‘Illusion realm… This is really that traditional dungeon trope… and most of them are mental attacks… Hehehe, trying to slow us down, are you? Don’t underestimate me, Elia.’
‘Who says illusion realm dungeons have to be hard to break? Watch me break it!’
Then, Elia closed her eyes and sensed the surrounding magic fluctuations, then said softly:
“The essence of an illusion is to distort our perception. That is, as long as we find the boundary between reality and illusion, we can easily break it.”
The voice obviously ptoo, but still said: “Pretty smart, huh? Then go ahead and show your skills~”
In the following time, Elia kept her eyes closed, searching for that boundary…
Of course, Kiz and Lisa were not idle either. They were helping Elia clear out the black monsters that had appeared around them somewhere along the way.
But if Elia saw these monsters, she would definitely complain. These pitch-black monsters are too indescribably ugly!
Having tentacles all over is one thing.
Even this guy has a nose where a mouth should be, eyes where a nose should be, ears where eyes should be, and a mouth where ears should be…
And its body constantly oozes a black liquid that reeks of metal and foil.
The problem is that there is more than one of these indescribable things!
After some time, Kiz swung her scythe and chopped three monsters that were pouncing at Elia, loudly asking: “Not done yet, Elia?”
Lisa waved her small hand, unleashing a large area of darkness that devoured at least dozens of monsters in that region, then she yawned and said: “Wait a bit longer. Don’t rush.”
Meanwhile, Elia was still in the spiritual world, battling wits with that thing that was preventing her from finding the boundary…
That thing was quite troublesome.
But no matter how troublesome that thing was, it would get tired—or rather, have a cooldown period… But as a Saint, she didn’t have that problem~
So when it got too tired to stop her, she found the so-called boundary between reality and illusion, and left it with a message: “Still trying to stop me? Go take a nap!”
Then she opened her eyes, pointed in a direction, and said: “That way.”
And as Elia exited the spiritual world, the surrounding swarms of indescribable monsters that couldn’t be killed vanished within five seconds.
“You finally did it, Elia! No, no, I protected you until I’m half dead, and I suffered considerable mental damage, so you have to compensate me when we get back! Let me drink your blood for three hours!” Kiz quickly put away her scythe and ran in front of Elia, hands on her hips.
“You trying to drain me dry?” Elia flicked Kiz’s forehead.
“Hmm… Hehehehehe… Actually, a dried-up Elia would be pretty cute too~” Kiz showed a dark smile.
Seeing Elia’s disgusted expression, Kiz then said: “Alright, alright, I’ll stop teasing you. Let’s leave this place first. We still have a mission.”
Then, the three walked in the direction Elia had pointed.
They had only taken a few steps when the darkness around them suddenly began to change violently, and countless images rapidly emerged…
Those were fragments of Elia’s memories, and specifically scenes of Elia being subjected to modification experiments by a bunch of beasts in the laboratory.
“Elia! Are you alright!” Kiz saw Elia’s expression change and quickly supported her. “Did you see something?”
“It’s nothing, just the illusion attacking me.” Elia waved her hand, forcibly suppressed her negative emotions, and continued forward.
Next, Kiz also saw her own past.
The Vampire Queen fell into a century-long sleep to save her… The lonely childhood after losing her mother, and countless days and nights struggling through blood and storms.
This made her hand tremble slightly, but she gritted her teeth and endured.
As for Lisa, Lillian’s smiling face appeared before her… That lively little girl hopped toward her, calling: “Mother!”
Lisa’s body froze instantly.
That was… the first time Lillian called her mother.
Although they only had an Embrace relationship and were not truly mother and daughter… in Lisa’s heart, she had long considered Lillian her daughter.
“Mother, save me…”
In the image, Lillian was covered in blood, tied to a cross.
“Damn it… Lillian, wait for me obediently…”
After a while, those illusion scenes became more real and more terrifying, but none of the three showed signs of mental breakdown.
Finally, a light appeared ahead. That was the exit of the illusion!
“Rush out!” Elia shouted loudly.
With her words, the three simultaneously charged toward the light, and in the next second, the illusion shattered like a mirror.
They stood again before the stone platform.
At that moment, the crystal ball in front of them was also shattered on the ground.
And ahead, a staircase leading underground appeared, so deep it was impossible to see the bottom.
“Let’s go down.” Lisa said and rushed down the stairs first.
This staircase was extremely long. The three walked for who knows how long before finally reaching the huge underground hall at the bottom.
The hall’s ceiling was immeasurably high, the walls engraved with the emblems of the Holy Grail Order, and at the deepest part stood a large cross.
Bound to the cross was a petite girl… Lillian.
She was wearing the same dress from the Blood Feast, but it was tattered and stained with blood, and her exposed skin was covered in wounds.
Moreover, her head was lowered, long hair covering her face, her hands and feet locked with many chains, and even the chains were carved with numerous runes.
Seeing Lillian, whom she regarded as her daughter, tortured like this, even the gentle and calm Lisa cried out: “Lillian!”
She wanted to rush over, but an invisible barrier blocked her.
“Welcome to the depths of the Forbidden Land…”
The three followed the voice and saw a man in a red robe standing there, with a kind smile on his face and a scepter inlaid with a huge gem in his hand.
Then, he wore a badge in the shape of a Holy Grail on his chest.
In short, this attire can be described as very classic religious style.
“Bishop Cardonnel, right?” Elia stepped forward and asked.
Cardonnel smiled slightly and said softly: “Blood Princess… Prince of the Lasombra Clan… and our Saint Elia… Three distinguished guests visiting my humble abode really honor me~”
Then, his gaze fell on Elia.
“Saint, S-001… The most perfect subject of that experiment… and also the most outstanding creation of our order. I have been thinking about you for a long time.”
“What did you do to her?” Elia asked coldly.
Cardonnel looked at Lillian on the cross and said: “Her? We only extracted a bit of her soul power… After all, we need a sacrifice to summon the Ancient Core, right?”
Hearing this, Lisa’s pupils contracted sharply, and she shouted: “What did you say?”
Then Cardonnel deliberated a few times before finally deciding to explain: “Then let me explain… You should have heard of the Ancient Core, the holy relic left by the Progenitor of the Blood Clan… It can grant its possessor supreme divine power… Our order has been searching for it for hundreds of years, and now we have finally found its location! Right here! In the deepest part of this Forbidden Land!”
The more he spoke, the more fanatical he became, then he suddenly calmed down.
“But, to summon the Ancient Core, we need a sacrifice—a Blood Clan member with sufficient aptitude. Only by sacrificing her soul can the seal be opened. And Miss Lillian happens to meet that condition.”
“Her aptitude is one in ten thousand…”
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