Sorsin Would Follow

He had known Sorsin would come after them. He had not expected the man to come down this fast.

Did I kick up too much of a fuss?

Then again, it would have been stranger if anyone had walked past the collapse of a building over a hundred stories tall without so much as a glance. Every eye the Illusion Race had in the city would have been drawn to it, and Sorsin's among them.

"Are there no other factions?"

"You mean factions besides Sorsin's?"

"Yes."

"There are. A great many. But they wouldn't dare."

"Because Sorsin's faction is that strong?"

"Yes. And because Sorsin has the highest chance of becoming the next Illusion King. More than a few of them worry that earning his spite now would come back to haunt them later."

"You're not afraid? What about the rest of the Illusion Race?"

"I'm royalty too, so I would be afraid—but nothing like the fear Sorsin inspires."

"So the only real problem is Sorsin. How convenient."

"What? Convenient?"

"The biggest nuisance was kind enough to come find me himself."

"..."

"I'm grateful."

"Are you going to fight him right now?"

"Is there anything more goddamn awful than getting interrupted while you're hunting for a supercomputer? I'm going. Consider it a personal house call."

With that, Yujun's figure vanished.

Heminine hurried after him.

"Is there something in here?"

"I couldn't say. But this is certainly the most suspicious place in the city."

Count Gorgon answered Sorsin's question.

"They came knowing something, didn't they? Or was it a hunch?"

"Either way, it doesn't matter. Even if it weren't them, this building would still have needed investigating, and the First Princess would still have needed to be dealt with. So long as we don't grow careless, we can seize both at once."

"Even if we are careless... I don't mean to dismiss Heminine, but the girl's limits are plain. And the one she summoned is nothing but human."

"Wasn't that traveler who came from another dimension some time ago rather strong?"

"That human had the power to wander the dimensions on his own. Hardly a fair comparison to a player who was summoned here."

"He looked considerably strong as well."

"Even next to the celestial we brought?"

"Surely not."

Sophia, the celestial standing behind them, gave a bitter smile.

"You place far too much trust in me. How burdensome."

"We have little choice. A high-ranking celestial is not a being one sees easily, and they wield martial power on an entirely different order from the demons. In raw force, are the celestials not overwhelmingly the superior race?"

"You are mistaken. I am not merely strong."

"I know. How could I not? Everyone here understands just how exceptional the celestial race is in every respect."

The celestials were a particularly capricious race. If one did not wish to sour their mood, one had to accommodate them as far as possible. Only then did Sophia's expression ease.

More difficult than I'd heard.

Even so, Sorsin counted the celestial's summoning as a stroke of luck. Sophia's martial power ranked among the strongest in the Illusion Realm, barring the Illusion King himself. What mattered most to the Illusion Race was illusion magic, not raw force—but the fact that no player could match Sophia also meant that Sorsin now held a weapon no one else possessed.

It was then.

Just as they were about to pass through the broken door and descend to the second basement level, Yujun appeared before them.

Sorsin, walking at the front, flinched.

"What the— who is this?"

"Your Highness. That is the human."

"The one Heminine summoned? Now that I look, a familiar face."

A smile touched Sorsin's lips.

"Human. Where do you get the nerve?"

"Shrimp."

"What?"

"Save the chatter and raise your weapon. You came here to fight, didn't you?"

Yujun had already poured mana into his sword. At the sight of mana purer than anything he had witnessed in his life, Sorsin's eyes went wide. A mere human possessed mana that pure? It might have had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nothing to do with martial power, but a thread of unease stirred in him all the same.

"I'll take him."

The celestial Sophia stepped forward.

Pure white wings. No fewer than three pairs rose from her back. Among the celestials, rank was fixed by the number of one's wings, and a celestial bearing three pairs was exceedingly rare even in the Heavenly Realm.

"Prepare your illusion magic."

Sophia spoke almost in the tone of a command, yet the Illusion Race prepared their magic without a flicker of resistance. Sorsin had already ordered them to obey her.

Six nobles, and Sorsin with them. Illusion magic cast jointly by seven in all.

Yujun knew he had to stop them, but Sophia had charged first, and she had to be dealt with before the rest. She thrust a massive spear. His sword scraped along the shaft in a glancing pass, the point seeking her throat—more precisely, the hollow just beneath her chin. Sophia snapped her head back and slipped the blade. But an attack from Yujun, his swordsmanship running like something possessed, was not so easily escaped. The sword's path bent at a grotesque angle, and Sophia wrapped her entire body in her wings.

KAAANG!

Her tier is high too?

He had thought the celestials and the demons would not differ by all that much. Apparently he had been wrong. Contrary to everything he had known, the celestials seemed a race of far higher grade than the demons. He had never even received a message saying his attacks failed against the Demon King for lack of tier—and back then, he had been weak beyond any comparison to what he was now.

Just how much of a weakling was that Demon King?

The dead Demon King would have bristled at the thought, but it was not far from the truth.

I'll have to use Chaos again.

