Bloodish Eyes was quite scared to interrupt their argument, but for a while now, he was watching Felix advance towards them bit by bit.
At the start, it wasn’t obvious since Felix was far away from them, but as he got closer and closer, he started to realize that before long, Felix would truly be up to their noses!
He was absolutely terrified of the mere idea of getting close to that monster. He was more scared of him than his allies.
Exhausted and distraught, Solar Mist opened up his hazy eyes slowly and tried to focus on the approaching Felix. However, his eyes were only feeding him blurry images. He was exhausted to the point he was leaning on the wall as a support to fall over. Forget about seeing, he was having difficulty keeping his eyes open.
No matter how many times he tried to see Felix, he failed. He was told by Spirit Visage that Felix survived his strongest technique and even recovered to his peak form again. He didn’t dare to believe him and till now, he still was on the fence.
He wanted to see with his own eyes if he was lied to or not. However, his exhaustion robbed him of such a basic wish.
Felix didn’t want to use the remaining 5% energy no matter what, just to no fall into this vulnerable state as he was. Falling in it was the same as a death sentence in the individual games.
Tired from trying, Solar Mist closed his eyes again after continuing to see the same blurriness. He decided to focus on listening to the chatter of Spirit Visage and Pure Muscle.
“What’s going on here? Didn’t you tell us that your domains overlap technique was impossible to break?”
After paying close attention, Pure Muscle also noticed the abnormal way Felix kept moving. He activated his dermal armor, preparing for a fight. He didn’t even wait for Spirit Visage’s response before doing so.
“No one can escape my technique. Unless they were an illusion element users.” Spirit Visage gave a side glance to Pure Muscle and ensured him, “I am certain that Mr. Landlord isn’t one.”
“So what’s your explanation on his movement?” Pure Muscle asked in utter contempt. He knew that Spirit Visage wasn’t going to answer him since it was clear that he was biased toward his own technique.
Even if Felix walked towards them, he would still question what he was seeing before believing it. This was what blind confidence seemed like. Pure Muscle certainly wasn’t going to entertain his overconfidence in his technique. Not again!
He trusted in his words before they met Felix. He told them that he would lay an illusion domain first that would block Felix from seeing them. However, that turned out to be complete bullshit. Felix stared right through their eyes and even named them each.
Wasn’t that enough proof that either Felix had ways to counter Spirit Visage’s illusions or in a more heartless manner, they weren’t even affecting him in the first place?
Pure Muscle was able to see this as clear as daylight. Not just him but probably even the spectators knew so as well. The only one who wasn’t seeing this, or probably didn’t want to, was Spirit Visage himself.
Who could blame him though?
If he dared entertained the idea for even a second, it would mean that his abilities were totally useless against Felix. In other words, his entire presence was useless!
At this moment when his life was tied to protecting Solar Mist, that was the last thing he wanted to think about.
So, he looked at Felix, who was about to reach the 50 meters marks, and called out loud, “illusion Prison!”
He was going to show them all that his illusion domain wasn’t broken now nor ever!
Abruptly, the invisible domain that was surrounding Felix began to shrink and shrink continuously until it was left with barely 10 meters radius from the previous 30 meters.
Then, out of nowhere, Invisible colorless swords, spears, arrows, and all kinds of weapons were created on the walls of the domain. Those weapons were pointing with their sharp tips at Felix, who never stopped rolling around akin to a monkey.
Pure Muscle and Bloodish Eyes were not able to see this attack. However, the same couldn’t be said for the spectators, as Zoe made sure to spotlight this invisible technique, making it appear in plain sight for everyone.
“Strike!!” Indifference, Spirit Visage brought down his hand from above akin to a general commanding his soldiers to fire.
Whoosh, Phew, Cluck…!
The sound of weapons splitting the air itself, and clashing against each other echoed in everyone’s ears, except the target himself, Felix!
He kept on rolling forward unbeknownst to him that an array of invisible weapons approaching him rapidly!
Just as Spirit Visage was going to give his trademark mild smile to Pure Muscle for doubting his words, he saw a bewildering sight.
A sight that shook his core and made him question his eyes. It wasn’t just him but all the spectators who saw it felt their blood boil in fervor and excitement.
Felix swerving and evading those weapons right and left with a blazing speed and reflexes inside his pitch-black aura, that he activated the moment those weapons were launched!
Even when he wasn’t able to dodge a weapon entirely, he made sure that his none vital parts were the ones being hit.
Bloodied wounds and scratches started to build upon his body, yet he didn’t slow down for even a split second. He merely kept focusing on dodging while simultaneously advancing forward step by step, trying to exit the domain!
“Almost there!”…”Keep moving!”
The spectators kept hallowing their cheers at the sight of him treading under the neverending salvo of weapons. The confident smile that was always on his face, made them feel like he could do anything.
If only they knew that Felix was currently having his eyes closed shut while listening to Asna’s voice guiding him through the salvo, their cheers would have made the stadium collapsed on itself!!!
That’s right! Felix was dodging purely by relying on his reflexes that he honed in his previous life, and on Asna’s calm voice.
