By the Tussock River, another battlefield.
"Crackle, crackle..."
The magnificent storm of lightning dwindled into a few thin bolts of electric serpents, causing no harm at all before fizzling out weakly. Seeing this, the three people present were all struck with astonishment at once.
Their expressions were all different.
"What the hell is Botis playing at?"
Dorian Gray, clutching a Beyonder item he hadn't had time to use, looked confused and lost.
"Teacher's item is so powerful..."
Fors marveled inwardly, "But then why does he look so shocked instead..."
"What happened? Did Dorian do this?"
On the opposite bank, Botis, the Saint of Secrets, wore a strange expression. "Could the Abraham family have some hidden method I don't know about..."
Three people, three different states of mind, and none of them understood what had actually happened in that instant.
The tense standoff lasted several seconds.
"..."
Botis thought it over, then spread open his palm.
"Shf!"
A brilliant, illusory light immediately gathered in his palm, proving that his strength as a Secret Spellcaster hadn't vanished.
Seeing this light, the unease in his eyes quickly faded, and the arrogance of a demigod returned to his face.
Whatever had just happened, as long as his strength remained intact, there was nothing to fear!
Botis took a step to the side and instantly flickered several meters to the right, then flickered again, and again... In the blink of an eye, he had traced a full circle around Dorian and Fors.
Each time he flickered, he seemed to leave a clone behind at his previous spot... no, it looked more like an illusory afterimage.
Botis was simply moving back and forth so fast that it appeared as though he had created many duplicates of himself!
Surrounded, Dorian and Fors watched as every one of these Botis figures began to move.
Illusory books reflected in the depths of their eyes; some unleashed dazzling storms of lightning, some gathered blazing white spears of light and hurled them, and some sprouted twin horns on their heads, their bodies wreathed in ghostly blue flames, spitting filthy curses from their mouths.
Different figures, different powers, yet all unleashed at the very same instant, every target aimed at the master and disciple standing at the center of the circle!
"Here it comes! This time it's really coming!"
Dorian tensed once more, gripping the small silver sword in his hand, about to set it off.
Then, he saw it:
The attacks that had been hurtling straight toward them suddenly changed course midway, as though some invisible hand were secretly controlling everything.
The direction of the attacks was forcibly twisted, their targets abruptly shifting from the center of the circle to its edge.
More precisely, toward each and every one of the Botis "clones" ringing the perimeter.
That's right, judging by the result, all these numerous and powerful Beyonder attacks... ended up landing squarely on Botis himself, the very one who had unleashed them.
Botis had struck Botis!
The Saint of Secrets himself had never anticipated anything so bizarre.
Having just unleashed his power a moment before with no guard up at all, he suddenly saw another version of himself's attack trace a strange path through the air, curving around Fors and the others at the center, and abruptly appear right in front of him!
"Boom!"
"Crack!"
Lightning, spears of light, flames... Along the circle formed by the many Botis figures, intense spiritual force surged and clashed.
Terrible destruction raged and spread, obliterating everything around it. Botis's figure was swallowed by the tremendous force of these attacks; he seemed to let out a faint scream, but it was drowned out by the roar of the explosions.
The shockwaves rippled on and on, gust after gust of powerful wind tugging at the hair and hems of the two people at the center. Yet they, who should have been caught in the blast, remained completely untouched.
Fors was stunned speechless.
She had to admit that even as a writer, her imagination fell short. She had never seen a scene as absurd as the one before her.
"Teacher, what on earth is going on?"
She couldn't help but ask Dorian.
Dorian was even more confused than she was. He raised the small silver sword in his hand, then lowered it again, seemingly unsure what to do.
He had clearly readied himself to make a sacrifice, yet never expected that Botis across from them would suddenly go berserk and start attacking himself.
"I..."
Just as he hesitated, about to speak, a fierce gust of wind suddenly surged up from across the way, sweeping away all the smoke and dust left by the explosions.
At the source of the gale, Botis's figure emerged.
"Huff, huff..."
He looked utterly disheveled, his body covered in wounds and blood.
Though none of it was fatal, he had clearly taken damage. Beneath his slightly curled brown hair, his bloodshot eyes were filled with both terror and fury.
"Who! Who is it!"
Botis's gaze swept around, searching.
No matter how foolish he was, by now he had to have realized something was wrong. It was as if someone hidden within the invisible void was secretly watching them, manipulating everything.
That being had stopped him from attacking Dorian and the other, and had even turned his own attack back upon himself.
And so, under the astonished gazes of Dorian and Fors, he warily searched his surroundings.
But clearly, he found nothing at all.
"Damn it..."
On Botis's face, fear gradually overtook his fury. He had already realized that this hidden being's strength clearly surpassed his own, and there was nothing at all he could do about it.
So, carrying both fury and killing intent, Botis shot a quick glance at Fors and Dorian, but made no further attempt to attack. Instead, he summoned an illusory door before himself and stepped through it.
Something was wrong. He meant to escape through "Travel."
"Shf!"
In the void, the translucent door shuddered once and swallowed his body whole.
Then, right on the same spot, a ripple flickered through the air, and Botis's figure reappeared.
"Thud, thud!"
As though unable to keep his footing, he stumbled forward several steps before stopping. Looking around, he saw the same familiar scene, and the same familiar Fors and Dorian.
The two of them stared back at him in bewilderment.
"How is this possible..."
The expression on Botis's face was a marvel to behold.
Had he actually... "Traveled" right back to the same spot?
That couldn't be right. He had clearly chosen a safe location far from here!
It had to be that being, changing his destination just as it had controlled the lightning and spears of light earlier... A look of panic and terror gradually spread across Botis's face.
"My lord!"
he called out loudly, "I bear you no ill will. I beg you to allow me to leave."
That powerful being hadn't simply crushed him outright. Perhaps there was still a chance to talk this through...
Soon, from within the void, a faint feminine voice rang out: "You are not permitted to leave. Wait here for me."
"Wait?"
Botis hesitated a moment, then asked, "May I ask, what am I waiting for?"
"Wait for someone to come and kill you shortly."
the voice said, without a trace of courtesy.