THE THEORY OF ILLUSION

The people of Aetolia Kingdom had always succeeded in magic. Being the most informed and learned people when it comes to the wielding of magic and its properties, namely; fire, earth, water, and lightning. Over the centuries, they have improved their magic in a way that no other nation across different realms could; they are referred to as 'children of the gods' because they could effectively wield magic better than high-ranking demons, witches, or sorcerers.

Then an age came, the age when their professors and elders in magic discovered a new way of manipulating magic more effectively and efficiently; they came up with art- 'The Theory of Illusion'. The Theory of Illusion is not necessarily written, it is just a name to confuse people; 'the theory of illusion' is rather a rank or stage when a magician can effortlessly manipulate magic to create illusions.

These magicians are called mages.

These mages are known to be heavily endowed with the gift of pure and untainted magic; they could create, destroy, and recreate matter with a flick of their finger.

The King of Aetolia Kingdom happens to belong to the class of 'mages'. The theory of illusion ever since it was discovered has been used by the Kingdom of Aetolia to defeat their enemies and to gain powerful allies from across several realms and dimensions. High-ranking demons, witches, warlocks, and sorcerers who do not belong to the Kingdom of Aetolia had tried to imitate the art of 'the theory of illusion' in the past, but it had all been futile; this is why every kingdom in all realms of magic abstain from waging war against Aetolia and her King- King Michael George.

King Michael George and his non-biological son, Roman George are one of the three most feared mages across the vast kingdom. The most feared person is the King's mate who has both mages wrapped around his fingers; King Apollo.

Illusion is used by the king to protect his people from unwanted guests, it was implanted in the Kingdom's core to serve as a defense mechanism that helped to protect his subjects till date from centuries back. Dark portals, unwelcomed teleportation, and illegal transportation to the Kingdom were shunned by the king, so he set up a very powerful illusion that could only be cracked by people of close relations, and they were but a few.

Zhang Wei and Li Wang are posing as intruders since they made use of a dark portal to transport themselves to the Kingdom; therefore, finding themselves in a well-developed illusion.

If an intruder tries to get to the kingdom by the aforementioned means, they would find themselves trapped in a well-developed illusion like that of Zhang Wei and Li Feng. Some intruders never make it out because most of them never realize that they are living in an illusion. The type of illusion the King uses here is a very durable and unsuspicious kind of illusion. Even if the intruder tries to travel back home, the individual would find themselves in what they presume to be their home or where they want to be, but unknowing to them they are still present in the illusion. The illusion is the kind that binds itself with the intruder's soul and memories immediately after they step into the illusion, leaving them with the judgment that they are where they want to be, but they are still in the illusion. The king rather sees this as a lenient punishment, according to him- 'they live their lives in peace before they later die of either old age or an ailment' because unfortunately, immortality is inactive in a realm of illusion.

On the other hand, some realize that they are in an illusion but have no way or means of getting out of it. This set of individuals either succumb to the powerful magic and live the rest of their lives as comfortable prisoners which is a reasonable act from the King's point of view, or the foolish ones who keep fighting against the magic and end up draining their cores which leads to their inevitable death.

Since the illusion binds itself with the intruder's soul, it would be aware if they are truly for peace or war. The illusion would not budge if the person turns out to be for war; all of the people trapped in this illusion usually have dark intentions toward the King of the Kingdom or both.

The last sets of individuals that get trapped in this illusion are those who share a close relationship with the king, close enough to know a way out, and Zhang Wei happens to be one of these people.

Calling out to the king with an honest heart of peace is the only way to be freed from this prison of illusion. The process involves a simple assertive recitation which contains the individual's name, an honest reason for the visit, and a release of a minimal amount of energy. The King would usually hear the call of his name and show up himself to attend to such a person. 

The set of individuals who are aware of this usually are people who share tight relations with the King, these people are not necessarily family members, but the King's most trusted allies.

"I, Prince Andreas of Edom demand an audience with your king, King Michael George of Aetolia." Zhang Wei calmly states with his eyes flashing a flaming red, still glaring towards the sky.

Gradually but surely, the illusion started crumbling like high brick walls collapsing to the ground. The place that was once filled with faux humans was now a simple hallway that had expensive artworks hung on its walls left and right, even some were made to lean against the wall.

"We are here." Zhang Wei announces, turning to the left to stare at his gobsmacked brother with uninterested eyes.

Standing upright to observe the hallway, Zhang Wei takes calm steps down the hall with Li Wang hot on his tail. After walking past the exquisite artworks for a while, the duo caught sight of a large unguarded double door that starts from the ceiling and ends on the floor and looks like it could take two hefty men to push it open.

Without hesitance, Zhang Wei strode towards the ceiling-to-floor metallic double door and then pushed it open after firmly placing his palm on the surface of the metal door.

The door gingerly opens to reveal a large hall, large enough to fit thousands of people without inconvenience. With the structures and designs Zhang Wei had seen so far, he concluded that this was the palace's throneroom; he could not be more sure when he made eye contact with a figure from far inside the hall sitting in what appeared to be a majestic throne.

The person on the throne seems to be overly excited as they practically bounce in their seat.

With an excited squeal, the small figure sitting on the throne screamed in delight;

"Half brothers!"

"Apollo."