chapter_0138

139 – Send to the Punishment Room

139 – Send to the Punishment Room

I saw Aurora trapped in an illusion.

Enthralled by the illusion, she ground her teeth as she looked around the false world.

She seemed to still see me, and as she faced the world covered in falsehoods, she glared at me.

‘She’s not completely lost yet.’

Aurora wasn’t stronger than the Saintess, the Hero, or Yuris.

However, unlike the others, she had a strong aversion to entering illusions, which seemed to have given her some resistance.

‘So, she didn’t just become the Dean for nothing, huh?’

Honestly, I was surprised.

I never thought she would possess this level of willpower.

To resist Illusion magic used with full power.

[The user’s willpower is strong. Time is needed for the illusion to be fully applied.]

[Loading: 72%]

“Release me now! If you don’t release me, I’ll destroy everything around here!”

She shouted through gritted teeth, but well.

It wouldn’t be that easy.

The biggest characteristic of Illusion magic was that once you were properly deceived, even the surrounding Mana felt distorted.

The Magic Circle in our shop was drawing a perfect distortion, enough to suppress even the ‘Words of Power’ of the Saintess, the messenger of God.

It was true that Aurora was an excellent magician.

Her Magic level was probably higher than mine.

However.

“Huh?”

The ‘Quake,’ which should have collapsed the entire building, didn’t even create a slight tremor.

She was momentarily flustered.

I saw Aurora, completely deceived by the illusion, unable to properly read even the Mana she should have been feeling.

Because she couldn’t properly sense Mana, she couldn’t use the correct Mana in her incantations, and naturally, they misfired.

I flicked my fingers at her.

Snap!

The Illusion Magic Circle reacted to my fingers and created a spell.

It was a simple binding spell.

Clang!

Chains made of Mana in the illusion bound Aurora’s arms.

Aurora’s arms were raised by the illusory chains that didn’t actually exist.

From outside the illusion, it looked as if Aurora was raising her arms on her own.

Proof that she was succumbing to a strong suggestion, to the point where events in the illusion were being applied to reality.

‘Even though there’s no physical force, she raised her hands on her own…’

Aurora’s consciousness, which was strong enough to resist the illusion, was instead moving her body.

The reason I used this Magic was to confirm how deeply she had been immersed in the illusion.

‘She’s properly caught.’

She had pierced through the illusion to see me outside with her willpower, but conversely, that willpower was slowly dominating her body.

The longer she stayed in the illusion, the more her developed brain would recognize it as reality.

“H-How?”

Her eyes widened, seemingly shocked that she had been defeated by a mere Illusion magician.

Moving her hands, Aurora formed a seal and cast a Dispel Magic.

Bang!

To dispel Magic made with distorted Mana, even within an illusion.

Indeed, the Dean was the Dean.

But it was a pathetic struggle.

Confirming that the illusion was properly activated, I waved my hand.

Bang!

An explosion occurred in the illusion, and Aurora rolled across the floor.

Even though there was no actual explosion.

“H-How can you use this level of Magic…”

[Loading: 100%]

[Illusion reproduction is perfect. Please start if you wish.]

After briefly reading the message sent by the Magic Circle, I said to Aurora.

“Save your strength.”

“What?”

“Because from now on, you’ll experience hardships that will be difficult to endure with ordinary stamina.”

At my words, Aurora gritted her teeth.

Showing hostility towards me, she growled as if she would bite me at any moment.

“Are you doing this to start a war with our Life Magic?”

She was blaming me, even though she was the one who provoked me first.

“Weren’t you already prepared for this?”

“What?”

“From the moment you tried to frame us with the serious crime of summoning Demons, wasn’t that your intention to start a war?”

“You little…”

“Surely you didn’t think we would just send you back with a simple ‘Sorry’?”

“You doing this is practically admitting your own guilt…”

I shook my head.

“What guilt are you talking about?”

“Of course, the fact that you were secretly summoning Demons…”

“No. You’ve got the wrong idea.”

I smiled and opened my mouth.

“The actions I’m taking now are merely a dispute between Magic factions. Not the serious crime of summoning Demons.”

