*Stab!*
Theo's spear was stopped by another barrier. However, the barrier didn't come from Velio because they soon heard an aged voice ringing in their ears.
"The match is over. Velio is eliminated."
After that, the objective changed again as they were asked to move to a different spot.
[Objective: Head to the next destination.]
"…" Theo fell silent and landed on the ground with a calm expression.
Meanwhile, Velio turned to Riccardo and Alice to confirm his suspicion. Theo, who was supposed to be with them, had disappeared, meaning the ones before him were none other than the real Theo and his clone.
"You… You two have been in cahoot this whole time…" Velio looked at Ignazio and Theo. He remembered what happened during the previous mission. "It was weird for someone new to this competition like Theo to stand out when we just got a problem.
"Ignazio wanted to eliminate the potential members that would become a hindrance to his sister, so… No, Theo… You knew what he wanted and utilized it as a negotiation piece to work together." Velio drew a gasp and stepped back. "You two were accomplices all this time.
"No… Weren't you two at least hostile at the start?" Velio gritted his teeth and realized another piece. "No, were you really hostile to each other?"
He recalled their conversations. Theo first grabbed their attention by calming Alice down. When everyone tried to strike him, Ignazio put the blame on both him and Felice.
After that, Theo shifted the conversation by telling them that the person who caused all this mess was Leonardo. This made their conversation turn to Ignazio blaming him for his clone skill, creating an image that Theo was innocent from that point onward.
It allowed Theo to move freely on the second try. When the second time their castle was destroyed, Theo suggested us to return to build another castle but was shunned by Ignazio.
In other words, Ignazio's anger was the main factor that blinded them, making others see them as an enemy instead of a friend.
Just recalling this scene made Velio shiver. "Thinking about it… Though you two seemed to be considering the other as an enemy, you were covering for each other."
Velio gritted his teeth and turned to Ignazio. "Ignazio, you did say you will crush him thoroughly… Those words—"
Before he finished, Ignazio stuck his tongue out and said with a big smile. "Of course, it was a lie."
Velio clenched his hands, realizing he and Felice had been trapped this whole time. His body began trembling as he said, "Kh… Then, for me to win, there was nothing I could do but join hands with Felice. But it turned out I threw away the only card I could play to win."
"Pfft." Ignazio chuckled when he heard Velio's words.
"Wha—" Velio widened his eyes. "Did you laugh at me?"
"Of course. You don't know how scary this man is." Ignazio pointed his thumb at Theo nonchalantly and continued, "The reason you lost was not that you threw away Felice. It was due to you not keeping him in check. For example, his clone."
"!!!" Velio's feet went limp as he dropped to his knees. "Doesn't that mean… The first blast was also caused by him?"
Velio suddenly gulped down and recalled another thing. "Wait a minute. There's a part I don't get… When did you join hands? No, how did you two notice that the other party asked for cooperation? I still remember that you two seemed to be moving together only a few seconds before your arrival, so there's no way you could talk during those few seconds.
"All the missing pieces I couldn't understand until I lost had appeared in my mind and linked to each other. Only that one..."
Ignazio smirked and pointed at Theo. "As I said, none of you know this guy. He's a new guy without any information about all of you and this competition. In other words, he's clueless as fuck. For someone as careful as him, standing out is the dumbest thing to do.
"Yet, the first thing he did was standing out by calming Alice down. It was completely unnecessary as you wouldn't want to stand out with the position he has… After all, we were the closest people from the first blast, making only the four of you the target. It was then I realized he wanted to eliminate someone."
"What?" Velio dropped his jaw to the ground. "It still doesn't make sense. Do you think it's that easy to know one's intention? Even though you had met him, there wasn't much time to personally know him."
"Of course. I admit that I don't know many things about him." Ignazio smiled, confirming his suspicion.
"Then why?"
Ignazio raised his hand and clutched it with energy, showing his fighting intent. "But I have fought him multiple times. Every time he did something on the matches, it was for an opportunity. I realized this side of him when I watched Thersland's battle against the UK after he collapsed.
"They became dull. In other words, all the buildups they had done in the past naturally came from him." Ignazio pointed at Theo. "It was then I realized… This guy will never do anything meaningless. So, him standing out became a message to me, the only person who knew him."
Velio's face became pale. "And this battle royale became another opportunity. After eliminating Felice, all you needed to do was kick me out."
Out of anger, Velio turned to Alice and Riccardo. "You two! You should be careful! These two guys will harm you like Felice and me."
"Oh, I think you forgot something." Ignazio stopped him. He walked to Velio and looked down on him. "I had told you that grandfather would only use his trick once, right? The first mission was to sacrifice someone or go with everyone else. The second mission was to kick someone out.
"With these two out of the picture, there's no scenario where another person leaves this group unless there's outside interference, meaning another group. So, we won't do anything to our teammates after these two missions. Understand?"
Velio coughed a few times as he couldn't accept the fact his words were right.
He used both hands to support his body, but he could only lower his head while thinking.
"I… No, we completely lost…"