[BONUS]


    "P-Pii?" Evie''s jaw dropped.


    How could that cute, adorable, harmless-looking pet turned into something else entirely?


    Pii only sent a purr in Evie''s way before it swiped its tail against Sebastian when it charged to Ren''s location.


    "Pii, no!" Ren shouted, but it was toote.


    Pii''s tail hit Sebastian right on the torso, and the Centaur flew meters away, its HP decreasing to half.


    "Sebastian!" Evie screamed.


    Ren cursed in his head. His only issue with Pii was that he couldn''t give it instructions on who to attack first. Pii would target all of his enemies, especially the ones attacking him.


    "Evie, cast Butterfly of Deceit, now!" Ren instructed when he saw Regard move from his spot. The flute in his hand was lifted to his mouth, and a melody started to fill the once-silent ce.


    The melody reached Ren and Evie''s ears, but they escaped on time. Their clones took their ce inside the [Maze of Illusions] that Regard created.


    The melody also reached Pii''s ears, and for a while, it couldn''t move.


    Sebastian was healing himself at the side, shaking his head as if he was still trying to take control of his mind.


    It was good news that the Centaur wasn''t fully consumed yet.


    "Pii!" Ren shouted, but the little guy was stunned and frozen, and its once blue eyes crackling with energy and electricity turned duller.


    Could Pii have been trapped inside the illusion?


    If so, Ren felt dread eating his hope until he looked over at Evie. She should at least live and get Meriyaah''s item.


    Ren would do anything to keep her safe, even if he was to sacrifice some rare items in the process of doing so.


    "Evie, go and grab the second item. I''ll hold them off," Ren said and began to cast, aiming for Regard. With his spells and thebined damage of all his items, he was hoping to reduce Regard''s HP by more than ten thousand hit points.


    Evie didn''t think twice and teleported near where the item was located, but just as she did so, Sebastian blocked her way, and she narrowly dodged the iing axe.


    "Evie!" Ren shot a nce at Evie and sighed in relief when he saw that she was alright and could somehow hold her own against Sebastian.


    The Centaur was probably holding himself back, but it was only a matter of time before he lost control and started attacking Evie with all his might.


    Evie mustn''t die! Ren thought. Once she did, he was afraid that Meriyaah''s quest would be lost forever. She was the main character here, and she needed to get Meriyaah''s cloak.


    "Too bad . . . you should have just epted my offer. Now you''re all going to die here," said Regard before his flute made its way to his lips once more.


    Ren gnashed his teeth and didn''t waste any more time as he unleashed all the devastating spells in his arsenal together with all the duds and explosives in his inventory and threw it toward Regard''s direction.


    Ren didn''t y safe. All eight spells were [Inferno], and the st from the dozens of elemental duds was as strong as a nuclear bomb that could eliminate an entire country.


    However, Regard wasn''t just going to stand there and ept all the damage. With his AGL, he easily avoided the Duds but not without taking damage. He was forced to use his shield to block some of it and his flute to deflect others. But even so, he still took quite a bit of damage from Inferno.


    Inferno''s range was so wide that the other party couldn''t avoid it. Still. . . the damage wasn''t enough.


    – 2047!


    Ren''s eyes rounded. All those spells and items, but he only lost two thousand hit points? Just how high was Regard''s stat to be able to soak all that damage?


    Regard did have magic resistance skills, but those were eight Infernos, not to mention the duds and Ren''s high INT.


    Regard was like a mini World Boss at this point.


    "You''re pretty good," said Regard after patting the smoke off from his sleeves.


    "But I''m better."


    He then began ying his flute, and the melody crawled to Ren and Evie''s ears.


    Ren was immune to all status effects thanks to his equipment, but Evie wasn''t. And he was surprised when a ball of fire hit him on the side.


    The damage wasn''t much, and Ren was more shocked to find that Evie was targeting him with another round of fireballs.


    Great!


    Ren quickly evaded, even using [Butterfly of Deceit] on her, when Sebastian suddenly attacked and almost sliced her head off.


    "Evie, snap out of it!" Ren shouted, but it was no use.


    Evie was already affected by [Crazed], and she wasn''t in the right mind to respond.


    "Evie!"


    When Sebastian was about to attack again, Ren didn''t think twice and used [Teleport] just in time to take the blow that was supposed to end Evie''s life.


    Ren''s HP quickly went down before steadying into one. Just now, he activated Leonel''s skill [Last Stance] stored in his [Mind Pce], allowing him to take a deadly blow with one HP left.


    He then shot a wild torrent of water spells against Sebastian, enough to knock him off a good distance from them.


    However, Ren wasn''t out of the rocks just yet. At that exact time, Evie was prepared to hit him with her staff. With their close proximity it was just a matter of flexing her hand.


    Though her STR might becking to cause real damage, it could still ditch out one hit point, enough to kill Ren.


    Ren always believed that he would die in her hands one day. After all, she was his weakness and strength. But he wasn''t expecting that it would be too soon. And they weren''t even in a rtionship!


    And that exact moment, when Evie was about to hit Ren with her staff, a loud roar shook the earth, and all status effects on Ren and Evie were cleansed.


    Evie rapidly blinked before she shook her head. "W-wha . . . what happened?"


    Ren didn''t answer as his attention was stolen by Pii, whose eyes were beginning to return to normal. He guessed that Pii smashed right through the maze with its loud roar.


    Electricity crackled on Pii''s body once more, and its eyes turned to slit as it looked at Regard.


    A melody yed in the area again, but Pii''s electric breath forcefully smashed its way through Regard''s defense, hitting him directly and chipping hundred of thousands of his hit points in one mighty st.


    After everything settled, smoke rose from Regard''s body. Burn marks were scattered across his face, but it was healed within seconds. However, his prized flute, the [Angelic Advent], an artifact he cherished, was turning into ashes.


    "Looks like I underestimated you," he said, catching his breath. He closed his eyes, clutching his stomach and grunting in pain.


    His hair was disheveled, and his robe was in tatters, but he never looked so handsome when he opened his eyes and smiled at Evie.


    "But the next time that we meet, I won''t go easy on you anymore."


    Next time? Will there be a next time?! Ren thought. Why did this suddenly turn into some sort of drama where the antagonist falls in love with the protagonist? This wasn''t that kind of story!


    Ren already had enough rivals for Evie''s affection back in the real world. And now, even an NPC was vying for her attention as well?


    ( . . . continuation on NOTES)


    ----


    A/N (Doesn''t consume coins)


    We didn''t use so much spells and skills here because I''m nning to reserve it in the finale of their next meeting. Don''t worry, Sebastian and Regard''s stat panels wont be repeated again by that time.


    By the way, like I said previously, stat panels aren''t fillers. It even summarize the otherwise lengthily exnation paragraphs and it''s easier for me to get back and read it again if I forgot.