Kaito braced, but the force caught him off guard. The sheer pressure lifted him off his feet, slamming him backward into a cracked pillar. His teammates were hurled back as well. Even Mei Rin and the others who had been preparing their attacks were knocked off balance, stumbling and sliding across the blood-stained floor. The roar rattled the marble tiles, shook the chandeliers, and left deep cracks in the walls.
When the roar faded, the Queen's staff rose high into the air. Her lips pulled back in a twisted snarl as she drove the staff point-first into the ground. Dark power surged through her body, and to Kaito's horror, she let her own blood spill down the length of the staff. It dripped into the carved grooves, glowing with a black-red light as the runes flared alive.
Kaito's expression tightened.
He knew what this was, in his past life, written in one of the rare guides he had purchased. That guide had recorded every possible variation of this fight, every scenario that might occur in the King-level version of this dungeon. And one particular note came to mind.
When the Mist Queen Demon sacrifices her HP through her staff, the skills she could cast were only two.
His instincts screamed at him, and his memory confirmed it. This was the setup for an illusion technique. Not just an ordinary trick, but one powered by abyssal energy and her life essence itself strong enough that even inside the illusion, death could be real.
"Brace yourselves!" Kaito shouted to his team, his voice sharp and commanding. "She's going to use an illusion! Don't lose focus!"
The warning barely left his lips when the world around them changed.
The throne room, with its cracked marble and dark mist, dissolved like smoke. In its place spread a vast battlefield drenched in blood. The air was thick with the metallic stench of slaughter. The very soil was no longer soil at all but blood-red earth. When Kaito stepped on it, it squelched like flesh, and if one pinched it, blood would seep out like from a fresh wound.
Screams echoed across the field. To the far side, enormous gates loomed gates carved from black stone, their surfaces pulsing with abyssal energy. From them poured endless ranks of Abyssal Demons, their huge frames crowding together as they surged forward. Their howls shook the air as they brandished weapons forged of bone and shadow.
On the other side of the battlefield floated the human defense. Towering citadels drifted in the sky, glowing with radiant light. From these floating cities, human soldiers continued to march down in lines, their armor shining as they formed ranks. Mage towers floated at intervals, raining down beams of energy to counter the abyssal tide. The clash of powers lit up the sky, thunder rolling from one end of the horizon to the other.
Kaito's heart sank as recognition struck him. He knew exactly what this illusion was recreating.
The Abyssal Invasion.
One of the greatest wars between humans and the Abyss, retold in fragments across the storyline. The Queen had recreated it perfectly with abyssal energy, down to the blood-soaked soil and the floating towers. He could almost believe he had been thrown back in time to witness it.
A rumble shook the ground as a squad of five or six Abyssal Demons emerged from the chaos, their frames towering over Kaito and his team. Their bodies were massive, their eyes glowing with hunger, weapons clutched tightly in their fists. The ground cracked beneath their steps as they advanced, each movement heavier than stone.
The sight made Kaito's pulse spike. He knew from the guide, and from the danger radiating off their forms, that fighting them head-on was suicide. Even if this was an illusion, the Queen's sacrifice meant the damage was real. If they fell here, their HP would drop in reality as well.
"We can't fight them," Kaito thought instantly. His mind raced. If they got surrounded, they would be finished.
He snapped into motion. His eyes scanned the battlefield, and there it was one of the floating mage towers hovering above the human flanks. Its runes glowed, channeling immense streams of energy that blasted through the ranks of demons below. The tower was a stronghold, a bastion of magic. If there was any place that could help them resist this illusion, it was there.
Without hesitation, Kaito turned and sprinted toward it. "Stay with me!" he called over his shoulder. "Don't split up!"
Mei Rin, Kaede, Nina, Lucien, and Aika heard the urgency in his voice. They didn't question it. Each one pushed forward, matching his pace, their eyes fixed on his back.
The Abyssal squad roared and gave chase, their heavy frames shaking the ground with every step. Dust and blood rose as their weapons crashed into the soil, but the group did not stop. Kaito cut across the human flanks, weaving through lines of armored soldiers who paid them no mind just illusionary echoes of the past. He leapt over broken weapons and shattered bodies, never slowing.
The mage tower loomed closer. Its base glowed with pale blue light, beams of energy lashing out to scorch the demons below. The runes carved into its walls pulsed like veins, alive with arcane power. Kaito knew that if they could just reach it, they will find the way to shatter the Queen's illusion.
Behind them, the Abyssal Demons that had been chasing were suddenly halted. Human soldiers, their armor gleaming faintly under the blood-red skies of the illusion, moved forward in disciplined lines. Though at first glance they looked like ordinary men, Kaito knew the truth. These were Tier 7 powerhouses, the kind of warriors who could lead armies of a thousand in the ancient war. The Abyssal Invasion had been a battle where strength itself was redefined. A Tier 5 warrior, who would normally be revered as an untouchable figure, was reduced to the rank of a common soldier. Tier 6 became captains leading squads of a hundred, and Tier 7 were commanders of a thousand.
That was the scale of the war.
The Abyssal Demons, despite their monstrous power, were stopped in their tracks by these human troops. Spears glowing with divine light pierced into their frames, forcing them back. Explosions of battle echoed across the illusionary field, buying Kaito and his group the chance to push forward. He had already planned this route ahead of time. The guide from his previous life had described the paths through this particular illusion. And since the soldiers were humans, they did not stop him or his companions. Their focus was on the Demons, leaving Kaito free to move along the battlefield toward the towering mage tower in the distance.
As they drew near the enormous structure, the scene grew more vivid. The mage tower rose high, a spire of pale stone laced with glowing blue runes. Defensive circles spun around it like rings, each one firing bursts of arcane energy at the Abyssal hordes. The sight of it was enough to stir awe. Even though Kaito knew this was an illusion, it felt lifelike, as though they had stepped directly into the era of the great war.
At the base of the mage tower stood guards in heavy robes, armored over with enchanted mail, their staves glowing faintly. These were not ordinary soldiers but battle-mages, their very presence radiating an aura of suppressed danger. As Kaito and his team approached the entry point, one of them stepped forward and raised a hand.
"Who are you?" the guard demanded, his voice firm and suspicious. "With whose permission are you trying to enter the mage tower?"
Kaito's eyes narrowed for only a moment. He had been expecting this. Slowly, he lifted his hand, and with a thought, activated his noble title. A crest shimmered faintly above his head, displaying the golden insignia of a Viscount.
The guard's eyes widened. His posture instantly changed. He dropped to one knee and saluted sharply. "My lord Viscount!"