Chapter 139
Chapter 139
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 139
Chapter Title: Aurora Trapped in Illusion
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I saw Aurora trapped in the illusion.
Enthralled by the illusion, she ground her teeth as she looked around the false world.
It seemed she could still see me, glaring at me through the world overlaid with falsehoods.
'She's not fully under yet.'
Aurora wasn't stronger than a saintess, a hero, or Yuris.
But unlike the others, her strong aversion to entering illusions had apparently given her some resistance.
'As expected, she's not just any academy head.'
Honestly, I was surprised.
I hadn't imagined she'd have willpower like this.
Resisting illusion magic cast at full power.
[The user's willpower is strong. Time is needed for the illusion to apply perfectly.]
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"Release me right now! If you don't undo this, I'll destroy everything around here!"
She shouted through gritted teeth, but... well.
It wouldn't be that easy.
The greatest feature of illusion magic was that once properly ensnared, it even distorted the surrounding mana as perceived by the victim.
Our shop's magic circle was drawing such perfect distortion that it could suppress even the saintess's 'Divine Word'—the power of God's apostle.
Aurora was indeed an exceptional mage.
Her magic level was probably higher than mine.
However.
"Huh?"
The 'Quake' that should have collapsed the entire house didn't even cause the slightest tremor.
She panicked briefly.
I watched Aurora, fully deluded by the illusion, unable to properly sense the mana she should have felt.
Unable to properly feel the mana, she couldn't draw the correct mana into her incantation, naturally leading to a misfire.
I snapped my fingers at her.
Snap!
The illusion magic circle reacted to my finger, generating a spell.
A simple binding spell.
Clang!
Illusory chains made of mana bound her arms.
Though they didn't exist in reality, Aurora's arms rose upward in the illusion.
From outside the illusion, it looked like Aurora was raising her own arms.
Proof that the illusion's suggestion was strong enough to influence reality.
'Even without physical force, she raised her own hands...'
It meant her powerful consciousness, strong enough to see through the illusion to me outside, was instead moving her body.
The reason I used this spell was to check how deeply she had sunk into the illusion.
'She's properly hooked.'
Her willpower pierced through to see me outside, but conversely, that willpower was slowly dominating her body.
The longer she stayed in the illusion, the more her advanced brain would recognize it as reality.
"H-How?"
Her eyes widened in shock at being defeated by a mere illusion mage.
She formed hand seals and cast Dispel.
Pop!
Dispelling illusion magic even with her twisted mana.
The academy head was the academy head.
But it was a pathetic struggle.
Confirming she was properly ensnared, I swung my hand.
Boom!
An explosion erupted in the illusion, sending Aurora tumbling across the floor.
Even though it wasn't a real explosion.
"Y-You... how can you wield magic at this level..."
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[Illusion fidelity is perfect. Proceed if desired.]
I read the message from the magic circle for a moment, then spoke to Aurora.
"Save your strength."
"What?"
"You're about to face trials that won't be endured with ordinary stamina."
Aurora clenched her teeth at my words.
She bared her hostility toward me, growling like she wanted to bite me right then.
"You're declaring war on Life Magic School by doing this, right?"
She had picked the fight first, yet now she was blaming me.
"Hadn't you already resolved yourself for that?"
"What?"
"From the moment you tried to frame us with the grave crime of demon summoning, weren't you intent on war?"
"You bastard..."
"Did you think we'd just say 'sorry' and send you on your way?"
"What you're doing is basically admitting your guilt..."
I shook my head.
"What guilt are you talking about?"
"Obviously, that you sneakily summoned a demon..."
"No. You've got it wrong."
I smiled and opened my mouth.
"What I'm doing now is just a dispute between magic schools. Not the heinous crime of demon summoning."
"Hey! Max! You think you'll get away with this? Do you know how serious it is to touch a school head..."
"Would it be worse than demon summoning? I'm not idiot enough to leave alone someone trying to brand us as demon summoners."
"You little shit!"
Her coming to our shop alone was a mistake in itself.
Coming to the enemy's base alone to begin with.
She must have had a guilty conscience.
Without clear evidence we summoned a demon, she came to fabricate it on-site.
'Hard to fabricate with people around.'
Few mages could discern the authenticity of evidence created by the academy head herself.
It meant she saw our school as a joke.
She was certain we were so weak she could come alone without harm.
We had no choice but to seem laughable.
Only two mages in the school.
Both with almost no physical power, making direct combat nearly impossible for the head or her sole disciple.
Life Magic wasn't combat-oriented, but she thought she could suppress us alone.
"Release me now. Unless you want to bear the crime of obstructing Life Magic's head, who came to investigate real demon summoning."
I shrugged at her resolute shout.
"Escape on your own."
"What?"
"Life Magic—a great school, right? Earning more than Goldmoon and Meister, second only to Blaster in new students lately. If you're its head, surely you can break a mere illusion from an illusion mage?"
"Max, I thought well of you... You've really decided to go all out now."
"You're wrong. The one who went all out was you, Head Aurora. I only attacked in self-defense."
I'm innocent, that's what I'm saying.
"You..."
"Our chat's gone on long enough. Now you'll properly enjoy the illusion, so let me add one thing..."
I set the illusion she'd see using the window summoned by the magic circle as I spoke.
"This illusion will reflect Head Aurora's 'desires.'"
