Chapter 172: Thrash the Next Destination

Destruction...

One of the things many people try to prevent and yet, all I did in my wake is destruction. Maple did not even get to contribute to this destruction and all of it was my own doing. However, I did not regret it one bit at all. Because after all...

We managed to get out!

After spending a considerable amount of mana on the whole place, it allowed me to open up the path, and by destroying the whole Horror House, it allowed us to get out of the hell hole.

"Finally, we managed to get out of that place. It was too troublesome that I didn't expect it will take us some time to get out of the place. We even missed our lunch..." I mumbled.

"The one who made us do this is the one we need to blame this into. If we did not get caught up to this ridiculousness, then we wouldn't be here at all."

We made our way back to the crowded area of the fake Hirakata Park. It was like nothing happened to us back in the Horror House and we blended in without being suspicious.

"Now that I properly sensed it, the Hirakata Park is nowhere similar to this one. No wonder I keep on thinking why there is something wrong with the park. I remembered there was no Horror House in Hirakata Park. Turns out, my instincts were right," Maple said as she looked around the attractions and the stalls on the side.

"Did you visit Hirakata Park before? You seemed to be familiar with it," I asked. This is my first time visiting Hirakata Park

"During my childhood days, my mother would let me play around here whenever we visit. Most of my happy memories were made here. However, after I trained to become a magician, I no longer visit Hirakata Park anymore. I was a little bit excited about the thought of visiting it again today but now it is ruined due to this stupid illusion."

"Now, now. Don't worry about it too much. Let's find the source first escape here before we are trapped here forever."

"Right. Where should we start? This half-assed copy of Hirakata Park is quite big, exploring this place all day will not be enough for us."

"Our best course of action right now would be to visit the attraction that has garnered lots of attention, for example, the roller coaster and the Ferris Wheel. For something that needs a lot of energy, then something like those two would be enough to gather energy due to the traffic of people that might help charge up the energy to maintain this place stable."

"Then, let's go to the roller coaster first. It is much nearer than the Ferris wheel in our current location."

The roller coaster is the attraction ride that I denied earlier as the attendant keeps on forcing me to take a ride of it even though I don't want to do so. Now, we are going to check it out for the source of the illusion that trapped us here.

Just like earlier, the line for the roller coaster is a real crowd that the feeling of suffocation intensifies as you join in with the flow. Somehow, it is bad for anyone who is not used to crowds.

"Uwaa, these illusions are insane. They are trying to get into the roller coaster!" Maple was amazed by the sight of the crowd.

"This is no time to be admiring the crowd. We have to see this attraction if they have the source that we are looking for."

However, the moment I said "find the source", all of the people around us suddenly looked at us simultaneously. Not only that but their eyes looked empty, making them very creepy.

"Prepare for battle. The illusions have finally shown their true colors!" Maple pulled out her katana and flying daggers immediately.

"I don't like the looks of this," I mumbled as I ignited my hands in flames, getting into the stance to battle.

"Did something trigger while we are going near the Roller Coaster for them to turn like this?"

"Not too sure but I think it is due to our conversation earlier though I am also not too sure."

After a while of observing, the people started to move erratically and their faces started to twitch like something is moving under their skins. Then they started to open their mouths that seemed to have melted to the point that even their teeth have become liquid as it slowly flows out of their mouths.

"REMOVE... ALL... INTRUDERS..."

Their voices are monotone robot style and they are creepy as hell to listen to. Their bodies are also starting to melt.

"Sh*t, they are morphing! They are giving up their normal forms! Let's get out of here Kazuma! Blast our way out open!"

"What about the Roller Coaster!?"

"We will return to that later! Let's just get out of here first or we are a dead meat!"

Since there is no other choice to be made except to escape, I released a fireball to the lump of melting flesh piled together before us, trying to get close to us in any way they can.

BANG!

My flames managed to make a hole out of the blast, but that didn't last a few seconds before it regenerated rapidly, repairing the hole I made.

"Not good! The regenerative speed it has is too fast! At this rate, it will immediately overwhelm us! Let me help!" Maple throws one of her flying knives to the flesh of the illusions but it only sliced a little bit before falling to the ground.

Maple retrieved it immediately before it gets swallowed by the growing flesh of the illusions. Meanwhile, I continue releasing fireballs without stopping but it is not working as intended as the flesh repairs itself faster than it is damaged by the fireballs. I even tried a few magic spells to no avail since it only absorbs most of the attacks.

"REMOVE... THE... INTRUDERS... REMOVE..."

"Damn it, are we going to just die like this?" Maple now fell into despair as she looks into the growing mass of meat that is about to engulf the two of us.

"No, I refuse to give up. This is just too early to die, if we survived the Phantasmal Reality reclamation last time, then this thing is nothing! Come you sh*tty monster! Come out and fight me! I am not afraid of you! Come with everything you got you f*cktard and stop relying on illusions!"

My voice echoes everywhere, but not a single response can be heard that answered my challenge. The flesh continues to move and expand, which is only a few more minutes before our surroundings will be covered in these flesh mounds of meat. I already tried calling for my familiars earlier since the meat flesh started expanding however, it does not connect at all. My last escape plan failed... But suddenly...

"ROAR!"

It was a sudden appearance but there is one thing I always remember, this creature in front of us has been big trouble for my familiars.

"What?!" Maple was surprised by the sudden appearance of the creature that she steps back a few times seeing it.

Just as I was not sure what is happening, the little tiger, yawned and before I can react, a whole section of the flesh that is covering us has been removed, or to be exact, it has been incinerated to ashes. It was so sudden that I didn't properly witness everything.

"Wha..."

The white tiger looked at me a bit before it transformed into white light before entering my body.

"Kazuma! This is our chance! Let's go!" Maple said as she runs out of the expanding flesh using the newly formed path.

I followed suit to her and can't help but notice the lump of flesh's edges after it got incinerated. The whole flesh has been taken like a laser has passed by, destroying the flesh of it. To be honest, that attack that caused this is something I have not seen immediately due to the almost instant cast it did. But the last thing I remember before the lump of flesh has been incinerated is the time that the white tiger yawned lightly.

We managed to escape without being gobbled by the flesh. Looking from the outside, the growing lump of flesh looks like skin peeled off and has been dumped somewhere. It looks disgusting.

Aside from that, the changes of the place are now too obvious and it is no longer copying the Hirakata Park with some new attractions, it is now revealing what is the real state of the place. Not only that, the illusions earlier have now transformed into the lump of meat and the reason it is expanding is that, all of the people who are all illusions that have just been acting as customers and vendors have now been absorbed by the big lump of flesh.

The attractions also have been discarded and now have been looking like abandoned. Trash here and everywhere, it isn't the same park we knew. It is now a ruin that seemed to have witnessed some sort of apocalypse. The stench of death has been wavering in the air for quite some time, that it hurts on your nose.

"Is this the real deal? The illusion has been lifted?" Maple furrowed her brows as she looked around the new Hirakata Park. Her gaze stop when she noticed the big black shadow, on the horizon.

"Kazuma, are you seeing what I am seeing?"

Of course, I already am seeing it. However, I have no idea how to describe the feeling of seeing it. More like things will no longer seem to look good. Because I can confirm this. This is exactly how the Creature that "The Raven" has made for me to fight against. The only difference this time is the size of it. The replica is as tall as me, however, this one is as tall as the Tokyo Tower.