[Nightmare]

"Hah. Now that I've seen you a day without Tyrene's training, I feel like I've gone too easy on you." Tilo mused with a mocking smile.

"Master, compared to teachers on earth…." Helix replied with a wry smile.

"Compared to teachers on earth, what?" Tilo asked with an amused smile.

After a moment of awkward silence, Helix gave him a defeated smile.

"You're much more effective, interesting, and influential."

Tilo raised an eyebrow.

"That's all? I'd bet all the money you made me that you were about to say something unflattering."

Helix chuckled bitterly and let his eyes trail off.

"You're also reckless, brutal, and merciless." He sighed.

"Master Tyrene is just more reckless, extra brutal, and ruthless."

Tilo gave Helix an evil smile.

"You know, if I lose I'm going to tell her you said that." He chuckled.

Helix laced his fingers and stretched his arms.

"I see. I hope you enjoy blood on your hands, then, Master." He replied calmly.

Tilo shuttered but retained his amusement.

The two of them were in a massive circular dome made from earth magic on the outskirts of Lexion.

It was so large that Tilo needed a special permit to build it.

The reason he built it was simple—now he could thrash Helix as much as he wanted.

Helix was at a higher level and wearing serious armor, so Tilo didn't need to hold back as much.

That said, the grandmaster was level 189.

Even though Helix was [unlocking] Earthian stats, he was still a weak, inexperienced mortal compared to Tilo.

So magic circles were inscribed in the arena to cushion attacks he dealt to Helix, amongst other protections.

"Are you ready for our match today?" Tilo asked.

"I… don't know how to answer that question." Helix replied with a complicated expression.

Tilo narrowed his eyes at Helix.

"This should be interesting. Are you ready to begin?" He asked with a sly smile.

Helix noticed the devious glint in his eye and sighed.

"As ready as I can be. Start the countdown."

"Just remember that you gave me the go-ahead." Tilo chuckled while shrugging his shoulders.

This was the final test before Helix's partners arrived.

So he wouldn't go easy before Helix took time off.

"Ten!"

"Nine!"

"Eight!"

"Seven!"

"Six!"

Helix shut his eyes and prayed his [sacrifice] would be worth it.

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

"Go!"

The second that the match started, Tilo shot at Helix to deliver a blow.

It was uncharacteristic and a devious ploy he decided to work with.

However, his plan didn't go as expected.

A massive geyser of water shot out of the ground in an instant.

Tilo stopped his advance and jumped backward on the defensive.

"[Waterspout]? That crafty brat!" Tilo muttered under his breath with narrowed eyes.

Unlike Helix, who could summon illusions at will, Tilo was a circle master.

Water would ruin his spells without waterproofing spells, and he didn't prepare for this attack ahead of time.

The geyser continued to pump water into the area, flooding over Tilo's feet.

Eventually, the water reached the entire arena floor and started rising.

"Why isn't he moving? He has the advantage." TIlo muttered.

Helix was behind the water wall out of his sight and wasn't moving.

The man couldn't figure out why he wasn't using his preparation to attack him.

If Helix had already waterproofed his discs, he had the edge in the battle.

Tilo didn't have time to question, however.

So he quickly created a waterproofing spell over his essential battle discs.

After his third disc, his suspicions grew, and he reassessed his surroundings.

"Wait… this water. It's heating up!" Tilo cried.

The water wasn't threatening to boil.

However, [Waterspout] summoned ocean temperature water.

It didn't create heated water.

It meant a fire or heat spell was at play if it did.

Tilo stopped working and stared at the geyser.

To his surprise, the large wall of water was masking that steam was coming from the area.

"What is his play?" Tilo asked himself.

His eyes watched the area like a hawk.

If Helix were to attack from a distance or release a spell, he'd be able to react.

At the very least, Helix couldn't move to his position in time.

As he watched the geyser, he saw something inside it.

He narrowed his eyes to discern what it was but couldn't figure it out.

"What is that…?"

TIlo studied the strange phenomena for 15-seconds cautiously, preparing to move backward.

"The heat creates a miniature gas cloud, Sir Tilo."

An icy chill crawled down Tilo's spine, and a wave of anxiety flooded over him.

The words spoken were next to his ears, and he felt a hot breath on the back of his neck.

He smelled the scent of flowers and soap before a human hand reached over his shoulder.

