"Rudy, I think it's around here."
Priscilla lifted her head, sniffing the ground.
"Yeah, I can sense it too."
A strong flow of mana was in the vicinity.
Multiple spells were at work.
"Has she given up on fleeing?"
Then, Astina, who had been scouting from the sky, descended.
"There were no signs of a cart or horse nearby, and no other movements either."
"Thank you for your efforts."
We looked ahead.
A powerful mana was felt there.
It was so intense that anyone could feel it without even trying to sense the flow.
Priscilla looked at me and spoke.
"Rudy, are we going in?"
"…We have to."
I had already contacted the academy.
I wasn't sure how long they would take, but Gracie or McGuire would come here.
However, we couldn't wait for them.
We had to catch Jefrin quickly.
If she's entrenched here, someone might come to help him.
She was right in front of the enemy's base; it's impossible to escape alone without help.
It was one of two possibilities.
Either she was making a desperate last stand or waiting for someone's help.
I prepared for the worst-case scenario.
I didn't want to lose such a chance.
"Astina."
I looked at Astina.
"Let's go. We can't wait."
Astina, seemingly sharing my thoughts, didn't say much and started moving.
"Oh, wait a moment."
I stopped Astina in her tracks and extended my hand.
She looked at my hand, puzzled.
"What's this?"
"Hold it."
"…What?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Astina's expression, which had been stoic until now, changed.
"Let's hold hands."
"Why hold hands?"
"To avoid confusing each other for the enemy if we enter the illusion spell. If we're holding hands, we won't get separated."
Astina cleared her throat and then tightly grasped my hand.
I felt the warmth from her hand.
She looked at our clasped hands and smiled.
"Your hand is bigger than I thought."
"Is it?"
I smiled at Astina and headed forward.
"Let's go in."
"Alright."
Together, we advanced towards the illusion magic, with Priscilla following behind.
As we stepped towards the magic's origin, the surroundings started to change.
The green leaves clinging to the trees began to wither, and the leaves disappeared.
The area grew darker than usual, and an eerie aura enveloped us.
Despite wearing plain clothes and a hood to cover our faces, it felt colder.
"An illusion spell?"
Astina seemed to feel the cold too, shivering slightly.
Seeing this, I held her hand even more firmly.
Our bodies were cold, but our hands shared warmth.
"Priscilla, how about you?"
"I'm a spirit, so I don't really feel things like cold."
It was hard to tell if the chill was real or part of the illusion.
"We might have to endure it for a while. It's better to save mana..."
If it's an illusion spell, using magic wouldn't warm our bodies as it manipulates sensations, possibly rendering it ineffective after a slight initial warmth.
It was better to conserve mana and quickly defeat the enemy.
"Yeah. Let's finish this quickly and get out."
Relying on the warmth of our hands, we walked forward.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, a stairway resembling an altar appeared ahead.
There sat a woman.
She wore a witch's pointed hat, sitting cross-legged.
She was a woman of mature beauty.
Different from the appearance I had seen before, but I could tell she was Jefrin.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})"Welcome~. Did you have any trouble getting here?"
Jefrin waved at us with a seductive smile.
"There's nothing around to make it difficult."
"Oh? Weren't you cold? It must have been quite chilly."
Jefrin stood up.
"This space was created with the help of necromancers. It's not just ordinary cold. It's combined with several abilities."
I narrowed my eyes.
It was unclear whether this cold was due to a real drop in temperature or a sensation created by an illusion.
Even if I could determine it, it wouldn't make much difference.
Human sensations are not something we control but automatically and relatively judge.
Seeing Astina, who seemed to feel the cold more than I did, it was easy to tell.
To Astina, who hadn't experienced much cold, it seemed to feel intensely cold.
"Astina, let's finish this quickly."
"Right."
Astina raised her hand.
"Gravity."
The surrounding trees were uprooted, and stones erupted and floated in the air.
The stones and trees flew towards Jefrin.
"I haven't finished talking yet. You're quite rude, aren't you?"
