Chapter 111
Chapter 111
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 111
Chapter Title: The Thing that Rose from the Seabed
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"It's so realistic. The fact that you can conjure something like that in your mind is just..."
"Whoa..."
I sprang to my feet, ignoring the gasps of awe from my disciples. Of course it was realistic. That thing wasn't some illusion anymore—it was something with real substance. I'd stopped channeling mana ages ago. Yet that massive entity, born from the outer god in my memories, refused to fade and was still exerting its influence on reality.
"This is different from what you described beforehand... but it feels more believable this way. Did you consult with the lord at the end?"
The Dracain soldier assigned to watch me asked the question. His face was lit with undisguisable admiration, clearly still convinced that the scene unfolding before us was my magic. And he wasn't alone. Everyone here seemed to think the same, without a shred of doubt.
Not that I could blame them. The lord herself was leaping across the waves, pressing an otherworldly deity on the defensive.
"This is..."
Something was wrong. Should I say it out loud? I watched the situation for a moment, but it didn't look so bad. After all, the lord was holding the upper hand. Right now, even as we spoke, Nortis was scattering blue chill and dominating the fight.
But the next instant, I had to rethink that. Nortis's blood magic had frozen and shattered part of the outer god's body, but it regenerated in a flash and struck back. The moment its arm—made of a massive bundle of tentacles—slammed into Nortis, her body was smashed into the depths of the sea.
Kuwoong-!
"What a nail-biter..."
"The lord's figure isn't an illusion, is it? To act that convincingly..."
It was growing stronger as time passed. Something that had once existed but had become fiction was remanifesting in this world. Its once-vague form solidified further, bolstered by the faith born from belief.
'Its appearance is changing too...'
The entity known as the god slumbering in the ocean depths already existed in my mind as a specific image from my memories. That's why I'd referenced it most when crafting the illusion. But as time went on and it grew stronger, its form was shifting bit by bit.
Into the proper shape, cloaked in this world's faith.
"No."
"Pardon? No what?"
"That thing—it's not fake. It's real flesh and blood. It's got actual mysticism dwelling in that illusion...!"
The only ones who didn't grasp my words right there were the lord's soldiers. I slumped back into my seat and shouted.
"Lord! Help Duchess Nortis!"
"Help the lord? She's fighting so well..."
Of course, Nortis hadn't fallen yet. She'd been hurled into the sea by that massive blow, but she burst back out, unleashing her blood magic on the colossal god. But things were different now. The being that had briefly shown weakness—its skin freezing, its movements halting under her blood magic—was gone.
Nortis's blood magic spewed blue frost, engulfing the outer god's body. But a prismatic glow unfurled atop it, neutralizing part of the blood magic.
At this point, even the lord's soldiers sensed the gravity. But it was still manageable. All the thing was showing was that unidentified barrier protecting its body and the sheer physical might of its enormous form.
"Move, now!"
"...Five stay behind to watch the dwarf mage. The rest, go."
I barked the order harshly, and some of the soldiers rushed off with dazed looks. I wanted to send them all, but they couldn't completely ignore the lord's command to keep an eye on me.
"What about us? What do we do?"
"What do you mean what—! Just stay put...!"
As I answered Durel's question, I resumed channeling mana. This mess was my fault. So it was my responsibility to fix it.
'It's still salvageable. Still.'
Muttering to myself, I began weaving the illusion anew. I quieted the thunder and calmed the churning sea as much as possible. I shrank the outer god's form slightly and deliberately warped its intimidating presence to make it look somehow off.
Kwang-!
Beyond the illusion I'd crafted, the real battle roared with a massive boom. I adjusted the illusion to match the movements. Nortis's strike landed, toppling the outer god onto the waves. Amid the panicked citizens fleeing in all directions, some cheered as Nortis pressed the attack once more.
At that moment, the lord's belatedly arriving soldiers joined the fray. Some leaped into the sea—that is, into the illusion—while others halted at the harbor's edge.
'Only twenty in the right flank... If they witness the blood magic effects, cover it with illusion immediately. Not too late. The problem is those who jumped into the illusion... Can't manifest everything or it'll lag elsewhere. Better to pick and choose...'
Pick and focus. I couldn't create everything alone. To make the residents believe the spectacle over the sea was real rather than illusion, I had to mirror reality as closely as possible.
Ships near the harbor vanished one by one, and as waves crashed over the docks, I erased the soldiers who'd been firing long-range blood magic barrages. With fewer illusions to generate at once, the quality sharpened again.
'It's working...'
As the illusion showed Nortis gaining the upper hand, the prismatic glow shielding the outer god's body faded. I finally caught a breather. Rough breaths escaped my lips.
Suddenly, insight struck.
The colossal god's form was changing further. Each time it donned this world's faith, it shifted toward its true shape, little by little. Almost as if mimicking the form from the stories exactly.
Then.
If that was the case.
The thing manifested through my imagination and memories—didn't it possess the trait of following a predetermined story? The prismatic glow was the same. No god in this world shielded its flesh with prismatic radiance.
This was a power from my memories.
'Steamship...'
I needed a steamship. No, not even that—just a ship. Any ship would do. If I could fetch one now, before it grew stronger, before it deviated too far from the form I knew, and ram it into that thing's body...
'Damn...!'
Beyond my illusion, the countless ships moored near the harbor were all wrecked.
"Durel!"
"Y-yes?"
"Quick, bring the Black Feather Hawk—now!"
I couldn't leave my post while maintaining the illusion. Among my three disciples, only Durel could pilot the Black Feather Hawk, however clumsily, so he had to go.
Durel hesitated briefly before turning and walking away—then vanished in a blink, as if casting Blink himself. The lord's soldiers didn't question his disappearance. Or rather, they had no time to.
Their eyes were fixed on the sea, unmoving.
"Master, these guys seem a bit off...?"
"Everyone's spaced out!"
"Don't touch them for now... You two are fine, right?"
"No issues so far."
"Same here."
The anomaly wasn't limited to the soldiers. The residents who'd scattered from the harbor had frozen in place too, rooted to the spot. Only mages who'd reached a certain level could still move freely.
'The illusion's working perfectly... so why?'
Fooling the residents' eyes was flawless. So why this new development? After a moment's thought, I realized the cause.
'Damn...!'
The lord and her soldiers. The ones who'd gone down to fight.
But realizing it didn't give me any new options. I kept layering illusions, creating favorable scenarios in case of emergencies. How much time passed like that?
A sudden gust whipped up, and a dark shadow loomed overhead.
-Master!
A familiar voice. A familiar ship. Durel had arrived from the sky. I immediately cut the illusion magic and Blinked onto the Black Feather Hawk's deck.
Paat-!
"Master! I brought it like you said. But what do you plan to do with this? You aren't thinking of just fleeing like...?"
"I've got a plan, so don't worry. Go back down and wait with the others."
"Ah, yes... Not running away, then."
I have at least a shred of conscience. If I'd caused this mess and then fled, I'd be haunted by guilt forever. Once Durel descended to the ground,
I retrieved Nature's Grace from the captain's cabin and draped it over myself.
Flutter-!
"Hope this holds up..."
Arms crossed, I glared at the sea now free of illusion. The thing had grown even larger, swinging its arm and smashing part of the harbor.
Watching it, I was certain. This would work.
"Takeoff."
I muttered softly, and a fierce blast erupted from the Black Feather Hawk's rear.
Kwaaaa-!
The ironclad ship hurtled toward the colossal god. Soon, the silhouette of a massive steamship overlaid the Black Feather Hawk's form as it collided with the god's flesh.
The Black Feather Hawk's figurehead shattered, and the enormous body burst apart.
Kwangaang-!