I Can Read People's Comments

Chapter 101 Surprise

[Chapter 98 Comments]

[Aryan_Srivastav_3324: Try making sure that this body soul is dead and not torturing itself to get stronger to kill or eat you like orginal Theo]

[Vanadhi_Lucia: Wow Aurora can be quite heartless. Then again, I may will also do the same as her, ignoring the hostages as long as there's nobody I know there to kill all the bandits]

[Adam_Balch_7324: About to be a reaper of sorts are we?]

…

"Go!" Aurora signaled the start of their mission.

Jayden emerged from his hiding spot and rushed toward the two guards who were about to pass each other.

His sudden movement created a rustling sound that caught the guards' attention. They quickly turned around to investigate, but it was too late.

Jayden was already upon them, grabbing both of their heads and utilizing the Strength Demon to enhance his brute strength, crushing their skulls.

The guard on the right proved weaker as his head was crushed instantly. However, the other guard resisted, prompting Jayden to release the first and focus on the second. Jayden grabbed the guard's jaw and applied pressure, causing intense pain that disrupted the flow of the guard's essence, ultimately allowing Jayden to crush his head as well.

Meanwhile, the sentries on the tower began to notice the commotion and attempted to assess the situation.

However, Aurora was already prepared, drawing her arrow and releasing it. The arrow split into multiple projectiles, homing in on the enemies' heads and swiftly eliminating them.

While Jayden maintained vigilance over their surroundings, the twins approached the wooden gate and simultaneously raised their hands.

The presence of a water-filled ditch just outside the gate meant there was only one entrance, making it an easily defensible chokepoint.

The twins took advantage of this by excavating the ground on their side of the bridge, making it unstable when lowered back into position. They then disposed of the excavated soil into the water, creating a shallow and treacherous crossing.

Additionally, they planted sharp tree branches beneath the water's surface as an added deterrent. Given that most of the enemies were not particularly strong, these measures were expected to significantly reduce their numbers.

With the preparations complete, Jayden leaped over the ditch and delivered a powerful kick to the wooden wall. The Strength Demon's influence made the impact devastating, causing the wall to crumble and leaving a massive breach.

"!!!" The occupants of the stronghold were immediately alerted by the loud noise and the realization that their sentries had been neutralized. Panic spread as they cried out, "Enemies!" alerting their comrades.

In a surprising turn of events, a figure appeared before Jayden just as he created the hole in the wall, attempting to grab his head.

Jayden was prepared for elite enemies but did not anticipate such immediate action. The assailant was one of the kidnappers they had previously encountered.

The attacker tried to seize Jayden to neutralize him, but Jayden managed to raise both hands in defense, forcing the assailant to grab his hand instead. Reacting swiftly, Aurora shot the assailant with an arrow. However, the assailant spun his body, attempting to use Jayden as a shield against the arrow.

Aurora's arrow suddenly altered its trajectory, avoiding Jayden and returning to its original course. The assailant, while struck by the arrow, displayed no significant change in expression, seemingly unaffected by the injury.

As the bridge was lowered to allow more adversaries to emerge, a few elite opponents positioned themselves on the stronghold's walls. The wire user and the cube user, who had been releasing their powers in anticipation, were now ready to capture their targets.

However, it was Theo who took the initiative. Leaping into the air, he brandished his scythe and shouted, "I'll handle the spirit users. You all deal with the rest!"

The four students acknowledged Theo's order, releasing their own essences in readiness to confront the approaching bandits.

But as Theo was closing in on the wire user, another figure appeared and deflected his scythe with a piece of wood.

Cling!

The resulting clicking sound startled everyone, and Aurora immediately recognized the newcomer. "Uncle Jeff..."

Jeff, a middle-aged elf with long green hair and an emotionless demeanor, exuded an overwhelming essence, creating tension in the air. Even Theo acknowledged that Jeff possessed an essence far beyond his own.

Jeff effortlessly thwarted Theo's attack, surprising everyone. Theo, upon closer examination, realized that what had struck him earlier was actually a piece of wood, yet the clash had produced a surprising clicking sound.

"Be cautious, Teacher. It's the Madness!" Aurora warned aloud, firing her arrow into the sky.

The middle-aged elf pointed at Aurora and declared, "Well, well… To think that I would meet my nephew here. I guess I will have to eliminate all of you. Kill her no matter what!"

Theo, observing the situation, squinted his eyes as he landed on the ground. "Madness?" he pondered. "I see. Just like the spirit, the madness is also granting additional power."

The middle-aged elf acknowledged Theo's insight with a smile and raised his hand. Suddenly, tree roots emerged from the ground, surrounding Theo. These roots transformed into a dark, metallic hue as they began to curve toward him.

Theo took a step back and swung his scythe. Using his illusion abilities, he altered the properties of the metal in the illusion, turning it into glass. With a single swing, he shattered the approaching roots.

Theo smirked and commented, "Well, I want to see how powerful this madness is."

The middle-aged elf responded, "Unfortunately, you can't." He spoke these words as a massive wall rose from the ground, forming a cube that isolated Theo inside.

