The five senses were completely shattered. Vision was blurred, and hearing was dead, unable to even convey the sound of his own heartbeat.
As for the sense of smell, it was even worse. No matter which way he turned his head, all he could perceive was a scent reminiscent of rain, fading like Aslan’s presence. It was Lewena’s body scent.
Even if we set aside the taste, which was already gone, there was something strange about the sense of touch as well. Aslan couldn’t feel his own body.
He had no idea whether he was standing, lying down, kneeling and trembling, or even existing at all.
At least, that was how it was with the five senses.
When the five senses betrayed their master and failed to perform their roles, Aslan stood relying on only one sensation.
It was called luck.
A sixth sense, an intuitive ability. A super-intuition that had grown to the point where it could predict the future.
Since this super-intuition drew the outline of his physical form, Aslan continued moving his body as usual. Though the movement was slow and overly detailed, he was still able to move.
‘I can sense her.’
Beyond the closed eyes, due to the bowed head, he could sense a woman standing in the direction his crown pointed toward. Aslan could tell Lewena’s position through the strongly reacting luck.
The monsters that suddenly appeared around Lewena were also vividly sensed.
Like ripples spreading when a droplet hits the water surface, Aslan’s senses devoured the space, drawing a map beneath his eyelids, which were darkened by blackness.
This map, perceivable only to Aslan who possessed extraordinary luck.
Looking down on the shapes drawn on this map, Aslan felt Lewena starting to create distance immediately after summoning the monsters. He intuitively perceived the movements of the woman crossing the flower-filled garden mid-air and moved his feet.
No sound was heard.
No tactile sensation was felt.
Complete darkness. He didn’t even know if he was standing straight. It should have been impossible to stand properly, but Aslan endured with determination and lowered his stance.
An immense amount of mental strength was wasted. Even the simple act of moving his legs caused cold sweat to flow.
But he moved. Since Aslan was entirely focused on his physical body, doing anything else would be difficult, but he realized that he could still fight like this.
Using luck to replace all sensations, he moved the image of himself within the map drawn in his mind.
The body, devoid of even the faintest touch.
The monsters noticed Aslan lowering his stance and charged. Sensing the approaching monsters, Aslan spread his legs.
He pulled back the hand gripping the sword and clasped the hilt with his other hand. The sense of touch was still absent.
In front of him, rushing in was a monster resembling a mix between a mole and a wolf. Towards this common beast-shaped monster, Aslan released the arm he had pulled back.
One strike.
There was no sound. The sensation of the sword cutting through flesh was not felt either, but Aslan could sense it through luck.
That he had just split the mouth of the monster that was about to leap.
The broken monster oozed sticky liquid, flowing here and there like an abyss. Focusing on the scene drawn in his mind, Aslan continued his motion.
Turning the front foot he had planted while shouting and pivoting backward, supporting himself with the back foot, he delivered an upward slash.
The monster’s mouth split both horizontally and vertically. Black liquid flew in all directions. Aslan did not stop.
Switching feet, he struck twice more.
Bending his knees, he dodged an attack aimed at the position where the head used to be and slashed at the side.
Bending his ankles and twisting his waist, from the carved side to the mouth, he drew a long line of purity and cut through.
He repeated this.
Dodging, slashing, splitting, tearing. With countless slashes layered on, the abyssal monster shattered into small pieces. Amidst the scattered black liquid, only Aslan remained intact.
In a time shorter than a single breath, as the scattered abyssal monster on the ground struggled to reassemble, Aslan halted the pure force he was about to unleash and twisted his body, swinging towards what was directly behind him.
Had his hearing been functioning, the sound of flames would have been heard. The fireball shot by Lewena split in half, striking two monsters directly. The struggling monsters were pushed back and collided with the wall, causing the charging ones to hesitate.
Aslan’s thrust towards these monsters. A precise point, like a painting. The monster whose body was cleanly bisected fell heavily to the ground, and Aslan gripped his sword tightly, twisting his body.
Drawing a deep breath, though it wasn’t felt, Aslan regulated his breathing and ran towards Lewena.
The distance was neither too far nor too close. A subtle distance. Appropriate for casting magic but too far for a blade to reach.
Lewena gathering mana upon seeing Aslan approach. The concentrated sphere of mana forming in her hands. Sensing the attack with mana and detecting it with luck, Aslan swept his cloak with his hand and was about to throw the dagger he had drawn.
He intended to block the magic with it for defense and then strike with his sword.
Had the mana and luck not shown different reactions.
The mana informed Aslan that Lewena’s attack would be magic, likely the sphere forming in her hand, but luck seemed to think otherwise.
Just a vague feeling. An unsettling sensation akin to flames rising underfoot. Without a second thought, Aslan rolled his feet and threw his body sideways.
“An abyssal construct? You’ve gained the ability to manipulate it directly, huh.”
