Chapter 73: Recognizing Hell (Part Ten)
It was as if a colossal black mirror had shattered before my eyes.
Terrifying cracks spiderwebbed across everything the mirror could reflect, spreading rapidly over the castle nestled in the darkness, coursing through the sky where the divine dragon loomed, up into the night above my head and down to the towering walls beneath my feet. The howling wind and roars filled my ears, and with that mighty cracking sound, everything was obliterated in the blink of an eye amid countless shards of broken glass.
When I finally regained my senses, gentle sunlight, tinged with a hint of rosy warmth, had quietly spilled into my view.
“Ugh…”
I couldn’t help but squint, raising a hand to shield my forehead.
So blinding…
After being accustomed to the darkness, my eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden blaze of light. Even shielding my eyes didn’t help, as they throbbed slightly with pain, and all I saw was a haze of white, making me feel utterly miserable.
What’s going on…
Is this…
A new trick!?
Have I been yanked into another illusion…?
Despite the enormous cracking sound that had reverberated moments ago, everything around was now eerily calm. The earlier tremors, the frenzied dragon’s roar, and any signs of chaos had abruptly vanished like they were never there. A gentle breeze wafted past, lightly brushing my hair, nowhere near as ferocious as before. Even the lingering metallic scent of bl**d that had clung to my nostrils was gone.
Yet, I remained on high alert.
After a moment, as my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I furrowed my brows and took two steps back, my eyes darting around, scrutinizing for any new threats that might spring up at any moment.
However…
A few seconds later, I found myself a bit dumbfounded.
This was—
I stood atop the still-magnificent castle wall, exactly where my memory placed me.
And when my gaze shifted to the left, just beyond the south gate, the battlement that had crumbled under my Frost Power had not changed at all. The gaping hole below it, where debris and shattered wood piled up into small hills, remained, but the dust had long since settled in this moment.
Besides that…
What I saw now was vastly different from the impression I had just moments before.
With a hint of rosy sunlight pouring down from above, it illuminated the ancient fortress’s largely intact outline. No sign of bloody roots, no stench-filled winds; the castle, devoid of shadows, resembled an abandoned city, desolate yet eerily normal.
Up in the clear sky, the dark clouds were gone, and whether it was the raven shaped by Abyssal Power, the fawn, or the majestic dragon born from Oblivion, they had vanished without a trace along with the shattered illusion.
It was as if nothing had happened at all.
Only the fallen walls and some houses demolished by shockwaves, alongside the battered roads, bore witness to the fact that I had indeed clashed with that bl**d net before.
But right now…
Bathed in bright light, every corner of the inner fortress revealed itself, with no writhing tendrils to be seen.
Even the dead, bl**d-red vines that had spread like roots were nowhere in sight.
…?
I stood staring at the tranquil scene before me, resembling an ancient painting, my mind still spiraling from the chaotic battle moments prior, just standing there on the wall, lost in thought for quite some time.
“…What the heck.”
Eventually, I couldn’t help but mutter under my breath, instinctively lowering my head. I raised my hands to inspect my tattered robes and sleeves—it turned out that besides a bit of dirt and dust, the disgusting, oozing gore that should’ve been on me had vanished completely.
What’s going on…
Is this a new illusion?
…No way.
This isn’t an illusion…
That thing had no other tricks left; the dragon born of Oblivion had completely shattered its illusions. This was the real world…
…Which means.
From the moment I entered the chaotic camp outside the castle, I’d been caught in its delusion…
With that thought, I swiftly turned around.
Immediately, I saw behind me, beneath the towering walls, a scene of abandoned, crumbling huts scattered everywhere. The entire prairie surrounding the silent fortress was dotted with camps of various sizes—just like the view I’d seen from afar, peering through the pine woods.
No sign of the Power of Sin’s corruption.
No bloodied land and no sinister winds.
Just a vast expanse of refugees left abandoned for who knows how long, and nothing peculiar beyond that.
…So what does this mean?
If everything I saw before was an illusion, then where are the people who are supposed to live here? The church, the refugees—where did they all go?
And what about those knights before…
Were they real or just a mirage?
What about that eye…
Did it d*e?
What on earth was it…?
A flood of questions surged in my mind, and I rubbed my still-Achingly throbbing forehead, suddenly feeling as if a ghostly thing I couldn’t name had been playing tricks on me.
Heh…
This is getting interesting.
“I’m genuinely curious about what the church is cooking up here…”
As I mused to myself, I bent down to tidy up my disheveled clothes. I noticed the grimy spots and walked to the edge of the wall, pressing my face into my sleeves, chest, and hems where the dust was thickest, attempting to chalk off as much as I could. I gathered my messy hair in front of me, giving it a vigorous shake. Finally, after cleaning up a bit, I straightened up only to be struck by another thought.
“Right, where’s the Sword Demon?”
That little shorty didn’t sneak off while I was distracted, did she…?
But just then, from below the collapsed wall on my left, a sudden flash of lightning leaped forth, crackling with an electrifying “zzzap!” as it shot up the wall and landed on a battlement nearly a hundred meters away from me.
“Ah…”
I stared at the figure, momentarily stunned.
…It’s the Sword Demon.
“She didn’t run away…”
Plus, she didn’t seem to fall under the illusion either…
Oh.
The illusion must’ve been broken by me, right?
“Hey—”
I called out to her, waving my hand.
From afar, the Sword Demon Miss standing on the battlement suddenly turned to look back.
She appeared frozen, not responding or moving after seeing me, standing rigidly, staring this way for quite a while. By the time my arm was growing tired from holding it up, I began to lower my hand, planning to walk over and check on her when suddenly, there was a great flash of lightning, followed by a deafening rumble overhead, and in the next second, the Sword Demon’s figure rushed forward, her blade poised threateningly at my throat with a “cling!”
?!
I nearly shot into action to hit her.
As my expression darkened, I heard her ask at breakneck speed, “Are you real or not? Where’s that old coot Anseier?!”
“…Huh? Ah?”
“Are you my illusion?!”
“Come on…”
I rolled my eyes and flicked her blade aside with my fingertip. “What kind of nonsense are you talking about?”
Is there any reason to ask like that?
If I were really an illusion, would I even tell you?
Like I’d admit to being fake?
What is wrong with your brain…
But her question made it all clear how things stood.
