Chapter 269
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 269
Chapter Title: Shattering the Mirage
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Cores presumed to be planted throughout the Holy Kingdom. Only you can distinguish the real one.
If we don't destroy the core, those things won't stop coming.
As if this were some two-times experience event or something.
If I didn't head in and join the fight right now, countless innocent lives would be lost.
But the culprit behind this mess knew I could detect the red moon.
They probably wouldn't have set this up without a plan. As proof, a thin veil spread around the Holy Kingdom's capital, including the Papal Palace, giving off a red, profoundly eerie vibe.
Tssst...
When I reached the veil and placed my hand on it, it sucked me in smoothly without any resistance.
As if it had no intention of blocking entry.
But neither Luna nor I believed this was unconditional acceptance.
"The Mirage of Twisted Flames. One of Kthuger's authorities. The moment we enter, a massive illusion will likely consume us."
If Luna's prediction was right, this would eat up a ton of time.
And who knew how many people would die in the meantime.
"What I can't figure out is that Kthuger himself isn't showing up."
"He's not here?"
"Unlike Nyarla, Kthuger is extremely aggressive. His minions and powers are all manifesting... so why isn't he here himself?"
Maybe the entity called Kthuger had changed its mind in the interim, but Luna dismissed that possibility.
"Let's head in first. Smashing it outright is pretty much impossible anyway."
"The Mirage of Twisted Flames isn't your average illusion. One wrong move, and we could be trapped inside forever."
"Countering a powerful illusion domain is simpler than you'd think."
I reached into the sub-space in the air and pulled out a massive hammer.
"Utopia."
Without hesitation, I slammed the spirit sword Utopia into the veil.
"Open."
At my command, Utopia's immense illusion power clashed with Kthuger's authority, sparking wildly.
And the distortion born from that clash tore open a massive rift.
"Let's go."
Luna followed silently.
But the Librarian had a different opinion.
Authority detected. Recommend exercising greater caution.
The Librarian was right—letting my guard down wouldn't be wise.
The heretics had info on outer god stuff, but it ended up useless after all.
Such thoughts crossed my mind.
The moment we entered the rift, the scenery around us transformed completely.
Scorching sunlight. Endless dunes of sand.
It was a desert boasting hellish heat.
"That's why they call it a mirage?"
"Not exactly, but if hearing 'mirage' made you think of a desert, then this fits."
So because I thought of a desert, that's what we got?
"Know how to get out of this?"
"Unleashing enough power to shatter the illusion space outright would be most efficient. Otherwise... we'd have to find the core of this illusion."
The longer we wandered in this illusion, the more humans would die outside.
It didn't arbitrarily mess with the time axis just because it was fake.
Combing this vast desert for the core would be idiotic.
Grrrrowl...
Whoosh... Boom!!!!
And as if on cue, sand bulged in the distance, spewing out massive monsters.
Each one resembled a sandworm, but their forms were grotesquely wrapped in apocalyptic flames.
"I'll handle those. You blaze the trail, Leon."
I infused spirit energy into the hammer in my hand.
I planned to proceed as intended even before entering this illusion.
Dealing with all those monsters one by one would waste time anyway.
Meanwhile, the spirit sword Utopia relentlessly devoured my spirit energy, battling for control of the illusion space.
The clash between illusion-manipulating power and Kthuger's authority made the entire desert flicker like massive noise—collapsing and reforming repeatedly.
But collapsing the illusion space wasn't as easy as expected.
Was Utopia, activated at first stage, not enough to offset something authority-level?
I tried countering illusion with illusion, like fighting fire with fire, but the effect was underwhelming.
Utopia's illusion capabilities weren't weak, but this 'mirage' authority lived up to its name.
Apparently too much for Utopia, still in its growth phase at first awakening.
No special circumstances like healing the World Tree with falling petals— this was Utopia's limit.
Just as that thought hit me.
Utopia began trembling fiercely, resonating.
Give me power. Hand over more— all of it!
Unlike the falling petals, I felt Utopia's intense will, usually so subdued.
Even pumping it full of spirit energy had clear limits in its current state, but I started pouring in vast amounts as it wished.
