Chapter 567
Chapter Title: Nightmare
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“Dragon Tongue magic?”
“Yes.”
Leo nodded at Driana’s question.
“Is this okay? It looked like an incredibly powerful spell.”
“It’s a test because it’s powerful magic.”
“I’m talking about Chelsea.”
“That’s right. Why did you cast an illusion spell on Chelsea Llewellyn too? Weren’t you going to teach those dragons a lesson?”
Following Driana’s words, Lunia also asked, looking puzzled.
“Those dragons were secretly looking down on Chelsea.”
Leo let out a smirk.
“They’ll learn through Chelsea just how amazing she is. And just how narrow-minded and arrogant their own thinking was.”
Hearing Leo’s words, Lunia wore a displeased expression.
“I thought you’d be the type to put them in their place so they’d never dare to challenge you again.”
“That is my usual way of doing things. But this time, I thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea to show them just how big the world is.”
Despite Leo’s explanation, Lunia still looked slightly disgruntled.
Leo clicked his tongue as he watched her.
“You’re thinking you should go smash those arrogant dragons’ faces in right now, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re only learning Luna’s bad habits.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“Does that sound like a compliment to you?”
Even at Leo’s words, Lunia just flashed a bright, pretty smile.
‘She’s becoming more and more like Luna in her shamelessness.’
There were so many good things she could learn, so why did she only pick up the bad ones?
“This one… should I smack her one when she gets out of the illusion?”
“Lunia, if you keep choosing to act so mean, you’ll really get a reputation as a delinquent elf.”
“What’s wrong with my heart? It’s a kind heart.”
“I can see that your heart has been finely ground into a soft powder.”
At Driana’s remark, Lunia’s eyes flared.
“Just think back to when we first met and try to be more understanding.”
At Leo’s words, Lunia’s face turned deathly pale.
“The first meeting between the black rabbit and the delinquent elf? What was it like? What happened?”
Ar’s eyes lit up as she asked.
“Don’t! Don’t you say it!”
Lunia rushed at Leo, trying to cover his mouth.
But she was caught by Ar.
Despite her ferocious personality and terrifying magic, there was no way Lunia could physically break free from Ar.
“My phoenix was originally designated as Lunia’s bonded partner. When she found out it ended up contracting with me first by chance, she threw a fit demanding I give it back.”
“What a scene.”
“And she cried her eyes out, begging for it back.”
“I didn’t cry! I was just pretending to cry!”
Lunia shrieked.
Ar’s eyes sparkled.
“Then, to prove she was more suited to be Piora’s bonded partner, she challenged me to a duel…”
“Aaargh! Aaargh! Aaaaaargh!”
Lunia screamed, her face as red as her hair.
Early in her first year.
It was an embarrassing memory from her immature days.
To think she’d try to prove to the Great Hero that she was more suited to be the phoenix’s partner!
Could anything be more embarrassing than that!
‘And of all people, he had to tell *them* this story!’
“You’re being loud.”
“Grrrrgh-!”
“Are you some kind of wild beast?”
When Driana tried to cover her mouth, Lunia tried to bite her hand.
“Challenging someone to a duel over a phoenix. Pfft!”
Ar, still holding Lunia, laughed unpleasantly.
‘I will definitely erase this cat’s memory!’
Just as Lunia was grinding her teeth…
Gooooooh-!
Black mana began to pour out from the bodies of those caught in the Nightmare.
Seeing this, everyone’s gaze turned to Leo.
“Well, Lunia. To you, it might seem like I’m dealing with those brats in a rather mild way for me. But mentally, this method can be much harder on them.”
Leo’s left eye had turned black, emitting black mana like smoke.
“It looks like it’s starting for real.”
***
‘Nightmare!’
Riden’s eyes shot open.
The reason Lisinas was respected with near-infinite reverence by later generations of dragons wasn’t simply because she was the leader of the subjugation party that saved the world.
Even after the Age of Disaster ended and the world was being rebuilt, Lisinas’s foresight shone brightly.
Although she passed away before seeing the new era, the world was later rebuilt based on Lisinas’s plans.
Those who remained inherited her wisdom.
That foresight of Lisinas’s shone once more after the fall of Erebos.
And again after Tartaros began to stir.
The timing of Tartaros’s movements.
Their forces.
Even their strategies and lines of advance.
The wisdom Lisinas left behind protected the world until it could stand on its own.
In the early days of the Age of Heroes, the heroes she chose, led by the Fairy Knight Berkia, all helped place the unstable world on a solid foundation.
The records Lisinas left, predicting the future, could truly be called prophecies without exaggeration.
This was possible for one simple reason.
It was likely because Lisinas was certain that the world would be saved, even in the most desperate of situations.
Such a figure also left a legacy for her own kind.
She left behind the Dragon Tongue magic she created so that others in later generations could learn it.
Becoming guides and mastering that magic was the ultimate goal of the Wisdom students.
The fact that Leo had used such magic was astounding. Moreover, the spell Leo used was Nightmare, renowned as the most difficult of them all.
The spell known as the ultimate illusion magic.
Even among the spells Lisinas left behind, its cruelty was exceptional.
The root of Nightmare is a curse used by the demonkin of Tartaros, so its cruelty was only natural.
“Riden?!”
Just then, Riden flinched at a voice from behind.
Siren was standing there.
Upon seeing Siren, Riden immediately adopted a wary expression.
Nightmare was an illusion spell that made you fight the opponent you least wanted to face.
Whoever appeared was undoubtedly an enemy.
