n

n

nWhile fighting Hontar, Laust thought about Theo, especially how he tried to control the entire battle with his strategy. 'I'm sick of being controlled. You are just like my father, who won't acknowledge something in me. Don't think you can control me.'

nLaust snorted, charged forward, and swung his blade at Hontar.

nHontar only smiled and received his blow while saying,

"Oi, oi. You must be hated by the group since you are acting like an *sshole. Are you sure you can fit in a team? Or is it due to your defeat?

"

n

"Shut up!

" Laust shouted and pressed him with all his might, but this was just a trap devised by Hontar.

n

"Laust!

" Theo shouted to warn him about an incoming arrow.

nLaust instinctively shifted his vision to Makkal, who had drawn his bow.

nThe arrow was black as if it was made of metal, but they didn't know what kind of arrow he currently used, so Laust only prepared his Elemental Shield to block the arrow.

n

"Heavy Arrow.

" Makkal released his arrow as the arrow released an orange glow upon release.

n

"Elemental Shield!

" Laust summoned a translucent shield that blocked the arrow for a second. However, the arrow's force was far greater than he expected as the shield cracked and shattered right after. The arrow continued on its way.

n

"No!

" Laust shouted and threw himself to the back to avoid the arrow, albeit the arrow still grazed his chest.

nAt the same time, Hontar took this chance to get closer to Laust to get a clean strike at him.

nLaust could still parry that attack, but it surely left him in a disadvantageous position.

nThis was the time Theo made his appearance by going around Laust and appeared on his left, leaving the bear and ape behind. Obviously, they chased him, but they needed to watch out to avoid hitting Hontar.

nTheo summoned his Magic Bullet as if he planned to help Laust. This was a different kind of move since Theo would stop Hontar and allow Laust to make a counterattack.

nAnd Laust thought Theo had decided to support him instead of controlling him. He couldn't contain his smug smile as he said,

"Nice decision, you f*cking trash.

"

nHowever, Laust and Hontar suddenly shuddered when Theo hadn't released his Magic Bullet yet.

nHe simply stared at Laust with eyes wide open as if telling him,

"You want my help, don't you?

"

nLaust clenched his fists, wanting to shout,

"Just shoot it, you dumbass.

" But his pride made him swallow those words. This was what Ellen wanted when she whispered her plan to Theo.

nTo follow the scenario both of them created and due to their discord earlier, Theo shot the ape with his Magic Bullet and stopped it.

nTheo charged toward Hontar with his spear while finding the bear and the ape helping him. Hontar leaped backward since he thought it wasn't good to fight Theo when he was in an advantageous situation.

nThe bear struck the ground where Theo was, but the latter jumped to the air.

n

"You need to help each other or you won't be able to beat us…

" Leca smiled and asked the ape to hit Theo in this perfect position since he couldn't dodge in the air.

nHowever, a sense of danger appeared in Makkal's heart. As someone who observed the entire battlefield like Ellen, losing a certain figure would prove to be fatal.

n

"Wait, where is Theo's clone?

" Makkal widened his eyes, noticing he lost track of Theo's clone and trying to find him. He didn't forget to warn the one in front.

"Hontar. Be careful, Theo's clone is missing.

"

nUnfortunately, it was too late as the ape suddenly had ten lights piercing its body. It turned out Clone Theo was behind them and had been waiting for this moment.

nLosing the strength to protect itself, the ape died in one slash with Theo's Focused Charge.

n

"What?!

" Hontar sucked a cold breath when he realized what happened. He thought, 'Seriously? In order for Theo to position himself in the advantageous position and kill one of the summoned creatures, he turned Laust into bait from the start?'

nMakkal observed things differently and thought, 'No, he actually utilized the discord they have to make us focus on Laust. He kept making Laust shine brightly to use him at the very end.'

nEllen only smiled with her squinted eyes as, without anyone realizing it, she had turned to another personality. She was enjoying this scene very much.

nTheo landed on the ground softly and looked at Laust coldly.

n

"Huh?

" Laust obviously couldn't accept that he got used, but his brain still tried to process what just happened. Sweats covered his back and confusion filled his face.

nTheo snorted and said while releasing his killing intent.

"I don't care what you want to do. You can keep doing things like always… Just don't you drag us down.

"

n

"What did you say?!

" Laust clenched his teeth and couldn't accept his remark, but he didn't know why he felt scared of Theo for once and instinctively took a step back.

nEven Alea somehow turned her head as if something dangerous was going on. A helpless smile appeared on her face as she muttered,

"It seems there is someone pissing him off again… Like me. Theo is truly scary if he is trying to control you. Laust Lange, huh. You have woken up something you shouldn't.

"

nAlea remembered when Theo did this to her, she felt scared for the first time and couldn't think of anything. It felt like submission. As long as she did what Theo said, everything would probably be fine.

nThere was only one thing that could break the suppression. It was a trump card. She used her left hand to break free from his control and became his equal, but she didn't know whether Laust had something like that.

nEven Aisha and Phyrill, who had been paying attention to Theo and Laust during their whole fight, stopped for a second to witness what would happen.

nThey saw Theo saying one more thing to Laust to answer his question.

n

"I'm telling you to not get in my way.

" Theo raised his middle finger and cursed him with the word Laust called him earlier.

"Understand, you f*cking trash?

"

n