God of Tricksters

The entire team chased after Theo as they couldn't afford to let him go away with the stone.

"…" Theo glanced back while running. With the distance they had right now, it was clear that the enemies wouldn't be able to catch up before he reached the forest.

However, there was a question in his mind. Since the other party had an Order, they should know more about the four seals. He wondered why the Slaughter had yet to use his Death Seal.

If he marked him, he would be able to know his location as long as he was near him. There was no way Theo could escape easily after that. And this situation wasn't similar to when Theo met the Death Reaper or when the Frost Saint fought the Fist Saint.

He could understand why none of them placed their Death Seal.

'Ah, I almost forgot the fact that you could only sense that person within your territory. I guess he doesn't place his Covenant Seal in this place. There are more things I can learn about Orders.' Theo saw the incoming blood bat and formed a shield from the shadow, blocking the bat.

"Hurry up, chase after them!" The Slaughter continued to shout but to no avail.

Theo kept getting closer and closer to the forest before he suddenly waved his hand around as if trying to control the shadow of the grass. This way, the spikes would have killed a few unprepared Mythical Rank Experts.

In that instant, the Slaughter shouted, "No, stop! The shadow from the grass will—"

The instant he stopped, he realized Theo had tricked him because nothing happened. Theo took that opportunity to finally enter the forest where he could finally show his true might.

"Not good! Pursue them, but thread the forest carefully." The Slaughter commanded again, but this was a truly contradictory instruction. On the one hand, if they wanted to pursue them, they needed to use their full speed. On the other hand, they couldn't do it if they moved carefully.

This was a significant part of Theo's plan since he had shown enough to make these people scared.

The moment the enemies entered the forest, Theo waved his hands, using the Shadow King's ability to control the shadow of the trees, branches, and bushes.

Numerous spikes manifested around them.

"What?"

"Kh."

"Argh!"

The people were confused because they'd never seen these spikes coming. Some of them managed to block this attack, while some took the hits because they couldn't react fast enough.

"You shouldn't have killed the Conqueror. Well, he would have been perfect to be a Human Bulldozer in this place. Hahaha." Theo laughed out loud, mocking the Slaughter's decision.

However, the Slaughter couldn't say anything since he knew that the Conqueror could release his overwhelming might to the area, blowing these trees. As long as he moved together with them, the trees would have fallen down before Theo could utilize their shadow.

And now, he needed to pay for his choice.

"Blood Wave." The Slaughter shouted in frustration, sending forth the crescent-shaped blood to cut down the trees before him. Like him, the other Mythical Rank Experts could destroy a part of the forest with their power, but there was a problem.

The shadow spikes soon vanished into thin air, but Theo released his own black wave to destroy his blood wave, causing Theo to still be protected by the woods.

'So, this is his plan…' Rea thought. 'After showing how he could utilize the shadows, especially the big ones like coming from humans, he is making the people hesitate to pursue him. And even if they do, it won't be that easy.

'Still, there is one more question. Those foreigners… Why do they help the Slaughter? Who is the mastermind Theo is talking about?' Rea narrowed her eyes, wondering what was going on behind the scenes. 'There is no way the Slaughter will join forces with someone unknown.'

'Even the Conqueror was murdered by him. It meant this collaborator was someone as strong as him or even stronger. Can Theo fight both of them at the same time?'

Rea was worried that if Theo fought against these two powerful men, he would lose.

It seemed Felix was also aware of this situation and approached Theo. "What should we do now? I don't think we can escape this easily."

Theo glanced back and saw the Slaughter leading his group carefully. If he continued this way, Theo could easily run away from them after some time.

However, there was a potential threat coming from the one partnered with the Slaughter. He didn't know what kind of plan the other party had for him.

In his mind, specifically his eyes, he ran many simulations through multiple universes similar to this one. To his surprise, there wasn't a single time he was ambushed or had the indication of an ambush.

'What's going on?' Theo frowned. He had expected an ambush the moment the Slaughter joined hands with another party. So, he couldn't understand their current situation.

'Should I continue with the original plan or change our course?' This was the first time Theo couldn't see through the situation due to the unknown enemy. Unlike his enemies this far, he had no information about this one.

Since he didn't know what this person was aiming for, Theo had no idea what to do as well.

"Let's continue with our original plan for the time being." Theo ultimately decided that it was safer to stick to their original plan. He could change his plan if something happened anyway.

"Understood." Felix acknowledged the order.

However, they were soon shocked when 042 came to them, saying, "Excuse me. We have a situation here."

Theo saw her pointing at the back. He thought the Slaughter had caught up to him, but to their surprise, the Slaughter had disappeared from his Awareness.

He couldn't sense him anymore as if he had just disappeared. Luckily, Theo had gotten used to splitting his focus, so he knew that the Slaughter stopped the chase as if they'd given up.

"This is…" Theo narrowed his eyes, not knowing the reason why the Slaughter suddenly stopped.

"What is going on?" 042 asked, perplexed by the sudden turn of events.