The crowd's eyes turned from the certain doom before them to a single small human-shaped figure flying directly in front of it. A young boy pointed towards the figure who was carrying a large black and golden piece of cloth within their right hand.

“That’s the Demon Khan’s cape!” Doubt began to flow into the minds of the people and with it a faint hope despite the reality threatening to crush them. A single thought echoed in their minds, a prayer that this was all nothing but more theatrics.

Was this too all part of the show?

The mystery man lifted his right fist into as high as he could hold it. The cape fluttered in the wind like a flag of an approaching army. “Not bad, brother! You defeated the Demon Khan. Even though he was an old man by now it’s still quite impressive. Thank you for clearing the road for my rule! As always you cannot see the forest for the trees! When you slay the king it’s natural for all manner of pawns to scramble for the throne…!”

The audience had to peek between the rapid movements of the floating black and gold cloth to look at the face of the new player. Short and spiky raven black hair. Sharp and narrow midnight blue eyes. His skin was the colour of mahogany. He wore a privateers jacket coloured scarlet red with the collar popping out fiercely, the undergarments and trousers being pitch black.

Adil looked up at his brother with a look of sheer and utter befuddlement. The actor behind the Hero Adil was a C Rank Adventurer that found himself to earn more as a performer. His name was Alan and even he was doubting the validity of this situation. Once in a while, the Ringmaster would make Corai do something outrageous and he and the other actors had to deal with it and improv in the middle of a show.

He thought over the situation as quickly as he could.

If this was all part of the show he had to play along or else he’d ruin it. If that happened the Ringmaster would ruin him. Her ire was a rage that no one could stand in the way of.

If this was all real, then only two things came to mind. Either Corai had gone mad or he was hoping to stop people from panicking while someone else was coming up with a solution.

So there was nothing to lose. Corai looked down at him with a desperate gaze. It seemed both of them would be taking a double shift and understanding each other they decided to ham it up.

“B-brother!? How… is this possible? You died ten years ago…! W-what do you mean? You couldn’t possibly be intending to be-!”

“The next Demon Khan! Of course! However, I will not be like the previous tyrant. If you are the Hero of Light… then I am the Saviour of Shadow! I have waited for this moment for ten long years… hiding and bearing disgrace… all for this one moment! Today is the coronation of a new ruler! The Demon Khan Zelo! All pretenders shall fall for their foolish decisions to oppose me! Even the King of Terrors! Catch me if you can!”

Zelo threw the cape above him and as it began to fall its colour turned bright red and began to expand in size until it stretched out from one end of the city to another. For a brief second the Terror could not see the boasting mage. Then cape that had turned into a curtain of never before seen size then exploded into blue shards of mana that dissipated into the air.

The monsters rotting eyes now gazed upon hundreds of Demon Khans.

“Mwahahahaha!”

They all laughed at once and with the power of the amplify spell the voices raged across the skies and sang into the ears of all life nearby, booming constantly.

He was laying it on thick. It was both charming and irritating all at once. That’s exactly what he was aiming for. People cannot forget something catchy or memetic, whether they like it or not.

Grabbing peoples attention. Wanting to turn the next page… to rage or praise.

Bravado. Wanting to call his bluff. Even a beast that lost all rational thought would be turning his way. That was the goal and it was working like a charm.

Due to the lack of a magic stat Corai had, the amplify spell affected sounds in a very unique way when he poured MP into it. The sounds would grow louder as they should yet at the same time they did not interrupt any other sounds. This way the audience were able to talk and discuss with one another while the explosive effects carried on. Somehow his sounds could not affect the hearing of any other.

A perfect ability for a show, it was if used properly, functionally a music editor.

This world worked on the loose logic of a game.

Physics were defied and bent to the extremely unique circumstances Corai had.

Imagine watching a movie and being able to talk to your friends about what is going on without interrupting the experience for anyone else or damage your ability to hear the show.

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It would be impossible yet when Corai weaved magic it created this useless yet astonishing phenomenon. Perhaps it could be considered akin to a bug in a game system or a programming oversight. Whatever it was, it had been seemingly useless for the most part but now that he had a chance to really play with it… he steeled himself. Smiling despite his heart screaming in blood.

The Terror took two large steps forward, rumbling the earth and crushing several buildings in a single second. The various Zelo’s then gritted their teeth and scowled.

“You’re taking far too long! Very well challenger! I will take the fight to you!”

The army of useless magicians then flew forward in an arrowhead formation through the skies towards the giant. The colossus swung its right arm from its left shoulder to its right hip.

The motion passed through and tore apart every illusion that had been coming towards it.

The skies in front of the Terror were empty once more.

An explosion of sound and light burst from the earth!

