"You don't seem surprised seeing us here."
Lily commented when she appeared like a ghost in front of Tuan. Her two raid partners were catching up to her from behind.
"Hm. Should I act surprised… like this?"
All of a sudden, Tuan painted surprised expressions on his face effortlessly. His eyes were jittery when he did that. His mana sense was fluctuating abnormally as if he was suffering through a mental shock.
Plus, Tuan's body language conveyed the aura of an afraid person. As if he was scared for his life upon seeing his most dreadful enemy coming in front of him out of the blue. If Lily was greeted with the fake face Tuan had just shown her, she would have believed that she had got him.
'This… this chameleon bastard… should win an award for excellent acting.'
Lily commented to herself while maintaining a stoic expression. For some reason, her subconscious mind told her that either she should get the guy on her side or stay as far away from him as possible.
Soon, Lily's acquaintances caught up to her and stood behind her on either side. The realization that Ketsu and Wilder had her back gave Lily enough competition to face her opponents.
"Ketsu, Wilder, just be clear. I'll have the artefact. You can divide the Titus points Tuan has between both of you. But Katalina's Titus points would get divided among the three of us. Are there any objections?"
Lily addressed her raid partners openly. She wanted to highlight her agreement with Ketsu and Wilder once again before they started the battle. But she also wanted to create subtle pressure in the minds of her opponents by provoking them in this way.
"Kat, you can keep that baldy and ranger busy. Beat them however you want.
But that petite assassin ass is all mine. When the opportunity arises in the battle, I intend to slap it as hard as I can. See if it jiggles like a jelly or stays inconspicuous like that lady's boobs."
Tuan said with a serious look on his face. The rankers, including Katalina, froze in their tracks and had baffled expressions on their faces. Ketsu couldn't help but chuckle and look at Lily's posterior while he did that.
Wilder took a while to process the joke. As a result, he became angry with Tuan for underestimating him and found his partner to be enough to handle him. But then he processed the rest of his statements and started laughing.
"Hahahaha! Tuan, my man, I… Cough.. cough … cough… I mean… I'm sure it would jiggle just fine. It's just that those things are packed tight in those assassin clothes… so"
"Wilder… you shameless prick… shut the fuck up."
Wilder was admonished by Lily before he could finish his sentence. The former used his palm as the suppressant he needed to control his laughter. Ketsu too followed his lead and decided not to make eye contact with Lily when he did that.
Lily decided that it was a terrible idea to play mind games with Tuan. The guy didn't look like it. But he was better at it. This was her second time almost getting tricked by him without him doing anything about it and just using his mouth to speak.
"I suppose you don't want any peaceful resolution, Tuan. That's fine by me."
Lily said to Tuan while giving him a lowkey hateful look. Then she looked at Katalina before commenting.
"But Miss Katalina, you don't have to suffer because of Tuan, wouldn't you agree? Just hand the artefact over to me and I will permit you to walk out…"
Katalina shook her head in denial before speaking up.
"Forget it. Not happening. This guy is scarier than you."
She pointed at Tuan who was still rocking his fake-shocked expressions. He gave those expressions to Katalina who then had stressed lines on her forehead. She addressed her raid partner with a frown on her face.
"Cut it out!"
Tuan didn't reply with words. He disappeared from his position leaving a flame of the same size as him in his place. It was as if he had been insta combusted into thin air. The next thing Katalina saw was Lily locking both of her swords in a defensive position in front of her.
She barely managed to deflect the orange-red blades that hit against hers in the most violent way possible. Lily was no expert in frontal combat.
Frankly, the whole competition was such that it didn't allow her to take full advantage of her assassin class. Still, she had learned a lot of support spells to make her capable of tackling frontal combats and long-range attacks.
Lily used rune inscribed clothes that made her resistant to blunt forces. She also drank potions that enhanced her strength and resilience. Plus, the execution of support spells bolstered her strength and other physical attributes a step further.
Yet, she still felt her hands turning numb in a frontal clash with Tuan. That's because Tuan was using his fire-element spells to generate momentum out of nowhere. With the use of Total Control, the explosiveness behind even his normal close combat attacks had increased to a whole new level.
Katalina understood her assignment and attacked Ketsu with her flying slashes. She then used the potion bomb given to her by Tuan on Wilder. With this, she was able to make sure that both of Lily's raid mates stayed on her and away from her fight with Tuan.
"Why should I attack this little girl when I can just attack the man who seems interesting? Hahahaha! Ketsu, look after yourself. I'll beat the crap out of this Tuan brat quickly before joining you."
To Katalina's surprise, the potion bomb did not affect Wilder. The guy didn't even try to dodge the potion or its area of effect. He just stood there in the middle of the bomb's blast and came out unscathed when the dust settled."
"Tuan…"
Katalina tried to warn him. But Tuan was already aware of what was happening around him. He cursed his luck for Lily having a tank-like existence in her team that also seemed capable of fighting like a berserker, sans the use of berserker potions.
'Fuck. I guess some things don't work out according to plan. Maybe I see the situations and assume things that fit my logic.
