The woman stared at Julius. Her red eyes radiated pure pain. "How… did you… survive?" she asked. She ignored his question completely.
Julius didn't mind. He had already guessed her answer was some kind of backup plan, so he let it slide.
"Hmm?" he said, a playful spark in his voice.
"Now that you're about to die, I suppose there's no harm in telling you." He took one small step back and grinned. "You see… that was just an avatar."
"Avatar…?" The woman's face stretched wide in shock.
Right away she burst into coughing. Her face turned pale from all the blood she had lost. Thick red spurted from her mouth with every hack.
"Yes," Julius nodded, calm and easy like he was chatting over tea.
"You see, when you ducked down to grab that treasure-refining fire, I swapped myself out. I made an avatar to stand in my place. Then Rosalina hid my real body with her illusions." He gave a small shrug.
"It only took a breath of time. We both keep avatars ready for emergencies like this."