Like a mirror slightly distorted by lust.
I planned to add some restrictions too.
No matter what, letting someone who drew a blade on me first just enjoy it felt a bit unfair.
"No grand demon summoning will happen, so don't worry."
"Stop right now! If I get out of this illusion, you'll..."
"Then have a good time. Hope I can watch you smiling later."
It'd be quite painful.
She'd probably beg to be let out right away.
I was inwardly curious how she'd react.
Tormenting someone with illusion was a first for me.
'I hope she reacts properly.'
The mage's curiosity boiled in my chest.
I was really curious what would happen if pleasure-made illusion caused pain.
[Starting illusion.]
[User: Aurora of Life Magic]
"You fucking bastard!!!"
As Aurora screamed, I saw the light fade from her eyes.
She was perfectly immersed in the illusion.
"......"
Aurora looked straight ahead.
No one stood where Max had been moments ago.
Max had vanished.
She hadn't sensed any presence when he disappeared.
Not even a change in mana.
He was just gone.
As if he had never been there.
"Is this even possible...?"
Could mere illusion magic tamper with perception like this?
No way.
Aurora knew well how illusion magic worked.
It was just twisting mana to make the surroundings look distorted.
'No trace of twisted mana at all.'
Moreover, when facing Max, her magic hadn't manifested properly.
The Quake hadn't even cast right.
Dispel seemed to work, but she knew better than anyone how weak it was.
"My magic didn't come out right."
She had crumbled without proper resistance against Max, who was several levels below her.
Impossible in normal circumstances.
'That magic circle...'
The intricate one filling the room that she had seen.
That must be it.
It blocked her power and amplified Max's.
'I never knew illusion magic had this kind of power...'
If announced to academia, it would draw attention.
'Why hide it?'
Unanswerable.
Who truly understood illusion mages' minds?
But such thoughts didn't last long.
'I need to escape.'
Illusion magic was fundamentally a trap that kept showing illusions to prevent escape.
She couldn't stay pinned here.
She couldn't let these illusion mages steal her customers.
'If they take Yuris, my top VVIP...'
It could cost Life Magic much of its foundation.
She had to escape and subdue Max somehow.
Only then did she pull herself together and survey her surroundings.
It looked like a filthy underground dungeon.
"The smell."
The worst space for her, who valued cleanliness.
Mold and filth assaulted her nose.
"The smell feels this real too?"
Used to spotless rooms, the dungeon's stench was unbearable.
"Ugh!"
She wanted to dispel the smell with magic, but the twisted mana wouldn't oblige.
Aurora gripped the barred path.
"Hey! Stop this nonsense and release me now! This won't erase your crimes!"
She shouted toward Max, architect of the illusion.
"Max! You bastard!!!"
As she screamed.
"Fucking noisy."
A rough male voice rang out.
A man in armor bearing the imperial guard's emblem approached with heavy steps.
With Max gone and this stranger appearing, Aurora belatedly realized this was the illusion after assessing.
This man must be Max disguised in the illusion.
Obvious.
Illusion magic had the weakness of struggling to deceive without a physical entity.
Max, you bastard, trying to fool me with such obvious tricks.
Academy heads differed by school, but still.
"Release me now! If you do, I'll forgive and withdraw..."
"What the hell are you saying? Has your illness flared up again?"
"What?"
The guard clicked his tongue.
"Trying to claim you're Life Magic School head or whatever again?"
"Of course! Can't you see this green hair of mine? The blessing only Life Magic's head can have..."
"The bitch who tried summoning demons acting like Life Magic head. That's the illness, bitch."
"What? What are you saying? Me, summon a demon? I'm the honorable Life Magic head, Aurora! Why would I..."
"Captain, this bitch seems delusional again."
At the guard's words, a man with one eye covered by an eyepatch approached.
A scarred man everywhere bit a pipe and glared at her.
"Still haven't come to your senses."
"If you're insulting me, do it another way! Not like this!"
The scarred captain nodded to the guard.
"Show her that."
"Got it."
The guard opened the door and approached Aurora.
Unable to use magic, she furrowed her brow threateningly at the sudden approach.
"You dare do something to me...? Think I'll forgive this?"
Then the man grabbed her skirt and lifted it.
"Eek!"
"Look closely. No matter how crazy you are, the tattoo on your body won't vanish."
"...What?"
She looked down at her body.
"The cursed seal on your belly. Clear proof of your demon contract."
The cursed seal the scarred captain mentioned was starkly etched on her lower abdomen.
An ugly tattoo symbolizing the demon race was vividly marked below her navel.
"Wh-Why is this...?"
Unbelievable.
Why?
"Take this bitch to the punishment room right now. And never let her out."
"Understood, Captain."
Before she knew it, a soldier had cuffed her arms and dragged her to another space.
A narrow room with no windows.
"Get in."
And at the center of that room.
Grotesque tentacles writhed.
"You... you'll regret this..."
"Regret's for you. Not knowing who the real Life Magic head is."
"...What?"
"If you're gonna pretend, do it right. Life Magic's head isn't you—it's Lady Meiko."
What?
But she couldn't even ask properly.
Bang!
The soldier slammed the door shut.
"What? Meiko as head...?"
Only then did she notice the tentacle coiling around her ankle.
"Ah!"
Aurora was dragged straight toward the tentacle.