Chapter 31: Illusion and Reality

“This kind of free-for-all?”

Han Gyu-tae and Park Seong-jin looked quite flustered. The non-human races that had filled the massive banquet hall charged at once, leaving no room to step, let alone dodge. To make matters worse, long-range dealers poked their heads out from the upper pavilions, raining down arrows and matchlock fire, making it impossible to even jump.

However, for me—having survived dungeons with Sephiroth—this wasn’t exactly a crisis.

“Use the knockback!”

“What?”

“If you hit them, they push back! Like this!”

I shouted at the dazed Seong-jin. Most monsters in Zelpia have a knockback mechanic, and the distance they are pushed depends on the acceleration and force of the strike. Some monsters get stunned along with the knockback; others continue their animations regardless. The important thing was that by triggering knockbacks, you created breathing room.

Thud! I drove my elbow into the face of an approaching Orc while leaning to the left. A fierce wind grazed my cheek as an arrow whistled past, embedding itself in a Slug approaching from behind. The Slug let out a pained shriek and swung a sticky, mucous-covered limb. I kicked the Lion standing behind me, using the momentum to widen the gap.

“Everything except the Slugs takes knockback, so use that to clear space!”

A chaotic brawl wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. A swarm of enemies meant they could collide with each other and deal friendly-fire damage. Especially in my case, since my attack power was negligible, I had to actively exploit these collision mechanics. The abundance of arrows and bullets from above was also a positive signal. If I timed the knockbacks correctly, I could kill the enemies with their own teammates’ weapons.

“Why are you explaining every single thing?”

Sephiroth said, coming alongside me as he cleaved through an enemy with his axe.

“The guys don’t know what to do.”

“If they don’t know, they can just die.”

“How can you say that?”

“Sometimes staying dead is more helpful.”

“You cold-blooded bastard.”

Seriously, how could he say that to my friends? Isn’t it better if we all survive and clear it together?

I didn’t want to engage this psychopath in a long conversation, so I turned to dodge, but Sephiroth persistently followed at my heels.

“We can handle this with just the two of us. Do we really need five?”

“Go away.”

“They just need to use resurrection scrolls.”

“Should I die then?”

“No, you can’t die.”

Why is he so firm about that?

I stepped on the head of an Orc rushing me, leaping up and twisting my body to land on top of a stone lantern. A hail of arrows rained down on the Orc I had just used as a stepping stone. Sephiroth was busy hacking away at the Lion and Mermaid standing nearby. Watching him silently swing his axe without taking a scratch made him look like a sturdy woodcutter. The only problem was that he wasn’t chopping wood.

“Why can’t I die?”

“Because you can dodge.”

Sephiroth spoke as if he were answering a stupid question while axing the Mermaid. By now, the number of monsters had thinned out enough to see empty floor space. Now feeling more relaxed, I kicked a Slug away and asked:

“What if I can’t dodge?”

“I think a quick axe to the head would change your mind about that.”

“Crazy bastard…”

He was definitely the type to actually do it. I still vividly remembered the atrocity he committed on my first day. I glared at him with a tense face, and Sephiroth let out a short, airy chuckle.

“What, you looking forward to it?”

How different is this guy’s brain from a normal human’s?

I gave up on the conversation just as the zither music shifted. The Slug, who had been sitting steadfastly and playing through the carnage, suddenly stood up. I muttered under my breath, my tension rising.

“Phase two.”

“I know.”

Simultaneously with Sephiroth’s answer, the Slug let out a piercing scream.

[Do not wake us from our dream!]

BOOM!

The Slug picked up the zither like a heavy metal guitarist and started shredding. I didn’t know if it was a gayageum or a geomungo, but was it even allowed to be played like that? My disbelief was cut short as massive, undulating soundwaves began to roll out from the “heavy metal zither.”

“Dodge!”

I looked back; Park Seong-jin was already dead, and Han Gyu-tae was in critical condition. Only AngelA was still alive, hopping around frantically. I heard the voice of the dead Seong-jin:

“I’m done for. You guys do your best…”

Why does he have to sound so tragic?

