Chapter 39: Real or Not?
[Chapter 38 Comment]
[Seby_Spina: this the new death avatar?]
[Twin_dragon13773: Hehe funi clown.]
[Magrijack_2: Sorry for the small lie I told you. I just wanted you to be aware that you can't trust everything you read in the comments. There are some stories…see more]
…
The students were left speechless. They never expected the clown to overpower the formidable Nomon, a Noble Rank Supernatural Being.
Even Nana's jaw dropped to the ground. It was the first time she had witnessed a clown effortlessly outmaneuvering such a powerful creature.
However, the giant was resilient. Despite being knocked down, it quickly grabbed the clown's foot and attempted to pull it, hoping to make the clown slip.
"Die!" the king shouted triumphantly after successfully tripping the clown. But to his surprise, it was all part of the clown's act.
Indeed, one of the classic routines of a clown was slapstick comedy, which involved physical humor such as slipping, falling, and colliding with objects.
This time, it appeared as if the clown had tripped, but the motion propelled his body forward. As his backside touched the ground, his foot made contact with Nomon's face.
"Gah!" The king involuntarily released his grip.
Seizing the opportunity, the clown swiftly stood up, only to slip once again. This time, his body fell onto Nomon's back.
"Aaaahhhh!"
The sheer weight of the clown caused the ground to crack, just as Nomon had shattered it with a stomp.
Yet, despite all of this, the clown maintained his smile, as if he was entertaining the audience.
"Impossible! I am the strongest king. I won't be defeated by a mere clown!" the king shouted, using his hands to push against the ground, attempting to lift his entire body, including the clown atop him.
Since it was impossible to fully restrain the king, the clown managed to free himself and took two steps back to create some distance.
As soon as Nomon regained its footing, it launched a punch toward the clown's face.
In a surprising move, the clown inserted his hand into the pocket on his stomach. Suddenly, he pulled out a scarf, followed by another one connected to it, and yet another one after that. It seemed as if the scarves were never-ending.
With swift dexterity, the clown sidestepped and skillfully wrapped the endless scarves around Nomon's hand, as if attempting to tie it up.
The king immediately recognized Theo's plan and hastily unleashed his essence.
"Do you think your cheap trick will work again?" the king roared in anger. The black essence began corroding the scarves, eventually reducing them to nothing.
The clown appeared surprised that the scarves had disappeared. However, he retaliated by pulling out a sign from his pocket.
Written on the sign were words that further fueled the king's rage.
The words read, "You're lucky I'm a clown, not a jester. I could kill you with my words alone."
It wasn't an empty threat. Jesters were known to entertain the king and those close to him through jokes and clever conversations. They held a unique position where they were often exempt from punishment, even if they dared to mock the king. Given Theo's power, it wouldn't be far-fetched to believe that those words had the potential to not only mock the king but also harm him.
"Shut up!" The king, unaware of the jester tradition, had a different cultural background and knew nothing about jesters. Seizing the opportunity, he punched the clown's face with all his fury, oblivious to the theatrics of the performance.
The clown's fall was accompanied by a dramatic display, but the king's anger drove him to unleash all his power upon the clown's face.
The resentment within the essence began to turn the clown's face black, as if attempting to corrupt it.
To everyone's astonishment, the clown's head began to melt.
"!!!" The king had attacked the clown with great force, but it was clear that his strength was insufficient to defeat the clown that had dominated him throughout the encounter.
Furthermore, with Theo controlling the clown, there was no way he would allow the king to triumph over the clown and reveal the sign.
Confusion washed over the king as he observed Theo, who remained in his original position, and assessed the state of the clown. In that moment, he realized the truth about the clown—it was merely an illusion.
That's right. Theo had tricked him with his illusion. This was the only explanation for the clown's apparent weakness.
"You..." The king gritted his teeth. "You continue to mock me with these tricks..."
On one hand, the king desired to eliminate Theo immediately. On the other hand, he noticed that the injuries he had sustained while battling the clown had not vanished.
He couldn't help but believe that the illusion had been real. It surpassed anything he had witnessed before.
"...," the king paused, taking a moment to observe Theo. He spoke, "I finally comprehend your power. You possess the power of illusion, limited to the boundaries of the fence. So..."
The king stomped on the ground, unleashing a wave of black essence that corroded the fences, causing them to vanish without a trace.
"Now that I have shattered your domain and seen through your illusion, what can you do?" the king advanced, stepping closer.
"Wow, it took you so long to realize all of that," Theo remarked with a smile.
"It appears that you still underestimate me. In that case, I will demonstrate how useless you are without your illusion!" The king raised his foot, intending to stomp on Theo.
"To become an exceptional illusionist, one must comprehend everything. How can you deceive someone by allowing them to perceive the movement of the essence if you don't even understand how it operates?" Theo uttered these words as he waved his hand upward.
Suddenly, three massive blades emerged from the ground, causing the king's foot to land upon them.
"Aaaaahhhh!" The king screamed in pain, lifting his foot once again. Theo had made it seem as if a human were stepping on shards of glass.
Without hesitation, the king employed the black essence to make the blades vanish. This time, he swung his sword diagonally.
Theo conjured a colossal ball of essence above his head, casting a glance at Oliver as if conveying a message.
In an instant, the large ball fragmented into numerous smaller balls, soaring toward the giant's hand and sword. They aligned in a straight line from the blade's tip to the giant's right upper arm and detonated simultaneously.
Boom!
The explosion may have been relatively weak, but due to the arrangement and timing, it propelled the blade to the side, causing the giant to miss Theo.
"!!!" Both the king and Oliver widened their eyes in astonishment.
