BWDC:SDDK Chapter 113: Tearing Through the Illusion, Facing Reality
Before tonight's operation began, Kaito Kuroba, Koizumi Akako, and Ren Ichimonji had gathered to review the plan one last time to ensure they were all on the same page.
It was during that meeting that Ren had discreetly attached tasers to both Akako and Kaito.
This wasn't intended for use against his teammates. Rather, it was a safety measure for them; if they were ever compromised, the shock could snap them out of a state of fear or trance.
However, the current situation far exceeded Ren's expectations.
As the Red Witch, Akako was a genuine magic-user. How could she be controlled, or even hypnotized into turning against them, in a matter of seconds?
Was the person across from them really "Scarecrow" and not "Mad Hatter"?
Mad Hatter was another of Gotham City's infamous supervillains. His most formidable tool was a hat equipped with chips that could instantaneously hijack a person's mind. With it, he could swiftly hypnotize multiple targets and bend them to his will.
The unfolding scene made Ren doubt if the system had made a miscalculation.
Buzz— Buzz—
A piercing sound rose to the rooftop from beneath the ceiling Akako had just destroyed.
This was a mechanism Ren had installed earlier. Kaito had mentioned that illusionists often used a combination of sound, sight, and smell to perform mass hypnosis. Consequently, Ren had prepared devices to block out auditory influence in advance.
Before coming up, Ren had also donned the second mask he'd prepared. This mask was reinforced over the face of his Batsuit cowl. The eyes featured thermal imaging scanning devices, and it doubled as a gas mask for air filtration. Combined with the newly activated anti-auditory hypnosis mechanism, it should have been enough.
As long as the target relied on the three methods Kaito had described, this "Scarecrow of Beika Town" shouldn't have posed any threat to him or Kaito.
] [
But the reality was different.
Everything within Ren's field of vision began to visibly warp and distort. He realized he had fallen into the illusionist Spider's trap.
Yet, he had taken every possible precaution. If the results were still failing to meet his expectations, there was only one possibility left.
This illusionist was a freak of nature just like John Constantine!
Someone who possessed supernatural magical abilities but insisted on using physical-side tricks and deceptions.
Kaito's assessment of the illusionist Spider had been wrong. When the man performed at the Tokyo Budokan, he might have used those three channels to influence the masses, but they were not his primary method of hypnosis.
The illusionist's main weapon was still his own supernatural power! Whether it was magic similar to Akako's or something else entirely, it was far beyond conventional tricks.
"Hahahaha... Hahahahahahaha!!!"
A near-manic laughter echoed in Ren's ears.
He was still standing on the rooftop of the exhibition hall, but his body was completely immobilized, as if nailed to the floor. He lifted his head to look at the person laughing before him.
It was a face he knew all too well.
It was Batman. And yet, it wasn't.
Ren's gaze swept across the figures appearing on the rooftop. Excellent—the Dark Knights were all here.
The Red Death, fused with the Flash; the Devastator, who utilized Doomsday's genes; the Drowned, who seized the trident; the Merciless, wearing Ares' helmet; the Murder Machine, fused with AI; and the Dawnbreaker, wielding a power ring.
And then there was the Batman Who Laughs, who had just been laughing hysterically while holding a leash to a Robin crawling on the ground like a dog.
Ren couldn't move his body. He couldn't even activate the Batsuit's electrical network to temporarily boost his physical capabilities.
However, he still had a chance.
"Ten seconds left," Ren whispered.
This scene was a vision he frequently dreamt about. From the first day he had crossed over into this world, he had wondered if he was in some Dark Multiverse version of Gotham. He wondered if the Dark Knights would one day descend from the sky and destroy everything.
But he knew it was impossible. At least for now, it was impossible. These were just hallucinations.
An illusion couldn't break him.
Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.
The taser he had set to trigger every minute finally went off. Just as the special mission notes had suggested: pain could tear through an illusion.
The Dark Knights vanished instantly.
The next moment, Ren opened his eyes.
He was facing reality.
The opponent wasn't using a conventional illusion.
Kaito Kuroba realized this, but it was too late. He watched as his surroundings turned a visceral blood-red.
An eight-eyed spider descended from the heavens, using the sky itself as its web. Its constantly rotating single eye stared down at its prey.
Kaito knew this was a hallucination, but he couldn't move, as if his body were truly bound to the silk.
One of the spider's sharp legs suddenly flicked outward. The taser on Kaito's body was instantly swiped away, landing some distance off.
"I truly didn't expect you to know I was coming in advance," the illusionist Spider whispered. "To even prepare these little toys to deal with me."
He had just witnessed Akako's hypnosis being broken by an electric shock. Thus, he chose to remove the taser from Kaito first to prevent history from repeating itself.
] [
As for the other one?
Heh. The man dressed like Batman from the comics looked like a total lunatic. Without any external interference, it was impossible to escape the illusion. He didn't bother worrying about what that madman was doing.
The illusionist Spider cared more about the prey in front of him.
"Kaito Kid," the illusionist said softly. "Do you know? I already killed you once. Why have you been resurrected after all these years?"
"Could it be that the Kuroba Toichi who died back then wasn't the real Kaito Kid?"
Kaito's eyes widened. Previously, Ren had told him that Kuroba Toichi wasn't dead, but had faked his death to escape. He had been skeptical. Hearing the illusionist Spider say these words now sparked a surge of fury within him.
But Kaito didn't speak. He focused his will, trying to move even a single finger. As a world-class magician, if he could move even two fingers, he could cut through these non-existent threads.
However, Spider wasn't going to give him that chance.
"Then I'll just kill you one more time," the Spider said.
The lethal leg lunged upward, glinting with a cold, sharp light. In the next instant, it plunged down toward Kaito's head.
Almost simultaneously, two Batarangs sliced through the air.
Swoosh—
End of Chapter
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