Chapter 567

“Was that Dragon Speech Magic?”

“Yes.”

Leo nodded at Driana’s question.

“Will they be all right? It looked like an incredibly powerful spell.”

“It wouldn’t be much of a test if it weren’t powerful.”

“I was referring to Chelsea.”

“That’s right. Why did you cast illusion magic on Chelsea Lewellin too? Weren’t you trying to teach those dragons a lesson?”

Lunia followed up on Driana’s question, looking equally puzzled.

“Those dragons were looking down on Chelsea, even if they didn’t realize it.”

Leo smiled faintly.

“They’ll learn through Chelsea just how remarkable she is—and how narrow-minded and arrogant they were.”

Lunia looked dissatisfied with his answer.

“I expected you to make sure they never dared act so insolently again.”

“That would normally be my approach. But this time, I thought showing them how vast the world is might not be such a bad idea.”

Even after hearing Leo’s answer, Lunia remained displeased.

Leo clicked his tongue at her.

“You’re thinking about crushing those arrogant dragons’ faces right now, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“You’ve only learned Luna’s worst qualities.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

“Did that sound like a compliment?”

Lunia merely gave him a beautiful smile.

'She’s becoming more and more like Luna at her most shameless.'

There were plenty of good qualities she could have learned from Luna, so why did she imitate only the bad ones?

“Should I punch this bastard once he escapes the illusion?”

“Lunia, if you keep choosing to do such mean-spirited things, rumors that you are a delinquent elf will become firmly established.”

“What’s wrong with my heart? I have a kind heart.”

“A fine heart indeed—ground into a fine powder.”

Lunia glared furiously at Driana’s remark.

“Think about how you acted when we first met and try to understand them with a generous heart.”

Lunia’s face turned deathly pale at Leo’s words.

“Black Rabbit and the delinquent elf’s first meeting? What happened? Tell me!”

Ar’s eyes gleamed with interest.

“Don’t! Don’t tell them!”

Lunia lunged at Leo to cover his mouth.

However, Ar grabbed her.

Lunia might have possessed a ferocious temperament and terrifying magic, but there was no chance she could overpower Ar physically.

“My phoenix was originally supposed to become Lunia’s Oathbound. When she found out I had ended up contracting with Fiora first, she threw a fit and demanded I give her back.”

“What a nuisance.”

“Then she started crying pitifully while begging me to return her.”

“I didn’t cry! I was only pretending!”

Lunia shrieked.

Ar’s eyes sparkled even brighter.

“Then she challenged me to a duel, saying she would prove she was better suited to be Fiora’s Oathbound—”

“Aaagh! Aaaagh! Aaaaaagh!”

Lunia screamed, her face turning as red as her hair.

It had happened near the beginning of her first year.

It was an embarrassing memory from when she had still been immature.

She had actually declared that she would prove herself more worthy of becoming a phoenix’s Oathbound to a Great Hero!

What could possibly be more humiliating than that?

'And he had to tell these bastards of all people!'

“You’re noisy.”

“Grrrrr!”

“Are you a wild animal?”

When Driana tried to cover Lunia’s mouth, Lunia attempted to bite her hand.

“You challenged him to a duel over a phoenix? Pfft!”

Ar laughed obnoxiously as she restrained Lunia.

'I’ll erase this cat’s memory if it’s the last thing I do!'

Just as Lunia ground her teeth—

Whooooom—!

Black Magic Power surged from the bodies of those trapped within Nightmare.

Everyone’s gaze turned toward Leo.

“Well, Lunia, this might look like an unusually gentle way for me to deal with those brats. But mentally, this method may prove even more brutal.”

Leo’s left eye had turned black, and black Magic Power poured from it like smoke.

“It looks like the real test has begun.”

===

'Nightmare!'

Riden’s eyes widened.

The reason Lysinas received nearly boundless reverence from later generations of dragons was not merely because she had led the party that saved the world.

Her extraordinary foresight continued to shine when the world was rebuilt after the Age of Calamity.

Although she had passed away before witnessing the dawn of the new age, the world had been rebuilt according to the plans she left behind.

Those who remained had inherited Lysinas’s wisdom.

Her foresight continued to protect the world even after Erebos was destroyed and Tartarus began to stir once more.

The timing of Tartarus’s resurgence.

Its military strength.

Even its strategies and routes of advance.

The wisdom Lysinas left behind protected the world until it could stand on its own.

During the early Age of Heroes, every hero she had chosen, led by Velkia, the Fairy Knight, helped place the unstable world upon solid foundations.

The writings Lysinas left after anticipating the future could quite literally be called prophecies.

Only one thing had made such foresight possible.

Even amid the bleakest despair, Lysinas had remained certain that the world would be saved.

She had also left a legacy for her own race.

She ensured that the Dragon Speech Magic she had created could be learned by later generations.

The ultimate goal of Wisdom’s students was to become Guides and master that magic.

The fact that Leo had used one of those spells was shocking enough.

Moreover, he had used Nightmare, one of the most difficult spells among them.

It was hailed as the most powerful illusion magic.

Even among the spells Lysinas left behind, Nightmare stood apart for its cruelty.

That was only natural, as its roots lay in a curse used by the demons of Tartarus.

“Riden?!”

Riden flinched at the voice behind him.

Siren stood there.

The moment Riden saw her, his expression became wary.

Nightmare was illusion magic that forced its victim to fight the opponent they least wanted to face.

