"Do you really plan to fight me with just this?" Zet asked, realizing their lack of threat implied that none of them was the real one.
Her eyes narrowed as she observed the puppets closely. She waited for any response but was met with silence instead.
So she took a step forward, her wings twitching slightly .
"Alright, I'll force you to show yourself, then," she declared.
Raising her hands, negative energy began to converge, mixing with the power of illusion to create a dark-purple aura around her palm.
CLICK! The sound of blades being unsheathed echoed .
After receiving their commands, the puppets launched into a full-scale attack.
The two puppets wielding wind elements unleashed their technique first.
With quick movements, their blades sliced through the air, instantly gathering wind around them..
As the tornadoes converged, they merged into a colossal vortex.
Its dark-red hue intensified, crackling with energy far more powerful than ordinary wind.
The massive tornado roared forward with ferocity, aiming directly at her, threatening to engulf her with its destructive force.
"Impressive. This might affect a weak Demon Lord, but you'll have to do better and be more creative than that," she giggled. Her words carried no arrogance; she was simply stating facts.
True to her words, she merely raised her hand and met the tornado head-on.
It roared, attempting to engulf her, but with minimal effort, she stopped its advance until it ultimately dissipated.
She made it look easy, not because she was stronger than Angela, but because unlike that angel, she wasn't inclined to go easy on her enemies without a valid reason.
"Now it's my turn," she declared.
Dark-purple energy hummed in her hands as she channeled her power.
Suddenly, the air grew heavy—not just metaphorically, but literally.
Her dense mist enveloped the area where the puppets where standing, exerting a physical pressure that weighed down on them.
The next moment, they started to crack one by one, with bones chipping away as the pressure intensified.
The skill she was using allowed her to manipulate the mass of her mist using negative energy. It was a simple but functional ability against those below the Demon Rank Status.
As the puppets weakened and their movements slowed down, Zet saw her opportunity, and increased her power output further.
With a decisive motion, she unleashed a final surge of energy, aiming to crush their remaining resistance and secure victory in the most efficient manner possible.
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
The five puppets were forced to kneel on the ground, struggling to move under the oppressive weight.
Even so, she could tell that the dark red streak of lightning that passed through her before was much faster than her maximum speed.
But she had no choice but to give chase, or risk losing track of it altogether.
With her no longer in the vicinity of the mountain, the effect of her domain quickly vanished, and everything returned to normal.
After a couple of minutes, another flapping sound echoed, but it wasn't from her.
Instead, it came from another demon who was now smiling from ear to ear due to his successful maneuver.
"Got you," Reign chuckled to himself, his chest swelling with pride over his achievement.
He had fooled her twice in a row.
First, he created a projectile shaped like a missile and shot it towards her.
Then, he recalled his summon and stopped his attack, to make her believe that the last attack was his real body.
It was just a plan that he had tried, and even if she wasn't fooled by it, he still had other plans stored.
Fortunately, luck was with him because she actually chased after it.
He went to all this trouble to ensure he wouldn't be ambushed.
Considering that if she chased down the decoy, there was a very high chance her allies would also follow suit if she really had one.
And even if not all of them followed, he would still be able to escape much easier now that their forces were divided.
'Time to leave I'm sure she will be furious after catching up to my decoy,' he smirked, flying off in the opposite direction.
As he soared through the air, he made a mental note to find ways to counter tricky abilities like illusions.
This experience had shown him how large this world was and the necessity of being prepared to handle anything to survive.
All his thoughts about wanting to fight stronger opponents went down the drain.
It was only fun to face strong opponents when he could dominate them one-sidedly.
Being on the receiving end was not a good experience, and he learned that firsthand today.
'Next time we meet, you'll regret not killing me today,' he muttered to himself
***
A distance away from the mountain
"I..." Zet was speechless after she landed and saw the decoy crashed on the ground.
She didn't have to be a genius to figure out what had happened.
Zet, who held the title of Demon of Tricks and Illusions, was not only fooled once, but twice.
"I..."
"I..."
"I think I'm in love!!!" she blurted out, blushing at the thought of how clever her opponent was.