Once he was done speaking, Zhao Yao stole a quick look at the mission panel. Out of the maximum of 1,000 experience points, he had only chalked up 200 so far.
He narrowed his eyebrows. "This Faceless guy is unexpectedly resilient. I shall have to wear him down bit by bit."
An instant defeat would not enable him to milk this mission of all its worth. He theorized that the best way was to drive him deep into despair by repeatedly getting his hopes up, then das.h.i.+ng them every time.
In the meantime, the apostles in the hall were still trying to piece together what had happened. The Headless Horseman had taken them down so quickly that they were not too sure what he did. All they knew for sure was that he was incredibly powerful.
The greed and fervor in their eyes had transformed into fear and suspicion. No one dared to make a move even after all his trash talk. They were still recovering from the mysterious pain that jolted them awake.
Their hesitance was nerve-wracking for Faceless. These apostles were his last hope. Without them, nothing stood between the Headless Horseman and himself. He could not allow that to happen.
"Don"t panic," he said bracingly, "If he"s that good, he would"ve skipped the smack talk and jumped straight into the fighting. It"s obvious that he"s hiding a weakness. Perhaps his power depletes after a short time."
His words were received with mixed responses. Some apostles seemed to buy it, some definitely did not. Others looked deep in thought. None of them moved or showed any signs of taking action first.
These apostles were not friends or allies after all. Why would anyone sacrifice themselves be on the frontlines?
Zhao Yao was starting to grow impatient.
"No one wants to go first?" he asked, "Fine, I"ll go first. Just so you know, none of you are getting out of here from this moment."
With a flick of his finger, the golden force field that surrounded him morphed into a beam of light. It rocketed through the air and rammed right into a j.a.panese apostle, whom spat a mouthful of blood as he flew across the hall.
Zhao Yao then traced a horizontal line with his finger. This time, the beam of light transformed into giant waves of energy that swept past a group of other j.a.panese apostles, knocking them off their feet and onto their backs.
This was, of course, just a small fraction of his powers. He had to hold back so that his opponents would harbor the hope that they could beat him.
" Bakayaro ," Shuiichi Nanno cursed.
He was glaring at the Headless Horseman was burning rage. A sinister shadow had made its way around the katana that he was gripping, wrapping it in darkness.
He lunged for Zhao Yao.
While his mastery of the shadow powers was not yet on par with Is.h.i.+da"s, he was able to elegantly integrate them with swordplay. His katana was specially designed to accommodate that. Its unique protrusions ensured that shadows were always cast on the blade, offering an endless pool of power to draw from.
Shuiichi Nanno might not be able to become a shadow, but he can cause just as much damage as Is.h.i.+da.
The moment he stuck his katana towards Zhao Yao, hundreds of shadows emerged from, all heading straight for the target.
The shadows moved swiftly, coming nose to nose with Zhao Yao in an instant. They were about to pierce right through him when he vanished and reappeared three meters away.
Shuiichi narrowed his eyes, "He can teleport too? Darn it."
In truth, Zhao Yao had simply moved the dimension doorway.
There was an impish grin on his face as he sent dozens of golden energy waves through the air, this time at five apostles from Singapore. The men let out a roar of anger in unison as they wielded their lightsabers. They swung the lightsabers around, effectively blocking the incoming onslaught. Only one of them was hurt. He took a few steps back as he hissed in pain.
Once again, Zhao Yao was holding back. He wanted them to think that they stood a chance against him. Also, he had no wish to lay all his cards on the table.
Secrecy can keep an apostle alive. A person who knows all your powers knows your weaknesses too. This was why Zhao Yao had never unleashed all of them in real life. The only chance he could do so was in the dream, where witnesses would not be able to discern which powers were real and which were fake.
To him, TimeFreeze and his ability to resurrect himself had to be kept secret. They were his trump cards.
While the five men backed off, Shuiichi Nanno had not stopped trying to get to Zhao Yao. He continued to release shadow figures even though they were easily crushed by his opponent.
He shouted at the Singaporeans, "What are you waiting for? He"s not going to let us off even if we surrender."
"He"s right," one of the men said, "We"ve got to work together to take him down!"
This seemed to tickle Zhao Yao, who started laughing joyfully.
"You should listen to him," he advised the men, "Come on, attack at the same time. If not, you won"t even have a chance to escape."
He then flicked his finger again, producing hundreds of the same golden waves. They shot upwards, then started raining on the crowd like shooting stars.
No one was safe.
The rest of the apostles had no choice but to use their powers to protect themselves however they could. Some were screaming in fear, others in rage, and they released all that tension by attacking Zhao Yao at last.
Faceless could not help the smile on his face.
"Yes! He"s not G.o.d. With so many apostles charging at him at once, he"s not going to survive!"
His heart was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with hope.
Zhao Yao dodged each and every attack that was sent his way.
Shuiichi Nanno"s voice could be heard despite the commotion, "He teleports! Aim for the areas where he could teleport to next! Listen to my command!"
Under his leaders.h.i.+p, the mad scramble gradually transformed into a systematic attack. In no time, the apostles began to close in on Zhao Yao, reducing the amount of s.p.a.ce he could jump to avoid them.
The Singaporeans did not take part in the action. They scattered to five different spots in the hall. They were still holding onto their lightsabers, which were vibrating very violently. It was as if a tremendous amount of energy had been condensed in them and it was dying to be unleashed.
They watched as the Headless Horseman was eventually forced into the center of the hall in a bid to dodge the string of attacks.
It was time.
Diran, one of the Singaporeans, struck as quickly and suddenly as a viper that had been lying in wait. The lightsaber in his hand flew straight up towards the ceiling, then barreled down at Zhao Yao.
All along, he had been waiting patiently for the Headless Horseman to be close enough to attack.
A flash of joy shone in Diran"s eyes as the lightsaber was about to make contact with the top of Zhao Yao"s head.
"My undulating lightsaber can slice through army tanks like a knife through fruit! Once he"s. .h.i.t, he"s a dead man!"
His happiness was short-lived. Zhao Yao lifted a finger cloaked in gold above his head, effectively blocking the lightsaber from touching him. Army tanks might be powerless in the face of the undulating lightsaber, but it was no match against the deflective field.
"What?" Diran gaped in disbelief.
He was still processing what he was seeing when he felt an intense pain radiating from his chest. In the next moment, he was thrown off his feet and sent flying across the hall. He knocked through two walls before landing in a heap of cement and rubble, unconscious.
Diran - Out.
His failure reverberated through the hall like a warning. The golden waves that fanned around the Headless Horseman suddenly seemed a lot more lethal than before.
Shuiichi Nanno released a dozen more shadows. Together, they only managed to take down one ripple of Zhao Yao"s energy waves.
"This is not good!" he yelled, worry spelled out clearly on his face, "He"s been hiding the true depth of his powers."
Garawa, another Singaporean apostle, was not going to let Diran"s sacrifice be made in vain. He let out an angry huff before stepping forward to catapult his own lightsaber at Zhao Yao.
Once again, Zhao Yao"s hand shot up to his face to stop the lightsaber from reaching him.
Garawa could only gawk as the Headless Horseman zoomed towards him at lightning speed, one hand crus.h.i.+ng the lightsaber. When he appeared right before Garawa, the cylindrical weapon had been squashed into a ball of light.
Wordlessly, Zhao Yao pressed the ball against Garawa"s chest, flinging him across the hall.