Chapter 330: Forest of Chaotic Illusions! Part-5.


    ?


    "Can you sense where she went?"


    At Lia''s question, Kai replied in a calm voice,


    [Yes, she took a different path but is also heading towards the deeper area, just like us...]


    [We will likely meet her in the core area if we keep going...]


    Lia nodded her head in response to those words.


    "Good, thankfully she escaped the siege of those illusionary ants too..."


    Lia and Sin were separated during that sudden siege of the ant colony; both of them were forced to escape on separate paths.


    Thus, Lia was concerned about Sin''s well-being, and she asked Kai to detect her situation. Thankfully, Sin herself is a strong person, so she sessfully made it out of the siege too. "Good, then we should keep heading deeper too-"


    Just when Lia was about to start moving again, a familiar person appeared nearby.


    "Ah, so you were here. I have been looking for you everywhere, Lia."


    All of a sudden, Rio appeared in front of Lia; a rare happy smile hung over his face, and he looked more handsome than usual today.


    "W-what? How is-"


    Lia was confused for a moment, but then suddenly her eyes turned cold, and she swung her sword.


    [Silver Lion Swordsmanship: Thousand w Thrusts!]


    Lia twisted her wrist a bit and did a thousand-sword thrust attack on Rio in a matter of a single second.


    "Don''t try to imitate him, you pathetic monster!!"


    When Lia''s sword hit, the illusion broke apart, and a weird nt fell to the ground and turned into ashes.


    Lia calmed her trembling body and organized her thoughts.


    [Kiddo, I am impressed! you figured out that was an illusion much faster than I expected...]


    Kai had already seen through that illusion at the very first moment, but he didn''t tell Lia about it because he wanted to see how Lia would handle it.


    And she handled the situation much better than he expected her to.


    She only hesitated for a moment and then figured out the situation easily.


    "Of course! I can easily see if it''s the real Rio or not... That illusion was very low quality..."


    "It didn''t have that same ''Vibe'' that Rio has-you know, that feeling of being ''Detached'' and ''Indifferent''...."


    "Also... if it were Rio, he could have easily dodged my attack without blinking an eye..."


    Lia shook her head and started to walk deeper in the cave.


    And she actually encountered the same situation quite a few more times; those same weird nts kepting with various illusions of Rio.


    Some were sending flying kisses at her, and some were trying to hug her. Although the scene seemed quite pleasing to the eye, Lia steeled her heart and made through it without batting an eye.


    ''I can just ask the real him to smile at me! I don''t need these fake ones!!''


    Lia kept shouting these words in her mind as she pushed through the area where she was being forced to see Rio again and again.


    It was really a test of will; if it were someone else in her ce, they would have already fallen for this trick after being deceived.


    ...


    "Phew~, I finally made it through that area..."


    Lia heaved a sigh of relief after she finally escaped from the area filled with dozens of illusion-showing nts.


    [A special kind of spell is ced upon that area... it was likely utilizing your own memory to create illusions...]


    [This is one of the most lethal types of illusion... other illusions are made to target people at random...] [But this type of illusion targets everyone on a personal level... If someone has recently lost a loved one and encounters this illusion...]


    [I think this illusion will make them suffer even more in that scenario... a truly terrifying technique.


    Kai rarely talks a lot about anything, but today he couldn''t help but borate further about this illusion technique.


    It''s so unique that even Kai is impressed by it.


    [Well, I am a spirit being... Spirit beings themselves are half real and half illusions... so it doesn''t work on me...]


    Lia sighed at those words and said,


    "I bet it won''t work on Rio either..."


    Kai also agreed to Lia''s words.


    [''Sword Intent'' is a direct counter to ''Illusions''. He can easily counter these things and remain unaffected... same goes for Link; if he keeps his ''Dao Rhythm'' active, he will also remain unaffected...]


    Actually, Kai didn''t know that Riya also awakened a ''Legendary'' ability, which is the ''Heart of Eternal Nirvana'', so she won''t be affected by the illusion either.


    All in all, each and every member of Team Astra is more unique than the others.


    Each one of them has their own strengths and amazing abilities.