"He's actually targeting the exact spots to deflect the sword? I could potentially achieve the same result with my explosive materials, but... it would require a significant amount of time. Perhaps I could combine it with a sticky substance and weapons from Maya's world to accurately hit the targets?" Oliver mused, looking down.
Meanwhile, the giant's sword struck the ground. Recognizing that it had missed its mark, the king swiftly slid the sword diagonally along the ground to reach Theo.
Theo pointed at Maya while glancing at the incoming sword. Instead of taking drastic action, Theo simply released his essence and shaped it into a sphere.
He then closed his eyes and allowed the sword to pass underneath him, making minimal movements to evade the debris that the sword sent flying.
"How did he manage to dodge all those rocks? No..." Maya fell into contemplative silence. She realized that Theo was demonstrating that her ability could be used in a similar manner. Her instinct only recognized threats that she was consciously aware of. In other words, if she didn't see, smell, or hear it, her instinct wouldn't perceive it as a threat.
This revelation highlighted the incomplete nature of her power.
Of course, this realization didn't change the fact that she still couldn't use her essence. It appeared that Theo wanted her to create a domain with her essence to sense her surroundings and recognize potential threats. However, that assumption was incorrect.
What Theo was teaching her was the importance of having something that could recognize threats. In Theo's case, it was his essence.
Since Maya couldn't achieve this with her own essence, she considered acquiring several items to replicate the same effect.
"Hmm... I don't have much money, but I believe I can purchase a low-grade scanning device. With the scanning device, I can scan the entire area and transfer data to my device, allowing me to notice everything around me. Then, I can earn more money and upgrade the item," Maya murmured softly, contemplating her future options.
Li Wei observed the two lost in thought and expected Theo to teach him something as well. However, he had forgotten that his duty was to protect the two of them. If he allowed himself to be distracted by his own thoughts, it would undermine the purpose.
Therefore, no matter how eager he was to learn more, Theo wouldn't teach him further at this moment.
Now that the lesson was complete, Theo could finally engage the king in a serious battle.
Theo leapt into the air and clapped his hands. "Alright. It's time to end you!"
"No, you won't!" The king hastily swung his blade, interrupting Theo.
But before the blade could reach him, numerous chains made of essence emerged and ensnared the king once again.
"The amount of essence you possess... I know you're not weak. It still impresses me. If you hadn't committed all those unforgivable acts, I might have recruited you under my command. But..." The king swiftly unleashed his own essence to corrode Theo's.
As soon as he freed himself, the king resumed his swing.
Unfortunately for him, that was merely a diversion. Suddenly, a large circle appeared beneath Nomon's feet, adorned with a prominent star symbol.
"Hmm?! The Great Purification Method?!" As a ghost, the king was familiar with this technique. In fact, gathering information was a crucial aspect of his role as a king and commander. Before the area was sealed off, they had utilized the connection to the village to gather a wealth of information.
"You..." The king was shocked, never expecting that Theo would possess such a high-level ability. "Impossible. How can you wield this ability on your own? It typically requires several high-ranking exorcists to execute."
Theo responded with a smile, no longer bothering to answer the king's question as he activated the purification method.
Suddenly, the circle radiated a brilliant light, creating a pillar of light that shot up into the sky.
"Aaaahhhhh!" The king screamed in agony. The light burned him relentlessly, hotter than any flame.
Even Nana couldn't help but gasp. She recalled teaching Theo about her talismans and various aspects of exorcism moments ago.
"The Great Purification Method is a way to channel the light of Euna. It is said that light can eradicate the darkness within the soul."
The light felt as though it was forcibly removing something from the king's body. Under its influence, the black essence began to flicker.
"What is happening?" The king gasped, inspecting his arms. The black essence that formed the outline of his body started dissipating, with holes appearing from which more black essence flowed out.
"No!" The king attempted to use his power to counteract it, but the purification method served as another distraction.
Theo raised his hand, conjuring a massive blade with his essence and brought it down in a sweeping motion.
The blade swiftly severed the giant's limbs, progressing rapidly until it reached the neck. The severed parts began to vanish under the influence of the purifying light.
This was what Theo had been preparing for while his students kept the king occupied.
Eventually, Nomon's body dissipated, revealing the king's true form within. To his astonishment, the king's soul was leaving the human he occupied.
"What? My soul?!" The king was bewildered, but Theo wasted no time. He retrieved one of the purification talismans he had obtained from Nana and threw it toward the king.
The purification talisman instantly enveloped the king, bathing him in purifying light.
"Aaaaahhhh!" The king once again experienced excruciating pain within the light. His body began to fade away. "No way. I have been defeated?!"
The king appeared reluctant, given his grand ambition. However, he was unable to halt the purification light. His voice echoed until the last moment, uttering a final, despairing cry of "NOOOOO!"
Nana was utterly shocked. All this time, Theo had been toying with the Noble Rank Supernatural Being. When he finally got serious, the king was defeated within a mere two minutes.
"Is this the power of the teacher from that academy?" Nana gasped, her breath catching. However, she soon found herself startled by another development.
The sky began to fracture. Cracks expanded across the ground, the air, and even the space right before their eyes.
Everything shattered like fragile glass, unveiling the truth of what had transpired.
The giant Nomon still stood, revealing that it had not been defeated. In other words, everything had been an illusion created by Theo.
However, with no more essence to sustain it, Nomon began to dissipate as well.
The Great Purification Method, the extraordinary illusionary power, and even the vast amount of essence Theo had displayed—everything had been an illusion. It was all part of Theo's plan to make the king believe he had been defeated.
The only real thing was the purification talisman he had received from Nana, which extinguished the king's soul.
It left everyone questioning: Which was the illusion? What was truly real?
Theo smiled kindly at his students and declared, "And that concludes today's lesson."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone