Chapter 225: Confession in an Illusion
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 225: Confession in an Illusion
Yernil had one long-held regret.
‘What if I had stopped him then?’
The day her older brother, Yerha, left.
He had applied to the council of elders and been rejected, but he left the Fairy Forest anyway, vowing to secretly become a Labyrinth adventurer and defeat the Labyrinth Master.
It was a night bright with moonlight.
Yernil was the last person to see him.
‘What if I had stopped him then?’
What if, that night, she had done whatever it took to keep him from leaving the Fairy Forest?
Then Yerha wouldn't have been executed.
Yernil wouldn't have been cast out.
They would have lived peacefully and happily in the Fairy Forest.
One might ask, with the Labyrinth's eruption now imminent, wasn't Yerha's decision the right one in the end?
Of course, it was.
But is defeating the Labyrinth Master even possible?
Naturally, Yernil trusted Caleb.
It wasn't a blind, solitary faith, but a trust that had been objectively proven.
All the skilled individuals in Sohen were placing great hope in Caleb.
But…
‘Can we really defeat an enemy who wields such incredible magic?’
A demon who has lived for tens of thousands of years.
A demon who rules the entire Labyrinth.
A demon who is merging two worlds to create a new one.
A demon who can give illusions physical form.
A demon who can infinitely satisfy every desire.
It was the power of the Labyrinth's Abyss, personified and made manifest.
No matter how skilled the Deep Layer adventurers were, there was no way they could fight something like that and win.
Yet Caleb intended to break free from this illusion and challenge that monster again.
For Yernil, the scene overlapped with a past experience.
‘If only I had stopped him then.’
Because she failed to stop Yerha, he left the peaceful Fairy Forest to challenge the Labyrinth and was ultimately executed.
‘If I don't stop him now.’
If she fails to stop Caleb, he will leave the peaceful, illusory Fusion Continent to challenge the Labyrinth.
Then…
"I'm scared you'll die, Caleb."
"But you've never tried to stop me before."
"Because I wanted to send you home."
"But…"
"But this is already home."
Yernil said, pointing to the wall of the master bedroom.
It was a fair point.
Caleb was already home.
All he had to do was not defy the Labyrinth Master.
Let the Labyrinth erupt, swallow the Ethereal Galaxy, and let everything flow as it was meant to.
"Then we can just live here together."
"…"
"And the Fairy Forest is here, too."
Even the Fairy Forest, the most stubborn and conservative group in the world, couldn't just close its eyes and ears and hide from the unprecedented event of being fused with another continent.
One by one, the traditional elves of the Fairy Forest were beginning to venture out.
Interacting with the humans of this world.
"I might even be able to see my family from the Fairy Forest again."
The Labyrinth was the complete fulfillment of all deficiencies.
For Yernil, it was like a dream.
It was the total solution to desires that could never have coexisted.
I will let you live with Caleb.
I will let you return to the Fairy Forest.
I will let you see your elven family again.
I will make it so you never have to part with anyone again.
I will make it so you are never lonely again.
The negotiating cards laid out so sweetly were all too tempting to pass up.
And it had also removed her guilt.
‘If you want to hold onto Caleb, you can. Because Caleb has already arrived home.’
Therefore…
"I want to stay with you, Caleb."
Yernil finally let slip the confession that had been tickling inside her.
It's okay!
Yernil!
The plan is perfect!
She had thoroughly considered every possible outcome.
1. Succeed in holding him back, and they don't wake from the illusion: We all live happily together on the Fusion Continent!
2. Fail to hold him back, and they wake from the illusion.
2.1. If Caleb was also part of the illusion: The confession and her attempt to hold him back only happened in Yernil's mind, so Caleb won't know. No problem!
2.2. If Caleb was real: Even better. Confessing with the help of liquid courage is a time-honored tradition. In reality, she would have been too sorry to hold him back to say anything, but it was fine now. It wasn't a drunken confession, but a confession in an illusion.
"Because I li—"
Yernil's ears drooped slightly to the side.
She pressed her forehead against Caleb's side and squeezed her eyes shut.
*
"—ke you."
This is driving me crazy.
Wait. Isn't Yernil a bit young?
She said she was seventeen when she was kicked out of the Fairy Forest.
I don't know how many years she lived in Flandre, but I'm a man in my thirties, Yernil.
And there's the lifespan issue.
Elves can live for several hundred years, but in just thirty years, I'll be aching all over. I'll get old fast.
Besides, most importantly, I'm currently inside the character of Caleb. This isn't even my body to begin with.
To be honest, Yernil, if I just look at you as a person, you're fine.
It's rare to find someone this trustworthy.
And maybe because this is another world, I don't really get the sense that she's mentally immature.
But the realistic problems I listed above are just too big.
Yernil.
Of course, there is a solution to all of this.
One illusion from the King-God-General-Emperor Labyrinth Master, and it's all settled.
If he dreamed of a world where humans and elves alike lived to be 800, it would be so.
If he dreamed of a world where everyone remained young and healthy, never aging or falling ill, it would be so.
The Labyrinth was the complete fulfillment of all deficiencies.
No.
No, wait a minute!
Why am I thinking like this!
‘Get a grip, you crazy bastard, Caleb!’
Thinking like this is how you get screwed.
The Labyrinth Master's trap is so deep that not only can those who fall in not escape, but they might even lose the will to try.
‘Dammit.’
I repent for the weak heart that wavered, even for a moment, at that temptation.
Of course, this world is appealing.
I was originally a scientist and an engineer. I was also a hardcore veteran of the Labyrinth's Abyss, and I always liked its world-building.
