With time trickling down, William and Letisia’s minds went into overdrive almost taken over by a primal instinct as they attacked Sylvester ruthless ferocity.

“Spirit fire!” William shouted as three fireballs that had a blue hue floated beside him. Upon command these three fireballs launched themselves towards Sylvester who dropped down and sank into the theatre he conjured in mid air, escaping the attack with ease.

The blue fireballs then exploded causing something strange to happen that caught William’s eye. The stage, while undamaged, swayed and rippled like smoke for a split second.

“That’s weird, what kind of illusion is this?” He quietly contemplated in his mind.

He then appeared once again hovering over the pair but standing up while upside down, his coat-tails even pointing upward. He then smiled as he taunted those who looked from below.

“Come on now. We don’t have all day!” Sylvester declared as he sank upward, narrowly avoiding another spell from the duo.

Despite the ferocity of their attacks, Sylvester himself didn’t seem keen on going on the offense himself and was satisfied with simply running away, taunting William and Letisia as he escaped time and time again.

“Tick tock tick tock!” Sylvester yelled. “I wonder how many seconds or minutes have passed?” He said as he once again disappeared.

“COWARD!” Letisia shouted. “Don’t you have any pride? Come out and fight!” Venting out her frustration as she prepared another spell.

“The goal is to secure the treasure, not to eliminate other participants. I am completely satisfied with just doing this. Oh and a little more than 6 minutes left.” Sylvester teasingly replied in response to the provocation.

“Damn it!” Letisia screamed.

“We need to change our tactics. Let’s try immobilizing him this time. Do you have any binding spells?” William asked Letisia.

“Yes I do, but I don’t think it’s gonna work.” Letisia argued.

“It won’t work if we’re the only ones putting pressure on him, we need a little bit of help!” William declared.

“Help? from who?” Letisia asked as she looked at William with one of her eyebrows raised. William then knelt down and touched the ground and noticed another weird detail.

“Huh, it’s still just the same kind of rocky texture it had before. The room is now just one weird theatre with a smooth floor and yet why does it still feel so rough to the touch?” He thought to himself as he was starting to find clues on how to solve their opponent’s puzzle.

But with the clock ticking down, he had no choice but to try and piece the puzzle together on the fly. Right now he has to use his own trump card.

Closing his eyes in full concentration, he channeled his mana towards the ground beneath him as he silently prepared to chant his spell.

“Oh guardian, bound by word.” As he said those words a bright magic circle started forming underneath him.

“Heed your promise and answer my call!” He declared as the circle started glowing a brilliant light, something that caught Sylvester’s attention.

“Oh, seems like you are trying something new there huh? Well now. I look forward to it.” He said as he cast down a smile. William however looked him in the eye and returned a few words of his own.

“Let’s see if you’re still smiling after you see this!” Come out! Earth Lion!” William shouted and soon a beast started to take form as the stone underneath crumbled and reformed, and even now William still seems to be noticing something off.

“Huh that’s weird, why does the ground not crack at all and yet I’m sure the material underneath is being reformed into my summon.” He quietly contemplated as he looked at Sylvester once again who looked like he was also observing him in turn.

Sylvester then gave him nothing more than another sly and smug smile as William’s beast takes shape.

True to its namesake, it was a large lion made of stone and earth. It let out a lifelike roar as if announcing its presence to the world. Like a real lion trying to intimidate a foe.

“That’s an elemental beast. But how? You’re a third rate mage!” Letisia commented in her disbelief, still unwilling to let go of what she thought William is.

“Really? Even now you still call me that? Oh whatever. The Earth Lion should be what we ne-” But before he could finish, Sylvester once again interrupted them.

“Oh I see now.” Sylvester once again spoke, his voice still playful and confident. “So that’s how you’re gonna go about this. Pretty smart actually.” He then dropped down on the ground, giving up the high ground completely, an action that bewildered William and Letisia.

“You plan to keep attacking me and eventually have me slip up am I right? This Lion of yours would really add to the pressure but it would be a shame if I were to call for some help of my own.” Sylvester smiled as he took out two cards from his coat.

“Come out, my Shikigami assistants!” He shouted as he threw those cards down into the ground. Smoke then puffed out from where they landed and slowly two figures came into view.

A western knight with heart motifs donning a sword and shield, and an eastern looking warrior, close to that of a samurai, that was riddled with spade motifs, wielding a bow and arrow.

“Now then, shall we play? Go, my assistants!” With those words, Sylvesteter’s own summons joined the fray and charged towards the stone lion and much to William’s surprise, Sylvester charged forward as well.

William and Letisia did not think much of this and reacted by immediately trying to restrain him as William used a root binding spell and Letisia called forth magical chains.

All of which however, missed their mark as Sylvester avoided them with ease. The two assistants then began to battle the large lion. The Knight of hearts blocked its blows and tried to counter attack while the spade archer shot in tandem.