"!!!" The students, witnessing this unexpected turn of events, widened their eyes. Their teacher had informed them that this cube was impervious to even his illusion abilities. They had intended to use this power to isolate Theo from the rest, but it seemed that the cube user had been feigning his abilities, concealing his power beneath the ground until Theo's arrival.

The appearance of Jeff, the middle-aged elf, had been merely to put Theo in this precarious position and buy some time. As a result, a two-meter-wide cube now blocked the bridge.

Several clicking sounds echoed from within the cube, indicating Theo's struggles. Unfortunately, his efforts proved futile.

Jeff raised his hand and signaled for the other teams to commence bombardment. However, nothing happened in response to his signal, leading them to realize that their bombardment devices had been neutralized.

The wire user approached Jeff and reported the situation, saying, "It seems that the bombardment devices have been taken down."

Jeff responded with a new plan, stating, "I guess they are not that foolish. We'll surround them and kill them."

"Understood!" The wire user nodded and commanded the rest of the bandits. "Move out and surround them!"

"Oooohhh!" The bandits swarmed out of their base, looping around Theo's cube to reach Jayden.

"We'll…" Aurora wanted to give another order, but she stopped when she heard another battle cry coming from their back.

"Oooohhh!" Unbeknownst to them, there was actually a hidden passage behind them. They were situated a bit to the side, so unless they were searching for it, they wouldn't find that hidden passage.

With this, two hundred people were coming from the front while there were approximately a hundred people pincering them from behind.

"This is..." Aurora panicked. They had been surrounded, and their teacher had been trapped inside that cube. It looked like their mission had ended in complete failure, and in the worst case, all of them would die here.

Jeff and the other elites thought they had finally outsmarted them and completed the mission easily. Unknown to them, Theo had prepared another surprise for them.

A bit farther away from the hidden passage, Christina and her group had been standing by, watching the progress.

"This doesn't look good. Are you sure we're going to stand by and watch the second princess get killed, Ma'am?" Her assistant furrowed his eyebrows, beginning to panic. "I know that you have agreed not to interfere and leave everything to the students, but..."

"Haha. That person is insane..." Christina chuckled, finally understanding why Theo allowed Christina's participation in the mission. Christina pointed at the hill right in front of them and said, "I can't really watch how my nephew finishes her mission in this position. I think that hill is perfect."

"Ma'am, I don't think this is the time to talk about the..." Her assistant suddenly fell silent, realizing the hidden meaning in it. Christina had agreed to leave everything to the students, but she simply wanted to watch the situation from another hill. And these bandits just happened to be in the way, preventing them from doing it. They were not interfering with the mission. Instead, the bandits were the ones stopping them from observing.

The moment he understood the meaning, Christina looked at him with an excited smile. "Open up the way to that hill!"

The assistant smiled while taking out his sword. "Elven Rose Division. We're opening the path for our master to watch over her nephew. Cut down anything in the way!"

The entire group unsheathed their blades and charged forward.

"Huh?" The bandits seemed to notice the commotion happening behind them. When they turned around, they saw a group of people ambushing them from behind.

"Get out of the way!"

The Elven Rose Division didn't give them the opportunity to think as they slaughtered every single bandit in their way.

Screams filled the woods, alarming all the parties.

"Huh?" Jeff widened his eyes in shock, not expecting an ambush. When he checked, he saw Christina's figure advancing at a fast speed, killing all the bandits in her way. "What? Aren't they supposed to..."

Jeff didn't have time to think because Aurora was the first one to recognize Theo's intention. The moment Christina made a move, she realized that the situation was within Theo's expectations the whole time. In other words, they hadn't lost.

She took advantage of the commotion and released an arrow into the sky. "Jayden, regroup with the twins and get ready to fight all those people."

Jayden nodded and jumped back while looking at the arrow she released earlier. The arrow turned into a big golden light that fell like a meteor.

The wire user hurriedly leaped into its path and waved both hands, creating a net to catch this attack.

However, the moment the light hit the net, it produced another level of power that actually dragged the net down.

"Huh?" The wire user was shocked.

Aurora had actually changed the property of her arrow like what Theo had taught her. This arrow had maximum durability and amplified gravity and weight to gain its power.

As a result, it didn't explode or shatter the wires. Instead, it dragged them down until it crushed the bridge.

"What?!" The bandits panicked and jumped off the bridge, but that was another mistake. The people who fell into the water ended up with their bodies impaled by the traps the twins had made earlier.

This way, the stronghold was once again isolated from the outside world. The remaining people who managed to cross the bridge panicked.

Unfortunately for them, that was actually the last thing they should worry about. All of a sudden, a burst of energy shook the entire area.

All of them could see the shockwave coming from the inside, meaning Theo was the one who released the strike.

"Hahaha. My cube is unbreakable. No matter how you try it, it's impossible to break it!" The cube user laughed, feeling confident.

But that was never Theo's aim. When the normal bandits felt the shockwave, they suddenly dropped to the ground as though their souls had left their bodies.

Inside the cube, Theo was holding the scythe with both hands. What was different from the previous scythe was that the number on the scythe's eye was actually glowing.

"It's time to get serious," Theo smirked as the number shone even brighter, revealing the true name of the form: "Soul Scythe."