Chapter 113. Hain Al Gul (3)
[What scene will you show me? A happy one? A painful one? What kind of world do you live in?]
[I'm curious about what you hate, what you like, your world... and you yourself.]
[Won't you tell me... what you are?]
[Oh, right... you can't refuse...]
[...You're... not alone...?]
[So many have already passed through your heart. People like that are a bit off...]
[Tell me. Who did you devour...?]
[...]
[...]
In a space where not even an inch ahead was visible, as if submerged in an endless ocean with only hearing and touch remaining, Hain's voice faded away.
This was the strongest mental magic, Illusion Prison, which even Jeonghyeon from his previous life couldn't overcome.
The only way to awaken from this place was for someone outside to rescue you.
In the past, Jeonghyeon had been saved when Garibaldi appeared.
But in exchange, Garibaldi lost one arm and both eyes.
He'd burned part of his own body, using the pain to snap out of the Illusion Prison before his mind fully succumbed and pulled Jeonghyeon out.
Jeonghyeon had tried stabbing his own eyes to avoid falling into the Illusion Prison, but failed.
He'd tried cutting off his arm, but forgot where it even was.
If he'd been alone, he could've reacted faster.
But he'd gotten caught while warning his comrades of the danger.
If only those comrades hadn't been there, this wouldn't have happened.
[I see. So you hate your comrades? Then shall I kill those comrades for you?]
At Hain Al Gul's sweet whisper, Jeonghyeon thought maybe that would be easier.
No, actually, he'd never thought that.
But Hain Al Gul slyly murmured in a way that made it feel like he'd thought it himself.
In the Illusion Prison, one's heart and thoughts were inevitably shaped exactly as the prison's master desired.
[But... who are you?]
[Why do you keep interfering with my beautiful union with Jeonghyeon?]
...What?)
The moment those words reached him, Jeonghyeon became aware of "himself."
[Oh no... you're awake. You're awake!!]
Hain raged.
She was furious. And that emotional fluctuation transmitted to Jeonghyeon as well.
"I do not exist."
It wasn't Jeonghyeon who spoke—someone else did.
(This is... Uldran?)
It was Uldran's voice.
[But how...?]
"Who do you think I am?"
[...I know you're an annoying existence...]
"Why do you find me annoying?"
[...]
"And you, who are you?"
The question "Who are you?" forced one to contemplate the essence of the "self," like a starter incantation for mental skills.
With those words, Jeonghyeon's eyes snapped open.
The Illusion Prison shattered on its own. Or more precisely, he escaped with the help of the Mind Dragon Uldran.
"Kuhak!!!"
Jeonghyeon vomited blood as he bolted upright.
"Kuhak...! Khek!!"
Regaining his senses, Jeonghyeon hurriedly scanned his surroundings before even confirming how he'd escaped the Illusion Prison.
Time in the Illusion Prison flowed completely differently from reality.
Moreover, when Hain offered to kill his comrades and he'd unwittingly agreed, he might have already killed them without realizing.
"Phil... Philip!"
His voice barely working, he called out to Philip, who lay collapsed nearest to him.
"Hey, you bastard! You alive?!"
Nus popped out.
Right. This guy was here too.
"You... weren't trapped in the Illusion Prison?"
"I was trapped. But when you woke up, I did too? See, my intellect is truly superior."
Ah. Must be because he's a familiar.
Good. At least Nus was safe.
Nus's boasting was nothing but welcome right now.
"Can you... move your body?"
"Of course! You think I'm some meat lump like you guys?"
"Then wake Philip. Hurry...!"
"What? How?"
There was one surefire—and terrifying—way to break free from the Illusion Prison.
"Beat him until he feels like he's about to die."
Intense physical pain that shocks the mind.
That was the only way out of the Illusion Prison.
"Wh... what if he dies?"
"That's why you don't kill him."
"O... okay, got it."
Even those who'd awakened couldn't be guaranteed to be fully okay.
Arms could break, organs rupture, or minds shatter completely.
But they had to live first.
"Die, you fucker! Die!!"
Leaving Nus gleefully stomping on Philip—apparently taking the order a bit too literally—Jeonghyeon slowly rose to his feet.
"Junseok...!"
He swung a full-force punch at Junseok, who knelt rigidly beside him, staring blankly at the sky with dead eyes, drool dripping from his mouth.
Bam!
The Illusion Prison had drained him so thoroughly that even a full-powered punch barely fazed him. In desperation, Jeonghyeon mounted Junseok and threw his weight behind the blows.
(Please don't die. Please don't die...!)
Thud! Thud! Crack! Thud!
Desperately, pouring every ounce of strength into beating his comrade like he meant to kill him, Jeonghyeon found himself growing angrier without realizing.
He had to be careful, yet they'd been caught like this.
He knew it was coming, yet they fell for the same trick every time.
And he'd unwittingly started seeing his comrades as burdens.
"Damn it!! Damn it!!"
Was his rage at being toyed with by Hain, or grief at the thought of losing his comrades? He couldn't even tell when Philip's coughing echoed from afar.