I wanted to do my best, as he said, but I couldn’t see any angle to dodge the soundwaves. Up? Down? Back? I retreated as far as possible, but the waves were already in front of my nose, showing no signs of stopping.

Shit.

Is this it? I desperately ran simulations in my head, but there was no way for me to evade this. Fine. I had lasted a long time in a situation where one hit meant death. It seemed it was finally time for a peaceful demise. I glanced at Sephiroth, but he seemed just as occupied calculating his own escape.

You can’t tank an AoE attack for someone else.

BOOM. The soundwave overlapped with my body.

“…?”

And nothing happened.

Actually, something did happen. All of our positions had been swapped. However, my health bar hadn’t moved a single point, and neither had my mana. I wondered if it was a wide-area status debuff, but there was no status icon. Then what? I blinked in confusion for a moment, then snapped back to attention. The time that had seemed to pause began to move again.

Attacks began to rain down indiscriminately. If there had been a distinction between friend and foe before, this was now an era of total chaos. Orcs were stabbing other Orcs with spears; the Slug was entangling the Mermaid in mucus. Every attack was the same.

In the distance, Han Gyu-tae was being slapped by the Mermaid’s tail. AngelA, who had been hovering near Gyu-tae, was now locked in a life-or-death struggle with a Lion archer.

Wait, hold on.

I looked at the black-armored figure flailing in the distance. Sephiroth seemed to be moving toward me, but something was wrong. His movements, which should have been much more agile, were sluggish. He was still hacking at enemies with his axe, but he failed to dodge a simple incoming arrow.

“Sephiroth?”

I called out. There was no answer. Farther away, AngelA seemed to be shouting something, but I couldn’t hear a word.

Ah. A chat-block debuff?

But that alone didn’t explain Sephiroth’s bizarre movements. What was going on? I rolled backward to dodge a Mermaid’s lunge and stared at “Sephiroth.” The Mermaid chased me doggedly, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a trap.

What did that Slug say earlier? Do not wake us from our dream?

“…It’s an illusion.”

That was the conclusion I reached. There was no way Sephiroth would move like that. The movement of the “Sephiroth” approaching me wasn’t the movement of the ranker I’d seen for days; it was closer to the Berserker I saw during the Nightmare tutorial on my first day. He was good, but that was it. That god-tier control was missing from that black armor.

Why hesitate?

Without a second thought, I lunged toward “Sephiroth.” Several monsters, including the persistent Mermaid, recognized me and gave chase. Seeing me, “Sephiroth” looked… happy?

He raised his axe.

“I knew it.”

I watched the axe blade aim precisely for my head and twisted my body to the left. Keeping my weight on my left foot, I pivoted with force, adding centrifugal momentum to a smooth slide. The Mermaid that had been chasing me slid into the spot I vacated and took the hit from the axe. The Mermaid seemed to say something, but I didn’t have time to look. I grabbed a fallen stone lantern and hurled it at the black armor.

CRASH!

The “Sephiroth” who had just axed the Mermaid couldn’t dodge the lantern I threw. Simultaneously, a Slug nearby raised a massive arm and clubbed the back of the black armor’s head. Normally, I would have reflexively shouted a warning, but there was no need.

That is not Sephiroth.

I dodged the incoming attacks and lured them toward the black armor. Various strikes landed on the Berserker. Interestingly, the giant Slug that had hit him in the back began pouring all its attacks into the black armor instead of me.

Soon, the black armor collapsed.

The Slug and I, as if we had planned it, both lunged toward AngelA. The weasel, who had been throwing cards, drew a blood-colored card with a fierce gaze, but I wasn’t scared. I ducked to dodge the card while the Slug charged and slammed into the weasel. BOOM! The satisfying sound of impact echoed as the weasel stumbled.

The Slug and I were in perfect sync. If I dodged, the Slug attacked; if the Slug attacked, I drew the aggro.