God of Tricksters

"!!!" Winston was shocked once again when the Death Avatar turned out to be able to use a weapon. After all, he had prepared to stop the Death Avatar's hands if they came after him. He just never expected them to go with a weapon.

He used all his power to escape from Theo to the point he roared as loud as possible to gain just a bit more strength. Seeing his desperate face, Theo finally let him go, throwing off his balance.

Clink!

The clicking sound, followed by a massive shock wave, shook the arena, cracking the ground and showing the power behind this swing.

"Kh." Winston gritted his teeth as he almost fell to his knees.

Theo wanted to extract his 'soul' and give him a good trauma so that no one thought about killing him, but he thought beating him was enough. It wasn't because of mercy.

If even Winston dared to pick a fight so easily in this country, he was afraid that the people, who would come after him next, would be much stronger.

Having this kind of trump card should be necessary.

That was why he thought showing it in this fight was simply not worth the trouble.

His body also felt a bit weak after using his Order. Although the Magic Power was enough to fight for another hour, his body couldn't keep up anymore.

Hence, it would be better to finish Winston in this chance.

With Winston pinned to the ground by the Death Avatar, Theo leaped forward while swinging his sword, sending all the sword lights he could.

These sword lights surrounded Winston from all directions. There was no way Winston could escape from this, especially after his teleportation long ago.

Out of desperation, Winston tried to use his Distortion Barrier again. Yet, Theo cut it down in an instant, allowing the sword lights to slip past his defense and hit him.

Suddenly, three figures appeared between them. Two of them stopped Theo's attack while checking Winston's condition while the last one stood before Theo, declaring, "The battle ends here. Joker wins."

Theo blinked a few times in confusion. The appearance of these three didn't shock him. He was simply surprised to see no reaction from Winston.

His rash and hot-headed behavior were planted in his mind, so Winston was supposed to get angry here. Yet, there was no sound coming from him.

Theo leaned to the side, finding Winston lying on the ground.

"What the heck? I don't think I have injured him that much." Theo scratched the back of his head.

"Probably he's too shocked because of his loss. After all, he couldn't do anything to you." The elder in front of him replied with a troubled tone. "This is the first defeat he suffers after becoming the top expert on the list. So, I guess the pride has gone to his head or something."

"For real? You can pass out from something like that?" Theo was confused for a moment, unaware that he was different from anyone else because he had endured that kind of hardship when he was young. His mentality was already far too strong.

"You can pass out from shock after hearing someone you love dies, you know."

"…" Theo fell silent and looked away, not having a word to rebuke that statement.

The elder smiled and raised seven Skill Cards, declaring the result. "According to the bet, you can get these seven A Rank Skill Cards."

After that, the elder also handed him the seven items along with the promised two billion. "These are yours too."

"Thanks." Theo nodded and respectfully received it. He thought, 'Such a shame, if only I have more A Rank Skill Cards… I can upgrade two skills to A Rank. I guess I'll need to choose which skill I'll upgrade after this.'

After receiving his reward, he immediately walked out of the arena while taking a few deep breaths. He also didn't forget to take a last look at Winston while having a bad taste in his mouth. There was no satisfaction in defeating Winston even after that exciting battle.

Unlike his dissatisfaction, the crowd was excited by what they had seen.

"This is it!"

"The power difference is clear. Joker has the ability to fight someone far stronger than him because his ability is that powerful."

"Yeah. He is like Maya who can reach 3rd rank with her current level."

"But that's because of her unique armor. If not because of that armor, she won't be able to enter the top ten."

"That's right. Joker relies on his raw power to defeat Winston. This number one spot won't change for a few years at the very least. After all, it will be a while for Joker to become a Mythical Rank Expert."

"Still, what is his age? How about his appearance? Maybe he's an old guy… He might be using all those years to train his Five Aspects instead of leveling up."

"No matter how old he is, there's no way he's above 35 years old. Even with the delayed aging, past that age, your voice will be a bit deeper and your skin will become rougher."

"Fair enough. His hands look smooth like a youngster."

"Yeah. There are more and more things we will see in the near future."

All of them started talking about Theo and thinking about the future cooperation with the Star Group. It was clear that the Star Group wouldn't let this young man go. Hence, they needed to do their best to forge cooperation.

While they were discussing Theo, Maya whispered to her mother. "I'm going to check on him."

"Don't worry. I'll not let a single person disturb you." Stella winked her right eye, happy to see Maya taking the initiative.

'I think she misunderstands something… Well, whatever. It's going to return to normal soon if she knows about Joker's real identity.' Maya ignored her mother's reaction and simply sneaked away, trying to check on Theo.

However, the moment she reached him, Theo was already sitting on the ground with his back leaning against the wall. He looked so defenseless.

"Tired?" Maya smiled and squatted next to him.

"Yeah." Theo nodded. "I used too much power earlier."

"Really? Still, your power is beyond my imagination. I admit defeat."

"Haha…"

"So, are you gonna go back now? Not gonna see Mark's fight?"

"If I remain mysterious, I should be able to stop those people from coming to me for a while. It should give me some time to do an international mission since they will come to you first to gain some information about me.

"That's why I will stay in my room until this event ends. Just let me rest for a bit more," Theo answered.

"Okay."

*********

Author's Note: 1000th chapter's celebratory art (sketch) on the comment section.