Prologue: The Depths

"Midas!" I had yelled. "We need to get out of here, now!"

I could see the rampaging beast of Reed storming towards my friend. I wanted him to do something, to wake out of his trance and move out of the way. But Midas just sat there, in shock, watching as death approached.

I wasn't going to let him die.

"Tsk!" I forced a blast from my palm towards Regardius. An explosion broke from the impact. But when the dust settled, Reed continued to run. My attack hadn't been anything more than a nuisance.

"What?!" I realized that now was my last straw. "Imbecile! Prepare to be deceived once more by my Deception!" I raised my hand, but curating a technique different than my own, I enabled the usage of my newfound ability. I'd already delusioned Reed once, so once more shouldn't have been any more difficult.

I unleashed Deception in his direction.

"Reflection." Reed raised his palm back towards me, and like a light reflecting off the surface of a mirror, Deception was sent back my way.

"Huh—?" My mind was suddenly overloaded with nausea. My body swayed uncontrollably, and before I could regather my senses, my body had already hit the floor, knocking me unconscious. Everything had turned into a deep, dark black—an abyss that only I could see. I had fallen to the depths of a delusion, and I was entering a zone of alone. A part of me had just disconnected itself, permanently.