The two teams began to carry out their plan, and Stephen and Marco arrived at their destination in less than a second thanks to Stephen's teleportation ability. A gust of wind whipped Marco's hair as they appeared at the edge of the forest, the enemy base a blur of lights and shadows in the distance.
"Angela and Daniel are on their way," Marco notified their team through the communication device, his voice low and steady.
"Location?" Stephen inquired, his eyes already scanning the dense forest.
"On their way to 12 o'clock, about 20 meters from their base."
"Alright," Stephen said, a confident smirk on his face as he leaped from the tree, his body a silent shadow as he crept into the enemy base.
Marco's been keeping a careful eye on both Angela and Daniel, but in the last few moments, Daniel had vanished. "Oh no—no, no... Stephen, they knew our plan!" The urgent warning left his lips, but it was already too late. His voice was a frantic buzz in Stephen's ear.
"Found ya'," a voice purred behind him. Marco's eyes widened, a cold jolt of surprise shooting through him as Daniel appeared on the branch right beside him. His presence was a sudden, chilling weight in the air, like the cold breath of a ghost.
"How—" Marco started, but Daniel cut him off with a smug grin.
"We're just... far more intelligent than you guys," Daniel said, his face a mask of condescending triumph.
A slow grin spread across Marco's face. He snickered, then leaped down from the tree. He walked directly toward Daniel as his own form slowly, almost lazily, began to dematerialize into wisps of smoke.
"A clone—?!" Daniel blurted out, a flicker of genuine shock on his face. He whipped his head to the side, where the real Marco stood, clapping his hands together with a proud, theatrical flourish. "Seriously? How did Stephen foresee all of this?" Marco said, his voice dripping with playful mockery.
[Angela from Team Sol have been brought to the safe zone!]
"Angela?" Daniel's voice was a low growl. His hand slowly clenching into a fist, "What did you do?"
The cloned Marco, an illusion positioned perfectly to draw Daniel's full attention. This was the crucial bait, a calculated risk based on their knowledge of Daniel's character. They knew he couldn't resist a chance to confront and belittle his enemy before the finishing them off.
While Daniel was completely fixated on the clone, the real Marco moved through the forest's deep shadows, a silent predator. He ambushed Angela, who was heading straight for their base as planned. He struck swiftly and without warning, a whisper of motion in the dim light, and she fell unconscious to the ground before she could even react.
With Angela , Marco stepped out of the shadows, revealing his true location. Daniel's smug attitude was instantly replaced by a look of utter shock and raw fear as the full scope of the deception dawned on him. He had been played.
"How was it?" Marco asked in a mocking tone, his eyes glinting with a dangerous light.
He didn't waste a second celebrating Stephen's strategy. Instead, he raised his hands, his movements fluid and deliberate, and activated the next phase of his own trap.
Suddenly, Daniel couldn't move. He felt an invisible string tighten around his limbs, a constricting force he couldn't see or fight.
"YOU—" he began, but was cut off by the crackle of a voice from a communication device. It was Stephen, his voice strained with urgency.
"Marco? Where are you? Can you hurry up! So you can assist me here??" Stephen's voice crackled, laced with a hint of panic.
"Yes, dimwit, I know that," Marco replied without looking away, his focus unwavering.
"Then move faster!" Stephen yelled, the urgency in his voice now bordering on desperation.
Marco's hands moved in a practiced, fluid motion, like a master puppeteer. "Puppet Art: Second Phase—Golden String of the Night God Mynk!" he chanted.
A horrifying, guttural scream ripped through the forest as Daniel was ensnared in a web of luminous golden strings. The threads shimmered in the gloom, slicing into his skin and drawing bright crimson lines. Blood dripped onto the mossy forest floor, and Marco, after he was done with his job, turned and raced off into the forest to find Stephen.
"What took you so long?!" Stephen yelled, panting as he dodged an attack, his body a blur of motion.
"You don't need me with your ability, you should have taken the Crown easily!" Marco yelled back, narrowly avoiding Leonel's star cannons.
"But Leonel's barrier keeps me from stealing the Crown! And Dashfrey's ghost friends are chasing me!" he argued, his voice a frantic mix of frustration and fear.
"You are truly hopeless..." Marco sighed, dashing towards a safe spot where he could analyze the situation and devise a new strategy.
A gigantic ghost with a gaping maw and glowing red eyes appeared in front of Stephen, its foul breath a tangible, sickening stench. The ghost pursued him relentlessly, its enormous form a looming threat. Even his teleportation was useless when the ghost caught him, its ectoplasmic form coiling around him.
