174 Retrea (1/2)
With the sweats trickling down his forehead, Zack was surprised to see that there's another monster other than Ice Empress. 'This is bad. I only have this single-use sealing ball. Because I already used it on the Ice Empress, I don't have anything else with me. If she is as strong as that woman, whatever is in my pocket, is nowhere enough to defeat her! What should I do?' thought Zack while his eyes wandering around the restaurant, perhaps looking for a way for him to beat her. He needs to think up a plan ASAP as the longer he took the time, the stronger the pressure he felt from that masked guy. Even now, it's increasing at a frightening rate even though the culprit is just sitting calmly on his seat.
During the time he was observing his surroundings, Zack realized that only he was acting 'strange' as the other didn't look that much different to him. It's like he was the only affected by her aura while they didn't. Upon closer inspection, he was right. Normally, her aura is not as powerful as the one Zack felt right at this moment. Without the use of Intimidation skill, at most, they would get frightened by her aura which gives off an illusion of a fearsome being standing right behind her like a ghost.
But this time is different. To make it easier to understand, everyone at a certain point would unlock a passive aura skill like a character in the game. And the skill type is actually AoE(Area of Effect). Now imagine this, if AoE skill is already strong as it is, what would happen if one can change it from AoE into a single target? The answer is obvious!
'Damn it! I'm just wasting my time like this. I will be at a disadvantage if I keep this on, that can't happen. I need to do something, anything works so long as I can escape from this pressure and when that happened, I'll have enough time to think of a plan to beat this guy.' If look can kill people, Sheila would have died multiple times with the way Zack is glaring at her. It was at this moment that his sight caught onto Mia seating right next to the suspicious masked guy. Suddenly, an idea crossed his mind.
Sheila responds back by calmly raising her hand toward the incoming attack and all of sudden, a strong gust of wind flew out of her hand, stopping the blade of wind from reaching her. Although her wind magic level is not as high as her fire magic, it is more than enough to stop the incoming blade of wind. Zack clicked his tongue in annoyance upon seeing how easily the guy blocks his attack. But that was within his expectation, without wasting time any further, he sent another blade of wind toward her. And within that split second, he quickly pulled an actual grenade out of his pocket before throwing it toward Mia.
”Hahaha! Now let's see if you can stop this!”
”Damn it! everyone, get down!”
Gerald immediately shouted to warn the others of the incoming explosive the moment he saw Zack pulling a grenade out of his pocket. Even though he knows that they won't be left unscathed once the grenade explodes and without a doubt, they will also get caught in the explosion, he still lay down on the ground after warning others.
”So that is your plan, huh? Too bad, that won't work because I can just do this.”
With her right hand stopping his magic attack the same way she did a moment ago, Sheila used her left hand with the telekinesis to 'grab' onto the grenade before 'throwing' it up toward the ceiling. If she didn't train most of the skill she finds useful, Sheila might only be able to save Mia by bringing her into the shadow. Technically, she can also bring the other into her shadow along with Mia but, she won't because they are not in her priority list. After all, she had been hiding in the shadow so that she can protect Mia, not them. Though she didn't mind acting as a hero once in a while, she didn't want it to distract her from the actual goal.
Plus, being a hero is not as nice as what most of the people claimed to be. In fact, being a villain seem much better and relatable. Rather than people causing trouble for them, they cause trouble for people instead. So if she had to choose between the two, she would go for a villain.
Right after she throws the grenade into the air, Sheila immediately taps on Mia's shoulder, bringing her into the shadow as a safety measure from the explosion. To be honest, she can just bring Mia to the Trial Tower but, since it is not the time yet, she wanted to have fun as much as possible before telling the latter about her real identity. Though Mia might get upset at her later for playing a joke on her, Sheila can just say it was all part of her plan, which is not exactly wrong either.
Once the smoke caused by the explosion had dispersed, Sheila immediately jumped out of her shadow following by Mia. Looking down at the people moaning painfully on the floor, it seemed there are still people that get caught by the force from the explosion, despite having her thrown it up to the ceiling. Thankfully, the ceiling for this particular floor is very high, so they don't have to worry about the falling debris. However even if the grenade managed to hit the ceiling, Sheila believes it won't leave any scratch as this building is, after all, not a normal one, but one that was strengthened by mana.
”See, I have told you, it won't work on me.”
'Since he didn't use that poke-, I mean that strange-looking ball, that means it's a one-use item. That's good to know. I don't want to find myself sealed into endless darkness. Just not playing a game for a week already brought me to exhaustion both in mind and body, there's no way I can handle that despite having a strong will. Also, who knows whether it is possible for me to enter the trial Tower from inside that ball? There are so many uncertain that I would rather sit tight and let my curiosity die down instead.' thought Sheila.