Crushing flags and claiming the Villainess

The third-ranked warrior was introduced in the game because she plays an important role in the story.

She helps Rhea in overcoming the danger of Valerie.

Canonically, Valerie kills the First-ranked during their confrontation and that battle announces to the world that a massive threat has arisen in the face of a being who once was a human.

Rhea understands the severity of the matter and also acknowledges her lack of strength to deal with Valerie.

The pinkhead realizes, after witnessing the between the new Parasite Chief and William, that defeating Valerie head-on is impossible. She was just beyond her league.

Due to the lack of manpower around that time, Rhea asks for Thea’s help in luring Valerie into a trap.

Rhea’s specialty is Illusion. She can create the perfect illusions which even fooled a Demon General.

She lured Valerie using the illusion of Austin...and then something happened that Austin didn’t want to recall.

So yes, Austin was very much aware of what Thea was capable of.

"Come forth, Gleamade." She commanded before her Shard appeared in her hands.

A long, flexible blade connected by blackened, shimmering links. When swung, it looks like arcs of moving light and shadow.

It was a Shard, which has gone through three evolutions. As such, it could chant magic without any restriction. That Shard can bend the law of reality and make people believe what’s not true.

She is a formidable warrior, especially against a singular opponent.

Austin was that singular opponent.

He wasn’t scared...rather, a bit curious. While he was too far away from his full potential he wants to see how far he has traveled.

Fighting a being against whom he has a chance of victory, compared to an opponent who is completely out of his league.

....that made his heart tremble. It was exciting.

"Looking at that smile, I suppose you are not against me using my Shard?" Thea asked as she tightly held the chains of her Shard close to her chest.

"I wouldn’t have fought you otherwise," Austin spoke as he also wielded his dagger. The icy blue dagger faintly shimmered against the darkness her Shard was radiating.

At the moment, a hundred out of a hundred people would bet their money on Thea. That shows the difference between their abilities and experiences.

However, standing before her, the blond Prince didn’t show a single sign of being nervous or hesitant.

Thea grinned, "Let’s have a bet then. If you catch me within a minute, I will fulfill one of your wishes. And if you can’t...well, I will have you massage me."

Austin didn’t say anything and got into a battle stance. Catching her, huh? That wouldn’t be that hard.

He knew exactly how to do that.

There was no referee. No signal.

They locked eyes.

A moment passed, and then—

*ZIIIIIP*

She swung her blade, aiming to create body doubles—however, she was rather baffled to see her opponent throwing his dagger at her—a bad move in her eyes.

She didn’t stop her blade in drawing a full circle over her head—a necessary ritual she needs to perform to bring her body doubles to life.

Her head tilted to the left, having the trajectory of the dagger calculated.

However, just as her blade reached above her head and Austin’s dagger reached inches away from her face,

**THUNK**

Thea’s eyes widened as her blade fell over her head and she staggered back.

The huge shockwave shook the whole floor, making Darius pause in his tracks to check what caused such an effect.

Thea dodged the dagger, which changed its trajectory in time, and looked at Austin, who stood there with a pair of hammers in his hand.

’Is...that his Shard? And he threw the dagger to distract me?’ She was now impressed.

Licking her lips, she said, "You have potential."

"However, you couldn’t stop me." Another voice resonated from behind and Austin swung his hammer on instincts.

The Thea behind him jumped over his hammer, pushing it down with such elegance that it felt like she was dancing.

A grin split her face, as she backflipped and kicked Austin’s chin—throwing him off balance.

"I desired only to tease you a bit." Another Thea appeared behind him, resting her head on his shoulder and hugging him from behind.

Austin tried to grab her head, but the clone disappeared in thin smoke.

"But now...I wanna see how far you can go." Another Thea appeared before him, her hands locked behind her back and a child-like smile on her face.

Austin snickered, his Raijin appearing in his hand, thunder crackling from the weapons catching Thea’s attention for a moment.

Austin twirled high, his weapon becoming alive with live bolts.

Using a huge amount of his Soul Energy he sent lightning rumbling around him rather than aiming for Thea before him.

Thunder danced around, like a tree growing its roots, and the whole training hall was ignited with untamed lightning.

Austin swept his eyes across the room ..and he clicked his tongue upon finding more than two hundred Thea all around him.

’I thought I took her by surprise using God’s Wrath...guess, I was wrong.’ sending a shockwave during the ritual was his best opportunity...but he failed to surprise the S-rank.

"What happened, Junior? Can’t find me?" Her voice echoed ..and he knew it was the real Thea calling out...somewhere from the crowd.

"Do you want me to reveal myself? Is my poor baby lost?"

Not caring about her mockery, he focused.

He knew, if she wanted she could overwhelm him any moment. But she was just testing him here.

’I can’t fight them all...’ Each one of her clones is strong so he couldn’t waste time fighting all of them.

However, they are not S-ranks. Their attacking power and durability isn’t as strong....then, that means,

A thin smile bloomed on his lips as Austin suddenly tilted his head and looked at the far end of the room

It was a round arena.

The dimension wasn’t huge

He had enough Soul energy left to summon them.

As such, he didn’t think twice,

’Absolute Barrier.’

Two shimmering barriers appeared, one surrounding Austin and one aligned with the walls.

All the clones reacted the same, just like how their master reacted.

Shock.

A warrior having more than one Shard was one thing...but a barrier magic?

Austin didn’t give her time to process everything and instantly sent the two barriers toward each other with all the force

The clones started to get destroyed at a rapid pace and couldn’t resist the force of the Absolute Barrier, which was practically indestructible.

However, at some point, Austin found a warning that appeared before him.

The barrier wasn’t able to move further.

Reason?

An actual obstruction appeared in the arena.

Drawing closer to the woman, Austin said, "Caught you, senior~"

Thea stood there, unamused. Her hands folded, and the Absolute Barrier pressed her from behind and front.

"You got a whole deck of aces in your back pocket."

Austin shrugged, as he pulled the Absolute Barrier back and allowed her some breathing space.

Heaving a long sigh, she said, "Okay, you won. What do you want?"

Austin parted his lips and relayed his request.

Hearing those words, Thea’s mind went numb.

"F-For real?"

Austin nodded, "That’s my plan B if plan A fails."

Thea took a strong gulp, "How...will I get to see his real form?"

Austin extended a paper in her direction, "Here, I have drawn it."

Thea took the paper, her eye still holding hesitation.

However, she couldn’t deny the fact that it was an excellent backup plan.

"If this is not enough I will ask Selner to help us connect our minds. I know exactly how he looks."

Thea was flabbergasted.

Looking at the teenager, she couldn’t help but think,

’Really...this kid is the real deal.’

°°°°°°°°°

A/N:- Thanks for reading.