Piercing the spot where Aslan had been was Lewena’s elongated shadow. The extended shadow formed spike-like structures that tore up the floor, prompting Aslan to roll and land before dashing forward again.
“Is magic a deception? No, that can’t be.”
Steel spikes shaped like needles hurtled directly towards Aslan’s head. Swiftly wielding purity, Aslan split the steel in half and slipped through the gap to charge forward.
Both magic and the abyss were weapons for Lewena.
All were real, not illusions. There was more than one element to beware of. Pulling back the hand holding purity, Aslan swung it forcefully.
Cutting through the abyss rising from the ground as he advanced, blocking the acid rain pouring from the front by rotating purity closely around his body, and ignoring the rain of fire descending from the sky, Aslan charged forward.
Thanks to the dragon’s blood, the flames merely grazed Aslan’s skin as they passed. Cutting through the flames, Aslan drew and threw two daggers.
The daggers colliding with magic in mid-air bounced off. Countering the neutralized magic with purity, Lewena retreated while unleashing the abyss.
Shadows transformed into fangs, spikes, tentacles, blades, and arrows, all lunging towards Aslan. Blocking them, cutting them, dodging them, Aslan narrowed the distance.
The weight of her attacks gradually shifted from magic to the abyss.
Sensing this, Aslan thought as he avoided the spikes shooting up from the ground targeting his neck by tilting his head.
“Is her mana already depleted?”
No, that can’t be. Aslan muttered inwardly as he stopped an incoming shard of ice with the dagger he had just drawn and dodged its explosion by throwing it away.
“Lewena has considerable mana reserves. This is a feint. She wants me to charge recklessly, thinking her mana is exhausted.”
Having seen through the feint, Aslan thought. While thinking, he stopped moving his feet and did not fend off the abyss targeting his ankles.
The sight of his ankle being crushed without any pain. Although unseen, it was felt. Aslan’s body losing balance and falling, yet calmly placing his hand on the cloak despite not feeling the slightest bit ahead or any sensation.
Gaining a brief moment by not defending against the attack crushing his ankle. He utilized that short moment to the fullest. Receiving the attack and counterattacking.
Magic spells poured down towards the staggering Aslan. Apparently, she had conserved her mana. In that case, Aslan saw no reason to hold back.
“Seize.”
Together with words that might or might not have been spoken aloud, Aslan’s mana burned intensely, disintegrating his cloak. Soon, numerous feathers floated in the air.
These feathers rotated and drifted, like Saturn’s rings. Magic that touched this ring was severed and scattered.
Then they were launched. Hundreds of flying feathers pierced and annihilated the abyssal monsters Lewena was just conjuring. Beyond the splattering black liquid, Lewena’s figure became distinct.
As soon as Aslan confirmed the woman’s appearance, he redirected “Seize” to envelop his body.
Originally, movement was impossible under “Seize.”
However, abandoning the telekinetic control of weaponry and focusing solely on bodily movement made it not entirely impossible.
With his body wrapped in telekinesis, Aslan substituted the sensation and manipulation of his body with mana.
Devoting luck entirely to perception, Aslan moved by expending vast amounts of mana.
An illusion of wind sounds in ears that couldn’t hear. Aslan forcibly ignored the auditory hallucination and propelled himself off the ground by moving his legs with telekinesis.
Holding purity tightly in both hands, he pulled it back. His target was a diagonal downward strike. Ignoring the throbbing heart, Aslan drew the blade as Lewena’s desperate attacks surged forth.
The overwhelming abyss and magic barrages. Thanks to having devoted luck entirely to perception, Aslan could clearly see the trajectories of the cascading abyss and magic. Wherever the trajectories overlapped, he could sweep away the abyss and magic with purity.
Just like tearing apart something drawn on a canvas, purity shredded the space, repelling the abyss and magic.
The distance closed. Aslan charged towards Lewena. The remaining distance was less than five meters. As Aslan tensed muscles he couldn’t feel, getting closer to the range where a sword could strike.
—ROAR!
Suddenly, Aslan’s vision returned, his hearing resumed, and he could feel his body again. The illusionary magic had dissipated.
And what appeared with the dissipation of the illusionary magic was Lewena. Lifting her skirt slightly, leaning forward ever so slightly, shadows churned beneath her skirt.
KUOOOOOOO!
The deafening roar was the sound of death and void flowing out from the surging abyss. Fragments of an evil deity devouring everything around it. These fragments surged and formed some shape.
It was the army of the abyss. A torrential army of evil deities.
Armed with weapons, flailing limbs, kicking off the ground and charging, countless monsters armed with spears, swords, fangs, tentacles, claws, and talons targeted Aslan.
Seeing this, Aslan stiffened his expression momentarily before smirking and charged straight into the army.
Instead of swinging his sword at the army, he pulled the sword back behind his body and rammed it with his shoulder. At the moment of impact, even his dulled body clearly felt the sharp pain.
