think you are under a huge misunderstanding. I didn't want to leave just yet because the situation seems fun to me, so I decided to stay put for a while and watch as the situation progress. I can take my leave anytime I wanted to, and you will never catch me with your meager trick."

"W-What?!"

"What I'm saying is, if you're going to rely on an item that will help you in conjuring a spell, you need to act better than that so that no one would take notice of it. Every time you swing your hand, why is your other hand in your pocket, I wonder?"

"W-What are you talking about? T-There's no way I have such a convenient item in my pocket!"

"Now then, as far as my information goes, a 'mage' required to chant to conjure a spell. Of course, there is an exception that doesn't need to chant to conjure a spell, I'm an example of that. But how about you? I have thought about it for a while now, and this is the conclusion I came up with. I'm not trying to be narcissist here but, I have a good memory, you know? I can still remember every single detail that happened before that woman got herself sealed into the strange-looking ball."

Sheila paused for a moment as her smile slowly turning into an evil grinned. Zack instinctive swallowed a mouthful of saliva upon seeing her grin. Just as he thought she's going to expose his secret card, she suddenly sighs and said.

"Well, it seems the time has come to an end. You're lucky, aren't you? Oh, before I left..."

Just as he was about to wonder what in the world is she talking about, the sealing ball seated on top of the table suddenly started hovering in the air before it flew toward Sheila.

"I'll be taking this with me. Now then, this is farewell, good bye~"

"W-Wait! That is!"

Sheila smiled at him one last time before she tapped Mia in the shoulders and then, both of them 'sank' into her shadow. Just as both of them had fully submerged into the shadow, a group of people in a strange getup suddenly make their entrance into the restaurant. Although most of the influential families were left confused by the sudden entrance of an unknown group of people, some of them do recognize the symbol on their cloak. Zack is one of the few people that recognized it—after all, he was the one instructed by them to take control of the branch.

'I was wondering why but, this must be it. He must have realized that he can't win against this group of people, and so, he ran away. So this is what he was talking about me when saying I was lucky, huh? Damn it. If I knew they were coming, I would have tried stopping her from retreating. Now I have to watch out for my neck every single day, sigh. Just my luck.' Zack heaved a helpless sigh upon coming to realization.