Rhode was unaware of what the card spirits thought about his other personality. Anyway, he didn’t have any thoughts other than wanting to strangle the projection of his other personality. Even though he had no idea how his other self came here, it was still rather depressing for him to see. And what made him even more speechless was that he wasn’t the only one who saw his other self, but the rest met him as well.
Gazing at his other self who stood on the ruins with a slutty face, Catherine’s expression became rather complicated. She scanned him from head to toe and for some reason, he suddenly felt a little uncomfortable upon witnessing her gaze. It felt especially like the gaze of a kitten who was drenched in the rain.
As for Eleanor, she was respectful and didn’t comment much… But her act would be more convincing if she didn’t look at Rhode with a serious expression while sneaking a glance over her shoulder at his other self. And what upset Rhode the most was naturally the Little Five. This chatterbox just wouldn’t shut up at all. And of course, that was exactly the case now…
“Whoa… Isn’t that Mr. Rhode? Why are you wearing such a fancy dress? That skirt is so short that your thighs are showing… Come to think of it, can a guy even wear a dress? But it makes sense since Mr. Rhode looks so pretty, so wearing a dress suits him a lot… Say, what are you trying to do? Sing? I’ve never heard Mr. Rhode’s singing. Is it good?”
“…”
For the first time, Rhode found it quite annoying for Little Five to say something like that.
“Hmph!”
But now wasn’t the time for that. Facing his other self, Rhode grunted and rushed over with his sword. Previously, he wanted to annihilate his other self but unfortunately, Gracier and Madaras coincidentally found their true selves and that forced him out of his mental world. He didn’t expect the world to be this small that his other self came looking for him on his own to get killed! At this thought, Rhode no longer hesitated, but attacked his other self immediately instead. It was especially so since his other self wore such ridiculous clothes. He was determined to teach that bast*rd a lesson on what ‘asking for death’ meant!
Shing! Shing! Shing!
The instant he attacked, the shadowy figures around his team also took actions, assaulting Little Five, Catherine, and Eleanor. However, Rhode wasn’t that concerned since Little Five and Eleanor were strong, while Catherine had absolute defense. Not only that, but Little Five also gained strength after absorbing her other self. At least for now, she wasn’t considered the weakest among them.
Even though Rhode didn’t know how his other self found these shadowy figures, he was certain that they couldn’t match up against his team. Thus, he flourished his sword and attacked his other self right away.
“Jeez, why get so agitated! I’m you, Rhode! Don’t you wish to be noticed and loved like an idol?”
“I stopped wishing for it a long time ago.”
Rhode responded without hesitation. He wasn’t sure what was wrong with himself that he actually created such a personality, but who didn’t actually consider being highly regarded by others? But the problem was that he was already in the limelight, where he was the leader of the number one guild in the game of Dragon Soul Continent, as well as a leader of the virtual e-sports world.
In a society of network and virtualization, not even world-class athletes were as popular as him. It could also be said that among the people walking down the streets and up to the age of 50 or 60, those who didn’t know him were a true minority. After all, during his time, it was an era where even the elderly grew up with the Internet. In addition to the popularity of the virtual world, it really made him popular as an Internet sensation. However, the only thing was that the gaming company used his in-game avatar for publicity. After all, in this era, no one thought that there were still people who deliberately transformed their looks. Of course, for Rhode, it was also a good thing that he was able to avoid being exposed.
Wait, is this other self of mine actually my desire to appear in front of the public in my true identity? I’ve made up my mind. Kill him!
Boom!
His whistling blade tore through the darkness, and the strong gust and pressure split the huge ruin in front of him in two. At that moment, the other Rhode, who stood on top of the ruin, slipped away quickly. In fact, ever since Rhode became the Void Dragon, it had been a while since he wanted to destroy someone. But now… It was an entirely different matter.
“Hoo-hoo, you don’t really think you can destroy me, right, Rhode? You didn’t even do it before, so how are you going to do it now?”
Perhaps because his other self was mentally prepared, he dodged Rhode’s attack quickly. Immediately after, he chuckled and flung up the back of his hand. Along with this action, a sword that shone with a pitch-black glow emerged from his hand and the two blades clashed, sending a series of flickering silver radiance flying across the darkness. From time to time, intense sparks erupted from the rasping blades. After a few moments, the two of them separated suddenly.
