God of Tricksters

Skill: Golden Leaf

Effect: Turning a normal leaf into a gold leaf and imbuing it with the power of the explosion.

Theo was shocked that a tree would even have anything related to explosion and fire, considering it could burn itself.

'This tree is taking the words 'Playing with fire' to a whole new level.' Theo gasped while flapping his wings, stopping his advance. After that, he summoned numerous Magic Bullets, shooting down the leaves.

Whenever the bullet hit, the leaf would explode and cause a chain reaction with the leaves around it.

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

There were thousands of small explosions in rapid succession, generating a powerful shock wave. Even Theo got pushed back by the shock wave.

'All right. With this, I have seen all the skills of this tree, except for the Explosive Fruit. I thought this fruit was just abnormal, but the tree has a Fire Element. Imagine having a tree with a fire element… Now that I think about it, won't this tree be a perfect tree for a campfire? Since its power is fire, it can generate fire endlessly without burning the tree down.'

Theo chuckled. The battle was already hard, so he tried to make a simple joke in his heart to lessen his pressure.

Of course, it didn't mean Theo would lower his guard since the tree immediately sent more golden leaves through the white smoke that the explosions created.

Theo flew into the sky, avoiding all these tree leaves.

He soon noticed that some of the leaves had changed their direction.

"Hmm? Not good." Theo glanced at the leaves that flew toward the army. If he let them be, the leaves would explode and kill many soldiers.

On the other hand, if he stopped and changed his direction, the leaves would hit him.

"Tsk."

As if knowing Theo had a hard time fighting the world tree, Alexa said something through the radio, which Theo barely heard due to his current size.

"It seems that you're in trouble. I'm going to utilize a bit more of my power. Your raw strength is not the only thing I can increase, my Authority can also enhance your abilities. How about creating a wall that blocks those leaves? I'll handle the rest."

Theo was startled at first but decided to trust Alexa since they had an agreement and there was no benefit for Alexa if she betrayed him.

Theo strengthened the air and formed a transparent barrier. Suddenly, the barrier was enveloped with a blue aura, blocking the leaves.

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

To his surprise, Theo didn't feel too much of a burden when blocking those leaves. It was proof that Alexa's ability worked.

Without hesitation, Theo flew back toward the army to place a barrier that stopped all the leaves.

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

After blocking all the leaves, Theo returned to his human form and muttered, "Come on. If you have an ability like that, you should have told me from the start."

"I was planning to hide it for a bit longer because of the consumption issue. It's like one of your abilities… I can see that when you use that ability, your Order Energy is drained by a significant amount. This is the same. The longer I use it, the bigger the energy consumption is. So, I don't want you to rely on it that much."

Theo realized the ability was similar to his Alter Ego instead of his three big laws. Still, it was truly a powerful ability, considering his ability could go beyond S Rank for a moment.

Of course, it couldn't reach the unknown rank like the peak World Re-Creation Skill, but its strength was in between.

Still, he found out about this ability a bit too late. He had returned to his original position, meaning the tree would regain its advantage.

"This might be the hardest opponent I've faced so far," Theo muttered. "Even more annoying than the shark and scorpion."

"Where is your clone?"

"I wouldn't bring you here if I had it with me right now. Though, I might have to change my approach after this…" Theo observed the tree for a bit.

"I understand. How do you want me to help you? Should I make an appearance?"

"No, not yet." Theo shook his head. "For now, I want you to focus on boosting my defense. Can you?"

"It's easy."

"That's enough. I'm going to risk my life a bit this time." Theo took a deep breath and took out his Skylink, calling a number. "Please begin."

"Understood." Surprisingly, Maya's voice was the one coming out of his Skylink. No one knew what Theo was thinking at the moment, but it was clear he had some methods to defeat the tree.

However, the Mafia Queen couldn't help but say something she had noticed for a while. "By the way, you might be too occupied with the World Class Monster… Let's just call this thing World Tree. Anyway, have you noticed that there is no King Class Monster accompanying this World Tree?"

"Of course. Though, I'm pretty sure the King Class Monster is somewhere around here."

"So, do you need me to step up? Although I don't have any confidence in defeating a World Class Monster, I should have no problem in killing a King Class Monster or two."

"I have told you from the beginning. There is no need for you to make a move in this battle except to boost my ability. Don't worry."

"Well, if you say it like that." The Mafia Queen seemed a little bit disappointed that she didn't have many contributions in this battle, but Theo must have had his reason. In fact, it seemed he was preparing for the next battle that might be bigger than the current battle.

So, she just followed his instructions this time.

The tree seemed to notice something different from Theo, considering he hadn't changed back to his dragon form, which seemed to be the most effective against him.

And to its surprise, Theo flew forward in his human form, challenging him with that small form.

Without hesitation, the World Tree raised its roots to stop Theo from advancing.

But before the roots could reach the height, two explosions suddenly struck the tip of the roots, bending it.

*Boom!*

*Boom!*

Theo smirked as if he had been waiting for this.