"Aim for his life."
Now that the barrier had been broken, all Experts from the Griffith Family had one job to do. They needed to kill Theo without injuring the pope when the barrier was still down.
Right before they released their power, Theo summoned his clone, sending it to their leader.
"Hmph. Useless struggle!" The leader snorted while focusing on Clone Theo. "I'll handle the clone."
As soon as he said those words, he redirected his attack toward Clone Theo.
This situation made Theo happy as he rushed toward the leader with his fastest speed. After that, he waved his hand and cut the leader's feet while using his Illusion Manipulation to control the pain he felt.
"!!!" The leader's body was shaken by the pain, but he didn't let out a single scream.
"What?!" Theo widened his eyes, never expecting someone to withstand this attack. There were only two options left. Either he used another type of illusion or he charged at him.
In an instant, Theo came to a conclusion and increased his speed, trying to close the gap between them.
The man was ready to use his skill to obliterate the clone.
Clone Theo raised his hand, utilized his Illusion Construct, and formed a big white cloud that covered their visions.
"Smoke Screen? You won't be able to do anything." The Mythical Rank Expert could still sense Theo's Magic Power, so it was impossible for him to get away from this attack.
The leader launched his attack forward, trying to destroy Clone Theo.
But when the attack was about to hit the clone, another two figures appeared right in the attack path.
"?!" The leader was bewildered when he felt these two presences. After all, they were not supposed to be there.
His doubt was answered soon when another four figures appeared next to him. The first one stopped his attack while the other three waved their blades at his throat to kill him.
The leader couldn't understand what had happened earlier. He simply ducked down to avoid all these blades. But these new people were far too good as each blade could still reach the body.
The three blades cut the leader's right arm, made a huge wound on the side of the stomach, and severed his right knee.
"!!!" The leader widened his eyes, never expecting to be in this situation in an instant.
Without them realizing, the two presences inside the smoke soon disappeared again, forcing the other three to go back.
Seeing the incoming attack from the Mythical Rank Experts, the new people that just came out earlier immediately protected the pope with their strength.
"…" The leader gritted his teeth while wondering what had just happened.
Theo, on the other hand, clicked his tongue when he saw the leader was still alive. It was clear that his target was to eliminate all these experts. But the leader seemed to be stronger than he expected.
"What just happened?"
"Leader?"
The Griffith Family's experts were covered with sweats, wondering what they should do now that they had known about such a thing.
The leader gritted his teeth and realized what had actually happened in the span of a few seconds.
'Impossible.' The leader gritted his teeth and leaped back, trying to get some distance from Theo and the pope. He thought, 'His clone was a fake to make me attack him. At that moment, the clone used the smokescreen to confuse everyone, but…
'He actually brought the pope right in front of the attack. With the mission of the four Great Holy Knights, they wouldn't have any choice other than to kill me.
'That kid immediately sent the pope back to Agata and the others before the rest attacked them. This resulted in the four Great Holy Knights coming back and protecting them.
'In other words, the shield breaking was the opportunity he needed this whole time. He chose me because I was the strongest one. Removing me would allow the pope to have an easier time.'
The leader finally understood Theo's train of thought. However, he believed that he and the other experts from the Griffith Family were strong enough to stop this plan.
Theo's original plan was to eliminate all of them, but the result was pretty disappointing, with only the leader being crippled.
"Still…" The leader gritted his teeth. Although he could withstand the pain, he couldn't do anything without an arm and a leg, let alone when the blood flowed out too much.
Even if he could survive, he wouldn't be able to fight anymore unless the pope agreed to heal him, which was close to impossible.
"Kill him!" The leader shouted out loud, giving the rest of his last order before falling to the ground, planning to kill himself with the fall. After all, if he survived with this kind of injury, he would be a problem that the family needed to take care.
On the other hand, if he died in the line of duty, there was still insurance money and the reward for doing the mission.
At the same time, he also made sure that the other four knew what to do.
"!!!" Those experts clenched their fists and accepted the order without hesitation. They were even more determined to defeat Theo.
At the same time, the four Great Holy Knights confronted Theo head-on.
"Oi, you brat. I don't care who you are and what you plan to do, but what you did earlier was dangerous. You had endangered the life of the pope." One of the Holy Knights said while glaring at Theo.
"They were the ones who attacked the pope."
"I don't care about all your words. All I know is if you did something like that again, I would kill you no matter what my superiors say." The Holy Knight harrumphed, not buying any of Theo's words.
"Unlike others, I don't fear you. You might be scary to others, but all I know is that the moment you try to harm the pope directly or indirectly, even if I need to die, you will need to suffer too…" The Holy Knight stated one last thing before moving away.