Chapter 28: Valley of Illusions

The temperature in the room dropped in an instant.

Pure white breath came out of his mouth like cigarette smoke, and thick ice formed on the walls.

Not only that, but the cold air flowed out, freezing the river water.

Because of this, the ship stopped in the middle of the river.

Lucy thought to herself, ‘It was a good thing I moved the ferry first,’ and looked at the enemy in front of her.

Desmond.

A special summon that only a Lv100 necromancer can summon.

What could have happened?

According to the game system, a man whose estimated level was far below Lv100 should not be able to summon ‘Desmond’ no matter what he did.

A bug, or is the game system that I know corrupted?’

The man who summoned Desmond looked at Lucy while catching his breath.

His face, which had regained its composure, showed confidence that he was certain of victory.

Soon, he leisurely straightened his clothes and asked in a taciturn tone.

“…. Uh, your defeat is now confirmed.”

“I remember you getting a big nose injury.”

“You fool, this Desmond has power that surpasses even that great demon.

Even you wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

The man pointed to Desmond.

He was estimating Lucy’s fighting power as being on par with that of the great demon.

On the contrary, Lucy was intrigued.

Power that rivaled that of the great demon.

Perhaps this was a chance to gauge the power of the Seven Great Demons, who had been a mystery until now.

The man made a suggestion.

“What do you think?

Wouldn’t you surrender and be arrested?

If possible, I would like to take you alive.”

Lucy politely declined, holding back from asking, “Do you have the power to arrest me?”

“I’m sorry, but this doesn’t add up.”

“What?”

“I’m stronger to begin with.”

Lucy’s gaze turned to Desmond.

Then the man’s face hardened.

His still gaze implicitly conveyed the message, ‘What kind of idiot is this?”

“Foolish thing.”

Lucy stared at Desmond.

The opponent was a special summoned beast.

Since the level changed depending on the summoner or the summoning conditions, it was forbidden to let down her guard.

First, she used an illusion to check its strength.

Magic Skill.

Hypnosis.

Tick!

It was rejected.

It was probably because the undead was resistant to mind control and was high level.

‘In this case, hypnosis won’t work unless you inflict fatal damage.

Desmond opened his mouth wide and started to roar, perhaps because he was furious at being preemptively attacked.

Lucy kept her distance just in case.

At the same time, she used ‘Dream’ to place 20 clones that looked exactly like her in all directions.

This was right after she realized that normal hypnosis wouldn’t work.

Next was the time to check the normal fighting ability by drawing the opponent’s attack.

Desmond spread his arms wide as he looked at the clones scattered all around.

The ribs were clearly visible.

Chains poured out from between them and flew in a straight line.

The chains with sharp blades on their tips made holes here and there while piercing through Lucy’s clones.

One of them was aimed at the main body.

Lucy lightly swatted it away.

“Desmond, that guy is the main body.”

Following the man’s instructions, Desmond reached out and approached Lucy (the main body).

A dark purple light was rippling from his bare hands.

This was Desmond’s exclusive skill, Death’s Wraith.

Magic Skill.

Illusionary Beast.

A book summoned above his hand.

The book flipped over on its own, and a phantom created through imagination burst out from it.

Shaaa

A long life form covered in white scales.

A giant white snake with red eyes that was 13m long.

It was a beast called ‘Titanoboa’ that Lucy had created.

The beast that was summoned soon crawled across the floor as if swimming and wrapped itself tightly around Desmond’s body.

“A beast I’ve never seen before…

What on earth is that strange beast?”

“Weird, that’s not something someone who had a fox wrapped around their body should say.”

“If you don’t want to say it, then don’t worry, the result is obvious.”

Desmond struggled to throw off the white snake that had wrapped around his entire body.

Desmond was the winner.

Starting from Desmond’s grip, the white snake’s flesh began to rot and turn yellow, and in an instant, only bones remained.

Death Wyvern.

Anything it touches will corrode and its life will rot and turn yellow.

Even at Lv100, it is a dangerous technique that can cause fatal injuries.

‘The skill lasted 7 seconds, I think.

Lucy slightly distanced herself and fired magic from a distance.

Magic Skill.

Hellfire.

A fierce flame engulfed Desmond.

Let it be for a moment.

As soon as the thing put its hand forward, the flames quickly died down.

Deathwing was granting death to even the inanimate.

Nevertheless, Lucy paid no attention and continued her magic attacks without stopping, changing the area she was hitting.

She used the three attribute magics of ‘fire’, ‘lightning’, and ‘wind’ without stopping.

Thanks to this, the ship became a mess.