He knew that she wouldn’t mess up and make him get struck in the face by an arrow or a spear. But, it was totally on him to respond immediately to her warnings and directions.
Of course, If those weapons weren’t being released periodically instead of all at once, he wouldn’t have been able to dodge them in the slightest even with her warnings.
Plus, his revitalization passive was healing his wounds automatically within an instant by absorbing the corruption aura. If it wasn’t for it, he would have fallen by now.
“Impossible, just impossible!” Spirit Visage finally started to show a hint of emotions in his eyes. His belief that his illusion domain was unbreakable was shattered the instant Felix started dodging. He knew that only himself was able to see his ultimate ability, illusion prison taking effect!
It was the one and only offensive ability he had in his pocket, and it never failed to deliver before. Every time he activated it on his previous targets, they ended up in a bloody mess. Yet now, it was countered by mere eyesight and reflexes.
One could only wonder what his reaction would be if he knew that Felix wasn’t relying at all on his eyesight at all!
“I guess it’s my turn.”
Although Pure Muscle neither was able to see the active Illusion Prison nor Felix due to his active black aura, he knew that the situation wasn’t pretty from Spirit Visage’s frozen expression.
In his eyes, For that creep whose expression always remained indifferent to appear as such, it only meant that it was on him to carry this battle forward.
“Exploding Boulder!” He shouted while spreading his arms to the limit.
Out of nowhere, the empty area between his arms started to show pieces of grey particles gathering in a swirling manner. The amount and the size of the pieces kept increasing larger and larger, building a rough spherical rock.
It was small at the start, having the same size as a soccer ball. However, the pieces of rocks kept attaching continuously to it until Pure Muscle’s spread hands were able to grip it from both sides.
BAM!
He lifted it and put it on his shoulder. The sound of his dermal armor colliding with it sent cold shivers in Bloodish Eyes’ back.
The sheer power needed to carry such a behemoth boulder was beyond him. He quickly moved to the side, giving Pure Muscle the space needed to make his move.
Pure Muscle took deep a breath while his fingers were dug deeply into the boulder, akin to having his fingers inside a bowling ball.
“Dodge this!” He sprinted forward to build momentum and yelled as he hurled the boulder in the air, “Diieee!!”
WHOOSH!
The boulder flew swiftly in direction of Felix, who just exited the illusion domain with the same confident smile on his lips. Immediately after seeing his assailants watching with held breaths, he put his hands in his pockets.
“What’s up?” He asked in a cocky manner.
Bloodish Eyes flinched at the way he was looking at him and subconsciously lifted his chin watching the boulder falling like a meteor.
‘What is he looking it?’ Confused, Felix lifted his head as well.
‘Dear god!”
Scared shitless by the sight of the boulder that was about to smash his cocky attitude away, Felix jumped to his left in an awkward manner, narrowly getting out of the strike zone.
BAM!
The boulder exploded immediately on contact with the floor, hurling the pieces it was made from everywhere.
“Ouch Ouch Ouch!!” Pained, Felix kept groaning each time a large piece struck his body. Although he was coiled around himself, protecting his head and other weaker areas, still the rocks hurt like hell.
He expected that he would be welcomed with a shower of disbelieving looks after surviving that death trap, yet it turned out the only shower he received was rugged rocks of all sizes hitting him mercilessly.
Thankfully, the bashing didn’t last for even a second before it stopped. Felix peeked with eyes first and saw that he was safe for now.
He snapped his finger with difficulty and the same black aura surrounded him, helping him heal up those blue and purple bruises in his flesh.
“YOU F*CKERS ARE DEAD!!!!”
Felix was truly royally pissed now. He never had a single break since the moment he was chased by them. He was getting tired and sick of their attempts at bringing him down. They kept attacking him to their heart content, now it was his turn to return the favor!
With a livid expression, he created two pitch-black bombs in his hands. Then, he hurled one in Bloodish Eyes’ direction and the other towards Solar Mist, who started to squirm in his place the instant he heard Felix’s damned voice.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
He tried to open his eyes at the sound of the bomb approaching him, but his eyelids felt as heavy as a mountain.
‘Spirit Visage save mee!!!’ Terrified, he yelled in his mind. The Queen made his begging heard loud and clean in Spirit Visage’s mind.
However, Spirit Visage still didn’t move from his place. He knew that his abilities were useless against Felix’s bombs. Especially his ethereal form. He couldn’t even use his body as a shield to protect Solar Mist.
“Well played Landlord.” He said while closing his eyes, preparing for his approaching death.
Just like he told Felix before, if he managed to attack Solar Mist within his illusion domain, then he could only say that. Felix went beyond his requirement and survived everything thrown at him.
He was proud enough to accept his defeat like a man.
As for Bloodish Eyes? The moment he saw the bomb approaching him, his feet stiffened not allowing him to move a single inch. He just kept staring at the pitch-black bomb getting larger and larger in his plain sight. He only had one thought, ‘I should have never raised my arm.’
This left only Pure Muscle with the ability to save Solar Mist.
But who are we kidding?