I want to see how this world, a fusion of all those things, will develop.
But still.
"I'm sorry, Yernil."
This isn't right.
I want to dream my own dream.
I don't want to live inside someone else's.
*
Let's list a few methods worth trying to escape the Labyrinth Master's illusion.
First, suicide.
I could undergo the soul preservation procedure and then kill myself. The best way would be to flip the Hourglass and swallow poison, just like when the Dagger Raptor killed Dalstream.
If I meet Wizus in the turn-based state and reach the Ethereal Galaxy like last time, it's a success.
Even the Labyrinth Master probably can't create the Ethereal Galaxy and Wizus, so just reaching the Ethereal Galaxy would mean I've escaped his illusion.
Though I'd have to rethink my next steps after that.
Second, target Blackdog.
The Labyrinth Master's purpose for casting this illusion is to make Blackdog an Inter-floor Lord.
I should probably assume that the moment he takes on the White Lion's position, the Labyrinth's eruption will begin.
Just like in the era of the Nine Kings.
To prevent that, killing Blackdog now isn't a bad option.
What would happen to the illusion then?
‘Wouldn't he dispel it?’
Powerful spells either cost a lot to cast or require a 'concentration state'.
The former is like the positive-charge bullet, which consumes immense power upon firing. In game terms, the Action Point cost is so high it consumes an entire turn, or it might even inflict a status effect like 'Exhaustion' on the caster.
The latter is like Dalstream's Ethereal Lake or Meldini's Ascended Mage. For both of them, if someone interferes, their concentration breaks and the spell is dispelled, or they can't maintain it for long due to mental fatigue.
So, which type is the Labyrinth Master's illusion-to-reality magic?
Probably the latter.
The Labyrinth Master made a mistake with me.
When he answered my point about this illusion not being permanent, he said, 'a turn or two at most.'
If it's one turn, it's one turn. If it's two turns, it's two turns. What's with 'a turn or two'?
He doesn't know for sure himself. It depends on his condition or the surrounding situation.
So, if I were to attack Blackdog, wouldn't the Labyrinth Master withdraw the illusion to protect him, or to conserve a spell that has lost its purpose?
*
"To think of something so scary."
Back Attack's jaw dropped.
"So we're going to kill Blackdog?"
"Of course, I don't want to harm an innocent person yet."
And I want to put a solution that involves risking my own life on the back burner.
So.
"There's a third way."
I took a small object out of my pocket.
Something I brought from the 10th Floor.
"A Fox Marble."
I can use this to get out. Probably.
Here's how…
"First, I'll use the Crystal Vortex Orb to connect to the Labyrinth's waterways."
I can't be fooled by what I see and touch.
We may be sitting in the living room of my apartment on the Fusion Continent, but my real self is in the Deep Layer of the Labyrinth.
Which means my items should still work.
For example.
[10th Floor Fountain]
It should be possible to connect to the fountain using the Crystal Vortex Orb.
Next, I'll push the Fox Marble into the vortex.
The Nine-Tailed Fox's marble is unlikely to get lost midway. That's because a Fox Marble has the inherent property of wanting to return to its owner.
No one inside the vortex will be able to grab it.
The marble will arrive at the 10th Floor fountain.
Then.
[Compass of Greed]
The compass will start tracking it.
We still haven't 'exited' the Labyrinth to Sohen.
We went from Cancun, Mexico on the Fusion Continent to the United States, flew from Washington D.C. to Incheon, passed through Seoul to Yongin, then took a gate to another Fusion Continent, Sohen, took an elevator there to the 10th Floor, went down the stairs to the Deep Layer, and came back to Yongin.
But that was all an illusion. My real body never moved from its original spot in the Labyrinth's Deep Layer.
Therefore, the compass's information shouldn't have been reset.
"It's working."
The needle of the compass, which had been pointing at the Fox Marble, moved. The marble had disappeared beyond the vortex.
Now, the compass is pointing the way to the 10th Floor fountain.
This legendary-grade item is a relic left by the God-King. It cannot be controlled by the Labyrinth Master's illusion. The compass can never be fooled by any kind of gimmick magic.
All we have to do is follow the path the compass points to. Then we will naturally find the stairs leading to the 10th Floor.
Even if we can't see it or touch it, it exists. If we use the compass as our guide and move forward with faith in reality, we will surely be able to escape.
"Let's go."
*
It goes without saying that since we are now key figures in the intercontinental fusion incident, we are not supposed to leave the house.
The security got a little tighter after we returned from our trip through the gate.
"Back Attack, cast Invisibility, please."
But no matter how amazing the NIS agents are, a Deep Layer party with a wizard will seem impossibly elusive.
"Use Mirror Rogue and Adrenaline Rush on Aimus and Yernil, too."
I'll use Chameleon, so all four of us will be invisible.
Then, with my Ethereal Blink, Yernil's Sentinel's Relocate, and Back Attack's Shadow Leap (with Aimus), we'll teleport in sequence to the apartment complex playground, the management office, the recycling area, and finally the back gate to escape.
To complete this operation.
"Owl's Hunt."
I even cast a sound suppression spell.
"Everyone needs to be inside the spell's range, so stick close. When I count to three, we all use our movement skills at the same time. Got it?"
Back Attack and Aimus pressed in close beside me.
"Yernil."
Let's not make this awkward.
"Come here."
"…"
Yernil came and stood close.
Hmm.
So it wasn't because it was awkward.
The reason she didn't want to get close.
Her eyes were a little swollen.