Chapter 303
“Stop.”
In that moment, an unbelievable miracle occurred.
The Demon Wolves momentarily flinched.
He had used the Art of Beast Refinement to momentarily interfere with the Beast King’s own art.
It was only a split-second pause, but that was more than enough.
Fwaaaaaaat!
A storm of blood raged.
The necks of the Demon Wolves were instantly cut, their heads flying into the air.
“No?! How can you use the Art of Beast Refinement?”
The Beast King cried out in shock.
“I just did.”
“What did you say?”
“It wouldn't make sense if I couldn't do something that a mere beast like you can, now would it?”
Of course, that was a lie.
‘I pulled a trick for this, too.’
He had used Alros.
He hadn't been left behind in the Magical Beast Demonic House for no reason.
Currently, Alros’s soul was bound to Chris.
He could use Alros as a medium to cast dark magic.
He had secretly spied on the direct lineage of the Magical Beast Demonic House as they performed their art and had devised a method to counter it.
‘And I also referenced the Record of Beast Refinement that I received from the Beast King.’
Although the current Art of Beast Refinement of the Magical Beast Demonic House was completely different from the Record of Beast Refinement, their central context had to be the same.
[You bastard!! How dare you!]
Seeing his precious magical beasts being slaughtered, the Beast King went berserk.
He ignored the illusory beasts and rushed at Chris.
The Beast King’s Art of Beast Refinement was powerful, but he was a magus whose main focus was combat.
A fearsome sword strike surged forward.
Slice!
Chris’s neck was cut and flew into the air.
The Beast King smiled as if in triumph, but soon, his eyes widened.
Sreureu, Chris’s body disappeared like mist.
It was an illusion!
[How?]
It is nearly impossible to fool a person of the Beast King’s level with an illusion.
He could distinguish any illusion with his senses, but.
“No matter how sharp a beast’s senses are, they’re useless if you’re deceived.”
[What?]
“Come on out.”
Surprisingly, another Chris appeared.
It was Jupien, disguised as Chris.
Thanks to the Emblem of the Constellation, which had even mimicked his essence, it was impossible to tell who was the real one.
Chris’s tricks did not stop there.
Sreureuk. Sreureuk.
A third, a fourth, a fifth… a seventh, an eighth.
Countless Chris-es appeared.
It was the Mirror Illusion Art, which creates illusions based on the original body.
The problem was that he had manifested these illusions through the Emblem of the Constellation.
Since they were illusions manifested by copying his essence, even the Beast King’s senses could not distinguish them.
‘Furthermore, with two original bodies for the illusions, myself and Jupien, it will be even more difficult to tell.’
On top of that, this place was a sacred site where illusions lingered.
It was a place where one’s senses were already being interfered with.
In the end, the only option the Beast King could take was to cut down all of the illusions.
But even that was not easy.
First, the Duke of Illusion’s illusory beasts were tying up his feet, and,
“It's a fake. You were tricked again, weren't you?”
[Shut up!!]
“Oh, that was the real one this time. But you’re too slow.”
Chris was not an opponent that even the Beast King could catch while playing hide-and-seek with illusions.
Jupien was a potential problem, but he had prepared a solution for that as well.
‘I didn't make her my vassal for nothing.’
By becoming his vassal, they could share senses in real-time, so at every moment of crisis, Chris could relay a solution to her, allowing her to narrowly evade.
“You! Are you a wolf or a dog? You stink. Go take a bath.”
[You bastards!!]
In the end, the Beast King changed his strategy.
He decided to ignore Chris and strike the Duke of Illusion first.
[These petty tricks are useless!]
Kwaaaang!
The Beast King’s power overturned the Duke of Illusion’s Domain of Dominion.
“Keuk!”
The Duke of Illusion let out a groan.
In the first place, the Beast King was considered the top among the heads of the prestigious Magus houses in terms of pure ‘physical strength’.
And now he was holding the Berserker Sword, so it was difficult to even imagine the extent of his power.
Every time the Beast King swung his sword, the World of Illusions shook as if an earthquake had struck, and the Duke of Illusion’s complexion grew paler and paler.
