The Magician of Sound

"This is our arena."

"…" Everyone couldn't listen to a single thing due to the distance, while Kai stayed silent because he was still surprised by how flexible he was in using his magic. At first, he thought Rapakha would run or ask Tasha to teleport him together due to the distance. And yet, he shattered his expectation right off the bat.

In the end, the group stared at Kai, wondering what they needed to do and what he was talking about.

Kai let out a sigh and said, "It's fine. Teleport us there."

Tasha nodded, snapped her finger and created a Teleportation Magic Circle, and the group disappeared.

Rapakha lowered his vision and saw Kai appear first, followed by the others. "If you want to stretch your body or think about a strategy to beat me, you can do it now. I will see what kind of trick you are trying to throw at me."

Kai thought for a moment and nodded. "Follow me."

They walked behind Kai before watching him create a Sound Insulation Magic and shaped it into a half-sphere. At the same time, he also covered the ground with it for perfect isolation. Although Rapakha didn't confirm or say it himself, Kai believed Rapakha could listen to everything through the ground. Whether he could do it in the form of a clay doll or not, it wouldn't matter.

"So, what is our strategy?" Kai let out another sigh and asked.

However, the answer came in the form of staring, specifically from all of them.

"Come on. Don't rely on me too much. I am also stressed out regarding this matter. Listening to so much information at once with each of them being surprising…" Kai shrugged and complained.

"I am planning to go all out from the start. He is not someone we can beat if we don't go all out." Michelle said mysteriously as if she had a trump card.

"Fair enough. He also didn't limit my Space Magic, so I think I can use it. I don't know if it is alright to teleport him to the sky though." Tasha nodded. "As for my lightning… I will be participating actively in this fight instead of supporting you like my usual role."

Kai nodded. Even though it was a test from Rapakha, Kai felt something would go wrong if Tasha used her Space Magic, especially with Sofia in the group. As for Isabelle and Evan, it wasn't like he didn't trust them. He simply thought it was better for fewer people to know about Tasha's real Space Magic.

Ayaka, on the other hand, agreed and said one strong suit to him. "I am ready to make some explosions, whether it's Magic Bomb or Scarlet Explosion. If needed to be, I am ready to wield my spear and fend him off."

Finally, Evan, the last person in Lion Group, said. "I will be watching all of you from a distance. If you need me to heal someone, just teleport them to my position. Though, I believe he is going to take me out first."

"I will be returning to that hill, helping you guys from above there. I don't know if he will go there personally, but I think I will be taken out before Evan," Isabelle added right after Evan finished.

"As for me… I don't really know my role in this battle. I can try to support you with my ice, but its strength is limited, especially with a strong opponent like him. In addition, my exoskeleton probably can't hold a candle against him… But I will try." Sofia was a bit more passive in a fight like this. She realized her strength and weakness and didn't make an empty promise.

Kai thought for a moment and decided after listening to them. "Evan will be at the same place as Isabelle. It's not that hard to teleport someone to that hill, and if he indeed attacks both of you first, you two should be able to hold out for a few seconds until help arrives. Oh, wait. Why don't we use the place near that stone house? He certainly won't destroy that place, will he?"

"Ah!" The group was surprised as they thought it wasn't a bad idea. With how Rapakha talked and acted, the place where he stayed would be safe, especially with the Stone Statue around them. In fact, they could even bring that stone statue and make it their shield.

Isabelle and Evan exchanged looks and nodded in agreement. "Alright. Our place has been decided. You might want to ask him first though."

Kai nodded mysteriously. He understood their concern because Rapakha might use that place as a reason for him to beat them. After all, he said it himself that they shouldn't do anything to anger the protector and needed to know what kind of thing would make them angry.

Kai planned to ask him with a little trick to camouflage his intention. After deciding what to ask, he moved on to the others. "Michelle and I will go to the front as usual while Tasha and Ayaka will not be that far from us to support. You two probably need to fight as well, but Ayaka can fight while Tasha can teleport to make a distance."

The three girls nodded, having no problem with the plan. Only Sofia's position remained undecided.

Even Kai needed time to think where he should place her until a certain dangerous thought flashed in his mind.

"Sofia… I need you to play a bit of a dangerous role for me. Are you up to it? If not, I will go the usual way and have you become support as well."

Sofia looked down and fell into deep thought.

"How is it?" Kai tilted his head because Sofia had yet to reply to him after one minute, thinking she would probably reject the idea.

Different from his expectation, Sofia agreed to his request. "Alright. Elder Rapakha will surely not kill anyone here anyway, and even if he wants to kill somebody, he/she won't be able to fight back. In that case, I will take advantage of that and play a dangerous role. And since it's dangerous, it's important, right?"

"You will become a bait though." Kai answered with a poker face.

"Wha—?!" She blinked, shaking her head. "What?"

Kai scratched his head, embarrassed. "Listen to me first."

"Alright." Sofia pouted as if she just got betrayed.

"I want you to go further away than Ayaka and Tasha, supporting us from the back."

"Now I see…" Sofia instantly realized his plan. "You want me to stay alone, so Elder Rapakha will think of me as someone who can be taken out instantly, right?"

"Basically, yes."

"Still, he is not someone who will fall for something like this." Sofia furrowed her eyebrows.

"I know. Even so, having you in that position will allow us to do a few things. First, you can start creating terrain that will give us an advantage. And I bet he is going to use that wall again to stop my attack. If we succeed in creating a terrain that restricts him from using the ground, I think we have a chance of beating him."

"I doubt that is possible, but I will try." Sofia nodded.

"Thank you." Kai slightly bowed his head and continued. "The second thing you can do is to focus on protecting Michelle or me. Rapakha might slowly get agitated by the fact that his attack can't connect because of you. And if he indeed goes toward you, we will proceed with the original plan.

"You shall hold him for a few seconds with your exoskeleton. Michelle and I will go toward your place at the fastest speed. At the same time, I want Ayaka to plant as many magic bombs as possible. Make them explode if you feel it's right."

"Alright then." Sofia didn't say another word and complied after knowing the extent of her role.

"Then I think it's time to start. Do any of you need any preparations?" Kai asked for one last time.

To everyone's surprise, Michelle suddenly rose and created a Black Magic Circle beneath her feet. The dark magic power started flowing before her shadow gradually shrank.

However, Kai already knew this magic because he became her sparring partner a long time ago. This was…

"Shadow Possession!" Michelle uttered the name of her magic. It turned out that her shadow didn't actually shrink. Instead, it was absorbed by the magic circle before it assimilated the shadow and integrated it with Michelle's body.

The black rose pattern slowly formed on her body, starting from the feet to her face. Unlike the feet and hands, the body pattern wasn't visible. Yet, her looks and her aura changed drastically.

On her face, there was a single black rose formed under her right eyes as if it was a tattoo.

Although he had seen this a few times, Kai still couldn't help but comment, "You look like a gangster that covers her body with tattoos."

"Haha… You still say it even though you like it." Michelle made a smug smile.

Kai shrugged and decided to explain it. "Since she can't enhance her strength in the day, she covers herself in the darkness…Which is her shadow. And I am sure that she is going to be stronger than a normal power-up even in the dark."

"Yes. I am hiding this for our fight against the S rank magical beast, but I think I can power up this technique once more before the battle. That's why I choose to use it now." Michelle nodded.

The rest stared at her for a few seconds before nodding their heads.

Kai then continued, "Let's—"

Suddenly, Rapakha clapped his hand even though they were still talking.

*Rumble!*

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