Almost immediately, the advantage that William and Letisia were banking on vanished without a trace as the Lion started to get overwhelmed by summoned warriors.

Sylvester however, continued to charge forward focused solely on the lion and prepared a spell as he closed in. As William and Letisia once again tried to bind and stop his approach as he once again sank into the ground.

The Knight of hearts combined his sword and shield into one giant blade and swung it against the beast’s left arm, shattering it one hit. The archer then ran forward and kicked the lion’s jaw upward, forcing it to face the ceiling as Sylvester dropped down from thin air.

He then shoved his left hand inside the Lion’s mouth and uttered his words to trigger his spell.

“Flame implosion.” He declared as he immediately jumped off the lion to avoid another attempt of Letisia trying to bind him in chains.

As he jumped away the Lion then began to reel and roar as if it was in pain. Sylvester then gave out a satisfied smile as he called back his assistants and returned back into their card forms. He then avoided another rooting spell as he used the combo he had been using all this time; Trap door and Invisible platform.

The lion then shattered into a brilliant explosion, as orange flames burst from its body completely reducing it into nothing more than a pile of rubble.

The resulting explosion however seemed to stir the air as the image of the theatre once again fanned and wiggled like smoke. This time for certain, William was sure he had cracked the code.

As William deliberated what to do next, Sylvester’s hat started shaking.

He then took off the hat and immediately it spat out a small item that William and Letisia weren’t able to see as Sylvester quickly caught it in his hands.

Sylvester then opened his palm, his eyes widening upon seeing what item he was given. He then smiled as he let out a loud fit of laughter.

“I get it now!” Sylvester exclaimed. “So this is what the headmaster meant by being lucky!” He shouted in glee.

However, this was the opportunity William and Letisia were waiting for. Without hesitation William then decided to test out his theory about Sylvester’s illusions.

“Oh powerful and gale of destruction!” The air inside the room then started to stir as a small vortex formed around William.

“Blow away those that stand in your wake! Greater gale!” William then spread his hands far and wide as a strong gust of wind blew through the entire room.

“What the hell are you doing?” Letisia shouted as she shielded her eyes from the dust and dirt the mighty wind brought with it, but upon opening her eyes a sudden change in the surroundings caused her to stand in awe.

The image of the theatre was now distorted as parts of it seemed to have been disturbed and disorganized. Patches of dilapidated stone can now be seen all throughout barely covered by a faint layer of smoke.

“It worked! His illusions are based on some kind of mist or smoke!” William shouted in celebration. “Now Letisia! Don’t waste time, attack him!” He commanded, immediately snapping Letisia back to reality.

“Nimfell’s eradicator!” She shouted as a powerful beam of energy launched itself towards Sylvester’s position.

And yet Sylvester did not move.

He didn’t bother dodging the attack but instead, he threw away the item that was given to him, placed his hat back on his head, and positioned both hands in front of him like he was being arrested. He then smiled upon the confused duo as Letisia’s attack swallowed his figure.

Sylvester then fell down towards the ground as the traitor barrier’s effect triggered and bound him in ethereal chains, the lock positioned near his hands.

However, Sylvester didn’t seem phased as he landed on the ground gracefully, standing on his two feet despite being tied up.

William and Letisia could only look on to him with confused eyes as their opponent’s sly smile never left his lips despite being backed into the corner, or so they thought.

“How? How can he smile at a time like this!?” Letisia thought to herself as a cold sweat ran down her cheek.

“Thank you for that miss. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be able to use this pesky item. After all, one needs to improvise in case something doesn’t go as planned. Because no matter what happens, the show must go on. Point return!” He shouted as a metallic object came flying towards his hands.

Sylvester then opened his palm, revealing a small and shiny metallic object.

“Is that a key?” William blurted out.

“That’s right! And to make it more exciting, let me take off the wool in front of your eyes!” Sylvster smiled and the messed up theatre started to disappear.

But what was hidden behind that illusion was far more shocking than the illusion itself. Because the truth can be scarier than the lie.

“This.. This can’t be!” William yelled as he could not believe his eyes.

There were a great number of doors present everywhere in the room. Some were floating in mid air, dangling in different angles while others were attached to the ground and walls. There was even one right underneath Sylvester’s feet.

“What is all of this?” William asked as he drowned in bewilderment while Letisia had a more volatile reaction.

“Don’t let it distract you! Those are just mere illusions he created to trick us!” She declared causing Sylvester to laugh.

“Are they or are they not? What is real and what is fake?” He exclaimed in a boisterous tone. “Now onto my impromptu performance!”

“A classic act famously associated with the great Harry Houdini; an escape from binding chains!” He happily yelled.

“Less than 5 minutes left until the curtains close. Now dear heroes, catch me, if you can!” Sylvester then winked at William and Letisia as his figure fell down the door beneath.