‘As I thought, he's no match.’
The Duke of Illusion’s achievements were lacking, but the matchup was also very bad.
The Beast King, who reigned as the king of numerous demi-human tribes, possessed a mental defense power that was a level stronger than even other magi of the Absolute Realm, so he had a particularly strong defense against mental attacks like illusion arts.
Therefore, one had to use illusion arts not for mental attacks but to intervene in reality and deal a direct blow, but against the Beast King, it was not enough.
In the end.
“Keolluk!”
The Duke of Illusion coughed up a mouthful of blood.
He had reached his limit.
The Beast King smiled chillingly.
[Kid from the Dark Demonic House. You’re next. I will cut off your head and mount it on a flag, then burn the Dark Demonic House to the ground.]
But Chris only let out a scoff.
An incomprehensible attitude, despite being cornered.
“Well now. I have no desire to listen to the whimpering of a stupid beast that doesn't even know what kind of crisis it's in.”
[What did you say?]
In that moment.
The unbelievable happened.
Stagger!
Hwaak, the Beast King’s body suddenly swayed.
His vision was suddenly covered in darkness, and he felt as if he had fallen into an empty void.
He had been caught in an illusion!
[What?]
The Beast King reacted as if it were impossible.
The Duke of Illusion, who was beside him, was the same.
“Did he cast an illusion on the Beast King? Impossible.”
Even the Duke of Illusion had not been able to delude the Beast King with his illusion arts, but Chris had done it!
“It's thanks to my diligent study of illusion arts for the past few days.”
“…What kind of nonsense is that?”
“I just studied, and it worked.”
Words that made the Duke of Illusion, who had dedicated his entire life to illusion arts, look like a fool.
Of course, he had pulled a trick.
‘I used the Berserker Sword.’
Chris giving him the Berserker Sword was, of course, a trap.
One that the Beast King would never be able to notice.
‘Because it's not a part that could normally be called a weakness.’
The Berserker Sword amplifies its owner’s power like a berserker.
In that process, the mind becomes similar to that of a berserker. However, it only becomes similar; one does not lose their reason, so it could be called a great demonic sword.
The problem was that a faint mental weak point is created in that process.
It was so minute that it was difficult to notice, and even if noticed, it was impossible to exploit, so it couldn't be called a weakness. The problem was that the Beast King’s opponent was Chris.
Throughout the entire battle, Chris had been secretly aiming for the weak point that had formed in the Beast King’s mind, and in the end, he had succeeded in exploiting it.
‘Of course, the power of my illusion arts itself is not that strong.’
What was important was that he had created an opening in his mind.
[You bastard!! I’ll kill you!]
The Beast King tried to shake off Chris’s illusion and charge, but it was too late.
The Duke of Illusion stepped in.
Fwaaat!
The illusion art, filled with the essence of the Illusion Demonic House, exploded into the opening in the Beast King’s mind.
Its power was, of course, horrific.
[Kuaaaaaaaak!!!]
Deluded by some illusion, the Beast King twisted his entire body and screamed in agony.
In an instant, the tide of battle had been reversed.
‘This is the frightening part of illusion arts.’
A fight with the illusionists of the Illusion Demonic House was all or nothing.
If one could withstand the illusion arts, they would win, but if one was deluded by them, it was over in that moment.
“Beast King, to think a pathetic beast like you has looked down on me until now. Fall into the pains of hell.”
The Duke of Illusion’s illusions continued to stack, piercing the Beast King’s mind.
As if he were trying to completely crush and erase the Beast King’s mind with illusions.
[Kuaaaaaaaak!!! Duke of Illusion, you bastard!!!]
The Beast King did not just take it lying down.
He drew up all his strength and tried to shake off the illusion arts.
But it was useless.
“You forgot about me?”
In between, Chris would intervene and disrupt the Beast King’s resistance.
Finally.
Hwareureureuk.
[Kkeuaaaaaak!!]
Flames rose up from the Beast King’s body.
The illusion had gone beyond consuming his mind and had manifested in reality on the Beast King’s actual body.
