Once he was done speaking, Zhao Yao stole a quick look at the mission panel . Out of the maximum of 1,000 experience points, he had only chalked up 200 so far .

He narrowed his eyebrows . "This Faceless guy is unexpectedly resilient . I shall have to wear him down bit by bit . "

An instant defeat would not enable him to milk this mission of all its worth . He theorized that the best way was to drive him deep into despair by repeatedly getting his hopes up, then das.h.i.+ng them every time .

In the meantime, the apostles in the hall were still trying to piece together what had happened . The Headless Horseman had taken them down so quickly that they were not too sure what he did . All they knew for sure was that he was incredibly powerful .

The greed and fervor in their eyes had transformed into fear and suspicion . No one dared to make a move even after all his trash talk . They were still recovering from the mysterious pain that jolted them awake .

Their hesitance was nerve-wracking for Faceless . These apostles were his last hope . Without them, nothing stood between the Headless Horseman and himself . He could not allow that to happen .

"Don't panic," he said bracingly, "If he's that good, he would've skipped the smack talk and jumped straight into the fighting . It's obvious that he's hiding a weakness . Perhaps his power depletes after a short time . "

His words were received with mixed responses . Some apostles seemed to buy it, some definitely did not . Others looked deep in thought . None of them moved or showed any signs of taking action first .

These apostles were not friends or allies after all . Why would anyone sacrifice themselves be on the frontlines?

Zhao Yao was starting to grow impatient .

"No one wants to go first?" he asked, "Fine, I'll go first . Just so you know, none of you are getting out of here from this moment . "

With a flick of his finger, the golden force field that surrounded him morphed into a beam of light . It rocketed through the air and rammed right into a j.a.panese apostle, whom spat a mouthful of blood as he flew across the hall .

Zhao Yao then traced a horizontal line with his finger . This time, the beam of light transformed into giant waves of energy that swept past a group of other j.a.panese apostles, knocking them off their feet and onto their backs .

This was, of course, just a small fraction of his powers . He had to hold back so that his opponents would harbor the hope that they could beat him .

" Bakayaro ," Shuiichi Nanno cursed .

He was glaring at the Headless Horseman was burning rage . A sinister shadow had made its way around the katana that he was gripping, wrapping it in darkness .

He lunged for Zhao Yao .

While his mastery of the shadow powers was not yet on par with Is.h.i.+da's, he was able to elegantly integrate them with swordplay . His katana was specially designed to accommodate that . Its unique protrusions ensured that shadows were always cast on the blade, offering an endless pool of power to draw from .

Shuiichi Nanno might not be able to become a shadow, but he can cause just as much damage as Is.h.i.+da .

The moment he stuck his katana towards Zhao Yao, hundreds of shadows emerged from, all heading straight for the target .

The shadows moved swiftly, coming nose to nose with Zhao Yao in an instant . They were about to pierce right through him when he vanished and reappeared three meters away .

Shuiichi narrowed his eyes, "He can teleport too? Darn it . "

In truth,

truth, Zhao Yao had simply moved the dimension doorway .

There was an impish grin on his face as he sent dozens of golden energy waves through the air, this time at five apostles from Singapore . The men let out a roar of anger in unison as they wielded their lightsabers . They swung the lightsabers around, effectively blocking the incoming onslaught . Only one of them was hurt . He took a few steps back as he hissed in pain .

Once again, Zhao Yao was holding back . He wanted them to think that they stood a chance against him . Also, he had no wish to lay all his cards on the table .

Secrecy can keep an apostle alive . A person who knows all your powers knows your weaknesses too . This was why Zhao Yao had never unleashed all of them in real life . The only chance he could do so was in the dream, where witnesses would not be able to discern which powers were real and which were fake .

To him, TimeFreeze and his ability to resurrect himself had to be kept secret . They were his trump cards .

While the five men backed off, Shuiichi Nanno had not stopped trying to get to Zhao Yao . He continued to release shadow figures even though they were easily crushed by his opponent .

He shouted at the Singaporeans, "What are you waiting for? He's not going to let us off even if we surrender . "

"He's right," one of the men said, "We've got to work together to take him down!"

This seemed to tickle Zhao Yao, who started laughing joyfully .

"You should listen to him," he advised the men, "Come on, attack at the same time . If not, you won't even have a chance to escape . "

He then flicked his finger again, producing hundreds of the same golden waves . They shot upwards, then started raining on the crowd like shooting stars .

No one was safe .

The rest of the apostles had no choice but to use their powers to protect themselves however they could . Some were screaming in fear, others in rage, and they released all that tension by attacking Zhao Yao at last .

Faceless could not help the smile on his face .

"Yes! He's not G.o.d . With so many apostles charging at him at once, he's not going to survive!"

His heart was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with hope .

Zhao Yao dodged each and every attack that was sent his way .

Shuiichi Nanno's voice could be heard despite the commotion, "He teleports! Aim for the areas where he could teleport to next! Listen to my command!"

Under his leaders.h.i.+p, the mad scramble gradually transformed into a systematic attack . In no time, the apostles began to close in on Zhao Yao, reducing the amount of s.p.a.ce he could jump to avoid them .

The Singaporeans did not take part in the action . They scattered to five different spots in the hall . They were still holding onto their lightsabers, which were vibrating very violently . It was as if a tremendous amount of energy had been condensed in them and it was dying to be unleashed .

They watched as the Headless Horseman was eventually forced into the center of the hall in a bid to dodge the string of attacks .

It was time .

Diran, one of the Singaporeans, struck as quickly and suddenly as a viper that had been lying in wait . The lightsaber in his hand flew straight up towards the ceiling, then barreled down at Zhao Yao .

All along, he had been waiting patiently for the Headless Horseman to be close enough to attack .

A flash of joy shone in Diran's eyes as the lightsaber was about to make contact with the top of Zhao Yao's head .

"My undulating lightsaber can slice through army tanks like a knife through fruit! Once he's. .h.i.t, he's a dead man!"

His happiness was short-lived . Zhao Yao lifted a finger cloaked in gold above his head, effectively blocking the lightsaber from touching him . Army tanks might be powerless in the face of the undulating lightsaber, but it was no match against the deflective field .

"What?" Diran gaped in disbelief .

He was still processing what he was seeing when he felt an intense pain radiating from his chest . In the next moment, he was thrown off his feet and sent flying across the hall . He knocked through two walls before landing in a heap of cement and rubble, unconscious .

Diran - Out .

His failure reverberated through the hall like a warning . The golden waves that fanned around the Headless Horseman suddenly seemed a lot more lethal than before .

Shuiichi Nanno released a dozen more shadows . Together, they only managed to take down one ripple of Zhao Yao's energy waves .

"This is not good!" he yelled, worry spelled out clearly on his face, "He's been hiding the true depth of his powers . "

Garawa, another Singaporean apostle, was not going to let Diran's sacrifice be made in vain . He let out an angry huff before stepping forward to catapult his own lightsaber at Zhao Yao .

Once again, Zhao Yao's hand shot up to his face to stop the lightsaber from reaching him .

Garawa could only gawk as the Headless Horseman zoomed towards him at lightning speed, one hand crus.h.i.+ng the lightsaber . When he appeared right before Garawa, the cylindrical weapon had been squashed into a ball of light .

Wordlessly, Zhao Yao pressed the ball against Garawa's chest, flinging him across the hall .