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692. The Illusion Lord
“Keep on moving! Don’t you dare stop moving your feet! If I see any of you stand still for even a moment, you will be killed!”
The rumbling voice echoed through the ravine. Upon hearing that, Ponti winced. She rubbed her ears as she trudged ahead.
“Must he really keep yelling? Seriously, we heard you the first million times you said that…”
She muttered under her breath, and the figure striding next to her scoffed.
“Don’t worry, you’ll never get used to it.”
It was an impish figure who spoke— but he was not an [Imp]. He was a [Fiend], just like Ponti. But he was a rare evolution that made him stand at only half the height of her.
Ponti faced him as she raised a brow.
“Temin, you’ve been in the Eighteenth Legion for three cycles now, haven’t you?”
Ponti asked, eyeing Temin curiously. He nodded as he strode forward casually.
“That’s right.”
“Do you…”
Ponti hesitated, before wincing as the ground shook beneath her feet, followed by the booming warning that came from all around the ravine.
She swept her gaze over the mass of thousands of Demons as the voice washed over them, making even the highest-leveled veterans of the Eighteenth Legion flinch. And looking past them, Ponti saw the floating figure in the sky.
It was a [Jinn].
The leader of the Eighteenth Legion.
Rakin the Illusion Lord.
He floated in the same spot in the sky relative to her. Even though a Ponti had been marching non-stop since the start of Reconstruction, the Illusion Lord looked like he was still hovering just ahead and above of her vision.
No matter where she turned.
“Do you know why he does this?”
Ponti asked as she stared at where Rakin was ostensibly floating.
Temin paused, before looking up in a different direction. And yet, she knew he was looking at where he saw the Illusion Lord was floating.
“To purge the weak, of course. It’s a simple reason, really.”
Temin shrugged as he glanced back. Just behind Ponti, an [Incubus] dropped to a knee out of sheer exhaustion. And before he could get up, he began to scream as his body twisted and turned.
Rakin’s booming voice echoed from the [Incubus] as he was torn apart.
“I warned you— and yet, you disobeyed me! Now you shall perish!”
Ponti looked away, pursing her lips. And she continued marching on as the screams of the [Incubus] vanished along with his corpse.
“But this doesn’t make sense to me. If Rakin wants to get rid of the weak from the Eighteenth Legion, wouldn’t it be a lot more efficient for him to just kill the lowest-leveled of our numbers?”
“You misunderstand.”
Temin shook his head as he sighed. He closed his eyes, speaking in a bitter voice.
“Rakin does not care about our physical strength. He cares about our mental resiliency. That’s why he’s doing this.”
Ponti blinked a few times, evidently confused. She placed a hand on her chin.
“What do you mean by that? How can this be a test of our mental strength when those who are killed are those who can’t continue walking?”
“Are you being serious? You mean you haven’t noticed?”
Temin chuckled as she frowned at him.
“What have I not noticed?”
She asked, peering into Temin. He waved a hand dismissively at the world around them.
“This isn’t real, Ponti.”
“…what?”
Ponti blinked a few times, still trying to process what he meant. And he repeated himself as he sighed.
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“None of this is real. This is all an illusion.”
“I— that’s impossible.”
Ponti whispered. She looked down at herself as she slowed.
“Are you saying my entire life… everything I’ve been through… it’s all been fake?”
Her life flashed before her eyes. From being born with a group of other Infant Demons, to running from the Demon King’s minions, before eventually letting herself be captured in hopes that she’d find safety.
It all felt so real. And yet—
“Even my memories… aren’t real? It’s all a fabrication by Rakin?”
Ponti asked, slowly looking up to stare at Temin. And he snorted.
“No, you idiot.”
“…what?”
Ponti broke out had her stupor. Temin pointed at the ground, explaining.
“I’m specifically talking about what we’ve been through since Reconstruction began. Rakin has placed us all under an illusion to make us believe we’ve been marching non-stop. When in reality, we’ve all just been lying down in the same spot.”
“Oh.”
Ponti should have been more surprised to hear this. But this was a lot easier for her to believe than if it had instead been the alternative— that her whole life had been a lie.
That was a lot harder to accept than this.
Her eyes flickered as she looked up towards where Rakin was floating.