And it was only then when Rhode knitted his brows and looked with confusion at his other self who smiled proudly at him. Rhode was aware that the situation seemed somewhat abnormal. In the previous mental world, which was also the home turf of his other self, they fought each other. But even so, his other self wasn’t able to defeat him and was almost killed. That was because Rhode was the core personality and it was common sense that the core personality was the strongest in the mental world. But now, after a round of battle, he discovered that his other self became much stronger, which wasn’t logical at all. Rhode attacked with an intention to kill and spared no mercy in the slightest.
This wasn’t surprising since any man who saw himself in women’s clothing, or in front of the public whining and ‘sluting’ would definitely be filled with murderous intent. But what astonished him was that after a round of battle, his other self displayed strength beyond his expectations. He originally thought that he would be able to kill that guy instantly. But now, it seemed like that wasn’t the case at all… The strength of his other self seemed to have increased by a lot.
How is that possible? This is the mental world and he is a mental projection. It’s not like he can kill monsters and level up, so what did he rely on to increase his power?
At that moment, Rhode didn’t notice that in the nearby shadows, a pair of eyes emanating a mysterious light was staring at the battlefield. Upon seeing Rhode’s reaction, the hint of a smile was unmistakably revealed in those eyes.
“Everything is going as planned. I wonder if you can pass this test, Master?”
While Rhode was occupied, the rest weren’t standing idly by either. It was especially so for Little Five and Eleanor, who were exceptionally busy. That was because Rhode had apparently charged at his other self, leaving behind four opponents for them to deal with. Moreover, Catherine wasn’t partaking in the battle, so the situation could be said to be two versus four. But even so, Little Five and Eleanor weren’t defeated. Of course, apart from the fact that they were powerful, Catherine also provided essential contribution.
Just that her ‘contribution’ was a little odd.
“Get over there!”
Turning around to avoid the menacing bite of the beast-like Dona, Little Five grabbed Catherine who stood by her side without hesitation, and pushed her over to the other direction. At that moment, Catherine, with an extremely-slow reflex, stood blankly on the spot and didn’t react to Dona’s punch in the slightest, and Dona’s fist was about to crush her face. If it were a normal situation, this fist alone would have been enough to blow her head off.
But unfortunately, this time Dona wasn’t able to achieve her goal. Her fist stopped a few inches away from Catherine’s forehead as if she struck a transparent wall. And at that moment, Catherine seemed to return to her senses, letting out a shriek and crouching on the ground with hands over her head. Before she knew it, Little Five’s green blade came flying over from the back in a whoosh.
Despite that, Dona’s reaction wasn’t slow either. She raised her arms before her in a criss-cross stance and resisted the assault. However, Little Five apparently wasn’t affected. After failing her strike, she raised the sword high and launched another attack at Dona. Of course, her mouth also didn’t stop jabbering.
“Really, I thought they would be easy to deal with, but I didn’t expect them to be so troublesome. Why are these guys so much stronger than before? That’s odd. They also don’t look very smart, do they?”
Little Five’s complaint wasn’t entirely unreasonable. She noticed that there was a connection between the combat power of these mental projections and their intelligence. The smarter they were, the higher their combat power was. And the dumber they were, the lower their combat power was.
The Dona in front of her looked like a projection of an incomplete and instinctual personality like an angry beast. But her combat power was so strong that even Little Five had to use Catherine as a shield to stop her attack. The situation didn’t look right at all. However, Little Five was just talking and still had to follow up on her own.
On the other side, Eleanor’s battle also wasn’t stopping soon. Unlike the somewhat miserable Little Five, Eleanor’s battle was more elegant and relaxed, not tense or rushed in the slightest.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Two heavy scythes collided in the air, before separating silently. A smile rolled up on Eleanor’s face. Facing the hideous face of the person who clearly looked exactly like her, she seemed completely unresponsive as if the other party with her mouth wide-open and drooling wasn’t her at all. Using the impact of the clash, she turned around abruptly and flew backward as if to evade the other party’s ensuing attack. But at the next moment, she swung the handle of her scythe swiftly to the side. In a loud clang, the enemy Angel of Light who flourished her sword was struck away, falling heavily to the ground.
And at that moment, Eleanor finally displayed her prowess as a Grim Reaper. Almost immediately after the Angel of Light flew toward the back, Eleanor, whose body was also flying backward, suddenly turned ninety degrees like an octopus in the deep sea and dashed toward the helpless Angel of Light. In a dazzling flash of light, the huge scythe that looked like the teeth of a fierce beast penetrated the Angel of Light’s body mercilessly.
