Chapter 50: The Blizzard’s Deception

The howling blizzard swept through the battlefield, a relentless torrent of white obscuring the sky. Out of the storm, dark figures emerged—an army of dark elves, their cold eyes glinting beneath heavy hoods.

At the forefront, a lone dark elf rode a massive reindeer, its antlers adorned with silver charms that glowed faintly in the swirling frost. He gazed at Lucy, descending from the heavens, and offered a confident smile.

“An honor to meet you at last, Your Highness. Our lord awaits you. Please, come with us.”

Lucy’s eyes narrowed, irritation flickering across her face. These kidnappers, acting so gentlemanly, only made her want to cut them down faster. Yet, she wasn’t reckless enough to unleash destruction without understanding the situation.

Escape came first.

A translucent barrier shimmered around the snowy plains. Someone was maintaining it.

Her gaze swept over the assembled forces—1,500 dark elves, standing in rigid formations. At the very rear, an elder radiated magical energy. He was the linchpin. Remove him, and the barrier would crumble.

The dark elf leader smirked, misreading her silence. “There is no need for resistance. We have no intention of harming you. Or do you truly believe you can fight us all?”

Lucy ignored him. Instead, she calculated.

‘If they were all level 70 or higher, this might be tricky… but that’s unlikely.’

The northern forces had already lost to Abres, the knight commander, whose level was barely 50. Meaning these soldiers were weaker. Likely around level 30. Numbers were no issue.

However, artifacts were unpredictable. They had already used one to teleport her here. If they had divine-grade items, things could become troublesome.

She decided on her approach.

‘Invisibility. Illusory clone.’

Her true form vanished into thin air, while a projection of herself floated in place.

“Capture her! Do not kill her under any circumstances!”

Spells surged toward the illusionary figure, lighting up the sky with fire and ice. The fake Lucy dodged effortlessly, drawing all attention.

Meanwhile, her real body ghosted through the battlefield, closing in on the elder in the rear.

‘Crimson Flame.’

A sphere of red fire erupted from her palm, consuming the elder in an instant. His screams were lost in the wind as his body disintegrated into ash.

Lucy smirked. ‘That should do it.’

Yet, the barrier remained.

A ripple of instability passed through it, proof that she had affected it—but it did not fall.

From the battlefield, realization dawned on the dark elves. The illusion they were fighting wasn’t real. Their leader’s sharp eyes flickered toward the column of smoke rising from the rear.

“There! The real one is over there!” he shouted. “The enemy is an illusionist! Do not trust your eyes—follow telepathic orders only!”

Lucy clicked her tongue. ‘They were prepared.’

The leader chuckled darkly. “You thought eliminating a single mage would be enough? How unfortunate. The barrier is sustained by multiple casters. Killing one won’t bring it down.”

Ritual magic.

Lucy had sensed multiple energy sources, but pinpointing all of them in a crowd this large was difficult. She wasn’t a detection-type mage.

That left only one option.

Annihilation.

Her lips curled into a smirk. “Then I’ll kill every last one of you.”

The dark elf leader scoffed. “We prepared countermeasures for you. I heard illusionists like you are weak against elemental mages.”

Ten mages stepped forward, their staffs raised. An eerie chant echoed, and a violent snowstorm erupted. The wind screamed as the blizzard intensified, reducing visibility to nothing.

“We dark elves can withstand the cold. But what about you, Lady Lucy?”

Lucy chuckled, unfazed. “If you wanted to trap me with this, you should have brought at least 500 more mages.”

Fwoosh!

Flames roared around her, igniting the very air.

A golden firestorm spread outward, melting the snow before it could even touch her.

The dark elves staggered back in shock.

“She was supposed to be an illusionist—how is she using elemental magic of this level?!”

Lucy tilted her head. “Who said I can’t learn more than one type of magic?”

The leader’s jaw clenched. “Tch. Forget capturing her alive—kill her!”

The sky darkened as thousands of ice spears materialized above. With a single motion, they all fired at once.

Lucy dropped to the ground, evading the deadly barrage. Swords and spears closed in. She whispered a spell.

‘Hypnotic Incense.’

A thick mist spread outward. The soldiers hesitated, their minds clouding. Then—

“Telepathic resistance. Activate.”

The leader grinned triumphantly.

Through the collective mind-link, the dark elves shook off the hypnosis instantly.

“For a collective consciousness like ours,” the leader sneered, “your illusions are useless.”

Lucy’s lips curled into a grin. “A normal illusionist, maybe.”

She raised her hands. A pulse of magic surged outward.

A massive rune formed beneath her feet.

“Ultimate Illusion: Inverted World.”

Light swallowed the battlefield.

The dark elves blinked—then chaos erupted.

They turned on each other, weapons flashing. Spells flew indiscriminately. Blood splattered across the snow.

The leader gasped in horror. “What… what have you done?!”

“Can’t you see?” Lucy’s voice was casual. “It’s an illusion.”

“No! Our minds are linked! Illusions shouldn’t work—”

“I cast it on each of you individually.”

The leader’s breath hitched. “You… you cast a separate illusion on 1,526 people at once? That’s… impossible.”

Lucy smiled. “Numbers don’t matter. You were all inside my range.”

The dark elf leader swallowed hard.

“…Am I the only one still in my right mind?”

Lucy merely stared.

Gritting his teeth, he raised his hands. “Then I’ll fight you myself!”

A massive ice spear formed. It shot toward her, piercing through her chest.

He exhaled sharply. “I… got her?”

No. It was too easy.

Her body twisted, melting away like wax.

The shape shifted into that of a dark elf—one of his own men.

A cold chill ran down his spine.

“You didn’t think I’d leave you out of the 1,526, did you?”

The leader’s world blurred.

Then he, too, fell into the illusion.