Book 1 Chapter 567
567.
“Is that Draconic Magic?”
“Yes.”
Leo nodded at Deuriana’s question.
“Are you alright? It looked like very powerful magic.”
“It’s a powerful spell, so it’s a test.”
“I’m talking about Chelsea.”
“Right. Why did you cast an illusion spell on Chelsea Rwelyn? Weren’t you going to teach those dragons a lesson?”
Lunia also asked, sounding puzzled, following Deuriana’s words.
“Those dragons were secretly looking down on Chelsea.”
Leo let out a chuckle.
“They’ll learn through Chelsea just how great she is, and how narrow-minded and arrogant their own thoughts were.”
Hearing Leo’s words, Lunia made a displeased expression.
“I thought you’d make sure they wouldn’t get cocky again.”
“That is my usual way. But right now, I thought it wouldn’t be bad to show them how vast the world is.”
Even at Leo’s words, Lunia still looked slightly displeased.
Seeing Lunia like that, Leo clucked his tongue.
“You’re thinking you should smash the faces of those arrogant dragons right now, aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
“You’re only learning Luna’s bad habits.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“Does this sound like a compliment?”
Despite Leo’s words, Lunia merely smiled a pretty, radiant smile.
‘She’s increasingly taking after only Luna’s brazen side.’
There’s so much good to learn, so why does she only learn the bad?
“This rascal, if she breaks out of the illusion, should I hit her?”
“Lunia, if you really keep choosing to do such mean-spirited things, you’ll truly get a reputation as a delinquent elf.”
“What’s wrong with my heart? It’s a kind heart, isn’t it?”
“I clearly understand that your heart has been finely ground into a soft powder.”
At Deuriana’s words, Lunia’s eyes blazed.
“Think back to when you and I first met, and understand with an open heart.”
At Leo’s words, Lunia’s face turned pale.
“The Black Rabbit and the Delinquent Elf’s first meeting? What was it like? What happened?”
Ar’s eyes lit up as he asked.
“Don’t! Don’t say it!”
Lunia rushed at Leo, trying to cover his mouth.
But she was caught by Ar.
Lunia, despite her fierce personality and formidable magic, had no way of tearing Ar off her with physical strength.
“My Phoenix was originally designated as Lunia’s sworn partner. When she found out it somehow ended up contracting with me first, she made a huge fuss, demanding it back.”
“How rude.”
“And she cried sadly, asking for it back.”
“I didn’t cry! I was just pretending to cry!”
Lunia shrieked.
Ar’s eyes sparkled.
“And then she challenged me to a duel, saying she’d prove she was more suitable as Fiora’s sworn partner…”
“Aaak! Aaak! Aaaaargh!”
Lunia shrieked, her face as red as her hair.
Early in her first year.
It was an embarrassing memory from her immature days.
To prove to a great hero that she was worthy of being the Phoenix’s sworn partner!
What could be more humiliating than this?!
‘And of all people, to these guys!’
“Noisy.”
“Eughghghgh-!”
“Are you a wild animal?”
When Deuriana tried to cover Lunia’s mouth, Lunia tried to bite her hand.
“A duel challenge over the Phoenix. Hmph!”
Ar, holding Lunia, chuckled unpleasantly.
‘I will definitely erase this cat’s memory!’
It was then that Lunia gritted her teeth with a *grind*!
Gwoooooh-!
Black magical energy spewed out from the bodies of those caught in the Nightmare.
Everyone’s gaze turned to Leo upon seeing it.
“Well, Lunia. To you, it might seem like I’m dealing with those young ones in a rather mild way for me. But mentally, this method can be even tougher.”
Leo’s left eye had turned black, emitting dark magic like smoke.
“It seems it has truly begun.”
***
‘Nightmare!’
Ridden’s eyes snapped open.
The reason Lyssinus commanded near-infinite respect from later generations of dragons wasn't simply because she was the leader of the expedition that saved the world.
Even when the world was rebuilt after the Age of Calamity ended, Lyssinus’s wisdom shone.
Although she closed her eyes before a new era could fully begin, the world was later rebuilt based on Lyssinus’s plans.
Those who remained inherited Lyssinus’s wisdom.
Lyssinus’s foresight shone again after the fall of Erebos.
It also shone again after Tartarus’s resurgence.
During Tartarus’s resurgence.
Strength.
And even strategy and direction of advance.
The wisdom Lyssinus left behind protected the world until it could stand on its own.
In the early days of the Age of Heroes.
The heroes she chose, spearheaded by Fairy Knight Belkia, all placed the unstable world upon a solid foundation.
The notes Lyssinus left behind, predicting the future, were literally worthy of being called prophecies.
There was only one reason why this was possible.
It must have been because Lyssinus had the conviction that the world would be saved, even in despairing situations.
Such a Lyssinus also left a legacy for her own kind.
She left behind the Draconic Magic she had created so that others in later generations could also learn it.
Becoming a master and learning that magic was the ultimate goal of the Wisdom students.
The fact that Leo used such magic was astonishing. Moreover, the magic Leo used was Nightmare, considered the most difficult among them.
A magic called the strongest illusion spell.
Among the magic left by Lyssinus, its cruelty was extraordinary.
It was inevitable, as the root of Nightmare was a curse used by the demons of Tartarus.
“Ridden?!”
At that moment, Ridden flinched at the voice from behind him.
Ciren was standing there.
Seeing Ciren, Ridden immediately adopted a wary expression.
Nightmare was an illusion spell that made one fight against the opponent they least wanted to fight.
Anyone who appeared would clearly be an enemy.
Ciren felt the same, but soon the two, facing each other, wore puzzled expressions.
“Strange? The opponent I least want to fight isn’t someone like Ridden?”
