"Kellian, why are you hiding, my friend? We both know what just happened and what your situation is. Do you think you won't be found?" Zhu said as a subtle smile formed on his lips.
"I did hear about that great reputation of yours and how you challenged Jia last time. You know she is a part of my team? When I heard you not only insulted her but even threatened her, I thought you were nothing but an idiot who didn't know the height of the mountain you talked about climbing."
"But I'm genuinely impressed. You managed to kill everyone on this plane so easily. That was certainly impressive. That's why I've decided to do something I never thought I would do."
"And what would that be?" Kellian appeared near the entrance of the pilot's cabin.
"So there you are."
Everyone's attention was shifted to Zhu. Even Jia glared at him. So this bastard actually kept his words. He killed her the next time he saw her, and he did that so easily. She felt insulted. If it weren't for Zhu, she would be dead.
Jenilia also stood stunned. This was the first time she had experienced death like that. This was literally her second life.
She knew that she should've been more careful since she was so close to the war. If she had been more cautious, she wouldn't have died so easily. This showed how complacent the Warlocks were since they were inside such a safe plane.
The cat stood near Zhu, being the focus for Kellian, who was thinking of a way to take it out. It didn't matter if he wasn't able to kill Zhu here, but he couldn't let that Summoned Beast exist here.
With the cat, it was going to be impossible for him or anyone else to defeat Zhu.
"As I said, I have a proposal for you. Since you're actually pretty talented, I want to offer you a position besides me. Join the Warlocks Council."
Zhu extended his hand towards Kellian.
"Why should I do that?"
As Kellian tried to keep him engaged, the shadow of the small cat started rising under the small cat.
"Because you wo-"
Zhu tried to answer but stopped as he smiled, noticing the cat teleporting on his other side, leaving that shadow behind.
"So you were trying to take the little guy out? My young friend, let me tell you. You see how hard it is to kill me with this little guy around?" Zhu pointed towards the snake in his hand. "Now multiply that difficulty by a thousand, and that's how hard it is to kill the other guy."
"Why else would I not be keeping him close to my heart before you?" He smiled. "So you must understand your circumstances first. You can't kill me. And you surely can't even touch the little guy."
"So why even fight? You should be happy that I'm giving you an opportunity to get out of this mess. And all you have to do is join my side. You'll see the results. What else can I offer you? I'm already offering you your life. Isn't that the best thing?"
' Teleportation, Sensing danger, time reversal.' Kellian could guess some abilities of the beast. For someone like that to be summoned here? No wonder a Summoning Circle was needed. It was a powerful cat.
He scratched the back of his head as he wondered what he could do. He believed that he could still kill most of the other Warlocks, at least as they were still distracted by him, but what was that going to achieve?
That cat was going to bring them all back. And it was only going to waste his own time. But he couldn't back off either. The others were depending on him.
But he also knew that he didn't need to surrender and join their side just to save himself. If he wanted, he could easily escape from their midst as if he was never there.
"Think fast. I won't give you all day. Your friends have started destroying our pawns, and I am also getting eager to finish the battle fast. So do you choose to come to our side, or do you surrender?"
"I have already decided." Kellian turned into a shadow that split into fifty parts, all going in different directions. Most of them flew towards the Warlocks, while quite a few went in random directions as well.
It was impossible for anyone to know which one was real. One such shadow was the real one which had sneaked to the doors in the confusion.
It easily snuck out of the plane, leaving his other shadows running everywhere inside as bait.
The Warlock Council members wanted to attack, but they were stopped by Zhu. 'You don't need to bother. None of them are real."
Outside the plane, Kellian turned to the shadow of an Eagle and flew straight to Jean.
Reaching her, he came to his human form.
Tristan and Dallas also ran up to him along with Uzuki, who was mostly useless in all this since he was a close range fighter. He couldn't attack the fighter jets that were all destroyed.
"What happened inside? We saw the Plane crash and Warlocks falling out, but everything disappeared, and we were back in time. Did it not go as planned?" Jean asked, seeing the planes that were perfectly fine.
"The enemy is stronger than I thought. He's a powerful summoner who has two powerful beasts. One can protect him with shields that fire back needles. The other beast is even worse since it can reverse time," Kellian explained.
"It can also teleport and have a high sense of danger. It seems tough to kill that beast as well," he added before glancing at Jean. "Give me the earpiece back."
As Jean returned the earpiece, Kellian inserted it in his ears and contacted Lucifer.
He informed Lucifer everything that had happened before he continued, saying that they couldn't win the war. He wanted his team to have a strategic retreat.
Soon he walked back to his team. "It's final. We're leaving."
"We're running away?" Tristan asked, frowning. "A swordsman never runs! I don't care how high his defense is. I shall shatter it with my sword!"
"Tristan, it's not the time to be stubborn. It's not running away. It's only a tactical retreat. We need more planning and more time to take on him. He isn't an enemy we can defeat with brute force. We need to be clever about it!"
"Now, don't argue and come with me! That's an order," he stated firmly before he started walking to one of the few helicopters that were still safe from the explosion.