Pure Muscle’s delightful grin was about to reach his ears at the sight of the prick finally getting what he deserved.
Poof! Poof!
Everyone ignored Bloodish Eyes, who got smacked in the chest by the bomb, and focused on the bomb that exploded on top of Solar Mist’s head, covering his entire body in the pitch-black mist.
‘Noooo!!! Save me, lov..!’ He didn’t manage to scream for a split second before the mist penetrated every particle in his body, affecting him with 20 inducements all combined at once!
What he felt during that split second was beyond anything he experienced in his entire life. He literally died in an instant without the ability to even breathe his last words!
If his body wasn’t totally hidden inside the black mist, Pure Muscle wouldn’t have been grinning foolishly but escape as far as possible.
Meanwhile, the spectators, who were able to see everything as clear as crystal, felt chills coursing through their back at this sight.
Solar Mist’s body breaking into tiny black particles. Some drifted in the air unnoticed by Pure Muscle while the majority pilled up, creating a small pile of black ash.
The pitch-black mist slowly faded away, exposing two piles of ash to Pure Muscle.
Bloodish Eyes ended up with the same fate.
As for Spirit Visage? He faded away silently the moment Solar Mist died. He neither screamed nor spoke. He just faded with closed eyes and his trademark faint smile.
No one wept for him nor noticed him, as everyone’s attention was entrapped by the effect of the corruption inducement.
When the effect of ability was more interesting than the death of a hardcore player, this should speak volumes on the worth of the players’ lives in the eyes of the spectators. Though, Spirit Visage wasn’t as liked as Felix due to using the slave contract. They never forgot.
The moment Pure Muscle saw that pile of ash, his delighted grin stiffened on his face. His heartbeats started to rise gradually. He knew that his situation just took a sharp turn from what he envisioned.
He assumed before that Felix’s poison abilities had the least effect on him due to his dermal armor. The only inducement that was bothering him was corrosion inducement, but with his dermal armor, he had nothing to worry about. His body would be totally protected from the corrosion.
As for other inducements? He planned on holding his breath!
He was confident in his lung capacity to sustain him for even ten minutes. This meant, his survival was always guaranteed against Felix. Either win the fight or prolong it enough until the game ends.
But now, at the sight of what remained of Solar Mist. He wasn’t so sure anymore.
“You like playing with big balls huh?”
A sudden sarcastic voice, coming behind his back broke him out of his daze. He immediately held his breath while trying to roll away from the owner of that damned voice. However, his vision was completely blacked out, not allowing him to even see his armor.
He knew what happened and he felt his heart sink at the thought of being inside that sinister inducement.
“Uhm? Why is it not taking effect on you.” Felix asked while scratching his chin in wonder as he kept observing Pure Muscle’s grey armor get only slightly affected by corrosion.
‘Hehe, I was worrying for nothing I guess.’ Pure Muscle mused as he heard his question. He wasn’t a retard to open his mouth and answer him.
‘Time to leave. This bastard is the toughest nut I have ever met.’ Pure Muscle quickly turned around, deciding to give up on continuing the fight.
At this point, killing Felix or not wasn’t even worth it in his eyes. Though he was quite hurt about losing his points to him, he knew that it was merely a bet. Sometimes you win and most of the time you lose.
Unfortunately for him, Felix didn’t share the same thought process as him.
Quit? Heh, If Felix didn’t kill anything the breaths before the game end, he wouldn’t be deserving of having such a free potent energy.
“How about now? Brittle Inducement!” Felix said while snapping his finger, creating a grey bomb and exploding it on Pure Muscle’s chest.
A bit worried by hearing the sound, Pure Muscle kept looking around him, trying to notice any difference. However, the area was still pitch-black.
‘Was he trying to scare m…What the hell is going on?!’
Crack! Crack!
Agitated, Pure Muscle felt the armor that kept him protected and safe throughout all the games he had it on, started to break apart!
Before he could comprehend what was happening, the armor began crumbling into small pieces, then falling into the floor. His hairy chest was the first to be exposed inside the black mist. Following by his other body parts.
‘Nonononoo…n.o…n uhmg!’
A single particle of the black mist touching his chest was all it needed for the paralyzing inducement, motion sickness, senses disorientation, and the rest to do their wonders. Pure Muscle stood motionless without having a clear thought process.
He felt woozy, lightheaded, and nauseous. Yet, that was the least of his concerns as he started to lose feelings of his body parts due to numbness and tinglings.
20 inducements kept assaulting him all together making him experience everything at once.
Felix didn’t know why his corruption inducement was taking longer than usual, but if Pure Muscle could speak, he would have cursed his two passives *Intermediate Hardened skin*, and *Muscle Armor* for delaying his doom.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have even a single clear thought coursing through his mind. If his mind wasn’t affected, he would have at least tried to activate his other ability.
Too bad, Felix mixed three mind-affecting inducements in his corruption poison just to block others from using their abilities.
He created this inducement to be a sure kill ability! The moment it touched someone or took a whiff, his life would be in the grip reaper’s bony hands.
No one could escape it, No One!!