    (We aren''t counting Fade and Kira as members of team Astra anymore; they were only part of it until the supreme tournament arc...)


    ...


    Lia walked deeper into the cave, and after another few hours of walking and killing a few more illusion monsters, she finally reached a massive open area.


    ''Is this the deepest area?''


    At Lia''s question, Kai replied,


    [Yep, this is it... that girl, Sin, is also about to arrive; maybe you should wait for her here for a few


    minutes...]


    Lia nodded her head and waited a few minutes.


    She saw many other openings to this massive underground open area, simr to the passage from which she came.


    She nced around and noticed that the whole area was empty; there wasn''t a single soul in


    sight.


    Lia wanted to go and investigate things on her own, but she waited for Sin to arrive after


    hearing Kai''s advice.


    A few minutes passed by, and Sin came out of a nearby passage.


    Her clothes seemed more haggard, and she looked more exhausted than Lia.


    Actually, she was targeted by more ants when Lia and she escaped; moreover, she doesn''t


    have the guidance of a strong person like Kai, so it was more difficult for her. When Sin noticed Lia, she immediately rushed over and started toin in an


    aggrieved tone.


    "Ugh... You know what, I saw illusions of my father! My father is a calm and strict person, but those illusions were actually smiling at me and being all lovey-dovey... I nearly fell for that!!"


    "Agh... I barely escaped from getting pierced by a stone spike that came flying my way when I let my guard down and allowed that illusion to pat my head..."


    "Sigh... and then I actually saw illusions of him again and again... It was pure torture!!"


    "Whoever made this ce is likely a very cunning person!"


    Just when Sin wasining, a sweet and gentle voice rang out in the open area.


    "So you two are finally here? It''s been a while since anyone made it to this stage..."


    A beautifuldy, wearing dark green clothes with mysterious patterns, appeared.


    As if an illusion had been created, Lia and Sin found themselves standing in a gigantic


    fighting ring.


    And the mysterious green-haireddy was sitting on a high throne, overlooking the scene.


    Lia nced at the other party and asked in a calm voice.


    "Uh, who are you? And can you please tell us what''s going on here? We were on our way to a different ce, but our teleportation altar seems to have faced some error..."


    "And we came here by ident-"


    Before Lia could finish her words, the dark green eyes of the mysterious woman shined, and


    she said,


    "ident? Hmm? Did they not tell you about the true nature of the ''Festival of Dragons''?...


    huh? That''s odd..."


    "Forget it; let me tell you about it if they didn''t... By the way, I am A, the protector of this


    forest and the leader of the Tree Men race..."


    Hearing that name, Sin suddenly said,


    "Ah! So, you are the famous tree spirit that has been said to be living in the forest of chaotic


    illusions!!"


    "I remember now! My father once told me about you when I was little! I nearly forgot about


    it!"


    A nodded her head in response to those words.


    "I am surprised that there are young dragons who still know about me..."


    "Well, that matter aside, I have been living in this ce since the time when my race left their home and decided to live under the protection of the dragons..."


    The tree men and tree sprits used to live in the outside world, but their hometown was destroyed by the Demon Race during the thousand-year war, and just like the fairy race, they ended up living under the protection of the Dragons.


    A was just a young kid when they came here, but now it''s been more than a millennia, and


    she''s be the only SS-ranker of her race.


    In other words, she''s more than a thousand years old, even older than the Dragon King


    himself.


    A peak SS-ranker who has been protecting her race for millennia now.


    "Aside from my role as the leader of my race, I am also in charge of helping in conducting the


    ''Great Dragon Festival''..."


    "Truthfully speaking, it''s actually a training session under the disguise of a festival... and I am one of the few SS-rankers who are in charge of conducting this festival..." "Congrattions, you two! You have passed three of the trials out of the four trials I have set


    up... Only a few people have ever made it this far when faced with my tricky illusions..."


    "You two are quite strong... I appreciate your efforts..."


    Although Alya''s voice seems gentle and soothing, the more she talked, the more Lia and Sin frowned; they both kept feeling a strange, ominous sense in their hearts.


    ...


    Author''s Note.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here!


    Question of the day:


    What do you think is the main motive of this ''Festival''?


    (Tell me your thoughts in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.