One-Eyed Monster

Clown Quinn called this attack ”Thousand Faces.”

As he described, hundreds and thousands of faces continuously appeared before Igor and Kadi, familiar and unfamiliar, amusing and sorrowful, all varieties.

”It doesn’t matter if you two don’t come at me together. Who said this battle is dictated by your terms? I can attack both of you simultaneously, hmph hmph hmph haha...” Clown Quinn continued to speak as he released energy, believing it was time to reap what he had sown.

Kadi, hearing Quinn’s words, seemed anxious. He jumped in front of Igor: ”Don’t come here, this fight is between you and me, don’t touch him!”

”Hehehe, it’s not up to you.” Clown Quinn extended his thick arms, crackling, his arms suddenly split open just like before, revealing countless smaller arms.

”This move again! It’s useless!” Kadi’s body trembled, flames enveloped him once more, this speed-induced fire was indeed unique.

”How could the same move be used twice? I’ve already said this is called Thousand Faces, we... have plenty more people...” Clown Quinn showed some impatience. After he spoke, his entire body swelled, and out of the fissures in his arms emerged a vast array of humanoids, big and small, fat and thin...

Igor was astonished, as he could clearly feel this was no illusion spell. Familiar with the World Setting Technique, as an expert illusion spell user, he could determine what was an illusion and what wasn’t, even with his eyes closed. It was evident that Clown Quinn’s ”Thousand Faces” was not an illusion, these were solid entities!

Kadi gritted his teeth: ”Igor, I told you not to make a move, so you won’t make a move. You have to trust me!”

”I have no doubt.” Although Igor was greatly concerned about the current situation, he still gave Kadi a firm response.

”Okay, then stay where you are, and watch me deal with this bastard!” Kadi, filled with righteous anger, had already gripped his Butterfly Blades tightly, bending his body, ready to confront the opponent at any moment.

”Don’t be ridiculous. As if you alone can stop my Thousand Faces, even people with a Thousand Hands take a long time to deal with them. Yet you’re still thinking of beating me!” Clown Quinn sneered, his entire body, now like an empty shell, seemingly had its contents evacuated.

The tiny figures emerging from his body charged towards Kadi and Igor in great numbers, like a swarm of mice.

Just as Quinn’s voice fell, a blue shadow suddenly darted out, swift as lightning, catching everyone off guard.

By the time Quinn fully reacted, his mouth was agape with shock.

Just like thunder following lightning, the unexpected blow thoroughly stunned Quinn.

All of his ”Thousand Faces,” which he released, suddenly collapsed, scattering haphazardly, their former menacing presence completely vanished.

”This... impossible!” Clown Quinn couldn’t believe his ”Thousand Faces” could collapse so quickly.

Igor was also amazed at this scene, but when he saw the burning Kadi return to stand before him, he was no longer surprised.

This was Simon’s technique, and Kadi had mastered it to perfection.

Clown Quinn recovered quickly, the splits in his body soon closed up, and those fallen ”Thousand Faces,” like mice, rushed back into his body. Yet, some couldn’t return, as they had already been rendered unresponsive by Kadi’s Butterfly Blades.

”This is surprising!” Clown Quinn said, looking at the gasping Kadi.

”I told you, this is a battle between you and me!” Kadi struggled to regain his strength, clearly expending a lot of energy, not enough to launch an immediate counterattack.

”I didn’t expect anyone to push me to this point.” Clown Quinn was also recovering, the sudden defeat of his ”Thousand Faces” caught him off guard. Now, he had to reassess the two opponents before him.

Earlier, he had underestimated them!

Igor quietly watched these two, understanding Kadi’s technique. Though the ”Thousand Faces” were numerous, Kadi relied on speed, defeating each with physique techniques. After all, Kadi preferred physical attacks over magical ones.

Kadi leveraged Meslo’s speed, with Simon’s steps, using swiftness and surprise to leave the ”Thousand Faces” defenseless, and most importantly, he tapped into the eye power Simon had taught him.

Simon, as agile as a cat, had an unpredictable step described as Devil’s Steps. Yet, who would have known the invincible Simon was, in fact, an Alchemist.

Simon held no secrets from Igor and Kadi; every creature of Guru Mountain had imparted their skills fully to these two youths, hoping they would carry forward their will and protect the world alongside them.

Simon’s Ghostly Steps relied on eye power, a capability derived from a potion exchanged through an alchemy equation. Only when one’s mind and body resonated with this potion, could its full power be unleashed. The potion’s power came from a Spider, a Cat, the equation discovered by Simon when creating the Exchange Beast — a force, indeed, born by chance.

Through eye power, Simon’s gaze transformed; all moving objects appeared significantly slower to him, possibly moving at five or six times slower than their original speed. This slow-motion allowed Simon to react quickly, dodging naturally, with steps that seemed inexplicable.

This power enabled Simon to always take his foes by surprise.

Simon once thought of imparting this potion’s power to the speed-advantaged Meslo, but regrettably, Meslo showed no response to the potion.

The same result occurred with Igor, who also couldn’t react to the potion, capable only of mastering the Devil’s Steps without grasping the eye power.

However, Kadi was lucky, not only did he not reject the potion, but he also adapted even better, each having their strengths. Kadi found it hard to imagine receiving Kuren’s power...

So now, Igor felt no concern for Kadi. Since Kadi could now harness the eye power, clearly, he wasn’t the reckless attacker he used to be.

The one who should be worried now is the Clown, for a serious Kadi is truly terrifying.

These ”Thousand Faces” are a perfect testament.

The lightning speed rendered any response futile. The combination of this speed and eye power is enough to give the Clown a headache.