Only I Am A Reader

"The mission is done!"

Having confirmed that they had achieved what they needed to, Darion called off the attack with a scream as he launched an energy wave similar to the one Damon used at the start.

'A silencing wave?'

However, the effects of both waves didn't even come close to each other.

As soon as it passed by them, Rose's firestorm was instantly extinguished while Yulia's ice started to drip as if it had lost its coldness.

Even Kage who was under orders no longer traveled through shadows as he ran toward the fallen Craig on his legs!

'Interesting.'

Despite feeling it go through him, none of Leo's energies or abilities seemed to have been affected. Illisha's illusion was also unaffected, so it looked like Darion's Role wasn't all-silencing.

"No, this isn't nearly enough! You can't just shut me down like this!"

Rose was obviously not too happy to be asked to stop after finding such a great match. However…

"Rose, do you plan to take responsibility for defying the Boss' order?"

"I…"

A single blank stare from Darion, or rather the threat behind it, was all it took for her to close her mouth as a horrified expression momentarily covered her face.

Bang!

Flames exploded one more time, but Rose was now nowhere to be seen once the flame scattered into the air.

"Ah, stupid cub!"

On the other hand, the Werewolf didn't even bother making any noise. He simply headbutted Alex with everything he had before running away on all fours!

"Wait right there!"

Alex still tried to chase him after restoring his balance. However, he quickly gave up on the idea once he looked back at the two shivering behind him.

At the same time, Kage had now hugged the speechless Craig as they melted into the shadow on the ground. Leo could have stopped them, but…

'See you later, medusa.'

He only smiled nonchalantly as he looked at everything taking place. It wasn't like Leo wasn't about the details behind this sudden attack, but the Council's Roleplayers were unlikely to let him take the captive back with him for interrogation.

'I can't let you have him either.'

Although the World Reservation Council claimed to be philanthropists who did everything for the sake of peace and order, Leo wasn't sure what their true face under the mask was.

Since he was the one that incapacitated Craig, Leo couldn't leave him under someone else's mercy and wait for the information drip feed.

'They will let us know if they have the intention to do so anyway.'

Considering that such an attack had likely happened in other meetings around the globe, the chances of someone from the Council capturing one or two were very high.

If the Council was going to tell the newcomers the reason they were targeted after extracting that information, it didn't really matter if it was from Craig or someone else…

"Apologies for making you look bad, Damon. You did disable one of ours so let's say we are square, okay?"

Finally, Darion proudly smiled at Damon as if his face wasn't covered in bruises as he lifted his long staff high with both hands.

"In your dreams."

Damon wasn't as agitated as he was at the start now that he had given Darion a good beating. Their retreat had also lifted a huge weight from his back.

He was still trying to capture Darion to get rid of this annoying enemy once and for all. However…

"Well, whatever…"

Darion wasn't raising his long staff to attack, he was pole jumping!

"Goodbye, frenemy!"

Leaving Damon's close-combat radius and somehow landing on the Werewolf's back, the last two visible enemy Roleplayers quickly vanished into the distance.

Illisha even had to use her illusion to not let normal people notice them, the prospect of capturing any of the attackers was long gone…

"Is everyone alright?"

Considering how sudden the attack was, Damon was still relieved at ending the battles with no casualties on his side. Alex was in rough shape, but it wouldn't take him long to recover.

"We are okay."

"The little pipsqueaks are fine."

Just like his overall vibe, Alex was quite harsh with his words, but how he handled protecting two at once showed how much he truly cared.

'A tsundere bully?'

"I'm fine, it's the first time I had a battle this harsh in a while- Oh, no, forget what I just said."

Yulia walked over, unintentionally blurting something out that she shouldn't have. However, no one really seemed to notice.

Somewhere amid her battle with Rose, Yulia's ice mask had melted into nothingness. When everyone turned to the source of the voice they were mesmerized by the snow-white face that perfectly matched the dress.

"...Beautiful."

Even the tsundere Alex couldn't help blurting out what he honestly thought!

"Oh, no!"

Yulia belatedly realized that she hadn't slipped up once but twice! It wasn't as bad as she had imagined it, but she checked a few things off her worry list…

'Oh, so she has experienced combat before?'

That being said, the only one that noticed her first slip-up was Leo. As one would expect from a protagonist candidate, Yulia only got more and more interesting as time went by.

"This young Swordsman isn't bad looking either."

Of course, Yulia wasn't the only one that had lost her mask. The Smiling Cat Mask had long disintegrated into sand particles, and Arthur's charming face also came into view.

"Good work out there."

Damon disregarded the exhausted Illisha's complement as he nodded at Leo. Even if his opponent matched him well, he was still the one to disarm their attacker the fastest.

"But why didn't you try to stop them?"

"I wasn't sure I could hold back if I did. You told us to hold back, right?"

Seeing the doubt in Damon's eyes, Leo spelled out the answer that he prepared in advance in a friendly tone. Aside from hiding his actual intention, it was also a good chance to check out the Council's stance on directed violence.

"...Right, you chose well. That aside, did you finally make up your mind?"

Now that the threat was handled, the last topic of the meeting was now back on the table.