"!!!" They were stunned when they read the new objective.
They sacrificed Felice not long ago, yet, the mission asked them to sacrifice another person. They simply had no idea how many people they needed to kick out to advance to the last round.
"If we're following this pattern…" Riccardo gasped. "Doesn't this mean we need to do it until only one person remains? In other words, we're asked to eliminate our own team members to the very end?"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's my fault, so I need to sacrifice myself." Alice kept screaming while looking around. "What's going to happen after this?"
Theo remained silent, staring at the mission to see if he missed a word or something.
After all, the one, who made the first move, wasn't him. It was Ignazio.
The moment he realized he could fight another person, Ignazio sneaked behind Velio and waved his sword.
Feeling his presence, Velio hurriedly took a few steps to the right while spinning his body and forming a green screen in front of his chest.
"You…" Velio widened his eyes and said, "As expected, you're the one sabotaging this entire competition."
Ignazio ignored his words and stomped the ground, regaining his momentum. He then struck Velio, only to be blocked by the shield that moved to his stomach.
Velio then dropped on his butt while lowering his head.
The sword cut through the barrier but hit the air.
After that, Velio raised his hand and a white screen appeared beneath Ignazio's feet and launched him into the air.
"Barri—" When he was about to summon his barrier, ten arrows approached him.
Velio clicked his tongue and jumped into the air, avoiding all the arrows that somehow created small craters the moment they hit the ground.
With both of them floating in the air, Ignazio continued his onslaught.
"Fixed Shield." Velio formed a circular shield that stopped all Ignazio's attacks while his body weight and strength prevented Ignazio from pushing his back. "I am not going to go down easily."
A series of footsteps resounded in their ears as Velio lowered his head, finding ten armored people standing on the ground. The moment he landed, they would stab him to death, so Velio formed another screen beneath him.
The armored soldiers obviously struck the barrier, but Velio soon used his weight and unbreakable shield to flatten the armored soldiers.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I'm too heavy for your soldiers." Velio didn't miss the opportunity to mock Ignazio. After all, he couldn't help but hate Ignazio for tricking him. He glared at him and said, "I see. Me, Felice and you… All three of us are the assistants of the top three combatants.
"You're planning to eliminate Felice and me in order to stop us from helping them. This will get rid of the advantage they have against your crippled sister." Velio smiled. "To think it's for this… You got us."
"You said crippled one more time, I will gouge your eyes."
"Why don't you try?" Velio smiled, not scared of Ignazio's ability.
Ignazio harrumphed and stepped forward, striking his shield.
Clink.
The shield didn't crack this time as Velio had time to reinforce it when he waited for Ignazio to go down.
If Felice's Ice Ability had the power to lower one's strength or reaction speed because of the coldness, Velio's barrier was strong enough to protect any attacks coming for his master, Luka. If they fought together, fighting Ignazio's sister would be easy.
Hence, Ignazio truly wanted to eliminate the helpers first, allowing his sister to close the gap from having a handicap.
"Sword…" Ignazio's blade began to glow as he spun his body, releasing a crescent-shaped sword wave that ran through the ground.
Velio stayed focused while raising his shield.
"Kh. It's powerful." Velio clenched his hands and was pushed back several feet before coming to a stop. The Sword Wave disappeared without a trace with Ignazio approaching him.
Suddenly, Velio looked down after sensing something. A few cracks appeared as Magic Bullets flew upward, almost hitting him.
Velio somehow managed to step back to avoid it, but his right hand was pierced by one of the bullets.
"Kh!" Velio clicked his tongue and tried to pull back, but he saw Ignazio moving together with the Magic Bullets.
"I'm fucked up." Velio gulped down.
…
Meanwhile, Felice was waiting for the committee to send their men and returned in disappointment.
Bored, Felice walked around while sighing continuously. She soon stumbled upon a hole that stunned her because the hole was a bit bigger than her thumbs together.
"Huh?" Felice narrowed her eyes. "I don't think there's a hole this big earlier…"
She looked at the dirt around and confirmed that there was no such a hole other than the one she found.
"Why is there…" Felice became suspicious before recalling the arguing scene earlier. Looking at the footprint that seemed to be covering the hole earlier, she came to a realization. "Isn't this footprint…"
As she realized what had been going behind the scene, on the other side, Ignazio waved his sword right at Velio's back.
"Khh… I just dodged it." Velio jumped to the side, barely avoiding the sword. However, this meant his balance was off, leaving him vulnerable. If someone attacked him, he would lose.
Luckily, Theo, Alica, and Riccardo seemed to be in their position, not having the intention of participating in this battle.
In any case, one of them would leave this group, so they must want to conserve their energy by letting Ignazio destroy him, albeit he thought one thing wrong.
Theo suddenly appeared in his front while thrusting his spear.
Velio hurriedly raised both hands and formed a green screen to stop Theo's attack. Little did he know, there was another Theo appearing above his head.
"!!!" Velio widened his eyes and muttered, "Why did this happen to me…"
His mind subconsciously remembered what happened in the previous mission, especially regarding Theo and Ignazio. He couldn't help but make a weird smile. "Are you serious?"
"It's too late." Theo thrust his spear from above.
*Stab!*