Flesh tore. Eyes were crushed. Bones broke, and his entire body was sure to turn into a pile of meat scraps. Aslan was undoubtedly becoming a heap of minced meat.
Yet, ignoring the pain, Aslan continued running forward. Definitely with a leg that had been severed.
The moment he stepped through the abyssal army with bones visible through his non-existent leg, Aslan’s body returned to normal.
The clever illusionary magic had ended, revealing an empty space devoid of any abyss and a bewildered Lewena.
It was a cunning illusionary magic.
Aslan firmly held purity and slashed downward. The large movement caused him to drop the blade, which embedded itself into Lewena’s shoulder.
Vivid tactile sensations raced along purity to Aslan’s fingertips.
From the shoulder bone, splitting through Lewena’s lungs and breasts, shredding her heart, and exiting through the opposite hip, the sensation was clear.
Clutching his teeth at the sensation, Aslan halted the leg he had been running with. Blood gushed from the punctured ankle.
The woman whose lungs were slashed and body diagonally bisected, Lewena spat out blood and collapsed onto Aslan. Aslan heard her muttering as her face buried into his shoulder.
“Forever love you.”
With a sigh, Aslan lifted his head, looking sad yet somewhat tired.
Aslan whispered to the sky.
“Lewena.”
While the woman’s body grew cold, Aslan’s purity continued to burn white.
As if the battle hadn’t ended yet.
“It doesn’t work on me.”
And indeed, the battle hadn’t ended yet.
When Aslan turned his head, Lewena, who had slid down while holding onto his shoulder and fallen to the ground, laughed.
Rustling, the woman’s corpse dispersed. Along with the dispersing corpse, a certain figure gradually revealed itself at the railing where the woman had initially sat.
It was Lewena.
She was swaying her legs back and forth as if she hadn’t moved from there since the beginning, accompanied by a seductive smile.
Aslan knew that Lewena wasn’t merely skilled at using illusion magic.
What Lewena excelled at was deception accompanied by illusions.
She could deceive and kill people with basic illusion magic.
Only, she never told lies.
She spoke nothing but the truth.
It was her magic that announced falsehoods and deceived the world.
Her high-level and intricately crafted illusion magic made it impossible to trace how and where the deception began.
That was Lewena’s magic.
As Aslan recalled this while looking at Lewena, Lewena met his gaze and grinned mischievously.
“Hyunwoo, you’ve become stronger.”
Surprisingly, the woman said this and then smirked, raising the corners of her mouth.
“And again… you truly tried to kill me.”
Then the woman brought her hand to her thigh. Gently rubbing it, the rustling sound of her clothes revealed the contours of her thigh.
“While holding me… while desperately pouring out your affection to me, whispering about creating a happy family together… you could have done that.”
Gradually, the satisfied smile faded, and the woman frowned genuinely.
Not as part of a deception, but sincerely.
“Hyunwoo, am I tiresome to you?”
Aslan smiled bitterly at those words.
“There’s no way. I still love you.”
Although the response came naturally, there was no hint of deception in his words. It was pure sincerity. Upon seeing this, Lewena finally erased her frown and spoke.
“I love you too. But…”
Watching Aslan approach, the woman finally stepped down from the railing. Naturally shaking her hips, the woman smiled askew.
“I’m too weak to accept Hyunwoo’s love. If we fight again, I’ll die.”
So, I’ll leave today. Adding this, the woman lifted her skirt. Her calf was revealed, and shadows writhed beneath her skirt.
Grumble, CAAACK!
The writhing shadows slowly transformed into monsters. Several monstrous figures raised their heads, stomping their forepaws on the ground.
Lewena, who had molded monsters from the shadows beneath her feet, grinned and said,
“You don’t seem like you’ll let me go, so I’ll leave this behind.”
Watching Aslan approach slowly, the woman let go of her skirt and spun around. As the voluminous skirt settled, the woman’s figure slowly melted into the darkness.
“Eat well, sleep early. And…”
Grumbleuuuuh!
Behind the monsters’ roars, the woman’s sincere voice echoed.
“Love you forever.”
As Lewena’s form disappeared into the darkness, Aslan felt her illusion magic, which had been infiltrating the space, dissipate.
The illusion magic that had driven people insane within the banquet hall.
‘So, it wasn’t full power after all.’
Watching the charging monsters, Aslan realized that it would have been much harder if Lewena hadn’t already been casting her illusion magic.
The journey ahead was still long.
Aslan sighed, turned his wrist, and charged towards the monsters. Brilliant light fiercely roared, annihilating the monsters.
By the time Aslan had dealt with all the monsters, the sun had risen.
The low-hanging sun scattered dim light, and Aslan found a talisman where Lewena had last stood.
A talisman identical to the one he possessed, with threads sticking out.
Aslan tucked the talisman into his bosom and returned the extinguished feather to his cloak.
