Illusion

[Chapter 58 Comment]

[Seby_Spina: a clash between illusionists I think it's the only one with a real fair clash, the clashes with Loki weren't so sporty in the sense that Loki was almost to the end your golden finger Theo, loki was your mentor and that's it. not a pear of the same profession]

…

"Please fight me with illusion, Theo. Let us broaden our horizons," Lemin said with a smile.

When Theo heard that request, he couldn't help but smile back. However, there was one problem.

"I don't mind fighting you. But how are you going to do it? I mean, the current you is only a soul, right?"

"Indeed," Lemin raised one finger. "My current body is sustained by an illusion technique, essence, and a crystal. So, it's obvious that I can't do anything. However, there is one thing I can do, and this is probably the only way."

"And that is?" Theo looked around, wondering what Lemin had up his sleeve.

Lemin snapped his fingers, and all of a sudden, the stone Theo sat on started to expand to the side before curving towards Theo's head.

Seeing the pointy tips from both sides, Theo sighed and smacked them in rapid succession. "Ridiculous."

The moment his hand touched the pointy stones, they turned into butterflies.

"So, this is what you want," Theo squinted his eyes.

"Yes. This is the only way to do it," Lemin nodded without hesitation. "Imagination. By taking advantage of the Inscription I've left behind, I'm going to use my imagination to defeat you. I might have been stronger than you in my living days, but I couldn't do anything other than relying on what I had left behind. I hope you'll forgive my rudeness."

"No, that is fine," Theo rose from his seat and stood in front of him. He formed a coin with his illusion and said, "Once it hits the ground, we shall begin."

"I have no objections," Lemin took a few steps back, and the atmosphere became serene once again.

As soon as they were both ready, Theo tossed the coin into the air. The clicking sound broke the silence, and the moment the coin hit the ground, the peace was destroyed.

Lemin raised his hand and formed a giant stone that gradually changed its shape into a humanoid. After that, it rushed towards Theo, tackling him.

Theo didn't change his expression. When he saw the humanoid stone coming, he stomped the ground.

All of a sudden, the humanoid rock fell to the ground as if something just hit it from above.

"Hoh?" Lemin was quite surprised to see that kind of control. He could see what happened earlier. Theo's illusion could actually affect the stone that Lemin made using his illusion. The way Theo turned his stones into butterflies also emphasized this technique. "If that doesn't work, then..."

Lemin clapped his hands, and suddenly, two giant stone palms appeared next to Theo, trying to crush him.

Theo stopped them with his hands.

"Hmm?" Lemin furrowed his eyebrows. He thought he had created an illusion that would crush Theo, but it seemed that Theo's physical strength was more than he had originally calculated. Theo could actually stop them.

However, this wasn't the only trick Lemin had. "You should be careful, Theo."

The moment he said those words, Theo felt intense heat coming from both sides. It turned out the giant palms were melting like molten rock before turning into magma.

The intense heat seemed to be melting his hands.

This was Lemin's illusion ability. By making Theo believe that his hands were melting, Theo's body would register it as such and eventually cause deformation in his own hands.

But there were two things that surprised Lemin.

First, despite facing such heat and melting hands, the only reaction came from Theo was a twitching eyebrow. Theo made it look like the heat was not something he couldn't handle.

"What is this? Do you not feel hot at all?" Lemin made a wry smile.

"I do feel hot. It's just... this is not as intense as what I've gone through," Theo shook his head helplessly before pushing the palms with his power.

Surprisingly, the two magma hands were pushed back.

"What? Your physical... no, this is not it. Illusion?" Lemin frowned. The magma hands looked like they were pushed back, but it felt like the entire ground was moving.

"I might be an illusionist, but I'm also a master of reality. Creating an illusion that would affect reality is easy," Theo explained. The purpose of this fight was to broaden their horizons, so there were no hesitations in explaining how their abilities worked. "Still, your technique is quite good as well."

"Is that so? I made the illusion by incorporating all basic elements. This way, it's going to make your body register it."

"Indeed. Unfortunately, this place is encompassed by illusion, so I can't manipulate reality completely. I guess your way is another way to manipulate reality to a certain degree. You could say a pseudo-reality," Theo observed the illusion seriously.

In the past, Theo had been manipulating reality so completely that it appeared entirely real. However, Lemin's ability actually manipulated people's minds, causing their perception of reality to be distorted. This was why Theo referred to it as pseudo-reality.

If he had his previous power, he might be able to replicate it instantly and create multiple layers of distortion. It would be fascinating to distort reality in one's mind and alter the perception of everyone, creating two layers of distortion.

"Still, how do you even maintain your calm when facing your melting hands?" Lemin asked.

Theo looked at his melting hands. The ten fingers had completely gone, leaving only his wrists. He rewrote Lemin's illusion, causing the hands to regain their original form. "Why, huh? It's pretty simple. I've just put myself into that situation a lot of times."

