Chapter 321: Illusion (1)

My eyes kept drifting back. I had told Rena to hold the rear and protect the others no matter what. Even if Marquis and I, or even Naneow were lost, at least those left behind would still have a future.

"Feeling guilty?" Naneow asked.

"A little."

On my shoulder hung the massive pack Rena had stuffed into my arms. She had insisted on coming with us, then reluctantly relented, piling every sort of supply inside.

I still didn't know how she had fit it all. She had rattled off a rapid-fire explanation while packing, so fast I couldn't even register what was inside. If it came from T&T headquarters, Naneow would be familiar with it anyway. That was why I hadn't bothered to store it in my inventory, so she could pull out whatever we needed on the spot.

The silver-haired founder glanced between the pack and the path behind us, smiling faintly. "Rena will manage. We're the ones to worry about."

I turned forward. "

Hm...

"

There were far more presences now than when I had last come here. Soldiers filled every alley, stationed even along the main avenues, as though determined to block anyone from approaching the imperial palace.

"They've deployed this many troops?"

"This is the imperial capital. People are everywhere."

Swish.

But to me, they were no different than scarecrows. Even more so to Naneow. The marquis had likely passed through them without a second thought. Numbers meant nothing. Their duty was simply to keep ordinary citizens from wandering too close.

Flash!

We vaulted across rooftops and narrow alleys, straight toward the palace. Yet once we reached the inner maze of streets, the grand avenue lay deserted. There weren't any servants at work, let alone a single guard. Only fog remained, thicker than any I had ever seen. The deeper we went, the heavier it grew.

Where it had once leaked in thin wisps, it poured like an overturned cauldron, so dense that I could not see three steps ahead. The darkness within made it feel deeper still. Even when stirred by the wind, it did not drift. It clung, slithering around us like a living thing.

"Most would lose all sense if they stepped into this," Naneow muttered.

I swept my hand through it. The mist did not clear.

"Unsettling?" she asked.

"A little."

"Just a little? For me, a lot."

From beneath her cloak, she produced a small silver candlestick.

Crack.

No wax, no wick, yet a spark flared at its tip. The gloom receded, and the mist that had clung to me drew back in a wide circle. With that light, I could see the fog's texture as fine, writhing filaments, more like living tendrils than vapor. Each time the candlestick flared, the mist recoiled as though in pain.

"What is that?" I asked.

"Part of my stockpile. I'll tell you when we're closer. If I spill all my secrets now, won't that be boring?"

"..."

She pointed to the right. "Oh, must be that way."

One stretch of fog was thin, as if a path had been cut through. Signs of someone passing.

"Is that where the marquis went?"

"There's fading tracks, so must be. Let's catch up."

I followed, but opened my inventory as I ran.

[Pattern recording...]

[Analyzing fluidity...]

Isaac remained silent. Still nothing but cryptic fragments.

What more did he plan here? When would he show himself?

If Isaac could see our approach to the imperial insides, he would be delighted. He was the foremost expert on barriers. He would have much to say.

The memory of him lingered. He had given his life, tearing apart the Twin Towers, and with his final words, he urged me toward the imperial archives. I remembered his fading phantom, the silver fluid seeping from the crow effigy pierced by my blade.

"

Mm

. What's on your mind?" Naneow asked.

We stood before a stone wall over five meters high. I felt her unease beside me.

"Just... The outer palace is too quiet. You've been here before?"

No guards and no watchers.

"Of course. You think I'm a child?"

Hop!

We vaulted over the wall into the outer palace grounds. Before us stretched a vast garden, lush as a forest. It was half artificial, half natural—an uneasy blend. The disquiet deepened.

I pushed my Detection skill to its limit. "There..."

From beneath a pond choked with broad-leafed aquatic plants came a suffocating presence.

"You feel it too?" Naneow asked. She glanced at the pond. "Our hound must have thought tonight would be busy. Odd that he passed this by."

I focused harder. It was immense, so deep in the water that its form could not be discerned. Yet the more I searched, the more it felt as though it were gazing straight back at me, collapsing the distance between us.

"So this wasn't here before?"

"No. Even when I slipped in recently, nothing like that. Must be tied to the broken barrier."