"MARCO! PLEASE HELP!" he pleaded, his voice cracking. "This ghost's breath stinks and it gives me the worst headache!"
Marco was in a difficult position, his mind racing. "Hmm... Should I distract Leonel and destroy her barrier, or should I help Stephen, who might be taken to the safe zone?"
"MARCO! I'M GOING TO DIE! I'LL GIVE YOU HALF OF MY ALLOWANCE IF YOU HELP ME!" Stephen's negotiation made Marco smirk, a flash of amusement in his eyes.
"Or maybe both?" he mused, a new plan forming in his mind.
"Puppet Art: Dancing Dolls!" Marco chanted, his hands weaving complex patterns in the air. A shimmering energy pulsed outwards, causing everyone outside the barrier to dance, their movements jerky and uncontrolled like marionettes on invisible strings.
"So, what's the plan?" Stephen asked after finally escaping the ghost, his body trembling with exhaustion.
"Not so sure, but we've known each other for a long time... So we should be aware of each other's flaws," Marco muttered to himself.
"What?"
"How long has Leonel been putting up her barrier?"
"I'm not sure, but her barrier was already in place when I arrived."
"Ten minutes, max," Marco grunted, his eyes never leaving the pulsating barrier. "but with the offense spells she's chanting while holding it..." He snapped his fingers, a sharp sound cutting through the air. "...her barrier is about to shatter, and her chakra is almost gone."
"Uhh... okay," Stephen said, his eyes wide as he tried to connect the dots. "What about Dashfrey?"
"He had already depleted his chakra when he summoned that gigantic ghost."
"Then the game is in our favor?" Stephen celebrated, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"Not yet."
"Why so?"
"It was not yet announced that Daniel had already been taken to the safe zone."
"Should I head back to our base?" Stephen asked.
"No need, we have the paper bird with us. Also, Cloud and Shade would've done their best to guard the crown. It will inform us if they have already killed all of Cloud's paper clone spell."
"Yeah."
"We will focus on these two psychos and fight them," Marco said, a fierce glare in his eyes as he gave a cheeky smile to their enemies.
After a few minutes, the ghost and barrier vanished in a puff of smoke and a ripple of light, and both teams attacked with their magic. Leonel, a skilled and clever princess of the Freyr family, quickly countered them, her hands a blur of motion as she wove offensive spells. Dashfrey Vale launched another attack, a surge of dark energy that tossed the two of them aside.
"Puppet Magic: First Phase— Silver String of the Moon Princess!" Marco cast a spell, his voice a clear command. A shimmering web of silver strings erupted from his fingertips, imprisoning both of their adversaries.
"Now's your chance, Stephen!"
"Alright!" Stephen teleported behind Dashfrey to steal the Crown, but his body suddenly stopped, as if frozen in time, and he fell to the floor, his muscles locked.
"What the heck are you doing?" Marco yelled, his voice a mix of frustration.
"I can't move!"
"Meh~ I asked for a ghost to possess his body," Dashfrey chuckled, a triumphant look on his face.
"Puppet Art: 2nd Phase— Golden String of the Night God Mynk!" Marco's string doubled its strength and grip, the golden threads tightening until they cut into its victims' skin with ease.
"AAAAAGHH!" both Dashfrey and his ghosts underlings screamed in agony, their faces contorted in pain.
Followed by Stephen's scream, "AAAAAHH!" the spirit inside him caused him immense pain, his body thrashing against the invisible force.
"The... MORE YOU— GIVE US PAIN— THE MORE... HE WILL SUFFER TOO!" Dashfrey's words, laced with agony, were a chilling threat.
"What a drag," Marco sighed, about to let go of the strings when Stephen intervened, his voice strained.
"Let me use my other ability!" Stephen pleaded, his voice a desperate whisper.
"No! You can't!"
"But we can't lose too!"
"Our older brother entrusted me with keeping you from using it!"
"But—"
The screen above the battlefield flashed "Team Sol won Set C!"
The two teams were immediately transferred to a safe zone to recover from their injuries, their bodies aching and battered.
"We! Could've won! If you'd let me use it from the start!" Stephen hissed, his anger palpable, his body still trembling.
"And you also don't want our brother to scold us, do you?" Marco calmly replied, he was extremely patient with Stephen today.
"Well... yeah..." Stephen averted his gaze, the fight draining from him.
"When the time comes, our brother will teach you how to use that power properly, and by then, I don't have to stop you from using it anymore." Marco patted Stephen on the shoulder, a rare show of affection, and walked away, leaving Stephen to ponder his words.