"What?" Lemin gasped, understanding what Theo meant. "You actually created an illusion where you died from magma many times?"

"Yeah. The heat was still within my expectation."

"..." Lemin checked his Inscription and realized that despite trying to use Theo's memory, it couldn't reproduce it completely. Half of the reason was that Theo blocked the manipulation. The other half was that Lemin couldn't imagine what kind of torture Theo had gone through. What limitless imagination? He had never done anything like Theo to create an even more realistic illusion.

"If I may know, how many times have you killed yourself?"

"How many times have you drunk tea?"

"That's..." Lemin was similar to the people of this world who enjoyed tea. He had been drinking so much that he couldn't even count it anymore. And that was how many times Theo had killed himself. And during those countless times, Theo kept changing the way he died to reach the limit.

With that experience, Theo managed to create an illusion that was exactly the same as what was going to happen in reality.

"Hahaha. How are you still not going insane after all that?" Lemin laughed hollowly, not knowing how to react. Still, the fact that Theo tortured himself made his respect for Theo reach another level.

"Are you going to continue asking pointless questions?" Theo looked at him solemnly.

"Haha. Apologies. I'm still not done yet!" Lemin smirked while spreading his arms. "I want you to return to the first floor."

All of a sudden, the ground split, causing Theo to fall inside.

"!!!" Theo was quite surprised to find himself falling. All the air brushing his skin felt real, and because of the darkness, he couldn't see how far he was going to fall.

The height of the tower wasn't that high, but because of the darkness, the few seconds felt so long.

If Theo were a normal person, this fall would cause him to panic. At the same time, the moment he reached the ground, his lower body was crushed. His legs were flattened.

Only his upper body remained intact from the fall. Theo felt the pain and lost control over his lower body.

"..." Yet, even after all this, Theo remained silent. "This is a bit wrong. That's not how you are going to feel after falling from that height. You need a higher height if you want to reach this level of destruction."

Yes, Theo had used his illusion to make himself fall from a certain height, so he knew what was going to happen before he even fell, causing him to be a bit disappointed.

"Though, I can't really complain since this world doesn't have a skyscraper. The only way for them to feel it would be using flying mounts... But who is insane enough to do it..." Theo sighed.

This illusion was supposed to deliver a killing blow. Even Lemin, who saw the entire thing, couldn't contain his shock.

"Seriously, this guy?" Lemin tried to calm down. "Normally, people would believe that they are going to die. However..."

Lemin looked down. Theo's body actually remained in front of him. The splitting ground from earlier was just an illusion. And he used Theo's mind to separate his soul so that he thought he fell into the darkness.

He had used this technique multiple times on other people. Those people would have their bodies convulsing because of panic. After they reached the ground, they would feel their bones cracking and their flesh flattening. Their real bodies would believe it and register the damage. As a result, the bones on their real body would be broken and the flesh would start rotting, eventually causing the real person to die. That was when the illusion disappeared.

In the past, he had used this illusion to kill someone. No one could actually understand why the body was being destroyed from the inside despite having no external wounds. Unfortunately for him, such a thing didn't work on Theo.

With a single wave of his hand, Theo's soul returned to his body and he started to get up again. There wasn't even any damage to his real body.

"Your abilities are quite unique and powerful. However, I believe that you are lacking two things. The first is experience. The second is the concept of one body and one mind."

"I can't help but admire your craziness. I don't think I can fix that first problem," Lemin sighed, admitting defeat on the boldness. "But what is this one body and one mind?"

"It's the concept where the body and the mind are connected. As you can see, once I drop from that height, my brain will register that damage and cause my real body to suffer the same injuries, right?"

"Yes."

"However, one thing is lacking. You have indeed affected the body, but you haven't affected the mind."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

"You haven't changed the psychology of someone. For example, how are they going to react? How will they feel? Despair, helplessness, or even excitement."

"Ah." Lemin understood everything from those clues alone. "I see. By manipulating the mind even further, I can achieve an even more perfect illusion. In addition, like those emotions, you can actually control others and make them react the way you want them to."

"Yes. For example, you can enhance one's fear and cause the whole group to panic. You can even instill doubt in their minds, making them wonder if this might be an illusion or not. And so on." Theo nodded in agreement.

"You are definitely a genius, Theo. This is the first time I have thought about this." Lemin smiled, knowing that this knowledge was extremely useful. He somehow felt regret with the fact that he couldn't meet Theo during his lifetime, or his power would have reached a whole different dimension.

"Since I have explained my knowledge to you, it's my turn." Theo smiled.

"I understand, Theo. I'm going to experience your illusion and see if I can give you something." Lemin nodded solemnly. From his gaze alone, people could easily see the admiration and respect he had for Theo.

And so, this time, he was going to experience the illusion that Theo created.