But he was no longer the Yujun of before. His Chaos now stood at a staggering 376. He had piled up that number by refusing the journey to the Sky Prison and going on absorbing Chaos instead. He had wondered whether he was being greedy, yet looking at the result, it did not feel as if he were paying the price for that greed. He had entered the Illusion King's world, and a greater reward was now within reach.

Sophia, who had nearly lost her life, seemed to relax once she grasped that Yujun's tier was low, and she smiled.

"You gave me a fright for nothing."

"You're going to be a lot more frightened."

He imbued his sword with Chaos.

"Hmph. Trying some new technique? Useless. A gap in tier is not something you can tear down as easily as you thi—"

Shhk!

"AAAAAGH!"

One pair of the wings enveloping her was severed. The sense of pain along the wings was duller than elsewhere on the body. Even so, Yujun's strike carried not only Chaos, but the skill Painful Strike as well. It was a pain even the Balrog had failed to endure. Sophia proved no exception.

"It... hurts—!"

When an opening came, you pressed it. Sophia was not an opponent he could kill with ease, and the Illusion Race at her back were a formidable force in their own right. Carelessness was not an option. He surged in. The sword lanced out like a shot, seeking her neck, and once again the wings closed around her without fail. So he chose to raise the power of the blow beyond the last. Chaos. Painful Strike. And with them, the SSS-grade skill Flash. Its cooldown was long, but its power was certain.

Shhk!

"AAAAAAAAAGH!"

It was the very instant he sheared through every layered wing wrapped around Sophia and moved to take her head.

Damn it...

A message he had not anticipated appeared. Yujun triggered Super Concentration and, in the time that slowed to a crawl, hastily forged dozens of powerful shields. Then his vision changed.

A pitch-dark space.

Kreek!

Krrk— glurk!

The screech of metal, and a sound like phlegm boiling in a throat. The air was damp, yet cool. A jungle at midnight. That was where he found himself when he opened his eyes.

He knew he had been caught by illusion magic. That awareness alone kept this from being a moment to sink into despair. The shock held him for a while. Then Yujun gathered himself.

...I never thought I'd fall to illusion magic.

He had resisted Heminine's illusion magic perfectly, so without quite realizing it, he must have taken the strength of Sorsin's group too lightly.

Even so, aside from the Illusion King, they were the finest illusionists there were. That was my mistake.

But he had no proper counter. Illusion magic was not something you could block merely by knowing it was coming. Unless he had studied illusion magic himself, he had no separate means of resistance.

And illusion magic is precisely the thing even Ancient Magic can't solve...

No item in his inventory looked as if it could pull him out of this illusion world.

I entered the Illusion King's world, and now I've stepped into yet another world on top of it.

Yujun looked around. An unremarkable jungle. Now and then the cries of small nocturnal animals drifted through the dark. A few steps on, his shoes stuck to the wet ground. A swamp nearby had left the earth soft and sucking.

"I did put the shields up, but... this is uneasy."

He had poured nearly all his mana into them, so they would not shatter at once—but they would not hold for long either. He had to escape this illusion world before they failed. The one mercy was that even if he died out there, he would not truly die.

It was then.

He sensed a presence not far off. Yujun did not stand and wait. He kicked off the ground and ran, and coming to meet him were the celestial Sophia, Sorsin, and several of the Illusion Race. Their number was down by about two from before, and he thought he knew why.

They must be happily pounding away at my shields out there.

Why had they followed him all the way in here, after going to such lengths to lock him away with illusion magic?

"What are you lot?"

"Hngh... you fool."

A sneer settled at the corner of Sorsin's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠mouth.

"You have been trapped in an illusion world inside an illusion world. Did you think this was the end? Hardly. It will repeat dozens of times. Hundreds."

"Huh? If I just kill you here, isn't that the end of it?"

"If you think that will let you out, then by all means, try."

Confidence overflowed on Sorsin's face. He seemed to have something he was counting on.

Are they going to keep following me inward and cast illusion magic again?

Illusion magic unfolding without end. It had been designed that way from the start, so the Illusion Race he was looking at now might not even be real. Killing them, then, would change nothing.

Sophia charged first. As before, she closed in with her long spear thrust forward, and Yujun used Flash and Chaos to cut her clean in half.

Shhk!

Split in two, Sophia died on the spot. But she would still be alive and well outside the illusion world. Nothing to celebrate.

Before this gets even more confusing, I ought to find myself some kind of marker.

If he had something that could tell reality from a virtual world, it would help. Before they could catch him with illusion ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠magic again, Yujun swiftly cut the Illusion Race down.

"Gack!"

"Hhk!"

Having killed even Sorsin, he let out a thin breath and lowered his sword. The situation had grown so urgent that killing them had been almost simple. He lifted his head toward the sky, and something entered his view.

"Hm? That's..."

He had not noticed in the dark, but faint lines of every color lay across the night sky. Familiar lines. They would be. He had seen those same lines in the wormhole that had brought him to the Illusion Realm.

They were the grain.