Chapter 458

Chapter 81 “Disillusion” – Part 2

At first, before I had a clear understanding of the ability called “Disillusion,” I imagined it as a power that could shield or confuse one’s senses to create illusions. The method through which this ability was used was through the eyes… or rather, the gaze, in the moment of direct eye contact.

With just a shout of “Tsukuyomi!” the enemy would instantly weaken, becoming lost in a mental world governed by “Disillusion,” where time, location, and even quality were all under its control. This world might still reflect reality, but it was not bound by it.

And once someone was lost in this illusion, they would suffer mental torment, facing their deepest fears, driving them mad and causing them to act horrifically in the real world.

Alternatively, one could choose not to drive the other to madness, instead making them see nonexistent people or things, using these illusions to guide their actions and effectively achieve one’s own goals.

The ability of “Disillusion” was to make others see or feel whatever the user wanted them to see and feel… In my imagination at that time, it was something like this power.

After the battle in the royal city, I gained the ability of “Disillusion.” I soon discovered that its usage indeed matched my initial thoughts… yet there was a significant difference from what I had imagined.

It was indeed a power that could induce hallucinations and even trap people in illusions. As long as I made eye contact with someone, I could activate “Disillusion,” confusing their vision, hearing, touch, and even their sense of smell, leading their consciousness astray into false dreams—this kind of power, if mastered, was truly a terrifying nightmare for enemies.

However, the process of using it was not as effortless as I had imagined.

Because the so-called illusions and illusions required me to “concretize” them through my imagination, affecting others’ perceptions and causing cognitive biases. In other words, if I wanted others to see or feel something, I had to vividly imagine it in my mind, down to every detail.

To what extent?

If I wanted others to see a non-existent raven, I had to imagine every feather on its body. If I wanted it to fly in the sky, I had to think about each of its movements, the path of flight, the trajectory of its wing flaps, and how its feathers moved in the wind…

Only if I thought in great detail could the “illusion” reach a level of realism that would fool others. Otherwise, it couldn’t even be “concretized” enough to appear in their senses.

In simpler terms, mastering this ability did not require immense chaotic power or exceptional skill—it needed rich and flexible imagination and high concentration.

Because it could easily be interrupted.

Once my thoughts were broken or diverted, the illusion would become distorted or even shattered.

Mastering this wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t overly difficult either. After all, thinking can be trained, and my imagination wasn’t lacking; it was even considered superior. Since childhood, I enjoyed imagining all sorts of fantastical things.

I just lacked focus.

At the beginning, I practiced this ability in the forest, targeting four-eared rabbits or deer… various small animals.

Initially, the practice was quite interesting.

However, after several attempts, when I started exploring the application of “Disillusion” in combat, I finally realized the most terrifying flaw of this ability.

This flaw, I called it “SAN value.”

Yes, “Disillusion” could decrease SAN value.

I first noticed this while pondering how to use illusions to inflict the greatest damage on an enemy, rendering them completely powerless. Subconsciously, I used Teresa and Nero as hypothetical opponents, desperately thinking about what kinds of people or scenes I should make them see to affect their judgment and even shake their will.

Because “Disillusion” couldn’t cause physical harm, but if used properly, it was the strongest support and control technique. At the time, I racked my brain trying to figure out how to use it effectively, deciding what to make my enemies see, what Teresa cared about, what Nero feared…

What made Nero afraid, how can I make my enemies tremble with fear, and even lose their will to fight…

I don’t know how long I thought about it, not even realizing what I was thinking.

When I looked up unintentionally, I found that in front of me were already crowded with shadowy, incomplete figures.

Theresa covered in blood, Nero with half of his face ugly and charred, children whose heads had been cut off and bodies shriveled, countless burnt corpses, black cloaks holding syringes… they stood silently, twisted, closing in on me.

In that instant, my mind went blank.

Then the illusion shattered, I returned to reality, feeling dizzy and disoriented, as if three golden bells were ringing in my head, a pain like an explosion in my brain, blood dripping from my nose, I vomited right there.

For the next half hour, my limbs were cold and numb. That day I didn’t continue practicing, I ran straight home.

For the next three nights, I had nightmares continuously.

After that, I never used the power of “Illusion Shattering” again.

I probably understood, Yilushi couldn’t control her own power because her will was eroded and dominated by the Abyss in such a short time. Besides being young and having weak willpower, it was likely also related to the characteristics of the “Illusion Shattering” power.

I thought of the three illusions she had cast on me.

If arranged chronologically, the first one should have been in the mud of the Abyss, imagining my home.

A small room, bookshelves full of books, warm murals, mostly scenes I had described to her orally, she wanted me to see those. The little girl back then still held onto sunshine in her heart.

The second time, she was still in the mud of the Abyss, through a crow flying towards the royal city, she found me just after fighting with the heretics. At that time, she said: I want to wake up.

In that illusion, crows filled the sky, and the full moon above was bloody red.

A little girl…

How could she think of such an uncomfortable scene?

Her mental state must have already gone wrong at that time.

By the third time, the dream had completely transformed into a dark and damp laboratory, a scene reminiscent of a horror movie, and also the place where we had been hurt before… She recreated everything there, creating a passage that almost drove me mad, rooms that sent chills down my spine, all of these were her imagination, every detail was hers.

During that long process of imagination, what kind of state was Yilushi’s mind in?

Perhaps the obedient and sensible little girl had already gone crazy long ago.

She could have come directly to me…

And when it came to the fourth time, targeting the soldiers outside the church…

I don’t know what the soldiers saw to make them so scared, to the point of acting like madmen and killing each other—I did not see what the soldiers saw, it was not something I could imagine, nor was it something any normal, psychologically healthy person could imagine.

That is the most terrifying and effective way to use “Illusion Shattering”.

But if I wanted to use “Illusion Shattering” to do such things, I would have to turn myself into a terrifying madman first.

This is its characteristic.

I can use “Illusion Shattering” to play pranks on others, or create a beautiful dreamlike scene, only existing in fairy tales. If I imagine such a beautiful dream, the azure sky, the drifting white clouds, the magnificent castle, the endless wheat fields, the gentle wind in the fields…

If I want to shape such a fairyland, during this process, my mood is joyful and happy.

But if I want to shape a hell, a terrifying hell that makes the enemy tremble with fear…

Then first, I have to immerse myself in hell.

I am afraid.

However, now I am with a group of knights and clergy, besides the Frost Order, I cannot use the powers of Dead Smoke, Sin Fire, or Chaos Fire. Although the power of Frost is already incredibly strong, facing a third-stage heretic, I can easily kill them instantly, but what if there were ten of them?

If the person I just killed was actually the weakest?

If the Joker was stronger than Theresa, or even stronger than Nero?

If I fought them one by one, even if I didn’t lose, under such high-intensity combat, could reason be maintained for long?

I must find a suitable way to use “Illusion Shattering”.