"What the fuck!?" TIlo yelled in surprise.

He shot ten feet to the right in a flash to avoid the illusion.

When TIlo caught a glimpse of what was behind him, his face turned bright red.

A gorgeous woman with long, wet blonde hair walked toward him.

"Have you never seen a naked woman before?" The woman giggled.

Tilo scanned the area for Helix before jumping backward.

"What the hell is this, Helix!?" He yelled.

"Sir Helix told us that you were constantly talking about his harem." Another woman giggled from behind him.

TIlo jumped forward diagonally to prevent going near the first woman while avoiding the one behind him.

Multiple summoning portals opened up on the walls around him.

"So he thought you would like a harem of your own." A cute voice giggled.

A gorgeous naked woman walked out from behind the geyser seductively.

She was a brunette with curly brown hair and sharp green eyes.

The woman flashed him a gorgeous smile.

She was similar to the woman from town that worked at the bakery.

"Helix! I'm going to tell your fucking girlfriends about this!" Tilo roared while preparing to seek him out.

"Isn't it awkward to talk to other people's partners about women?"

Another woman walked out from behind the geyser before he could attack.

She had dirty blonde hair and a slightly flushed face from the steam.

Water was pouring down her chest, and every step she took in the water left ripples.

All of the women's steps did that.

Tilo blushed, and his face flushed with annoyance.

"Sir Tilo, relax. It's just a short match. Enjoy yourself." The brunette added seductively.

"My name is Cathrine, and I'm a harem applicant."

A third woman walked out from behind the geyser.

"And I'm Tyler. I'm also a harem applicant."

The third joined in with a seductive pose.

"I'm Lisa."

"My name is Tiara."

"Monica."

"Rachel."

"Syphie."

"We're all here on Sir Helix's request.

He said he wanted to thank you for dealing with constant stress."

Tilo's eyes widened in shock.

"I-Is this [Nightmare]!?" He yelled.

There was a vast difference between Helix's Summoning spells and [Nightmare].

The latter was an illusionary spell that brought unbelievably realistic illusions to life.

It summoned Helix's enemy's worst nightmare, and the victim couldn't discern the illusion from reality even if they knew it was fake.

It could recreate people Helix had never seen and speak in their voices.

The spell was broken to an unreasonable degree.

However, it was equally dangerous, and Helix had only used it [once] since he received it for that reason.

Unfortunately, Helix didn't respond to the poor man whose heart was pounding.

The women giggled in unison as they surrounded and encircled him.

"Hmmm? Is this your greatest nightmare, Sir Tilo?" Tyler giggled.

The women in front were fanning out and keeping their distance.

Tilo turned bright red after the accusation.

Catherine touched her finger to her lips in contemplation.

"If not… then the answer is… nope!" She exclaimed with a cute expression.

Her boobs jiggled in response.

All of the women giggled playfully.

"Hah. You have to explain why you can summon something like this.

Just wait until I beat you senselessly on everyone's behalf!" Tilo roared.

"Do you hate us that much?" Tiara pouted to his left.

"You can choo~se which of us join your harem.

You know that's how it works, right?" Rachel giggled.

"Let's give him closeups so he can decide." Monica suggested.

"Excellent idea girls." Catherine suggested with a bolder voice.

"Tell me, Sir Tilo. Is your mock match against Helix worth your happiness?"

"This is dirty, Helix!" He yelled as he searched for clues.

"We've been washing up, Sir Tilo.

You're looking at a clean scene, no?" Tyler argued coquettishly.

All of the women giggled.

He reached for his battle discs to find a specific wide area flash spell.

When he saw he grabbed the disc, his eyes clouded with madness.

"Hahaha haha ha!" Tilo laughed with true insanity flickering in his eyes.

"I know, girls! Let's get him!" Sylphie suggested.

"Yeah! Ladies, charge!" Tyler giggled.

Catherine, Lisa, and Tyler ran at Tilo with bouncing chests.

They were giggling and flaunting their bodies as they tried to hug him.

"Look, ladies! Sir Tilo is dodging beautiful women like a true harem novel protagonist!" Lisa giggled.

Tilo dodged them, specifically Catherine, Tyler, and Lisa, who came from behind the geyser.

Amid the chaos, an explosion blew up from a mine underneath Tilo, sending water to the sky.

"Hahahahaha! Kill. You. I. Will. Kill you!"