She looked once more, then turned away. We pressed deeper. The fog thinned, but there were no humans beyond that pond. There wasn’t a single soul, as if everything had been swept aside, preventing anyone from seeing or hearing what happened here.

"No guards even inside the palace...?" I muttered.

"That only proves how absolute the duke's control is."

We crossed the gardens, ascended the steps, and entered further. Every watchpost was locked tight, with no soldiers outside. Even when we walked brazenly, there was no challenge. Perhaps guards were only a hindrance within the inner palace.

Naneow crossed a bridge adorned with carved pegasi and sighed. "Another trap. Normally, you'd be caught here."

"A trap?"

"Yes. A barrier woven into perception itself. Cross and your senses are rewritten. They've layered these everywhere. Not a single step left unguarded."

I frowned. "The statue?"

She shook her head. "No. The water beneath."

"Water?"

"Water is what

must exist

. Its presence reinforces the perception itself."

"That's just common sense."

Water was something that had to unconditionally exist. I couldn't understand why she was bringing it up.

She smiled faintly. "Exactly. A truth so basic it's unchallenged. Cross the bridge, and you've already agreed to the terms."

Then, I recalled that Isaac had once said the same when teaching me about barriers.

"The lowest form of a barrier can be broken by brute force. The time it holds depends on the strength poured into it, but in the end, it's a wasteful struggle. The greatest barrier manipulates a single 'truth', feeds it, twists it, presses it, until perception itself bends. Until one feels the vile as beautiful, the wicked as righteous..."

"So?"

"The moment it overlays your mind, a trap of suggestion is carved into your consciousness. A seal of indoctrination, impossible to break."

"How do you know that?"

"Problems always look simple once solved.

Hm...

to the right. Yes, only that path is open."

Clack.

The marble doors swung wide, revealing a hall so vast and radiant I could scarcely believe it existed. Each candelabrum was carved into angels so lifelike, they seemed to breathe. Gold-gilded statues glimmered beneath chandeliers of cut crystal that scattered light in a thousand directions.

The walls to either side were mirrors, and between them stretched golden reliefs. Each panel worked into a unique, flawless scene.

[You have experienced Extreme Splendor!]

[Accounting Lv. 1 gained a sliver of experience!]

The ceiling bore a mural that ran the length of the corridor, which was majestic, religious, and dazzling enough to steal one's breath away.

Naneow, clearly familiar with this place, showed little awe. "Let's move."

I followed, scanning every corner as we walked. The painted ceiling tugged at my gaze again and again. She didn't rush. The marquis had left no effort to hide his trail, and my Detection skill made it clear enough.

We passed through the grand building entirely without meeting a single soul. Beyond lay wide gardens, meticulously tended. Then, the great fountain at the central plaza came into view.

"This must be what Rena meant..."

Its size was overwhelming. At least three hundred meters around, it would take ages to walk its perimeter. Figures of men, women, children, beasts, fish, crocodiles, turtles, angels, demons, all entwined in gilded splendor.

Yet one thing was missing. I remembered Naneow's words at the bridge.

Hop!

The fountain was empty of water. She jumped into its basin, so deep that even at a glance I could see it was five times her height.

"A linked barrier?" I muttered.

Her voice echoed up from within. "The statues! Best not to touch them. Every one of them is steeped in venomous consecration..."

"So when the fountain was full, all the water was holy water?"

"Exactly. It would have seared any demon caught in it. And a demon is whatever the order of the day declares it to be..."

"

Hm

."

She hummed, almost playfully, and I followed, vaulting down.

Thud.

The floor beneath my boots was hard. From above, it seemed like marble, but now I wasn't sure what material could be so dense.

Naneow twirled a strand of her silver hair, smiling. "Scary, isn't it? From the gates to here, all of it woven this way. I've come many times and still wandered lost, never even realizing I was caught. Better an explosion or a flying spear than this endless trickery."

"..."

Clang.

At the center, she seized a heavy iron handle already carelessly left ajar, and swung the door wide. "After you, little one."

That was when it came.

Neigh!

Through the silent palace, something thundered toward us.

Clop, clop, clop!

Each stride vaulted as high as a man, while each gallop spanned ten meters. The black gale closed the distance in a blur. Dust plumed white behind pounding hooves, though this was the palace square, swept immaculate each day.

"That's..."

"Isn't that Miyu?"