Siren felt the same, but soon, the two dragons facing each other wore puzzled expressions.
“Strange. The opponent I’d least want to fight isn’t someone like Riden.”
“Oh? I agree. Same here.”
“Riden? Siren?”
“What’s going on?”
Just then, the other Wisdom students, Feldir and Mida, also appeared.
“Does this mean we’ve fallen into the same illusion?”
Riden asked with a surprised look.
“How is that possible? Nightmare is a spell that shows each person’s own inner demons. Even if it’s cast over a wide area, everyone should still be facing their own personal specters, right?”
As Siren shook her head, Feldir muttered with a serious face.
“Could he have altered the spell?”
“No way. For the last 5,000 years, people have tried to reinterpret Lady Lisinas’s magic, but no one has ever succeeded, right?”
Mida wore a troubled expression.
Thud- Thud-
Footsteps echoed in the space of pure darkness.
“Chelsea Llewellyn, is that you?”
Riden called out toward the darkness, remembering Chelsea who had entered the illusion with them.
“Sorry, but no.”
A clear voice came from beyond the darkness.
Thud- Thud-
The dragons’ eyes widened as they saw the figure emerge from the darkness.
Whoooosh-!
A gentle wind rustled her glossy black hair.
The beautiful woman, who smoothly swept her hair back, looked at the dragons.
Siren’s eyes filled with shock.
“Lady Lisinas?”
“So you know my name, traitors to our kind.”
“Ah…”
The moment Siren heard Lisinas’s words, her face turned deathly pale.
And she wasn’t the only one.
“N-No way.”
“B-But, surely. Lady Lisinas is a being dragons would least want to fight, but…!”
“We’ve never even met Lady Lisinas!”
The terrifying aspect of Nightmare was that it could create any opponent one least wanted to fight.
In other words, the stronger the target, the stronger the illusion.
But it also had a drawback.
The scope of the illusion is limited to opponents one has met before.
And yet, Lisinas had appeared.
The Wisdom students fell into a panic.
“Wait, this Nightmare is strange! It must be a different spell that just looks like Nightmare—”
Flash-!
Just as Mida, who had regained his composure, was speaking urgently…
A flash of light burst forth, and a beam of light pierced Mida’s abdomen.
“Huh?”
Gush-!
Unable to comprehend the situation, Mida coughed up blood and collapsed.
Thud-!
“That’s one down.”
Lisinas’s emotionless eyes turned to the other Wisdom students.
Seeing those eyes, Riden was somehow reminded of Leo using Dragon Tongue magic.
The faces of the Wisdom students were painted with terror.
“Everyone… run!”
At Riden’s cry, Siren and Feldir scattered.
Riden hoisted the fallen Mida onto his shoulders and dashed into the darkness.
“Not a bad choice when facing an overwhelming difference in power.”
Lisinas said with an impassive face.
“But there’s a difference between fleeing in simple terror and making a tactical retreat.”
Lisinas’s eyes pierced through the darkness.
“In your case, it seems to be the former.”
***
Riden’s jaw trembled uncontrollably.
‘That’s not the real Lady Lisinas! It’s an illusion!’
If she were the real Lisinas, they wouldn’t have even been able to flee; they would have been annihilated on the spot.
But even if she was a fake, she was clearly a monster they couldn’t handle.
Glancing at his friend slumped over his shoulder, Riden clenched his teeth.
‘I have to run! I have to get away!’
The thought of how to escape this predicament no longer crossed his mind.
He was simply swept away by endless despair.
At that moment.
Thump-! Thump-!
Siren and Feldir came tumbling to the ground in front of Riden.
Riden’s face hardened.
“The game of tag is over.”
From the darkness, the expressionless Lisinas revealed herself.
Riden’s jaw chattered.
He tried to use magic to take his friends with him.
Watching him, Lisinas curled her lip.
To Riden, it felt like a sneer.
A sneer directed at the fool trying to take away his already-dead friends.
But Riden couldn’t abandon his friends, even if they were just corpses.
‘I have to escape… somehow, I have to escape…!’
He had already forgotten that this was a test.
Because death in a Nightmare is real death.
As Riden stumbled backward with a terrified face, Lisinas slowly closed the distance.
Whoooosh-!
A gentle breeze blew.
Kwa-ga-ga-gak-!
A razor-sharp wind gusted and swept Lisinas away.
Riden’s eyes widened.
He saw the back of Chelsea, who had appeared out of nowhere.
“Chelsea… Llewellyn!”
“Hurry and get your friends somewhere safe and treat them!”
“What?”
“Your friends are still alive!”
At Chelsea’s words, Riden flinched and checked his friends’ conditions.
It was true.
They all avoided fatal blows and escaped instant death.
Of course, that didn’t change the fact that they were critically injured.
However, the powerful life force of the dragons was barely keeping the three of them alive.
“Hurry!”
“What about you?”
“I’ll hold her off somehow!”
“You can’t do it alone!”
“That’s right! If she were the real Lady Lisinas, it would be impossible!”
Chelsea’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“But this opponent is a fake!”
“But I am real.”
“No, you’re not! You’re uglier than the portrait I saw of Lady Lisinas! That means you’re a fake!”
Lisinas’s eye twitched.
Then she curled her lip into a smile.
“What an absurd little spitfire.”
As she spoke, a terrifying amount of mana began to pour out from Lisinas’s body.
Seeing this, Chelsea inwardly regretted her words.
‘Maybe I shouldn’t have called her ugly?’