“You’ll need to do better than that! A brute with nothing but force and tough skin cannot rule this world! I’ll prove it to you!” A single Zelo floated above the destroyed gate the monster had previously trampled over and was slowing soaring backwards towards the empty roads out of the city.

“Now, let’s play.” Zelo stretched his left arm forward and bent his palm back twice in a rapid motion. “Come on!” Just survive. His mind hammered those two words into steel that drove its way down his spine and showered his soul with wounds. He didn’t need to try and win.

He just needed to not lose.

The titan turned around slowly and began to advance towards the small man that had taunted him. With each step, the giant gained momentum, as if it was a bull getting ready to charge.

Zelo then began to travel backwards from his current position in sudden bursts, as if he was backstepping on an invisible surface while suspended in midair. Dashing back as if he was a character in a fighting game. All the while smirking cockily.

“Okay. It’s coming towards me now. I can get it away from the city… and then I guess I just have to distract it a little longer. Oh… crap!”

The Terror leapt at Zelo, jumping off the ground with a massive bound, becoming one gigantic hulk of massive armoured muscle.

“Supreme Spell: METEOR!”

This was a trick that Corai had learned. It only would work once or maybe twice against a target.

His spells obviously couldn’t deal damage but they could be huge. They looked threatening and it seemed life forms could sense the mana he funnelled into them. They would almost always back away or raise their guard from the first initial hit. He prayed with all his heart, it'd be the same with this monster… otherwise, he’d be strawberry jam smeared across the pavement.

A hurling and burning asteroid appeared at the highest point in the sky and began to fall towards the space between the Terror and Zelo! Corai’s prayers were answered.

The Terror stopped in its tracks, lifted both of its arms and prepared to guard against the sudden spell that had been brought towards it. Meteor was the strongest AOE spell that was known among the people of this world and somehow it seemed the creature knew that too.

The meteor slammed into the giant and… disappeared as if it was never really there.

In that short time frame, Zelo had relocated himself several meters back to give him some breathing room and was now standing triumphantly without fear. At least on the surface.

The beast was now wary, unsure what to make of what just happened and what other surprises were in store for it. If that had been a real meteor even the armoured Terror would not have escaped unscathed.

“Thank god that worked. The monster is smarter than it seems. That’s bad but at least it bought me a little time. Got to keep the theatrics going and dictate the pace of the fight. Just gotta keep it constantly rattled. Please, please, please... “

Zelo was smiling outside while Corai was shaking inside. Still, the show must go on.

“You’re not worthy of my time! Defeat my servants and then I’ll be willing to humour you for another round! Come! Neo Heavenly King! Storming Nebula Dragon!”

The clouds suddenly turned dark and began to accumulate together.

Twisting and turning into something. The wind began to spin and visible tornadoes were born before the monster’s eyes. Whenever Corai cast elemental magic the effects were again logic breaking. In this case, he could create tornados easily but hey had no actual suction.

They couldn’t drag anything in or repel anything out. Yet they were still there.

They were tornadoes that roared like a pack of rabid hunting hounds. Though truthfully they had all the bite of a newborn puppy.

The twisters and grey clouds mixed into one… until a divine beast had made its presence known within the heavens. A dragon made of living tornadoes and pulsating nimbus clouds.

Fangs of white and black while having two whiskers made of strips of waving electricity and three eyes made of ball lightning. It roared and the sound of fierce rain, shattering thunder and crushing hail rolled together into one terrifying resonance of rage.

It was all show. It couldn’t do a thing but make a light breeze with all the force of a feather.

It wouldn’t even be able to wipe a bead of sweat from your head in summer much less ease the stinging gaze of the sun.

Yet it captured the eyes of man and monster alike.

Corai had been saving some illusions for a special occasion. You don’t use all your best scripts or plot twists in the first act, that’ll lead to burnout, but well, it was time to let the rabbits out of the hat. It was certainly looking like now or never.

Magic for him was as fleeting as a dream.

Fire and lava that held no heat.

Air that moved nothing.

Lightning with no shock.

Water with no pressure or moisture.

Earth with no weight or mass.

If he made something it would return to where it came when dispelled with perfect accuracy.

When this dragon expired or is destroyed everything that made it would go back to its proper places, not having disturbed even a single thing. As if it was never there in the first place.

This would hold true for anything he crafted. It was there but it might as well never existed.

This was the magic of the useless master magician.

Mirages that promise you a dream, and like a dream you see it when you close your eyes and hope, and when you open them you’re left with a bittersweet memory.

2:00

He only had to continue his fake-outs of shock and awe for two more minutes.

As long as he can fool the world for a little bit longer…

The coward would taste sweet victory for the first time in forever.

He would be a hero. A Saviour of Shadow. It was all deception, smoke and mirrors.

It was unfair and underhanded but… who the hell cares?