Chapter 421 (Patreon)

Suri watched the enormous skeletal bird hurtle toward them through the bright afternoon sky, its massive wings spread wide as loose bones rattled against one another while accelerating towards them. The creature was so large that its shadow briefly swallowed the girls beneath it, and for a moment Suri considered committing to the barrier they had already begun forming. But the longer she watched it approach, the more she understood the trap.

Even if they managed to stop it, the Muscle Team would already be on top of them by the time the barrier came down.

“Even if we can defend against that thing, those guys over there are going to swarm us,” Suri said, her eyes remaining fixed on the approaching skeleton. “It’ll overwhelm us right after. I’ll probably spend more than half of my mana just keeping the barrier intact, and worse, some of us could suffer from mana exhaustion.”

Yuri nodded reluctantly. “Indeed. This hurts my pride, but it’s better to avoid that thing. I doubt Roy even has the capability to control it properly.”

She had watched Roy earlier, and the sight had been almost enough to answer the question by itself. The [Necromancer] had veins standing out along his neck and forehead as he struggled to summon the enormous creature, and even after bringing it into existence, he seemed barely capable of influencing its movement. It looked less like Roy was controlling the Tavis Titan and more like he was desperately forcing it in the direction he wanted it to go.

Suri let out a quiet sigh.

“I don’t want to win like this,” she admitted. “But we don’t have much of a choice.”

She raised her staff, the tip glowing faintly as she prepared the next part of her plan. “This will still consume some of my mana, but it’s far better than trying to defend against that thing.”

Suri swept her staff toward the southern edge of the battlefield. “You may run toward the southern corner now. Isabelle, I want you positioned at the easternmost point. Keep your distance and target Roy. If they haven’t noticed you yet, move behind them and target their supports the moment the clash begins.”

The girls immediately began shifting into position. “Everyone else, avoid Boris. We’re saving him for last.”

Rin gave her an amused look. “You’re planning to make Boris suffer and save him for last?”

Suri shook her head, her expression suddenly serious. “No. We need our full force to bring him down.”

Joan Clark narrowed her eyes. “I know Boris is strong, but... he’s not Kana.”

For a moment, Suri said nothing.

Her eyes drifted upward toward the sky, following the enormous skeletal creature as it continued its descent. Yet her thoughts had already moved somewhere else, back to the countless battles she had heard about and the missions Boris had fought alongside Kana during the past few months.

She had seen Boris improve with every fight.

He was no longer simply the reckless spear user she remembered from their earlier matches. His movements had become more disciplined, his decisions faster, and his ability to endure pressure had grown considerably. Fighting beside Kana had clearly changed him, sharpening instincts that had once been buried beneath his chaotic fighting style.

The more Suri watched him, the more impressed she became.

Even Kana, of all people, had her doubts about fighting the lizardy version of Boris during nighttime. She could probably defeat him, but she would have to commit everything she had, and even then, Suri suspected the battle would be dangerously close.

And when it came to analyzing combatants and understanding what they were truly capable of, there was no one Suri trusted more than Kana.

Suri lowered her gaze “You’ll know later.”

She raised her voice. “Everyone! Regroup now!”

The girls moved at once. Their bodies shimmered.

For an instant, their outlines became distorted, as though the air itself had bent around them. Their colors shifted until they matched the battlefield around them, blending into the wood, dust, earth, and surrounding structures.

One by one, they slipped toward their assigned positions, their movements synchronized as though they had rehearsed the maneuver a hundred times.

Within seconds, the real girls had disappeared.

But the figures they left behind remained.

Illusions shaped like their bodies continued standing exactly where they had been, not moving at first, before beginning to move naturally. From a distance, there was no obvious difference between the false bodies and the real ones.

The Muscle Team would see them.

They would believe they were still there.

And that was exactly what Suri wanted.

The impact was far stronger than they had expected.

Suri felt a small wave of relief when she realized they had not taken the skeleton of Tavis Titan head-on. The place where it had crashed looked almost unrecognizable beneath the enormous cloud of dust, with cracks and broken pieces of the arena scattered across the ground. Dust still rolled across the battlefield in thick waves, swirling through the air as though a small tornado had touched down in the middle of the arena.

Suri glanced upward.

The sky was perfectly clear.

Her eyes narrowed. “Can that little guy remove my illusion in the air?”

She almost asked herself the question.