“Is that why no matter where we look, Rakin is always in the same spot for all of us?”
“That’s correct.”
Temin nodded.
“While the Illusion Lord, as his name implies, is certainly good at his illusions. Right now, all he’s doing is doing some minor alterations to our senses. Otherwise, it would be too difficult for him to trap all ten thousand of us in such a powerful illusion.”
“I see.”
Ponti could understand the logic behind it. All Rakin had to do was create a believable illusion down below, while leaving the sky alone. So he wouldn’t exhaust himself with upjeeping this massive illusion.
“So while the exhaustion you feel seems real, it isn’t. And those who falter are those who are mentally weak.”
Temin finished.
Ponti glanced back, seeing another Demon in the distance collapse. This time, the Demon was higher-leveled than her. And yet, her legs hadn’t given up beneath her, while his had. In fact, now that she knew it was all an illusion, she felt slightly lighter on her feet.
“I understand now…”
Looking back towards Temin, she ignored the dying Demon’s throes in the background. She had a thought.
“But wait, why don’t you tell everyone this?”
“What do you mean by that?”
Temin asked, this time the one who was looking curiously at her. Ponti shook her head.
“If everyone knows this is an illusion, then won’t we all have a higher chance of surviving this?l
Ponti gestured at the rest of the Eighteenth Legion. Temin closed his eyes, placing a hand on his chest.
“I mean, you can go ahead and do what you want with this information. To me, what matters is that I survive, that’s all.”
“So why tell me this?”
Ponti narrowed her eyes at him. And he shrugged.
“Not sure. Maybe because I’ve taken a little bit of a liking to you? But no particular reason, really.”
“I see…”
Ponti trailed off as she stared at him. For a moment, she deliberated over what she should do. But then she heard a thud coming from behind her.
Spinning around, she watched as a Level 34 [Fiend] collapsed to the ground in sheer exhaustion.
“I can’t go on any longer… just kill me already...”
The [Fiend] whispered. And Ponti didn’t know why, but she moved to save him. Perhaps it was because of a brash desire to help out— to act. But she ran up to his side and called out to him.
“No, you can keep going!”
She exclaimed as Temin blinked and glanced back at her. His eyes grew wide as she proffered an arm, offering to help up the [Fiend].
“This is all an illusion! If you just keep going, you can survive!”
Her voice resounded throughout the ravine as she came to a halt before the [Fiend]. She gesticulated wildly for him to get up.
“Please, if you just believe in yourself!”
“You idiot!”
Temin’s voice interrupted her. She blinked, glancing back at him as he pointed at her.
“You stopped moving—”
And the world around Ponti distorted before she could even process what was happening. She screamed as this illusion vanished from her eyes, and an immense pain overcame her body. She suddenly found herself lying on the white and rocky ground, writhing and twisting as she bled from her nose.
Next to her, the [Fiend] she tried to save was in the same position as her— screaming and writhing in the ground as they were crushed under the mind magic of the Illusion Lord.
The two of them were back in reality, but they were going to die. Rakin hovered high overhead as he cackled.
“What a fool. Trying to save a weakling like him shows just how weak you are.”
Rakin laughed as he pointed down at her and the [Fiend] next to her. The two of them twisted where they lay, unable to fight back. Ponti tried to scream, but no voice could even leave her mouth.
She was in too much pain. Her body was growing numb. Her vision was growing dark. Her black blood wouldn’t stop pouring from her nose. The Illusion Lord sneered at her as her body felt like breaking apart.
“Now you die—”
And right as the words left Rakin’s mouth, there was a flash of light. Blinking a few times, Ponti felt the pain covering her body vanishing. She coughed, the blood streaming from her nose becoming a trickle.
She wiped at her nose as she sat up, no longer trapped in Rakin’s illusion. And now, she was trying to understand what was going on.
And when she looked up at where the Illusion Lord was normally hovering, she saw him flying back and screaming in pain as his body was covered in a black flame.
What just happened? the thought barely crossed Ponti’s mind.
Then a figure descended from the sky, landing right across from her. A six-winged figure— pale-white skin. Golden eyes. Black scales.
“…w-who are you?”
Ponti stared at the stranger who just spun around and smiled.
“Hi! I’m Salvos!”