Noah took a deep breath, and let his inhibitions flow through and then past him. This was showtime, and a mistake here would mean fighting face to face with the equivalent of a human encased in diamond.

‘Myriad Illusions: Minus Tempo,’ Noah mentally recited, and 5 phantoms charged towards the unguarded back of the Saemanis Sect Leader, two tenths of a second separating each one as they held [Soul Devourer] in their hands.

Noah would love to watch and see the effect of the new move he had created, but there was no time for that. There were only seconds before the first of his clones moved past the illusion curtain and made contact, and he had only a brief moment within which to act.

‘Pseudo-Primordial Spirit Transformation: Goblin Entrapper,’ Noah willed, and felt his exoskeleton transform. His skull was large and misshapen when in comparison to his modest frame, spindly yellow legs that touched the porous ground beneath with bare feet and slightly more muscular arms, feeling slightly off-balance yet awoken to the existence of an entire new world at the same time.

The ground, once a symbol of the eternal and unshakable earth, was now a pool of endless mystery and possibilities; or rather a boundless, endless ocean that was now his domain. For the first time, Noah could appreciate how truly magical the possibilities the tower offered were, and what a wonderous creature he had transformed into. With but a thought, Noah willed his body to skin into the ground. He felt an odd liquid ooze out of his sweat glands, a decidedly unpleasant experience, but this was hardly a time for propriety.

With a plunge he fell inside a pool of muddy water that surrounded him in his entirety, but for some reason he felt no discomfort or unease at what should be a positively suffocating experience; Just relaxation, for he was in his element.

Two loud ‘thunking’ noises roused Noah to trouble in paradise, and Noah looked above to see two indentations at the very top of his muddy pool, that were awfully like footprints. This was part of the plan, his own clones didn’t have any material weight, so it was easy to identify the source of the disturbance- It had to be his target.

A predatory, wolfish smirk erupted on Noah’s face, as he thought back upon his first encounter with the middle-aged man’s terrifyingly powerful primordial spirit- The material he incased himself in was so heavy that it caused the ground to crack and sink under his pressure… The Goblin Entrapper might be a pathetically weak primordial spirit under most scenarios, but against an enemy who’s only exploitable weakness was his own weight? Well….

Noah had been consistently wading towards the man’s changing moments- he estimated that the fourth clone had already struck and probably evaded by now and the fifth was on the verge of striking. This was the moment to strike- if he missed, it would be a catastrophic failure and his trump card would be exposed. He waved his hand on the area directly above his target, more liquid pouring out of his hand’s sweat glands, as he marveled at the ingenuity of the scheme he and Liam had brewed up while Azmahak and the rest were carrying their weight. Of course, he didn’t want to play the loyal little assassin and go fetch for that smug San Sect asshole, but until now he had no choice. Stealing from under the nose of four beings with considerably superior agility, strength and eyesight that could make out details from miles was an impossible endeavor… unless of course, they couldn’t see clearly what happened.

The middle-aged man slammed into the muddy pool with a loud splash, and Noah felt some pushback from it, instinctively releasing more of the liquid to resist the force. The man had landed sideways, and looked utterly bewildered- Noah had already burst out with a strike with every ounce of strength, dexterity and poise he could manage. He would not underestimate the foe at this crucial stage.

The man sensed the threat and turned to face Noah, but his movements were slower in the muddy pool, as he was facing resistance from the Earth. First seeing the puny goblin, his eyes glimmered with disdain, but when he turned to look at the dagger the man’s expression turned aghast with horror.

Unfortunately, it was the last thing the man ever saw, as Noah’s dagger struck true with purpose. He felt a horrific sensation that he would never wish to subject himself to again- as if the dagger had snipped a crucial thread that tied the man’s soul to the mortal realm, and his pupils turned white. Noah felt repulsion at his act, but he reminded himself that this was just an illusion and this exact same scene was playing out with God knows how many remaining challengers. Thankfully, the man’s crystal body stayed intact for now, though Noah saw the glowing light that symbolized the loot option was available.

Noah hurriedly pressed the button, not caring to see the results- he doused the man’s corpse with the fluid that allowed one to phase through soil, and punched downwards with strength- causing the traces of his actions to head for the Earth’s mantle, or well, the tower’s bottom, discarding the dagger along with it.

Next, equipped the [Mask of a Thousand Faces] and assumed his own appearance. He still needed the goblin form to wade back to the surface, and once he was half way above ground he stealthily cupped the mask in his left hand and started waving about, cancelling the transformation but effectively making no change in the outward image projected- just a half-submerged Noah desperately waving for help.

Azmahak sprinted towards him in his lizardman form and was there the next instant, transforming back into a human and pulling him out with one hand and tossing him onto the floor.

“What happened there?” he asked in a grim tone. “One moment, there were six of you fighting the Saemanis Sect Leader, and the next you both just… disappeared? It shouldn’t be part of his ability…” He mused, in a distant, lost voice.

Noah coughed out a mouthful of sand, assuming a fearful, reverent expression on his face, “Revered Master, that man is on a completely different level. He already knew we were planning to assassinate him; he had seen through it from the start!” Noah exclaimed with a wronged tone. “Not only that, but he had the power to wade through soil as if it were water, and he could move at lightning-fast speeds! I was unable to move, and therefore resist at all. He seized the dagger from my hands and muttered, 'I see,' and then blasted through the soil with a tremendous shockwave. That let me resurface, revered master, otherwise I fear my life would be forfeit,” Noah replied with the tone of a man that was suffering from shock.

“We must report this to Sir Prayn with due haste. If he is making preparations to escape, we may still be able to intercept him if he directly takes action,” Hulaui replied with a sense of urgency, and Azmahak nodded.

“You, meet us back at the hiding spot as soon as you reach the city. We’ll be going on ahead first,” Azmahak said, and soon the four men sped off into the horizon.

The forlorn expression on Noah’s face turned into tears… of laughter, as he tumbled back into the soil, staring at the sky and feeling the adrenaline wash off him.

“Now lad, that, is what I call the long con,” Liam cracked open a cold one, sipping his beer while trying to suppress his laughter as he watched the old codgers run off completely unaware of the true culprit.