"What? What did Theo do to defeat Giordo?" Sheira gasped, staring at the screen dumbfoundedly. "He just used the same tricks twice, but… did he cut the pillar so easily? I thought his power was similar to Giordo.
"Giordo also attacked that pillar first and got stuck." Sheira frowned and turned to Leonardo, "Can we get an explanation from Sir Leonardo?"
Leonardo thought for a moment and nodded. "Sure. If you review this competition, you will figure it out anyway, so I will just explain it to you. It was an illusion."
"Illusion…" Sheira tilted her head in confusion, not understanding the trick. "Ehm, I am sorry, but can you explain it a bit clearer?"
"He was using the shield from the Ring of Honor to block that attack, but to make Giordo think he wasn't doing that, Theo created the stone pillar. Unfortunately for him, the real pillar was only a few inches wide since it was his shield."
"I see." Sheira looked down and said, "By using that first trick, he made Giordo avoid the second pillar, allowing him to cut through the pillar or we can say the illusion along with Giordo himself."
"That's basically it." Leonardo confirmed it while saying, "I am anticipating his growth."
"I am now curious about his growth as well." Sheira nodded in agreement.
"All I can say is… He hasn't revealed everything. I don't know how much he's hiding right now, but I want to warn you not to underestimate him. In terms of strategy, he's among the top of my grandchildren. As for his strength, if they're on the same level, Theo will certainly win against them.
"After all, his style is so diversified that you can't target a specific pattern. Giordo may have so many blades that create numerous attack patterns, but Theo is on a different level." Leonardo chuckled, blurting about Theo to the audience.
"Ehm, you seem to be talking about his power. I think you're going to make things difficult for him." Sheira said in order to stop him. After all, if they knew Theo's information, they could use it against him.
Leonardo shrugged, refusing to reply to her argument.
Little did she know, Leonardo chose to tell everyone about it, not because he wanted to share Theo's secret but because he simply knew that Theo would surpass their imagination once again in this competition.
He just let them know to make it not as surprising as it seemed, lowering everyone's opinion of Theo because Theo would be standing out too much after this competition.
Of course, Leonardo wanted him to show off, but he also ensured Theo's security by lessening the impact on everyone's heart.
Thinking about it, Leonardo smiled while closing his eyes.
…
Meanwhile, Theo only nodded his head after hearing Giordo's words.
"Well, I guess this is what I deserve…" Giordo smirked, not caring about Theo's attitude. "Anyway, I am rooting for you in this competition. I feel like it will be a blast if you wreak havoc here. Haha."
Theo shrugged and turned around, planning to leave him. After looking at the map again, Theo fell silent as the situation wasn't that good for his team.
"Hmm…" Looking at the six dots that had been reduced to three, he felt something was wrong. "Who are these three?"
"Are they Riccardo, Alice, and Ignazio?" Theo muttered before finding another dot that seemed to be escaping the battlefield. "This one… I think it's Ignazio. Should I check on them? But it's going to be troublesome later."
It took him a minute to decide to stay in his position, knowing that no one would bother him right now. The number of participants also helped persuade him to conserve his stamina.
14/24
Looking at the number, he knew there were only two more participants that needed to be eliminated.
"I know you're not going to fight another one." Giordo suddenly opened his mouth. "I will tell you something. Just consider it as the reward for defeating me… Don't stand out too much and conserve as much as Magic Power because that bastard Lorenzo is going to target you soon."
"Hmm?" Theo halted his steps and turned around, looking at Giordo. He couldn't believe what Giordo said, but he certainly could put it in his mind. If what he said was true, the situation might be more dangerous than he thought.
"Is that so?" Theo let out a long sigh and nodded. "Thank you then."
"You're welcome." Giordo smiled. "Hopefully, I have the chance to collaborate with you in the future."
Theo didn't answer him and left as soon as he received that information.
"Ignored, huh." Giordo pointed at Theo's shadow and shook his head helplessly.
Now that Theo had left, he put down his sunglasses and looked at the blue sky. "This competition is going to be interesting soon. I should return as soon as possible and watch it live."
It took them ten minutes to eliminate another two participants as it became the mark that the mission was over.
[The third round is over. All participants are allowed to rest for fifteen minutes. Your trackers will also be turned off. The next game will immediately start after the countdown is over, so be careful.]
"…" Theo was surprised to see he got a rest.
Before he recovered his stamina, Theo headed to the east, hiding his current position so as to not get ambushed by others.
He stood in the middle of the woods and checked his surroundings. After making sure this place was safe, Theo sat on the ground and leaned on a tree, recounting the missions he had received.
Those fifteen minutes felt so quick because he had already found another notification.
[Objective: The remaining participants will be given a hundred tokens. You're to hit someone on the back regardless of the method to receive their tokens. They can be used at the end of the competition, allowing you to exchange them for many things. In comparison, one hundred tokens are equal to a normal B Rank Skill.. Five people who have the highest number of tokens within thirty minutes will advance to the last stage.]