The Sea Moon Mother (Part 4)
Step.
Doricco Shiro came to a halt about five paces away.
I couldn't feel even a shred of hostility from her. If anything, she was merely fidgeting with the hem of her martial robes like a shy young girl.
"These robes are pretty, aren't they? They're actually three hundred years old. It's really hard to find silk with this kind of texture nowadays."
Rustle.
As Doricco Shiro raised her arms, the sleeves of her robes fluttered.
Though the black fabric was worn and faded in places by the passage of time, a faint, subtle luster still clung to its surface.
Just as she said, it was a rather peculiar material.
At one moment it looked simply old, but at another, it shimmered mysteriously like starlight scattered across the night sky.
"What do you think? Isn't it mystical?"
"..."
"Hehe, once I put this on, I couldn't even look at other clothes. I've always loved mysterious things."
Twirl.
Was she trying to show off her outfit?
Doricco Shiro spun around on the spot. With that movement, the hem of her robes and her hair fluttered like cherry blossom petals in spring.
Through her disheveled bangs, her amber eyes revealed themselves. Deep within the gaze staring intently at me lay a playful curiosity.
"In that sense... I like you."
"..."
"How should I put it? You're very mysterious, Gaon."
Pausing for a moment, Doricco Shiro slowly continued.
"The death of Camilo von Taribas, that perverted Lich, wasn't in 'fate.' And the birth of a thirteenth Sword Master wasn't a destined 'fate' either."
Fate.
It wasn't hard to guess what she meant by that.
Just like the Sword Masters, the Five Nightmares also received revelations—from the evil gods they worshiped.
However...
"Usually, before a major event like this happens, those lords give us a heads-up. But strangely, this time, there wasn't a single sign."
...It seemed even those evil gods couldn't predict my actions at all.
'This is new information.'
Why couldn't the evil gods hand down a revelation about me?
Did they know the future but were unable to share it due to some restriction placed on the heavenly realm?
Or was it because I was a possessor, an existence outside their predictable scope?
I couldn't rule out the possibility that the evil gods were thrown into chaos by the appearance of a variable that didn't exist in the original game's scenario...
'...I don't know.'
All I could do was list meaningless possibilities.
With the information I had now, there were too few clues to continue deducing the truth.
While I was lost in thought, Doricco Shiro slowly approached.
"Hey."
The corners of her mouth twisted eerily. A smile that blended playfulness and cruelty hung on her lips.
"Don't just stand there like a statue. Explain it to me."
"..."
"How do you manage to defy their expectations every single time?"
I kept my mouth shut for a moment. My mind began to spin rapidly.
'Something is off.'
There was a contradiction in Doricco Shiro's words.
If the evil gods couldn't predict the future, her actions made no sense.
After all, Doricco Shiro had been waiting for me leisurely, as if she knew I would come here.
"You arrived earlier than I expected."
Was she hiding something?
To verify this doubt, I asked a question instead of giving an answer.
"Then, did you also not hear that I would come to this forest?"
"Yep, yep!"
Doricco Shiro nodded without a moment's hesitation.
She looked incredibly thrilled that I had finally opened my mouth to speak.
"I had absolutely no idea! They only told me after you arrived!"
...Ah.
So even if they couldn't foresee the distant future, they could at least inform her of events that had already transpired.
Whatever the case, it was good news.
'In the end, the main enemy I have to face is none other than the evil gods.'
The monsters, the cultists, or the NPCs who would oppose me were all merely moves played by those bastard gods.
If the opponent couldn't see through the future, then the battle of wits would ultimately take place on equal footing.
In that case, it was worth a shot.
This meant I could minimize the variables. In a situation like this, I could easily secure victory.
Slowly.
Having finished my thoughts, I glared at Doricco Shiro.
Then, I tightly gripped the hilt of the Feather Sword hanging at my waist.
"So that's why you were so nonchalant."
"...What?"
Shring!
Along with the now-familiar metallic ring, ripples spread across the lake.
The Feather Sword slid from its scabbard. Its sharp blade reflected the moon on the lake, glowing with a blue light.
Witnessing this, Doricco Shiro's expression instantly froze.
"What... are you doing right now?"
Without a word, I raised my sword. A chilling killing intent gathered at the cold tip of the blade.
"Are you seriously trying to fight me?"
Doricco Shiro's voice trembled.
"Hey! This isn't right! I've been so nice to you, how can you do this?"
"..."
"I don't want to fight you! I'm serious! I've wanted to be friends with you since the moment we met!"
Doricco Shiro shouted, her voice thick with a sense of unfairness. Cold sweat broke out on her forehead as she waved her hands frantically.
Of course, I knew she was telling the truth.
Perhaps resolving the issue through dialogue with Doricco Shiro might have been a good option.
If only the circumstances were different.
'But...'
I had a clear purpose for coming to the Sky Ocean Forest.
And to realize this plan of mine, I had no choice but to take a strong stance.
Inhale, exhale.
I took a deep breath.
And then, I began the familiar act I had repeated countless times since falling into this world.
Pretending to be strong.
Pretending not to fear this situation.
Putting on the air of a transcendent being who foresaw everything.
"It seems the grand god you serve failed to mention one crucial detail."
Watching my eyes turn cold and distant, Doricco Shiro slowly stepped backward.
