NOVEL NEXT Chapter 70: It Wasn't an Illusion
===A Certain Over Imaginative Silver Rank Adventurer===
「Kuh….!」
I activated wind magic right before I crashed against the ground.
Unlike Ilran and Ronda who landed before me, I was just a mage with poor physical capabilities.
Yeah, my body might have literally turned into splatter if I landed on the ground as it was.
Nevertheless, the scene that I saw felt… so fucking real.
But then, driven by fear, I controlled the wind as if my life depended on it.
Though it was almost impossible to use flight magic at such a terrifying height, it was still possible for me to adjust the speed of my fall with wind magic.
And after somehow killing the force of my fall, I landed safely on the ground feet first.
When I was looking around, I realized that we were in the plains, one kilometer from the city.
The smell of grass and gentle wind that caressing my skin felt too realistic, which made it even harder for me to differentiate between illusion and reality.
「D-Dammit… Are you really telling me that all of this is just an illusion?! Then why does my body fu*cking hurt?!」
Ilran screamed while moaning in pain.
「Uhm, we flew quite far away.」
Ronda muttered in admiration as he stood up.
Hearing their remarks, I knew that they were all right.
On the other hand, I couldn't find Mitt's figure.
And instead of Mitt, the last figure that fell down from the sky was none other than that of the No Life King himself.
After landing in a way that made him seem as if he was weightless, he turned around and shot an enraged look at us.
That gaze alone was enough to send chills running down my spine.
I mean, it was even more terrifying than the fear that I felt when I encountered a dragon before.
But, all of these were supposed to be illusions… shown by him.
I mean, assuming that he really was a weak undead, there was no way he could send us flying so far away outside of the city like this.
If that was the case, were we still inside the city?
Then, what about Mitt? Where was he right now?
Was this part of the No Life King's plan, not showing Mitt's figure in order to scare us?
I mean, if he wanted to trick us about his strength, that method might be even more valid than throwing us out of the city, but….
「ORAAAAAAAAAA!」
「HAAAAH!」
When I was pondering over this matter, Ilran and Ronda had already leapt toward the No Life King.
Their giant fists and greatsword were driven into his slender-looking frame.
「WA?!」
「MUH!」
If it was replaced by a normal human, their body would've already been crushed under the two's combination attack.
And yet, the No Life King was standing right there, unperturbed, unscathed with a calm look on his face.
「This ba*stard, ain't he too tough?!」
「Is this an illusion and we are actually attacking empty air?」
Ilran and Ronda retreated immediately.
On the other hand, the No Life King had yet to make his move.
And then, at that moment…
「「「~??!」」」
Suddenly, an extremely terrifying miasma gushed out from the No Life King.
The pressure emanating from him alone was enough to crush our fighting spirit, and then, he focused all of that power into his fist.
「W-What a—!」
The next moment, the No Life King punched the ground.
ZUGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!
And then, it was followed by an ear-splitting sound as if the world was about to split.
A giant crater more than ten meters in diameter was created in just a single moment. Moreover, spider web-like cracks were running on the ground beneath us, swallowing the large tree a hundred meters ahead of us into its gap.
「W-W-W-W-WUT!」
The cloud of dust and rock splinter that was sent flying toward us due to the shockwave from that punch had finally receeded; fortunately, we were unscathed.
Nevertheless, I was already at a loss for words upon seeing the overwhelming show of power he displayed in front of us.
「I… It's okay! This is… an illusion too!」
I was telling myself that everything that happened before me was an illusion to get rid of the fear and anxiety within me.
This was an illusion… just an illusion…
Kuh, if only this bracelet was working properly…
…Eh?
At that moment, I discovered an extremely important fact.
「Why… The bracelet… isn't reacting at all….?」
It was supposed to be an enchanted item which granted its user illusion resistance.
Even if the other party used his illusion magic which surpassed the effect of the bracelet, it should've at the very least reacted to his mana.
And yet, it was maintaining its silence all this while.
Impossible… Does that mean, the No Life King… never used any kind of illusion magic from the very beginning?
Or else, all of this was actually included in his illusion?
No, the No Life King shouldn't know about the ability of this bracelet… If that was the case, it meant that everything we saw so far was the truth…
The moment I thought so, it felt like color drained from my entire body.
「L-Lie… such a thing is…」
The moment I noticed that, my teeth were clattering nonstop, and my heart felt like it was about to burst.
My limbs were trembling like a newborn calf, and my throat was parched to the point that I couldn't even squeeze my voice anymore.
「Belleaile?! Hey, are you okay?!」
Although Ilran called out to me as soon as he noticed my strange condition, my throat was in way too much pain for me to speak.
The No Life King glared at us without moving an inch from where he stood.
Even though he could easily kill all of us, was he actually toying with us?
Could it be that he was going to take his time to instill enough fear in us before he killed us?
At that moment, I suddenly recalled the story about a certain great-disaster-class undead which shook this country once, a long time ago.
It was said that he used necromancy while making sure that the human target was alive. In addition, he kept their sense of pain and did various terrifying experiments on 〝Living Human〟.
Something like reconnecting the sliced-off body parts was only the tip of the iceberg.
Replacing the head with another person's head, fusing the human body with a monster or animal's body—It was an extremely cruel human lab.
Could it be that we were about to experience the very same thing at the hand of the No Life King?
「N-No… S-Stop it…. S-S-Shave myee… I-I-I don't want to die…」
Before I noticed it, tears were already gushing out from my eyes.
Mucus came out from my nose, and my body was drenched in cold sweat. The ground under my feet was wet due to a warm liquid that was coming out from my crotch.
Why did we, a mere fledgling silver-rank adventurer party, try to fight a disaster-class monster?
Even though he was supposed to be a monster of gold-rank—no—orichalcum-rank adventurer caliber.
―Suddenly, a giant sword descended at a terrifying speed, falling right on top of the No Life King when I was still lamenting my own recklessness.
KABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!
「—Eh?」