‘It's over.’
The fire was just the beginning.
A hell of ice, a storm of lightning, a rush of blades—all sorts of illusions were manifested in reality, and the Beast King’s body was instantly and completely wrecked.
Kuuung.
The Beast King collapsed, and the venue was submerged in silence.
They had defeated the Beast King!
“Keok.”
The Duke of Illusion coughed up another mouthful of clotted blood.
He had barely managed to win, but the signs of his internal injuries were severe.
“It doesn't seem like the atmosphere for... congratulations.”
The Duke of Illusion wiped the blood from his mouth and glared at Chris.
With a clear killing intent.
Jupien frowned and tilted her head.
“What’s with that old man?”
“Who knows?”
Chris shrugged his shoulders.
“Why are you glaring at me like that? Now that the Beast King has been dealt with, have you suddenly had a change of heart?”
“No.”
The Duke of Illusion let out a smirk.
“I had no intention of letting you live from the beginning.”
A chilling statement.
It meant that the Duke of Illusion had planned to use Chris and then eliminate him from the start.
The reason was simple.
“Are you planning to join hands with the Four Kings' Castle?”
“Yes. The Dark Alliance has no chance of winning against the Four Kings' Castle anyway. If I'm going to join hands with someone, it’s better to take the hand of the winner.”
A cool killing intent flowed out.
“You’ve been quite the arrogant one until now. I will let you meet your end, floundering in the pain of an eternity of illusions.”
A life-or-death crisis.
No matter how exhausted the Duke of Illusion was, he was still a Mid 8-Star absolute magus.
There was no way Chris could win, but.
“Go ahead.”
“…What?”
“Let’s see just how great your skills are.”
The Duke of Illusion frowned at his leisurely attitude.
“That arrogance ends now!”
Fwaaat!
An illusion art pierced into Chris’s mind.
The Punishment of the Eight Hells.
It was a technique where one experienced eight kinds of terrible pain through illusion arts. The pain was not merely mental; the punishment would manifest on the physical body, leading to a gruesome death.
It was the moment the Duke of Illusion was smiling crookedly, anticipating the screams that would soon erupt.
“Wow, this is quite amazing. Such an exquisite illusion art.”
“!!”
Chris burst out in admiration.
In a composed voice.
“What?”
“Ah, you're asking how I'm alright? I know it's a fake anyway, so there's no need to make a fuss, is there? I just have to see through the illusion and reality.”
“Don't speak such nonsense!!”
Lowly illusion arts could be defeated by seeing through their falsity, but high-level illusion arts were different.
One had to possess the mental strength to withstand the ‘compulsory force’ of the illusion art, but,
‘Could it be?’
A single thought came to mind, and the Duke of Illusion’s eyes widened.
“This isn't the end, is it? It would be a shame to end it like this, so please try a little harder.”
The Duke of Illusion gritted his teeth and once again unleashed his illusion arts.
All sorts of illusion arts, launched with his full power, rained down, but the result was the same.
He was still completely unharmed.
“Wh-what?”
The Duke of Illusion stumbled back.
Chris twisted the corners of his mouth into a smirk.
“Let me ask you one thing. Do you think I didn't anticipate your betrayal?”
“!!”
Yes.
Chris had anticipated the Duke of Illusion’s betrayal.
No, on the contrary.
‘I was hoping he would betray me. I had to deal with the Duke of Illusion as well to be able to completely subjugate the Tri-Alliance.’
He had no worries.
“Unfortunately for you, my mental strength is greater than the Beast King's. You may not see it, but this is a body that has transcended the rank of a mortal. No matter how hard you try, you will not be able to bring me down with illusion arts.”
The Duke of Illusion gritted his teeth.
“Wh-what… Shut up!!”
Hwaaaat!
The World of Illusions he had used on the Beast King earlier was unfurled.
All sorts of illusory beasts were summoned and showed a menacing presence, but.
“You've already revealed all your weaknesses, so what are you doing?”
Shatter!
“Keok!”
As Chris flicked his hand, the Domain of Dominion broke apart.