บท 20: Chapter 20 : Victory?
His past life experience as a jungler in the game taught him a crucial lesson: always secure a profit before making an arrest. Without catching the jungle, you can't risk the odds. Otherwise, there's no gold to be gained!
"Ward!" Reed shouted.
Ward instinctively raised his hand and delivered a claw!
This kid's intuition was remarkable, saving him numerous times in critical moments.
Everit had already withdrawn from the attack range.
He shifted positions multiple times, disrupting Ward's five senses, rendering it impossible for the opponent to pursue him.
Glancing at Reed again, he smirked, "You've finally taken action. Seems it's a magnetic field related magic."
Both Gavin and Ward were fooled by him, now at his mercy.
It must have been Reed who weakened Everit, never openly taking any action.
Everit pondered over this before.
Reed was also influenced by deception magic, but how did he ignore those "deceptions" and maintain his lock on Everit's position?
The answer: magnetic fields!
Everything possesses a magnetic field.
The five senses can't "observe" weak magnetic fields.
But Reed likely possessed magic related to magnetic fields.
Enabling him to directly sense the magnetic field!
Therefore,
Even if continuously affected by Everit's magic, if he could observe or sense the magnetic field, then in his eyes, Everit was akin to a red dot on the radar, naturally nowhere to escape!
And Reed might have been manipulating the earth's magnetic field just now, thereby disrupting the natural magic around Everit and causing significant interference to his actions.
This was comprehensive suppression.
It was probably akin to being weak.
"!!!"
Reed froze upon hearing Everit's words, even forgetting to breathe for a moment!
He truly was the most powerful deception wizard in the world!
This foe was too cunning!
He acted just this once, and the other party saw through it!
If possible, he truly didn't want to confront such a powerful and cunning enemy!
But at this juncture, there was no turning back!
"."
Courage.
Hmm.
Admirable.
But there was more regret, worry, and fear.
Everit savored Reed's emotions.
He was like a chef seeing that the dish in the big pot was nearly done.
So, he picked up some chopsticks and tasted it.
After tasting, he poured in a bag of salt and a bottle of vinegar, finally cooking it over a high flame.
Rendering this dish unsightly and unappetizing.
The end result is...
Dump it.
"."
Reed clenched his fists. He didn't know why, but endless regret suddenly surged deep within his heart.
Why provoke such a formidable foe?
He's invincible!
Gavin is defeated!
Ward....!
Everit found himself slightly taken aback.
"Huh?"
Locked deep within Reed's heart was something undisclosed.
"Hoo ho ho -" Reed suddenly jolted awake, breathing heavily.
What just occurred?
He was suddenly engulfed by a wave of regret and despair so intense it nearly crushed him on the spot. He even contemplated taking his own life to escape the torment and impending demise!
Fortunately, thoughts of Ward and a flicker of hope pulled him back from the brink.
Reed couldn't decipher his tumultuous emotions, but now was not the time for introspection.
He forcibly quelled those thoughts!
Shouting loudly to redirect attention.
"He's merely using illusion magic! It won't alter the terrain! There's no real danger!"
"He's only skilled in those illusion magics!"
"Don't cower from any assaults!"
"Just heed my guidance and engage!"
Oh?
Simply follow your lead?
A smirk played across Everit's face.
"You deceitful swindler!" Gavin bellowed, heedless of his descent into the lava, charging straight at Everit.
He had been thoroughly duped by Evelit. He hadn't faced such a humiliating defeat since departing the factory!
Observing the frenzied Gavin, Everit's brow furrowed slightly.
This lunatic appears quite menacing.
As he contemplated, Gavin drew nearer.
"Seems you possess some measure of strength."
"But you are just a brute who toys with flames. Foolish, frail, and pitiable."
Everit sidestepped, brandishing the long sword, Haven, and spoke calmly.
"This, I bestow upon you - the conclusion of your existence."
Gavin was already barreling forward.
"Everit" stood still, seemingly unresponsive.
"On the right!"
"On the right!"
"Asshole! On the right!"
Reed's voice echoed until it was hoarse!
But this time, Gavin completely disregarded him and struck "Everit"!
'Pfft'
The sickening sound of flesh being torn.
Blood sprayed from the upper body to the lower, and from the lower to the upper.
Split in half.
'Plop'
Gavin collapsed to the ground, confusion clouding his mind.
Why?
How could this happen?
Why
Would Reed convince himself that he was the true enemy?
Why would he deceive himself?
"He can't hear it," Everit remarked, glancing at Reed.
With that said, Everit lowered his gaze to the garments and trousers before him, now drenched crimson blood.
Therefore,
If a problem can be solved with a gun, he'd never resort to a sword.
He's a bit of a germaphobe.
I truly detest the idea of the enemy's blood splattering on me.
But what choice did this man named Gavin leave me? His physical prowess withstood "explosion" and "virtual flash"; bullets couldn't even pierce his muscles.
Only Magic could harm him.
"Why?" Reed couldn't fathom it, "How did you do it?!"
His rational mind struggled to comprehend this turn of events.
Gavin died, inexplicably.
Despite Reed's loud warnings!
Why wouldn't he listen? !
No matter how enraged Gavin became, he still knew that only by heeding Reed could he strike at the enemy!
etc.
Where's Ward? !
Reed was suddenly jolted, his gaze locking onto Ward.
Ward dashed in the opposite direction, his fists swinging aimlessly through the air.
He realized he'd been manipulated without even a hint of awareness.
"Breathe... Just breathe..."
Reed gasped for air, shuddering as if thrust into a sub-zero wilderness. A bone-chilling cold gripped every inch of his body, from his limbs to his lips, then down his throat to his heart and lungs, leaving them quaking.
"Perhaps my illusion magic is exceptionally potent," Everit replied, a smirk dancing on his lips.
There was something about him.
Reed had guessed two out of four correctly.
One mistake lingered:
Reed still believed Everit's deception magic merely conjured illusions.
After all, it was the most obvious explanation.
This indicated Reed wasn't employing "sight" to observe him.
Everit remained unsure of Reed's method of observation.
Nor could he guarantee that if the other party could observe him, they wouldn't have a means to bypass the five senses and inform their allies.
A mage's battle mirrored a game of cards. You couldn't lay down four twos at the start. What if the opponent held two kings?
Gradual testing was the safer approach.
So.
He retained several trump cards.
Among them was the unexplored side of his deception magic.
Well, in truth, he'd been displaying it all along, but others consistently overlooked it.
Everit could fabricate "deceptive" scenarios visible and audible to everyone.
Either they bought into it and were duped.
But what about individuals like Reed, convinced they'd pierced the veil of magic?
Deception magic could distort people's senses and manipulate their emotions.
Everit could be seen and heard.
And he could render others unable to see or hear!
The magician's technique lay in leading the audience astray, capitalizing on their confidence to guide them into erroneous conclusions. The more assured they were, the easier they were to mislead, and when the riddle was unraveled, the performance peaked!
At that moment.
The audience was confounded, astounded.
The magician, exhilarated, and proud.
"See," Everit remarked with a grin, "it's all over."
****
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