"The Saint wants them alive."
"!!!" Theo raised his eyebrows, wondering who they called the Saint. Still, the situation wasn't good and they needed to escape right away.
After making a complete stop, Theo rushed to the dwarf. As long as he could somehow push him away, there was a chance to escape.
At the same time, he also checked the dwarf's identity, only to find it was still an unidentified creature. There seemed to be no dwarf data stored inside the Skylink, so Theo was disappointed as he didn't know the latter's strength.
Even then, he needed to try to fight him. He made sure a skill explanation didn't leave his vision as it might be the only chance he could use to surprise this dwarf.
Before Theo reached him, several spikes emerged from the floor and the ceiling to pierce his body.
Unexpectedly, the dwarf simply waved his hand and generated a powerful gale that shattered Agata's spikes into pieces.
"What? Impossible." Agata's eyes widened in disbelief. She never expected to see someone was able to destroy her spikes this easily.
But what destroyed her spikes turned out to be Theo's Magic Bullets. His plan in sneaking some Magic Bullets between Agata's spikes backfired as the gale made them explode, resulting in them destroying the spikes.
Clone Theo also came out and struck him with his fist. It had been covered with Magic Augmentation and Magic Power Expansion, so the impact was quite powerful.
Yet, the dwarf raised his left arm and somehow blocked him without any sign of moving.
Before he destroyed Clone Theo, the real body had arrived with his artifact. Since this was a life and death situation, he didn't hesitate to release all the power from his artifact while combining it with his Magic Augmentation and Magic Power Expansion.
"Hmm?" The dwarf frowned and raised his axe, striking Theo's spear.
The axe neutralized the Magic Power Expansion and still blew the spear to the side, ultimately slicing the clone on the left.
"That's a good spear… I guess I will handle you personally." The dwarf shook his head and grasped Theo's wrist.
Suddenly, a hundred Magic Bullets appeared out of thin air and flew straight to him.
The dwarf pulled Theo in and raised him as his shield.
Theo hurriedly controlled the Magic Bullets to loop around his body, but a shield appeared next to the dwarf, destroying the bullets from the left.
After that, he struck the bullets from the right side with his axe before spinning Theo's body.
Theo used his Telekinesis to regain his balance, but the dwarf already sensed his movement and slammed him to the ground.
Then, the dwarf sat on Theo's back while using his feet to step on Theo's arms. After subduing Theo, he grabbed the spear and inspected it. "A quite good spear."
"Kh." Theo summoned his Magic Bullets, but the dwarf simply swung his axe without even looking, destroying all the Magic Bullets.
He looked to the right and saw Ava being surrounded by six dwarves. He utilized his Awareness and realized Agata was apprehended by ten dwarves. They had knocked her on the ground and restrained her body.
Theo still required a few more seconds before he could use his Blink again, but that meant he needed to escape from this dwarf and rescue the other two.
Yet, in the back of his head, he had been seeing himself escaping without them. If it was only him, there was a chance of escaping.
This was the crossroad he needed to take. He soon realized making this decision was easier said than done.
He had told Agata that he couldn't picture himself sacrificing his life for them. Yet, when he was about to take action, there was a hesitation in his heart.
Whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, the dwarf gave him an ultimatum when he grabbed Theo's right hand and opened his palm.
"As expected, there is a Moonlight Order. Still, this is not the original Order… It's just a mark." The dwarf frowned and turned to Ava, muttering, "That girl is a Moon Rabbit. I sense the Order coming from her, but her power is not enough to manifest the power of Order.
"In other words… Her acquaintance… probably." The dwarf looked at Theo and asked, "Oi, boy. What's the relationship between you and the Moonlight Order's holder?"
"!!!" Theo maintained his poker face. He could use his Blink right now and he just needed to utilize it before using his ant form to escape.
However, the dwarf said, "No matter what, you can't escape from me. I should introduce myself I guess… I am the holder of Mountain Order, Elder Dwarf, Dourner. Even if you flee by leaving your friends behind, I will still be able to locate you as long as you're around the mountain.
"So, it's better to drop your resistance. At the very least, the Saint doesn't plan to kill you yet because of your connection with the Moonlight Order.
"Well, we want to kill you to be honest, since we can't afford to have anyone discover us. So, this is just a threat. Come with us and you three will have the chance to live or escape from me right now and you three will die immediately.
"The Saint wants you alive, but I can simply torture your two friends before your eyes. Oh, don't try to commit suicide… Even though the Saint said that, he still let me handle this problem, so I'm sure he can understand if I tell him you killed yourself."
"Order…" Theo clenched his fist and hesitated. "You're a King Class Monster."
"I don't know your classification and I don't really care much about it. But I think I am known as the Mountain King. That's why I am curious why the Moonlight King gave this proof of recognition to you.
"Considering the relationship you have with that little moon rabbit, I can somehow picture it, but that doesn't matter right now. I want your answer. Follow us or die."
"Theo! No need to think about me! Just escape!" Agata suddenly shouted, remembering what Theo told her. If it were Theo alone, he should be able to escape.
Even Ava shouted, "Theo! Escape!"
Theo truly wanted to escape, but he realized the danger was currently sitting on top of him. He loosened his hands and said, "It's impossible to run away from a King Class Monster, let alone a Mythical Rank Monster… We will follow you."
"Good… In that case, you should recall your clone…" The dwarf smirked and pointed at the end on the ground, proving that escape was impossible.