Chapter 99 #33 Serena's Ice Palace (6)
Han Seohyun and I held our breath as the raid team passed us by and entered the corridor.
They brushed right past us, but fortunately, no one spotted us. From then on, we began tailing them at a cautious distance. Staying hidden was the priority.
But we didn't miss the watchful eyes. Mine were fixed on the support team—specifically, those three.
Once we were safely hidden again, Han Seohyun spoke up cautiously.
"The three of them slipped away."
The raid team had no idea, but Han Seohyun's sand was scattered throughout the entire Ice Palace, hidden in every nook and cranny. The grains, tucked away in shadows and nearly invisible, served as perfect CCTV.
Thanks to that, I was getting real-time updates on their movements and conversations through Han Seohyun.
The raid team was too focused ahead to notice the three support members sneaking off. They must have used mana in that instant to mask their absence. It made sense they wouldn't notice.
I wanted to see those bastards with my own eyes, but I couldn't risk stepping out and getting caught.
"What are they doing out there?"
"They said it's just starting."
What the hell were they planning to start? Whatever it was, it didn't feel like good news. I gathered mana in my body, ready to bolt at any moment, and waited for Han Seohyun's next report.
Then Han Seohyun's eyes glazed over, and he suddenly collapsed forward.
"Gasp!"
"What's wrong?"
He just trembled violently in response, saying nothing. I grabbed him and pulled him close. His pupils, flickering with black flames, were shaking unnaturally.
"Seohyun! You okay?"
I called his name over and over, but he didn't respond. Damn it. I bit my lip and rummaged through my backpack.
No external injuries. What the hell? Why was this happening all of a sudden? Did someone mess with the sand? I pulled out a potion and forced it into his mouth.
That's when Ray spoke in my head.
—Illusions are set up around here.
Illusions?
I narrowed my eyes. Nothing looked any different to me.
—Don't you have mental defenses?
Oh, right. Unyielding Faith. An S-grade passive skill. I'd forgotten about it since mental attacks rarely got to me anymore, but illusions messed with the mind too, so they didn't affect me.
What kind of illusion could shake him this badly? Even after downing the potion, Han Seohyun showed no signs of snapping out of it.
Made sense—potions were for physical wounds.
I gathered lightning and zapped him. He shuddered. Strike two. But just as I thought that, his eyes slowly focused on my face.
"Huff, huff."
"You with me?"
He nodded shakily.
"Boss... the boss..."
"What."
"C-can't you see... the things around us?"
"What things."
"Monsters... everywhere around us!"
Clutching his staff, Han Seohyun drew up mana. Black sand filled the space around us. The sharp grains began tearing into the surroundings.
Ah.
I grabbed his face.
"Snap out of it. Whatever you're seeing, it's an illusion. There's nothing here."
"Huh? B-but..."
"You trust me, right? Or better yet, close your eyes. That might be easier."
"Ugh... if I close my eyes... sounds... ugh."
Trembling, he shut his eyes. Better than seeing the monsters, I guess. Middle school edgelords really do have fragile minds. All that talk about death and whatnot—they act cool until it hits.
Thankfully, with his eyes closed, he missed the look I shot him.
Once he finally accepted it was all fake, the shaking eased up. He still flinched at phantom "sounds" now and then.
"The whole mansion feels alive. The monsters in front of me were horrifying... B-but you said it's all fake, right? So the fight those people are in... that's fake too?"
"What're you talking about?"
Han Seohyun explained the situation.
The raid team had finally encountered what seemed to be the Ice Palace's boss monster—a humanoid one—in the ballroom.
They were in combat now.
But if the mansion "awakening" was an illusion, that fight was probably fake too.
I realized their plan in an instant.
"Damn it, they're trying to wear them out."
I shot to my feet.
"Where are those bastards?"
"D-don't know. I got hit by the illusion too and lost them. W-wait, I'll check with the sand."
"You find where they are. I'll stop them for now. And remember—everything you're seeing is an illusion, except for people. Got it?"
Alone, I'd never clear this gate or take on those Tower villains.
If Yuseonje and Kim Daegwon tired out, it was game over.
I dashed down the corridor.
Boom!
Wham!
The deafening blasts hit me head-on.
I saw the team unleashing attacks into thin air in the ballroom. I shouted at the top of my lungs.
"Hey! That's an illusion! Stop! There's nothing there!"
No one reacted to my voice. It must not have reached them.
"Don't waste your strength on nothing!"
I got closer and yelled right in their faces, but still nothing.
"It's an illusion! You idiots, all of it!"
Shouting wasn't working.
Fine.
I walked up to Yuseonje. No one seemed to see me—no one looked my way.
Grabbing his collar, I roared.
"Stop wasting energy on air, you punk!"