Jefrin didn't lose her smile even as the trees and stones flew at her, just slightly twisting her body to dodge.
But she didn't completely avoid them.
A tree branch grazed Jefrin's cheek.
"Huh?"
Simultaneously, I felt a sting on my cheek.
I sensed something odd and touched my cheek.
"…Blood?"
I looked at the blood on my hand and then at Astina.
Blood was also flowing down her cheek.
"Astina! Stop!"
"Hmm?"
Astina stopped her magic at my call.
Various things flying towards Jefrin fell to the ground.
However, Astina's attacks had already happened several times.
"Ugh..."
Both Astina and I were wounded, bleeding.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})The wounds on our bodies matched exactly with those on Jefrin's body.
Jefrin, wiping the blood from her cheek, spoke.
"You see, you should listen to the whole story."
"The same wounds are inflicted on us?"
The location of Jefrin's wounds matched ours.
This alone made the situation clear.
Our attacks were harming us as well.
It seemed like a spell crafted by Jefrin.
"If you want to kill me, you'll have to die too~."
Jefrin spoke leisurely.
"Or, freeze to death."
As Jefrin said this, the cold intensified.
The stronger cold made my body shiver.
"Ugh…"
As the cold grew more intense, Astina frowned.
Then Priscilla approached Astina's side.
Priscilla wrapped Astina in her warm fur.
Looking at Priscilla, she too bore wounds in the same locations as ours.
Even as a spirit, currently materialized, she could be wounded.
I looked at Astina.
Though shivering from the cold, her condition didn't seem too bad as she hadn’t used much mana yet.
She was in a state fit for battle.
I pondered slowly.
There was a clear contradiction in Jefrin's words.
She imposed two choices on us: endure the cold or kill her and die together.
If I were here alone, I might not know what choice to make.
Conserving strength and securing victory would mean attacking Jefrin.
If all this were an illusion, attacking the opponent might break the illusion.
It could just be an action inducing fear, and she might be preparing another move.
First, the best way to understand the situation was to attack the opponent.
But, it looked like a trap.
What if these wounds and the cold were real?
What if Jefrin deliberately incited us to attack her?
Despite much deliberation, no clear answer emerged.
"…Forget it."
There was no reason to ponder this much.
Astina kept shivering in the cold, and by the time this situation ended, professors from the academy would arrive.
"Shall we just take a brute force approach?"
"What?"
"That altar… or rather, everything around here."
I smiled.
"Can you destroy it?"
I could distinctly feel the flow of mana here.
The mana flowing throughout this entire land.
The whole land was functioning like a magical device.
While it seemed plausible to think an illusion spell was at play here, I thought further.
Sensing mana flow isn’t just about feeling the mana.
It involves understanding the situation and the opponent.
The opponent is an illusionist.
An illusionist we have already faced once.
The effectiveness of an illusionist’s magic diminishes significantly after the first encounter.
So, there was a chance that Jefrin had set a trap.
The mana spread around wasn't due to the illusion magic but was actually utilizing the entire land as a magical device.
That's what I assumed.
But even if that wasn't the case, it didn't matter.
If this was an illusion spell, there would be a magical device at its center.
Destroying everything around would also destroy that device.
After a moment of contemplation, Astina nodded.
"Let's do as you say."
Astina moved her mana.
"Hoo…"
Rumble─
As Astina raised her hand, the surroundings reverberated.
The earth itself seemed to shift.
The ground began to split open, and the shockwaves reached the altar.
Whatever the opponent was planning, it didn't matter.
The fact that I had been contemplating was only about what to do after causing a commotion, not about breaking the current situation, which wasn't difficult.
With Astina's overwhelming power, she could suppress all other forces.
"…"
Jefrin's eyes widened as she watched the crumbling altar and splitting earth.
I looked at her and smiled.
"Hey, you gave us a choice, right?"
I shrugged.
"What will you do now? Will you try to stop us? Or just stand there and watch?"