My voice spread quietly across the lake.
"That today is the day you die."
Doricco Shiro's face contorted sharply.
'What is wrong with that guy...!'
Unlike the old saying that soft words bring soft answers, her opponent only treated her harshly.
Honestly, she felt hurt.
After all, Doricco Shiro had shown a friendly attitude from the moment they first met.
Perhaps that was why she simply could not understand the Sword Master's cold, ungenerous attitude.
"Hey!"
Unable to hold back any longer, Doricco Shiro yelled.
"You're really too much! Why are you being so mean? What did I ever do wrong to you? Huh?"
"...?"
Freeze.
The man, who had taken a stance as if he would charge at any moment, froze.
He asked back with a look of utter absurdity.
"You did nothing wrong?"
"Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!"
"Is that something you should say after corrupting the Sky Ocean Forest?"
"...Ah."
Oh, right.
It was something she hadn't thought about at all.
Thinking about it again, her karma was far too heavy to claim innocence.
"Uh, well... that's..."
Scratch, scratch.
Left with nothing to say, Doricco Shiro scratched the back of her head.
An awkward silence settled over the lake.
How much time had passed like that?
Pouting her lips in embarrassment, Doricco Shiro suddenly let out an eerie, mad laugh.
"Hmph!"
Snap!
As she snapped her fingers, a crisp sound cut through the air.
At that exact moment, the world flipped upside down.
It was no mere optical illusion or metaphor. It was a literal inversion. The sky and the earth began to swap places.
The lake that had been rippling beneath their feet surged upward to become the sky, while the endlessly stretching sky sank beneath them to become a deep abyss.
The two people who had been standing on the lake were suddenly suspended in empty space.
"Hehe, how is it?"
Doricco Shiro grinned.
"It's a technique I can only deploy within the Domain I've worked so hard to cultivate."
"This is..."
After looking around for a moment, the Sword Master, Gaon, muttered.
"...An illusion."
Doricco Shiro nodded with a broad smile.
"Yep. That's right."
Illusion magic.
This was Doricco Shiro's specialty.
A technique that deceived the opponent by creating illusions that did not exist.
However, her illusions did not stop at merely tricking the eyes.
"Since you answered right away, it seems you know a bit about illusion magic... but you'd still better be careful."
Doricco Shiro smiled gently.
"...My illusions are very different from the ones you know."
Snap!
No sooner had she finished speaking than Doricco Shiro snapped her fingers again.
At the same time, her opponent's complexion darkened.
"How is it? Hurts a bit, doesn't it?"
"..."
Slowly.
Gaon cast his gaze downward.
Both of his arms were gone.
The severed stumps left behind gruesome marks, as if they had been torn away by a massive beast.
"...A childish parlor trick."
Gaon muttered.
Though he didn't show it outwardly, he had to be experiencing horrific pain right now.
Because Doricco Shiro had 'directed' that scenario.
The pain of bones shattering.
The agony of flesh tearing.
The illusion of sticky blood trickling down his skin.
Even if it wasn't reality, the sensations would definitely feel real.
"Isn't it completely indistinguishable from reality?"
Distorting the senses and dominating the mind so that the victim couldn't tell if the pain was real or an illusion.
This was the true horror of Doricco Shiro's illusion magic.
It didn't matter how powerful the opponent's martial might was. The moment they stepped into this Domain, everything was as good as resting in the palm of her hand.
In a space where the boundary between reality and illusion collapsed, Doricco Shiro could reign as nothing less than a god.
"If you just stand still, I won't hurt you. So... let's not fight for no reason and just have a friendly chat, okay?"
Doricco Shiro smiled brightly, looking pleased that she had subdued her opponent so easily.
"Hehe! By the way, you're not all that!"
"..."
"I wondered how amazing you'd be since you killed Camilo and became the first Sword Master in hundreds of years, but you're just the same once you're trapped in an illusion."
Doricco Shiro took a step toward Gaon with a triumphant air.
"Anyway, don't be so tense. I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm just curious about what kind of person you are..."
Step.
It was at that exact moment.
Before Doricco Shiro could even finish her sentence, Gaon took a step forward.
His body, suspended in midair, slowly began to move forward.
"Huh?"
And...
His arms, which had been horribly severed just seconds ago...
Were perfectly intact and attached to his body, as if nothing had happened.
"Uh, uh...?"
Doricco Shiro's eyes widened as she stumbled backward.
She took one step back, then another, but the distance between her and Gaon only shrank.
"W-What is this...?"
Bewilderment flooded Doricco Shiro's eyes.
Within her Domain, and in the space where her illusion was active...
For someone to move freely could only mean one thing.
"H-How did you break my illusion...!"
...Namely, that the illusion had been dispelled.
Indeed.
An illusion that had never been broken once in hundreds of years had been completely neutralized by a single man.
Doricco Shiro stared at Gaon as if looking into a deep abyss.
Fear.
It was the first genuine emotion to show on her face.
"Amusing," Gaon said, a faint smile playing on his lips.
"I believe you said just a moment ago that you liked mysterious things."
"..."
"Why? Have you grown a little afraid now?"
[Mental Strength 'MAX' exerts superhuman will.]
[Resisting highest-tier illusion.]