Finally, his eyes focused on me.
"Who..."
I shoved Yuseonje aside and headed straight for Kim Daegwon. No way I could get close, so I unleashed a torrent of water.
Whoosh.
"Gah!"
Kim Daegwon whipped his head around at the deluge, mouth agape. I splashed the rest of the team too.
"What the—?"
"You're all being tricked. It's illusions. Look—nothing there."
Yuseonje and Kim Daegwon caught on quick. The mentally fragile ones still saw it, but with the two strongest S-grade hunters stopping, the others seemed to get it and stared at me.
"What is this?"
A voice echoed from the ceiling.
"Not part of the plan."
A man hiding his face in black shadows. Using illusions—had to be him.
"Trickster."
"You know me? Oh dear."
He laughed at my words. Oh dear, my ass. Who'd have thought they'd drain Kim Daegwon and Yuseonje like this to close in.
"How much mana you got left?"
Their faces weren't pretty. Yuseonje glared at me, scowling.
Good—looks like they were tapped out. As I racked my brain on what to do...
"Gah!"
Kim Daegwon clutched his chest. A black shadow clung to his back.
"W-what?"
His skin folded inward in an instant, organs spilling out.
Cube, the assembler.
Kim Daegwon was dead. They struck during the illusion confusion. No time to stop it.
Ignoring me, Cube went for the support team behind.
I hurled an ice spear at him, but he yanked a support member's body in front faster.
Another inside-out victim dropped lifeless. The combat squad in front suffered the same. Caught in Trickster's illusions again, they screamed at the air. Trickster swung his sword lightly through the gap.
Each swing snuffed a life.
Thud, crunch!
I dodged them and slammed ice spears down repeatedly, but Cube used people as shields or cover, evading. He even flung them at my spears.
Lee Hyewon snapped out of it and lunged at him, but Trickster intervened. His clone shoved her back.
"Urk!"
A dagger from Trickster's clone was buried in Lee Hyewon's calf. Yuseonje summoned lightning, but it wasn't ideal for this melee chaos.
"Kyahaha!"
Laughter rang from outside the mansion.
"Ah."
Dread hit me. I glanced outside.
Gemini...
The porters were being slaughtered. Their supplies burned too. Targeting the porters? I ground my teeth.
"You know you can't leave if this gate isn't cleared either, right?"
Why the hell do this?
Were these three planning to burn it all with Yuseonje here?
"Who said we're dying here?"
Trickster's clone grabbed a man then—a young-faced one in support team robes.
"Aaaagh!"
Why him?
I thought Trickster would kill him, but no.
"Bye everyone!"
Trickster teleported him out to where his "clone" waited outside.
Trickster's talent was illusions. He could drag others into them or create clones for short-range teleports.
But...
That ability still can't get them out.
His teleports only worked between clones or within range.
Lee Hyewon, finally alert, shouted.
"That guy he took—the support member! His ability is escape!"
Lightning struck my mind.
Escape.
Flee to any designated safe spot, anytime, anywhere.
Trickster didn't need to clear the gate. Just sabotage it and bail.
Seol Rokjin must have tipped them off.
Too late to realize now.
The Tower crew had vanished with the escape guy.
"Fuck."
The curse slipped out.
Kim Daegwon was dead.
All porters wiped out. Left were a few support members, Lee Hyewon, and Yuseonje.
Clear an S-grade stage—boss-focused—with this crew?
If it were mob swarms, it'd be easier. Han Seohyun crushed fodder wars.
But elite few? Neither he nor I would help much.
Couldn't just sit.
I pulled myself together.
"W-wait, who are you anyway?"
Lee Hyewon finally asked.
"Yeah, who the hell are you?"
Yuseonje chimed in, arms crossed.
"Sigh... Look at the situation—you'll see I'm not your enemy."
"Not buying it even if you say so."
I'd planned to save them quietly. Sighing, I tossed out a convenient lie.
"I'm from the Awakener Association."
It'd rot into corruption soon, but right now, their rep was decent.
"Awakener Association?"
"Yes. Agent tracking the Tower."
"Name?"
"Smith."
"Ha! You expect us to believe that?"
Didn't matter if they bought it. I shrugged at Lee Hyewon. She eyed me, then sighed deeply.
"...In this mess, it doesn't matter."
The lie didn't fully land, but it bought some leeway.
I continued calmly.
"Got intel the Tower villains were sabotaging this raid. Infiltrated to confirm. Spot on, huh."
"Spot on? What good's that now! Look at this..."
Despair filled Lee Hyewon's voice. She looked tough, but mentally fragile.
—That's normal! We're about to die—you're the weirdly calm one!
"We can't die here. So let's clear this Ice Palace somehow."
One way to survive.
Clear the damn gate.