“Hey! Max! Do you think you’ll be safe doing this? Do you know how serious a crime it is to mess with the Dean of a faction…”

“Is it worse than summoning Demons? I’m not stupid enough to leave someone alone who’s trying to brand me as a Demon summoner.”

“You bastard!”

The fact that she came to our shop alone was a mistake in itself.

To even think of coming alone when visiting the opponent’s base.

She must have felt guilty inside.

Since there was no clear evidence that we had summoned Demons, she must have come to fabricate it directly on the scene.

‘Because it would be difficult to manipulate if there were many people.’

There probably weren’t many magicians who could grasp the truth of the evidence that the Dean herself created.

That meant she looked down on our faction that much.

She must have been convinced that we were weak enough that she could come alone and cause harm.

It was understandable that she would look down on us.

There were only two magicians belonging to the faction.

Even then, they had almost no physical strength, so the Dean and her only disciple were magicians who were almost incapable of direct combat.

Life Magic wasn’t a combat-oriented field, but she must have thought that she could subdue us easily on her own.

“Release me now. Unless you want to be charged with obstructing the Dean of Life Magic, who came to investigate the Demon summoning.”

At her resolute words, I shrugged my shoulders.

“Why don’t you try to escape on your own?”

“What?”

“Life Magic, isn’t it a great faction? It earns the most money after Goldmoon and Meister, and it’s a successful faction with the second-highest number of recent entrants after Blaster. If you’re the head of such a place, you should be able to break an illusion created by a mere Illusion magician, shouldn’t you?”

“Max, I had a good impression of you… So you’ve really decided to go all out.”

“You’re wrong. Aurora Dean, you’re the one who decided to go all out. I’m just attacking in self-defense.”

I’m not guilty, is what I’m saying.

“You…”

“The conversation has been long. Now that you’re going to properly enjoy the illusion, let me add one thing…”

I said, setting up the illusion she would see using the window that the Magic Circle brought up.

“This illusion will reflect Aurora Dean’s ‘desires’.”

Like a mirror slightly distorted by lust.

I was planning to put some restrictions on it.

Even so, it would be a bit unfair to just let the person who first pointed a knife at me enjoy it, right?

“Don’t worry, nothing as serious as Demon summoning will happen.”

“Stop it right now! If I get out of this illusion, you’re…”

“Then have a good time. I hope we can see each other later with a smile.”

It was going to be a pretty painful time.

She would probably beg to be released immediately.

I was also curious about how she would react.

This was the first time I had tormented someone with an illusion.

‘I hope you react properly.’

The inquisitiveness unique to magicians was boiling in my heart.

I was really curious about what would happen if she gained pain from this illusion created for pleasure.

[Starting the illusion.]

[User, Aurora of Life Magic]

“You son of a bitch!!!”

Screaming, Aurora, I saw the light disappear from her eyes.

She was completely lost in the illusion.

“…”

Aurora looked straight ahead.

No one was standing where Max had been standing just a moment ago.

Max had disappeared.

She didn’t feel any sign when he disappeared.

She didn’t even feel a change in Mana.

He had simply disappeared.

As if he had never been there in the first place.

“Is something like this possible…?”

Could mere Illusion magic tamper with a person’s perception?

That couldn’t be.

Aurora also knew very well how Illusion magic was structured.

It should all be about distorting Mana to make the surrounding environment appear distorted.

‘There’s not even a trace of distorted Mana.’

Moreover, when she confronted Max, her Magic didn’t manifest properly.

The Quake that wasn’t even properly cast.

The Dispel seemed to have worked properly, but Aurora herself knew better than anyone that its power was terrible.

“The Magic didn’t come out properly.”

She couldn’t even resist properly and collapsed against Max, who was several levels below her.

It was something that would never have happened normally.

‘That Magic Circle…’

The elaborate Magic Circle that she had seen, filling the room.

That must be the reason.

It must have blocked her power and amplified Max’s power.

‘I never knew Illusion magic had this kind of power…’

If she had announced this to the academic world, it would have attracted the attention of many people.

‘Why didn’t he reveal this?’

She couldn’t know.

Who would know the true intentions of Illusion magicians?

But such thoughts didn’t last long.

“I have to get out of here.”

Illusion magic is basically a trap Magic that prevents the opponent from escaping by continuously showing illusions.