"Kuhok! Kek! Why, why hit me!!"
"Hey! This bastard's up! Should I finish him off?!"
"...Haha. Good. That's good...! Jeonghu too, please."
Letting out a sigh of relief, Jeonghyeon raised his fist toward Junseok again—
"You... what the hell are you doing?"
Junseok had snapped out of it, blood streaming from his nose as he asked in bewilderment. Hearing Junseok's voice, Jeonghyeon's body froze.
"...You're awake."
"Wh...what are you doing? Were you trying to kill me?"
Jeonghyeon had no words for Junseok's incredulous tone.
"...Thanks."
He just clenched his teeth, unable to contain the surge of emotion.
He bit down so hard that blood burst from the swollen inside of his cheek like tears, dripping onto Junseok's puzzled face.
***
"Puhahaha! You broke out of the Illusion Prison on your own?!"
Nus clutched his belly, collapsing backward in hysterical laughter.
While waking Junseok and Philip, Jeonghyeon had forgotten—or rather, assumed he'd wake on his own—and sure enough, Garibaldi had broken free by himself, just as expected.
"Y...yeah, that's what happened."
He even looked a bit disappointed.
Apparently, even that fearsome Illusion Prison was useless against Garibaldi's earnest chatter. Unless it fully paralyzed the mind, he seemed to have some resistance(?) to mental attacks.
His talkativeness was that extreme.
"What did you even do in there to get bounced out of the Illusion Prison?"
"Some pretty lady came and said, 'Let's talk.'"
"And?"
At Junseok's question, Garibaldi sheepishly continued.
"I... asked what she wanted to talk about, and she said any conversation was fine."
"Then?"
"So I started with hunter stories, then my dreams... the dignity I need as Ignirn's awakener, why we exist. Scientifically, how Afraksas and the Tower are connected, and..."
"Stop, stop. We don't want a mental attack too. That's more than enough."
"...Understood."
Garibaldi looked genuinely sulky.
True, top-tier talkativeness that even Jeonghyeon and most others couldn't imitate.
Only possible because Garibaldi genuinely loved to chat.
"Anyway... what now?"
Garibaldi sat and surveyed Elaha's Garden, now shrouded in night.
No living monstrosities remained. Elaha's Garden lay devastated: cold corpses, half-rotted somethings, poison puddles everywhere.
"We need to find Hain."
"How?"
(Yeah. That's my problem too.)
Muttering inwardly, Jeonghyeon stood and spread his mana around while scanning the surroundings.
Since inheriting Uldran, he'd been gradually using his abilities to get the feel. Uldran's mana specialized in detection and sensing, like the Dungeon Eye skill.
But even probing with Uldran's mana, he detected no trace of mental magic.
(If the illusion started the moment we entered Elaha's Garden... something should've registered.)
But nothing. Only Hain's mana lingered—like poison and slimy bugs.
(Uldran...)
Withdrawing Uldran's mana, Jeonghyeon gathered it in one hand.
For a guy he'd thought was gone, he'd provided massive help.
(I thought he was completely gone, but he's coexisting inside me.)
It made one corner of his heart feel secure.
Even if temporary, knowing Uldran—who'd been a comrade, however briefly—hadn't vanished completely gave him strength.
(Right. It's a chance from Uldran. Time to try again.)
"Alright, then... let's circle around and track Hain's mana—"
"S...save... me...!"
Jeonghyeon cut off as a eerie voice echoed from a corner.
A grotesque voice, vocal cords half-torn, breath leaking through the gaps.
"What?!"
Junseok sprang up, spear aimed at the source.
"S...save me... please...!"
"Damn, a monster's still alive!"
"Wait, it's talking. Hold on."
Jeonghyeon blocked Junseok, but he gathered Albatron's mana toward the voice.
"Talking? You hear that gurgling? It's obviously a monster!"
"Gurgling...? You don't hear the voice?"
"Look! Grrrk... grk! Hear that? Am I the only one?"
"I hear it that way too."
"Please... save... me...!"
(Ah...!)
This voice was understandable only to Jeonghyeon.
"I get it, just wait."
To grasp the situation, Jeonghyeon hurriedly opened his status window.
Passive Skill
• Learned most languages existing in Afraksas.
• Can understand the vocabulary of monsters that possess language.
• As long as you possess Uldran's mana, language comprehension improves.
Uldran's mana, which excelled above all in thoughts and the mind itself, had pulled through again.
(This guy's seriously amazing...)
For such a powerhouse to just make his own awakener train—that was absurd.
He could kinda see why the other dragons hated Uldran.
He could've been plenty helpful, but acted so stingy; no wonder they felt betrayed.
"I can hear it. That voice."
Jeonghyeon lit Ignirn's flame and shone it toward the monster.
"It's begging us... to save it."
True to his words, in the light's glow, a zombie half-submerged in a poison puddle writhed toward him, arm outstretched.
Clinging desperately to life, the zombie crawled, pleading.
"Save... me... please...!"