The more I did, the more Utopia sucked it up like a sponge,
and began changing on its own.
"Wha... what the...?"
This thing— it couldn't just evolve willy-nilly.
As a growing spirit sword, it had set paths for evolution.
A botched one could become a real headache, as I'd learned in the Labyrinthos.
It might not just disobey— I could end up having to destroy it myself.
I forced spirit energy circulation to suppress it like crushing it with raw power. The unstable glow of Utopia, on the verge of dark evolution, calmed in an instant.
And then.
Before long, Utopia's form swelled massively into a two-handed hammer.
It had awakened on its own, against my will.
I felt its pride here, and it exceeded expectations.
Once fully transformed, the hammerhead of Utopia began shimmering like an illusion itself. Instinctively, I hefted it and swung at the air.
"Here we go!!"
Krunch!!!!
The power unleashed in that instant dwarfed its initial activation, erupting with immense energy density. It spewed black shadows, swallowing everything around us.
Even an authority couldn't hold without its main body—weakened twice crossing into this world—the illusion domain lost control to Utopia.
Crack... Craaack!!
The red veil enveloping the entire Holy Kingdom capital warped, devoured by black shadows, melted away, and vanished completely, formless.
"Th-the red veil is gone!!!"
A blood-soaked holy knight pointed at the sky and shouted.
"Reinforcements can come now!! Hold the line, everyone!"
"Hurry the refugees to safety!!"
The revealed Holy Kingdom capital was utter chaos.
Monsters cloaked in apocalyptic flames raining from the sky. Red rifts endlessly spawning more. Ominous red eyes floating in the heavens.
Screams and war cries echoing from all sides.
In this total mess, I caught my breath, stored Utopia, and unleashed every undead I had.
Vast numbers of Forest Wendigos and wyverns scattered everywhere, while named-grade wraith undead Muyoung and Varil made their presence known.
And I didn't stop there.
"Grivi."
At my call, the ground bulged. Grivi emerged in a filthy, mud-caked state like he'd been playing in dirt, looking up at me blankly.
"You called, Father?"
"Grivi. Let's play hide-and-seek. Catch all the flame-wrapped monsters and bury them underground."
"Okay."
Grivi resonated with the surrounding earth and sank in. Soon, massive earthen hands erupted across the capital, grabbing monsters and dragging them into the ground.
Despite their numbers, the tide turned in moments.
"Leon. I'll go look for Remiel."
Luna shot into the sky and vanished. Even after all that fighting, Remiel still weighed on her mind.
It was endearing, yet heartbreaking.
The Papal Palace in ruins evoked not sanctity, but sorrow and despair.
Though I'd unleashed undead, to the fleeing civilians, what difference was there between wraiths and flame monsters?
But as the undead scooped up the terrified folk and rushed them to safe zones, they seemed to realize these were allies.
The assault raged on.
From a high vantage, the city below showed holy knights and soldiers barely holding against the flame monsters, with refugees hustling to safety behind them.
But the pressure on the slowly retreating forces shattered as Forest Wendigo packs and wyverns struck from flanks and rear, collapsing the front lines.
"Un... undead?!"
"They're on our side for now! Advance slowly and drive them back!!"
Some undead were visible scooping up unrescued citizens and bolting to the rear.
Defense should hold fine now. I climbed the capital's tallest point, pressed my hand to the ground, and spread the Machine God's heart wide.
Its sheer scale made absorbing it all cause backlash, but I filtered out junk info, taking only what I needed.
And at the end, I found my target.
The identical installations across the Holy Kingdom. Gems of various colors, among them the one medium uniquely pulsing with outer-dimensional power.
Something's off.
There's a sense that things are proceeding too smoothly.
The Librarian piping up like this was rare.
"What is?"
That was true. I'd already located the core powering the red moon over the Holy Kingdom.
A massive statue of a god at the Papal Palace's heart.
The instant I saw it, I gathered lightning spear in one hand and hurled it like a javelin. A shattering sound rang out, and the red sky began fading.
That was it? Really? It couldn't be this straightforward.
As if proving my suspicion, Luna zipped frantically across the sky in the distance, her gaze urgent as she searched for something.
Ah. A diversion.