She couldn’t stay trapped here.

She couldn’t just let these Illusion magicians steal her customers.

‘If Yuris, my best VVIP customer, is taken away by them…’

There was a high possibility that she would lose a significant portion of the foundation of Life Magic that she had worked so hard to build.

So, she had to get out of here somehow and subdue Max.

Only then could she gather her mind and look around.

It looked like a very dirty Underground Prison.

“The smell.”

It was the worst space for her, who valued cleanliness.

She covered her nose at the musty smell of mold and the smell of waste.

“Even the smell is so real?”

The terrible smell of the prison was unbearable for her, who always maintained a clean room.

“Ugh!”

She wanted to erase the smell with Magic, but the twisted Mana didn’t grant her wish.

Aurora grabbed the path blocked by iron bars.

“Hey! Don’t do this useless thing and release me now! This doesn’t make your sins disappear!”

She shouted at Max, who had created the illusion.

“Max! You bastard!!!”

It was when she was shouting in anger.

“Fucking noisy.”

A rough man’s voice was heard.

A man wearing armor with the symbol of the Imperial Guard walked up.

Aurora, who had been momentarily assessing the situation where Max had disappeared and a strange man had appeared, belatedly realized that this place was an illusion.

This man must be Max disguised by the illusion.

It was obvious.

Illusion magic had the disadvantage of making it difficult to deceive the opponent if there was no real substance.

Max, you’re trying to deceive me with such obvious tricks.

Even though the faction was different, she was the Dean of the Magic faction.

“Release me quickly! If you release me now, I’ll forgive you and step back…”

“What are you talking about, you bitch? Are you having another episode?”

“What?”

The guard clicked his tongue and said.

“Are you going to say again that you’re the Dean of the Life Magic faction or something?”

“Of course! Can’t you see my green hair! The blessing that only the Dean of the Life Magic faction can have…”

“A bitch who tried to summon Demons is saying she’s the Dean of the Life Magic faction or something. This is also a disease, you bitch.”

“What? What are you talking about! I summoned Demons! I am the honorable Aurora, the Dean of the Life Magic faction! Why would I…”

“Captain, I think this bitch is having another episode.”

At the guard’s words, a man with an eyepatch covering one eye approached.

A man with scars all over his body glared at her with a pipe in his mouth.

“You still haven’t come to your senses.”

“If you want to insult me, do it in a different way! Don’t act like this!”

The scarred captain gestured to the guard.

“Show it to her.”

“Yes, sir.”

The guard opened the door and approached Aurora.

Aurora, who couldn’t use Magic right away, frowned and threatened at the sudden approach of the men.

“What are you daring to do to me now… Do you think I’ll forgive you even after this?”

Then the man grabbed and lifted her skirt.

“Kyaaak!”

“Look closely. No matter how mentally ill you are, the tattoo left on your body won’t disappear.”

“…What?”

She looked down at her body.

“The Yin Seal drawn on your stomach. It’s clear evidence that you made a contract with a Demon.”

The Yin Seal that the scarred captain mentioned was clearly engraved on her lower abdomen.

A hideous tattoo symbolizing the Demon race was clearly engraved below her navel.

“W-Why is something like this…?”

She couldn’t believe it.

Why?

“Send this bitch to the Punishment Room immediately. And never let her out.”

“Yes, Captain.”

A soldier who had already handcuffed her took Aurora to another space.

It was a small room with no windows.

“Go in.”

And in the center of that room.

A strangely shaped tentacle was wriggling.

“Y-You’re going to regret this…”

“You’re the one who’s going to regret it. A bitch who doesn’t even know who the real Dean of the Life Magic faction is right now.”

“…What?”

“If you’re going to act like it, know it properly. The Dean of the Life Magic faction right now is Meiko.”

What does that mean?

But she couldn’t even ask properly.

Bang!

Because the soldier slammed the door shut.

“What do you mean? Meiko is the Dean…?”

She belatedly saw the tentacle that had grabbed her foot.

“Aaaah!”

Aurora was dragged away by the tentacle.

Author’s Note

Thank you to the anonymous sponsor for the 150 coins!

I will continue to repay you with interesting novels!