“———!”
Unlike the Catherine in Rhode’s team, this Angel of Light clearly didn’t have that kind of invincible shield. The scythe ripped through her body effortlessly with blood spraying out from the gashes. The Angel of Light with her chest punctured widened her eyes in despair. But before she spoke a word, her body transformed into bright, dazzling light dust that fluttered and coalesced into a bracelet onto the hand of the Catherine who stood motionlessly beside her.
After harvesting a life, Eleanor didn’t have any slightest change. On the contrary, she smiled at Catherine, who was freaked out over killing someone for the first time. Then, Eleanor turned around abruptly to dodge an attack from her other self, lowered her body all of a sudden, and swept her scythe forward like a spear and struck her other self. Upon being hit by this deadly attack, the other Grim Reaper let out a howl and bent over in agony.
But it was a pity that her life also came to an end at that moment.
The moment she bent down, she saw the scythe in Eleanor’s hand lift swiftly as if it were a bouncing ball. Catherine, who stood beside Eleanor, witnessed an ice-cold flash and before she knew it, the enemy who attacked crazily earlier was decapitated by Eleanor. And rightfully so, the corpse also instantly turned into black mist that wrapped around and was absorbed into Eleanor’s bracelet. After all, the victim was also considered as one of Eleanor’s personalities.
On the other side, the opposing Dona and Little Five projections didn’t escape death either. Although the Little Five on Rhode’s team wasn’t as strong as Eleanor and couldn’t defeat her opponents with as much ease, she had an invincible meat shield with her, after all. If she still couldn’t destroy the two incomplete beings with the help of this meat shield, she could forget about surviving. However, she managed to succeed.
Soon after Eleanor defeated her opponents, the battle over on Little Five’s side had also ended. Apart from the fact that she didn’t know where Dona’s mental fragments went after turning into a pillar of light, the rest of the battle went pretty well.
And almost at the same time, Rhode shuttled across the battlefield and showed up in front of the crowd again.
“All settled?” he asked and looked at the three of them in front of him. In fact, without them answering, he knew how their battle went. Besides, he was confident in his team as well. Right now, it looked like Little Five and Eleanor gave their best. But as for Rhode’s side of the battle…
“Yes, we’ve got it all covered, Mr. Rhode. These guys look capable, but they were useless against us. Besides, we’ve got Catherine on our side, so even if we can’t defeat them, we can still push her forward and that will resolve everything. Heh, heh, doesn’t that make things interesting? By the way, Mr. Rhode, I saw you went to look for your other self… in the dress…”
Upon hearing Rhode’s inquiry, Little Five gesticulated and explained to tell him about the things that happened. But just when she was about to finish her sentence, she stopped talking uncharacteristically. Because at that moment, Rhode suddenly reached out his hands, held her shoulders, and smiled warmly at her.
Although he smiled beautifully, at that moment Little Five felt as if she were about to be devoured by some fierce beast and her entire face turned ashen. Rhode, on the other hand, seemed to be completely unaware of her reaction. He simply gazed at her with a smile and slowly, word for word, he asked.
“You girls… Didn’t see anything, right? I just went for a stroll earlier, remember?”
Rhode said, sweeping a glance to Catherine and Eleanor at the side. Upon detecting his gaze, Catherine, who finally managed to stand up firmly, shrieked in terror and plopped down on the ground again. Eleanor’s smile stiffened, while Little Five turned as white as a ghost, grinding her teeth and looking at Rhode blankly as if he were a foreign and scary monster.
“You girls didn’t see anything, right?”
Rhode looked at Little Five and asked the question again. This time, she returned to her senses and nodded vigorously.
“T-That’s right, Mr. Rhode; we didn’t see anything earlier. We definitely didn’t see you singing and dancing in a skirt, Mr. Rhode. Everything was an illusion. Yes, an illusion…”
“…”
Facing her reply, Rhode’s face twitched. But before he was about to continue speaking, all of a sudden, a string of deep explosions boomed. Soon after, a splash of blood-red brilliance emanated in the dark, gloomy sky.
What’s that?
Rhode lifted his head and looked at the scene in shock. Then, he sulked.
Because at that moment, in the deep night sky, a massive scarlet eye was staring at him.