“Oh? I agree with that. It’s the same for me.”
“Ridden? Ciren?”
“What’s going on?”
At that moment, other Wisdom students, Feldir and Mid-a, also appeared.
“Does that mean we’ve fallen into the same illusion?”
Ridden made a surprised expression.
“Is that even possible? Nightmare is a spell that shows each individual’s thoughts. Even if it’s used over a wide area, it should only make each person face their own thoughts, shouldn’t it?”
As Ciren shook his head, Feldir muttered with a serious face.
“Could it be that he modified the spell?”
“That’s impossible. For the past 5000 years, people have tried to reinterpret Lady Lyssinus’s magic, but no one has ever succeeded, have they?”
It was then that Mid-a wore a perplexed expression.
Thump- thump-
Footsteps were heard in the dark, empty space.
“Chelsea Rwelyn, is that you?”
It was then that Ridden, recalling Chelsea who had entered the illusion with them, asked towards the darkness.
“I’m afraid not.”
A clear voice came from beyond the darkness.
Thump- thump-
The dragons’ eyes widened as they saw the one who emerged from the darkness.
Whoooosh-!
Her lustrous black hair fluttered in the gentle breeze.
A beautiful woman, tidying her hair and gently sweeping it back, looked at the dragons.
Ciren’s eyes were filled with shock.
“Lady Lyssinus?”
“You know my name well, traitors of the clan.”
“Ah…”
The moment Ciren heard Lyssinus’s words, his face turned pale.
It wasn’t just Ciren.
“Im, impossible.”
“C-certainly. Lady Lyssinus is the being dragons least want to fight, but…!”
“We’ve never even met Lady Lyssinus before!”
The terrifying aspect of Nightmare is that it creates the enemy one least wants to fight, no matter who that opponent is.
In other words, the stronger one is, the stronger the illusion becomes.
But there is also a drawback.
The range of opponents that can appear in the illusion is limited to those one has met before.
In such a situation, Lyssinus had appeared.
The Wisdom students fell into a panic.
“Wait, this Nightmare is strange! It must be another spell that *looks* like Nightmare…”
Flash-!
It was then that Mid-a, having regained composure, spoke urgently.
As the flash gleamed, a beam of light pierced Mid-a’s stomach.
“Huh?”
Gulp-!
Mid-a, unable to comprehend the situation, coughed up blood and collapsed.
Thud-!
“One down, for now.”
Lyssinus’s dry, emotionless eyes turned towards the other Wisdom students.
Seeing those eyes, Ridden was somehow reminded of Leo using Draconic Magic.
The Wisdom students’ faces were tinged with terror.
“Everyone… run!”
Simultaneously with Ridden’s shout, Ciren and Feldir scattered.
Ridden carried the fallen Mid-a on his back and ran straight into the darkness.
“In a situation with an overwhelming power difference, that’s not a bad choice.”
Lyssinus said with an emotionless face.
“But there’s a difference between simply running away in terror and planning for another day.”
Lyssinus’s eyes pierced through the darkness.
“In your case, it seems to be the former.”
***
Ridden’s jaw trembled incessantly.
‘That’s not the real Lady Lyssinus! It’s an illusion!’
If it were the real Lyssinus, they wouldn’t even have been able to escape and would all have been annihilated on the spot.
But even if it was a fake, it was clearly a monster they couldn’t handle.
Ridden glanced at his friend slumped over his shoulder, then gritted his teeth.
‘I have to run! I have to run!’
No thoughts of how to escape this predicament were coming to his mind anymore.
He was merely swept away by endless despair.
At that moment.
Thud-! Thud-!
Ciren and Feldir tumbled forward in front of Ridden.
Ridden’s face hardened.
“Hide-and-seek is over.”
Lyssinus, with an expressionless face, appeared from the darkness.
Ridden’s jaw trembled with a *clack-clack* sound.
And he tried to take his friends with magic.
Watching Ridden, Lyssinus curled the corners of her lips.
To Ridden’s eyes, it felt like a sneer.
A sneer directed at the foolish one trying to take his already dead friends.
But Ridden couldn’t abandon his friends, even if they were corpses.
‘I have to escape… somehow, I have to escape…!’
He had already forgotten that this was a test.
Because death in Nightmare was real death.
Ridden, his face filled with terror, stumbled backward, and Lyssinus slowly closed the distance between them.
Whoooosh-!
A gentle breeze blew.
Kwa-ga-ga-ga-gak-!
A cutting wind blew and swept over Lyssinus.
Ridden’s eyes snapped open.
He saw the back of Chelsea, who had appeared somehow.
“Chelsea… Rwelyn!”
“Quickly, take your friends to a safe place and heal them!”
“What?”
“Your friends are still alive!”
At Chelsea’s words, Ridden flinched and checked his friends’ condition.
It was certainly true.
They all avoided vital points, escaping instant death.
Of course, even so, the fact that they had critical injuries remained unchanged.
But the powerful life force of a dragon barely held onto the three lives.
“Hurry!”
“What about you?”
“I’ll try to stop her somehow!”
“You can’t do it alone!”
“Right! If it were the real Lady Lyssinus, it would be impossible!”
Chelsea’s eyes gleamed slightly.
“But this opponent is a fake!”
“But I am real?”
“No! You’re uglier than the portrait of Lady Lyssinus I saw! So you’re a fake!”
Lyssinus’s eyes twitched.
And then she curled the corners of her lips.
“What an outrageous tomboyish lady.”
At the same time as those words, tremendous magical energy began to pour out from Lyssinus’s body.
Seeing that, Chelsea regretted it inwardly.
‘Perhaps I shouldn’t have called her ugly?’