God of Tricksters

"On this great day, we are back here for the last day of the Grand Gaia Competition. Japan and Thersland will be competing in the semifinal while the United Kingdom and the United States will be fighting against each other in the final.

"We have truly never expected such a surprise in this competition. I'm honored to be the host of this important competition where I could witness the biggest dark horse in history. Now! Will Thersland claim their first medal in this competition or will Japan protect the seat and leave Thersland with nothing?

"The answer will come in the arena." Sheira took a deep breath. "Let me explain the game section for the first match between Japan and Thersland. If you look at the arena, there is a smaller circle in the arena where the team will be competing. All they need to do is to throw their opponents outside the ring. Without further ado, let's call the participants for both teams."

"Uoh!"

The cheers erupted as the audience called the name they wanted to see in the arena. It turned into an uproar when six people made their appearances.

"This is it! This is what we are waiting for. The two teams have finally shown themselves!" Sheira shouted in excitement. "From the left side, Theodore Griffith, Alea Eilric, and Ellen Marcines are taking the field. On the opposite side, Japan Team has sent Nakajima Miyoko, Kurihara Masahiko, and Kondo Takuro."

"Oh? We are dealing with these two and the summoner?" Ellen furrowed her eyebrows. "Are we going to win this?"

Theo glanced at her with a smile. "That's something you shouldn't ask."

"I guess you are right…" She chuckled.

"I'm going to fight Nakajima Miyoko." Theo shrugged. "You two will deal with the rest."

Meanwhile, Takuro sighed. "I wonder if we pull the short straw."

"In any case, if it's only Phyrill and Laust, she should be able to win," said Masahiko while glancing over the enemy team. However, his focus remained on Alea.

"Why are both of you talking as if we're already lost? If we can win the two games, we can end everything quickly. No slacking." Miyoko snorted and glared at Theo. "Who wins? It's obviously the one who throws them out of the ring."

"Right?"

The two chuckled as they walked to the middle of the arena, meeting Theo's team.

"I hope we have a good fight." Theo smiled nonchalantly as if looking down on them.

Miyoko's eyebrows twitched as he rebuked him. "Just because you have grown stronger, it doesn't mean you are going to win."

"I am already winning." Theo raised both hands and grabbed Ellen and Alea's shoulders as if implying they had more girls in their team unlike them.

Cough.

Cough.

Miyoko and Masahiko coughed as they never expected Theo to show off like that.

"This guy is the best." Takuro, on the other hand, couldn't contain his laughter.

Theo shrugged and walked to the edge of the ring. The ring itself had a hundred feet in radius, making it quite big.

Surprisingly, their opponents also started from the edge of the ring as if they wanted to figure out Theo's plan.

"Match starts!"

With Diego announcing the start of the match, both teams turned serious.

Alea pulled her sword and Ellen prepared to use two skills simultaneously. The same applied to Japan Team as all the three unsheathed their katanas.

However, Theo took them by surprise because he didn't summon his clone and walked slowly to the other side as if he felt no threat from his opponents.

"!!!" Miyoko raised his eyebrows and clenched his teeth. Theo was openly mocking their team. "You…"

"He is a bit too overboard." Takuro shook his head helplessly before summoning a red ape. "Fiery Ape. Let me see how strong you are… Can you defeat a Hero Rank Ape alone?"

Roar.

The fifteen-foot ape let out a loud roar as he slammed his fist to Theo, albeit three lotuses dropped on top of his head, pinning the ape to the ground.

Ellen smiled, "Your opponent is me."

"So it seems…" Takuro's expression became serious.

Masahiko also couldn't let this chance go and decided to test Theo.

"Blossom Sword Dance." Masahiko wanted to strike him a few times to check Theo's level of spear play, but his sword was stopped by Alea's sword.

Their swords clashed a few times before Masahiko leaped back.

"It's a Sword Dance indeed…" Alea took a deep breath. "This time, I'm not going to lose anymore."

"Let's dance together, shall we?" Masahiko smiled.

Theo scratched the back of his head and asked, "So, when are you going to move like them?"

"You are overly confident…" Miyoko squinted his eyes and leaped to him while shouting. "I'm going to put you in your place right now."

Theo smiled and pulled his hand, staring at Miyoko's blade that came from above.

"Lightning Sword Art, First Sword."

Looking at the overbearing lightning emanating from the sword, Theo finally pushed his hand, excreting all the power like Nella.

But…

Zab.

No power was released and Theo was split into two in an instant.

There was even blood coming out of his body as the body and the spears dropped to the ground, letting out a clicking sound and making it look real.

"What?!" Diego was bewildered for a second.

No one would believe it was the real Theo, albeit the corpse didn't look like a clone since the latter was supposed to disappear after getting chopped like that.

Even Alea and Ellen stopped for a split second, staring at the corpse.

"Did I just kill him…" Miyoko drew a gasp and took a step back before Theo's voice echoed in everyone's ears.

The corpse suddenly disappeared, including the blood, as another Theo emerged right on his original position.

He was sitting on top of his spear's handle that he lifted with his Telekinesis, chillin like nobody's business.

"Come on. Why are you all taking this seriously? I haven't even moved from my original position…" Theo sighed in disappointment.

"Gh!" Miyoko just realized that everything was an illusion, meaning Theo was just toying him this whole time. Veins bulged on his forehead as he gnashed his teeth. "You… Motherf—"