If the water hadn’t been frozen, it would have sunk long ago.

Thanks to this, the ship became a mess.

If the water hadn’t been frozen, it would have sunk long ago.

“It’s a useless struggle, Desmond’s hand nullifies magic.”

As the man said, Desmond withstood all the magic and arrived right in front of Lucy’s nose.

“Go, Desmond.”

The man was confident of victory.

On the other hand, Lucy opened her mouth leisurely.

“…Hmm, is this it?”

Magic Skill.

Teleport.

Using teleportation to evade attacks.

A deep doubt was engraved on the man’s face at that sight.

“Teleport..? You could use teleportation..?”

“You wouldn’t know if you saw it.”

That can’t be…

If that were the case, there would have been no reason not to run away until now.”

He had a face that seemed genuinely incomprehensible.

Lucy answered that question in a questioning tone.

“Why should I run away?”

“What.. you say?……You can’t see the being right in front of you!”

For the first time, the man raised his voice.

What he was pointing at was Desmond.

It was a pointless question of why he didn’t run away even after seeing it.

Lucy swallowed back the words, “I told you I was stronger.”

She thought that from now on, it was time to show it with actions, not words.

She put her fingertips together.

She gathered her magic power.

She recognized the space.

She shouted.

“Illusion Valley.”

After completing the series of processes, the magic power scattered everywhere began to erode the space.

The space where the mist was blowing.

Within a moment, the space began to be redrawn based on Lucy’s imagination.

A purple sky and clear water reflecting the sky.

It was a strange, if not incongruous, space.

Before he knew it, the man was standing alone on the water.

And Lucy was sitting on the giant clock tower in front of him.

“Where is this? Is this another illusion?”

“Strictly speaking, yes.”

The man, looking around, laughed in vain as if it was absurd.

“It is certainly large in scale, but it is still an illusion.

What can you do with something that has no substance?”

The man added, “It’s just a way to buy time.”

Lucy sighed as if she was fed up and snapped her fingers without explaining.

Bam.

Then, giant monsters began to appear one after another on the water’s surface.

‘Kraken,’ ‘Hydra,’ ‘Sphinx,’ ‘Cerberus,’ etc.

They were all fantastical monsters that seemed to appear only in myths.

The number was over 30 just by looking at them, and if you include those that were secretly moving under the water, it was easily close to 100.

The man was lost in thought at the absurd amount, but he soon shook his head and tried to deny the reality.

“It’s all just an illusion, there’s no reason to be afraid….”

Before he could finish his words, Desmond’s severed head rolled over and hit his foot.

“!? He’s dead…? When on earth did that happen?”

He looked around.

He was surrounded by giant monsters.

Cold sweat began to run down the man’s forehead from the creepy pressure.

“…It’s an illusion, it’s all fake, so Desmond’s death can’t be true either.”

Seeing the man denying reality, Lucy kindly explained the situation.

“It’s an illusion, but it’s not a lie.”

“What?”

“This is the ultimate illusion.

It’s magic that switches reality and fiction.”

“What the hell is this nonsense…

There’s no way such magic could exist..”

It exists.

If it’s the illusionist’s ultimate skill.

The Valley of Illusion.

All results that occur here will change to reality after a certain amount of time.

Even if it means death.

There are only two ways to escape.

1. Kill the caster.

2. Hold on until the clock tower’s time (5 minutes) passes.

If you die before then, it’s game over.

Either way, it was an impossible survival condition for the man who was at a loss.

“Keuhehe…”

He then knelt down and burst into laughter.

“Are you giving up?”

“Even if all of this is fake, it would be considered defeat if the illusionist failed to destroy the illusion.”

“Ah… Are you an illusionist?”

“…”

The man lowered his head as if he had given up.

Lucy was looking down at him with her chin resting on her hand.

“Now tell me. Who ordered you to kidnap me?”

“I can’t tell you.”

“… Hmm.”

“Even if you cast an illusion, it won’t work.

The curse will activate the moment you try to reveal information.”

Just like the men before, he too had a gag curse on him.

“Nothing I can do.

Do you have any last words?”

Lucy pointed at him with her finger.

Then the monsters approached the man with their mouths open.

“These days, kids are scary.”

She closed her eyes slowly as she left her last words.

Soon, the sound of flesh and bones breaking rang out.

After organizing everything, Lucy was moving to the nearby riverside to pick up Perry.

Her mind was in a state of confusion.

How would she comfort Perry?

How would she explain to Arasia that she had escaped the palace?

What excuse would she make to Rubia, who knew the whole story?

Her head was already spinning.