She wasn't certain whether Thorne could reach an illusion hovering that high, but there was only one way to find out. Suri quietly sent another small illusion into the sky, keeping it as inconspicuous as possible. From its perspective, she could see the Muscle Team moving through the dust and advancing toward the area where they believed Team Gorgeous had been hit.

Exactly as expected.

Suri shifted her attention to the left. Roy had fallen slightly behind the others. Her eyes immediately found Isabelle, who was almost in position. She had a clear line of sight to Roy.

Suri smiled. She changed the color of the tiny illusion floating in the sky, turning it into a small flickering dot that stood out against the clear blue background.

It was their signal. It only took a few heartbeats. A brilliant flash of green suddenly lit up through the dust.

Suri grinned. “We really have a good connection.”

It was almost identical to their previous fight. Suri would give Isabelle a small signal indicating where the target was, and Isabelle would understand immediately. They had never used the sky as their signaling point before, but apparently, that didn't matter.

Isabelle had never missed once. Not even when Suri gave her only a moment to react.

Suri glanced toward the direction of the flash. She might actually be better at archery than Kana. The thought almost made her smile.

As planned, Isabelle immediately moved deeper behind the Muscle Team's backline, disappearing from their immediate attention as she began searching for their supporters.

Everything was going according to plan.

Or at least, it had been.

Suri hadn't expected Boris to notice the illusion scout hovering in the sky.

She watched from a distance as the Muscle Team suddenly changed formation. Instead of continuing their reckless advance, they regrouped into a much tighter formation, with their stronger fighters positioning themselves around the more vulnerable members.

Suri's expression changed.

They had adapted. And as the dust finally began to settle, the battlefield came into view.

Rin suddenly emerged from the haze and slammed her shield into Leo, pinning him in place.

The two tanks immediately became locked against each other. Neither could inflict any meaningful damage on the other while they remained engaged like that, but that was never the point. Rin had successfully removed Leo from the immediate battle.

Behind her, Joan Clarke lunged forward.

Her target was Andel. The two collided almost immediately, and Suri's eyes widened when Andel managed to withstand Joan's attack instead of being pushed aside.

She had expected Joan to overwhelm him.

She was wrong.

Andel had improved far more than she expected. His movements were sharper, his footing more stable, and his lance like spear had become considerably more refined. Joan pressed harder, but Andel continued to meet her attack after attack, refusing to give her the opening she needed.

“Seriously?” Suri muttered.

Adam suddenly moved toward them.

The enormous fighter was already raising his axe, clearly intending to back up Andel and overwhelm Joan before she could break through.

But before he could reach them, a skill struck him.

Serene. One of their long-range attackers had already identified the threat.

A debuff settled over Adam, weighing down his movements and slowing his advance just enough to prevent him from immediately joining the fight.

Suri watched the battlefield carefully.

One fight.

Two fights.

Their formation was holding. But something bothered her.

She searched through the gaps between the fighters and finally spotted Boris.

He wasn't attacking. He was guarding their supporters.

Suri clicked her tongue. “Of course.”

Boris had understood what she was trying to do. He wasn't chasing the strongest fighters. He wasn't recklessly charging into the middle of their formation.

He was protecting the people Suri needed to reach. 

How did he read my mind? The thought crossed her mind before she immediately dismissed it.

Of course not. But somehow, he was making the right decisions anyway.

Suri tightened her grip around her staff.

That was becoming a problem. If Isabelle could reach their backline, their supporters would begin falling one after another, and the Muscle Team's ability to maintain their formation would collapse. But Boris had positioned himself exactly where he needed to be to prevent that from happening.

Suri couldn't afford to let the battle remain this way.

She needed to take down their scout. Somewhere in that battlefield, the Muscle Team's scout was moving unseen, probably using a skill similar to [Camouflage]. If Suri could locate him and take him out, she could deny Boris the information he needed and turn their own confusion against them.

Her eyes swept across the battlefield.

Nothing. 

She searched again.

Still nothing.

The scout had disappeared completely.

Suri frowned. Then she noticed something else. One of their members was missing from the fight.

Probably the last member she needed to be cautious for. Her eyes squinted as her eyes rolled around the battlefield. “Where is Toby, anyway?”

Post note:

Yes. Boris with his SS is a bit OP. And a lowkey strategist I guess 😂

3rd chap of the week.

Hope you enjoy the chap! 🙂

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