"This…" Ellen furrowed her eyebrows, looking at Theo with a concerned expression. "Theo…"
She couldn't accept Theo's decision because it was a bit too harsh, she thought.
Phyrill also frowned, glancing at Theo's expression. "Theo. I know that Sihan just lost and probably accumulated some hatred. But… Do you think that emotion can let Sihan destroy our opponent?"
They couldn't help but remember what happened earlier.
Three minutes ago.
Theo stood up after sorting his thoughts and walked to Sihan. He looked him in the eyes with a cold expression. "Say, you are like trash in this competition."
"Oi, Theo." Phyrill raised his eyebrows, trying to stop Theo from picking a fight with Sihan, at least, until the competition was over.
Sihan suddenly stood up, glaring at him up close as if trying to intimidate him and telling him he was wrong.
Theo ignored everyone's concern and continued, "I don't care about your feelings. All I want is to win this competition, so I will give you another chance." Theo smirked and pointed at the door. "Wait until the time limit and go to the arena. You are going to redeem yourself in the third battle.
"If you can win this one, you can justify your name. However, if you cannot win and get completely trashed, your reputation is going to be worse. This is your last chance. Whether you accept it or not, it's your choice. I will only give you five seconds, choose!"
The moment Theo stopped, Sihan already walked past him, heading straight to the door without a single word.
"Theo, what was that?" Phyrill asked with a concerned expression. It was obvious that this battle would signify the death of Sihan's career because the opponent would send—!
As he thought about it, he remembered that Theo was not someone who did meaningless things.
He might lie or deceive you, but when Theo promised something, he would certainly fulfill it.
Still, he simply couldn't understand Theo's motive in this one.
"Theo… What are you planning to do?" Phyrill's expression was grim as his tone was hoarse.
Even the others tried to understand Theo's plan but to no avail.
Suddenly, Theo's finger was pointed at Alea.
Everyone was bewildered as they turned to her, wondering what Alea did to Theo.
"Ehm, sorry, what?" Alea tilted her head in confusion.
"This is something I devised in order to put her on the leash."
"Leash?" Ellen made a weird expression. "SM Play?"
Theo ignored Ellen's remark and continued, "This Buffon certainly has strength, but more importantly, she has those observant eyes. If I want to do something, she will certainly understand me."
"Buffon?" Alea's body shook.
"I'm sure that you will have a hard time fighting her, right?"
"Yes, obviously." Phyrill nodded in agreement.
"Then, what if you combine her and me?"
"That's certainly gonna be annoying!" Phyrill confirmed without hesitation.
"What are you going to do in that case?"
"This is the same as Clark. She noticed her injury and you were supposed to give your plan. If I were your enemy, I would fake…" Phyrill suddenly fell silent as his expression turned grave. "You show them what you want them to see?"
Theo nodded with a solemn expression. "I always asked myself this one particular question. 'What will my enemy do if I do this?' And that answer is narrowing their plans."
"Narrowing their plans?" Ellen tilted her head in confusion.
"Yes. For example, if the enemy has five plans for today's match, depending on how I move, I am narrowing it to two by a gesture of mine."
"Gesture…" Alea widened her eyes and asked, "Is that the reason you clicked your tongue and looked frustrated in the arena?"
Her answer came in the form of a smile as the others began to realize.
"Yeah. If you take another look at our opponent, they have been winning by using a strategy like mine. I assume it must be the only female in their group. I have searched for her origin and found a verse saying that Kitsune can do some trickery, so I am just trying to decrease the number of her options.
"It worked especially well when Masahiko stopped the match because I knew he is an observant one. Hence, I made him believe it was my plan to win the third and fourth battles, settling the match.
"He would rally the information to Shibuya Mami. With some trust among teammates, I'm sure she would take the bait.
"She would think like this, 'If the enemy wanted to end it quickly, I would just need to throw away the third battle and win the fourth and fifth battles.' However, it also means that Sihan will get his match in this battle while we are conserving our strength.
"If Sihan wins, I and Alea can close this match in the next battle. If he loses, the same applies, but with Laust, Phyrill, and Ellen as the backup. In other words, it's not them beating my strategy, it's me who let them think they have beaten my strategy." Theo made an evil smile as if he enjoyed the entire thing.
"You…" Phyrill pinched the bridge of his nose. "It seems my point still stands, you are scarier than our enemies."
"Let me see what I want to see…" Alea shuddered as she looked at Theo with a weird expression. "Ehm, I am happy that you are thinking about me that much, but are you seriously planning to use it on me?"
His answer was only a simple smile.
However, this was also the scariest answer she could receive. The fact Theo didn't answer her meant the possibility was high.
"Narrowing one's perspective, huh." Alea sighed and asked, "I didn't do anything bad to you, right? You won't take revenge against me, right? No, no. What have I done? Tell me right now… Let me sleep in peace."
Theo stuck his tongue out.
"Oi! No, no. Give me the answer!" Alea panicked. "What should I do?"
"I guess they are really angry right now." Ellen ignored Alea and glanced at the screen, seeing Sihan and Kyoichi taking the field as Theo predicted.