83: Shattering the illusion

"No way… it's impossible. What are those repulsive creatures?"

"Like I said, those are dimensional monsters. B class and A class judging by how they look."

The townspeople saw how shocked their Yurishia was looking at the outskirts of the town. One of them asked him with a worried face.

"Your Highness! Is our town going to be okay?"

Then, the gold Yurishia declared with a stern expression:

"I’ll go and get rid of them. I will protect the people of this town."

The crowd shouted "Ohh!".

However…

"I don’t want you to get involved in this. So, don’t move."

I stood in her way. 

"…What did you say?"

"Aneue, you can't be serious… do you really want us to do nothing?"

"Try thinking for a second. It’s strange that these enemies decided to attack this town so suddenly. Things are happening too convenient if you aks me."

Despite trying to explain that this was a trap, the gold me, tried to get past us and aim for the battlefield.

"Hey. What are you trying to do?"

"I’m leaving this town in order to defeat the enemies."

"Are you stupid? Didn’t I say to you not to get involved in this?"

Nelia took a step forward.

"This town is being attacked! Lady Yurishia, how can you watch it from the sidelines!?"

I released a large amount of murder intent towards my slave. I was angry. Absolutely angry. I expected at least Lumi-chan to not fall for this. But it seems I'm the only one that got accustomed with this. It's time for all of them to wake up.

*Slap*

I gave Nelia a big slap om the cheek. The sound echoed for a bit. And Nelia made a large surprised face.

"Stop saying bullshit! What the fuck is wrong with all of you? Your sense of justice is a bad joke. Have you forgotten our goal? Our goal is to win the graduation tournament. It's to shake the foundation of the Mazoku. Are you just gonna leave that aside? Don't you remember about Liz?"

"Eh… I… what… was I saying?"

"Besides, those monsters aren't real. Look closely."

I pointed once again towards the town entrance. The golems we rode were still there. They picked up boulders and threw them at the dimensionals. However, all the boulders passed through them. As if they were ghosts.

"What the…??"

And when they got close to the entrance… they vanished into thin air. Gold Yurishia was still shocked, but the townspeople started to be relieved. 

"Don't be happy yet. The true battle starts now."

A dark cloud stood above the town. It suddenly snapped itself into a tornado and slammed into the ground. It didn't do any damage, but when it cleared, a figure stood there. A figure I became familiar with.

"Hehe. Guess it wasn't meant to be. First allow me to introduce myself. I am the S class dimensional Arnax. I killed the original illusion master of this desert and took his place."

A creepy muddy guy. Just like that Murglais fellow that I met in the dungeon. However unlike Murglais's bulky and muscle figure, this guy was tall and skinny, had sharp long claws and a lizard like tail. To be honest he resembled a xenomorph quite a lot.

"Warlord Yurishia Bahamut, thank you for confirming our suspicions. Now we know for sure who you are. I must say that you were quite superb, though. If you had acknowledged this fictional world created by the secret power that my commander bestowed upon me, your existence would’ve been swallowed and disappeared entirely."

"What? If we acknowledged this… we would have disappeared? Lady Yurishia, is that why you gave us all that electric shock? You knew about this?"

"I wasn't sure. But I did feel an evil aura here. And felt that you 5 had thoughts about how great this place is. This world isn't a parallel world. It's more like a pocket dimension."

"Yes. You really are smart, hihi! Who would have guessed that you would have the ability to resist the perfect world I created for you? I even went through the trouble of recreating a soul with almost identical traits like yours. But now, this world doesn't need to exist anymore."

He snapped his creepy fingers. I felt like in Avengers Infinity War. One finger snap and the people of the town started to disappear like sand in the wind.

"That's right!! Despair. All of you from the real world, despair from the pain of losing these fictional people I created and you got friendly with."

Soon… only the golden Yurishia was left and was slowly transforming into a clay doll. Small bits of sand started separating from her body. Tears flowed in her eyes, but they also turned into sand.

"Ah… I, see. The memories… your memories are flowing into me. Everything was fictional. I didn't have a happy life… I didn't become the Maou… I couldn't achieve any one of my ideals… I don't even exist in the first place..."

I got close to the fallen me who was fading away. I don't know how this guy pulled off such an illusion. She was also me. I felt it. Was it soul and time manipulation? No mortal is capable of that. Yet this girl… is me.

"Hey… other me… how did you do it? How did you… avoid this trap?"

"The burning anger I feel for those 3… Byron, Liliana and Volmund. The pain they inflicted on me… no illusion will make me forget it. Madness is what keeps me sane."

"I see… I'm a failure. I apologize. I only have one request. Do… what I wasn't able to…. go and become… the Maou……… I leave everything in your hands…."

"Rest at ease now, other me."

The scene was a cruel sight. I clenched my fist strongly. Even I witnessed many cruel things but this was too cruel. Toying with people…. even if they weren't real, I could feel they had a heart. What's more, a twisted power like that shouldn't exist. To be able to make an illusion like that feel so real... soul manipulation... and in the end... Everything turned to sand. Even the town became ruins. All that was left… was us 6 and the dimensional.

"Hahaha!! That's it! Feel despair. Feel… eeh!?"

"Boss… your power… your pressure is too much…"

"Listen up, scum. What I feel now isn't despair. You should have let me be. Cause now… all my anger is directed towards you. When I am done with you… you'll beg me to kill you!! I'll brutally end your miserable existence! Not even your ashes will remain, so get ready!!"