Anyone who appeared before him was certain to be an enemy.

Siren was equally cautious, but both soon looked puzzled as they faced each other.

“Strange. The opponent I least want to fight is hardly someone like Riden.”

“Oh? I agree. The same goes for me.”

“Riden? Siren?”

“What is going on?”

The other Wisdom students, Peldir and Midia, also appeared.

“Were we all dropped into the same illusion?”

Riden looked astonished.

“How is that possible? Nightmare shows everyone their own thoughts. Even when cast over a wide area, each person should only confront the product of their own mind.”

Siren shook her head, and Peldir murmured with a serious expression.

“Could he have modified the spell?”

“That’s impossible. Dragons have tried to reinterpret Lysinas-nim’s magic for the past 5,000 years, but no one has ever succeeded.”

Just as Midia looked troubled—

Step— Step—

Footsteps echoed through the space filled with nothing but darkness.

“Chelsea Lewellin, is that you?”

Riden called into the darkness, remembering that Chelsea had entered the illusion with them.

“Sorry, but no.”

A clear voice came from beyond the darkness.

Step— Step—

The dragons’ eyes widened when they saw the person emerging from the darkness.

Whoosh—!

A gentle breeze sent her lustrous black hair fluttering.

The beautiful woman gracefully swept her hair back and looked at the dragons.

Siren’s eyes filled with shock.

“Lysinas-nim?”

“So you know my name, traitors to our race.”

“Ah....”

Siren’s face turned white the instant she heard Lysinas’s words.

She was not the only one.

“Th-That’s impossible.”

“L-Lysinas-nim is certainly the person dragons would least want to fight, but...!”

“None of us have ever met Lysinas-nim!”

What made Nightmare so terrifying was its ability to recreate the enemy its victim least wanted to face, no matter who that opponent might be.

In other words, the stronger its victim was, the stronger the illusion became.

However, the spell also had a weakness.

It could only recreate someone the victim had encountered before.

Yet Lysinas had appeared before them.

The students of Wisdom descended into panic.

“Wait! Something is wrong with this Nightmare! This must be a different spell that only resembles—”

Flash—!

Just as Midia regained composure and urgently tried to speak, a beam of light pierced through Midia’s abdomen.

“Huh?”

Cough—!

Unable to comprehend what had happened, Midia vomited blood and collapsed.

Thud—!

“One down.”

Lysinas’s impassive gaze turned toward the remaining students of Wisdom.

Something about those eyes reminded Riden of Leo when he used Dragon Speech Magic.

Terror spread across the students’ faces.

“Everyone... run!”

At Riden’s shout, Siren and Peldir scattered.

Riden hoisted the fallen Midia onto his back and raced into the darkness.

“Not a poor choice when faced with an overwhelming difference in strength.”

Lysinas spoke without emotion.

“However, there is a difference between fleeing blindly in terror and retreating to fight another day.”

Lysinas’s eyes peered through the darkness.

“You appear to be doing the former.”

===

Riden’s jaw trembled uncontrollably.

'That isn’t the real Lysinas-nim! It’s only an illusion!'

Had she been the real Lysinas, they would have been annihilated before they could even flee.

Yet even if she was a fake, she was unquestionably a monster they could not defeat.

Riden glanced at the friend hanging limply over his shoulder and gritted his teeth.

'I have to run! I need to get away!'

He could no longer think of any way to escape this predicament.

He was simply being swept away by endless despair.

At that moment—

Thud—! Thud—!

Siren and Peldir tumbled to the ground in front of Riden.

His expression stiffened.

“The game of tag is over.”

Lysinas emerged from the darkness with an expressionless face.

Riden’s teeth chattered.

He tried to use magic to take his friends with him.

Lysinas curled the corners of her lips upward as she watched him.

To Riden, it looked like mockery.

She was mocking a fool trying to take friends who were already dead.

But Riden could not abandon them, even if they had become corpses.

'I have to escape... I have to find some way to escape...!'

He had already forgotten that this was a test.

After all, dying within Nightmare meant truly dying.

Riden backed away with terror written across his face as Lysinas slowly closed the distance between them.

Whoosh—!

A gentle breeze blew.

Rooooar—!

A gale of razor-sharp wind tore through Lysinas and swept her away.

Riden’s eyes widened.

Chelsea had appeared before him at some point, her back facing him.

“Chelsea... Lewellin!”

“Hurry and take your friends somewhere safe, then treat their wounds!”

“What?”

“Your friends are still alive!”

Riden flinched at Chelsea’s words and checked his friends’ conditions.

She was right.

Each attack had narrowly missed their vital points, sparing them from instant death.

Of course, their wounds were still fatal.

However, the immense vitality of dragons was barely keeping all three alive.

“Hurry!”

“What about you?”

“I’ll hold her off somehow!”

“You cannot defeat her alone!”

“You’re right! It would be impossible if she were the real Lysinas-nim!”

Chelsea’s eyes flashed.

“But she’s a fake!”

“I’m real, though.”

“No! You’re uglier than the portrait of Lysinas-nim I saw! That proves you’re a fake!”

Lysinas’s eye twitched.

Then the corners of her lips curled upward.

“What an outrageously impudent little lady.”

Terrifying Magic Power began pouring from Lysinas’s body.

Chelsea immediately regretted her words.

'Maybe I shouldn’t have called her ugly?'

***