"Those fucking saplings from the weird dream! That is what you are talking about, right?!" Levin shouted excitedly.
"Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner here!" The illusionist cheered mockingly at him. "I am here, live from the deepest hell coming to inform you that you have the chance to obtain my illusion power! Come on, Mister Soldier! Work hard!"
Even though the tone was full of mockery, Levin didn't care about that at all. Right now, besides the panic that was dominating him a few moments ago, excitement started rushing through his brain at the new information here. He didn't even check whether the illusionist's voice on his brain was real or just his hallucination, too excited to think about that. After all, if the illusionist was right, this would at least prove that his and Chen Ze's hypothesis was right, that the awakening of the new power that they had read from the cave art before was related to the player they killed in the first round.
"So, now I can use your illusion?" Levin asked, trying to contain his excitement.
"Oh, not that simple, Mister Soldier…" The illusionist chuckled at his naïve thought. "The crow man seems to be kind enough to bring us who had been killed so early in this fun game back for a second chance. So, here I am, with my soul attached to you. We will live together happily from now on, and when I am strong enough, I will not forget your kindness and just take over your body. Ku… Ku… Ku…"
Hearing that, Levin's brows met on the bridge of his nose as he frowned deeply. This was something that he and Chen Ze had not calculated before, and if the information was right, this was probably the worst scenario possible. After all, now, he had to live with the psychopath illusionist's voice pestering his head constantly and with the fear of being taken over in the future.
However, Levin also didn't fall into a panic state. He was still calm enough to not believe the illusionist's full-of-loophole explanation. So, to not give satisfaction to the illusionist, he took a deep breath a little, calming down his nerves before asking casually, "So, does that mean I will have two more death players haunting me?"
"Oh? Does that mean that besides this old little me, you have killed two more players? As expected from someone who could escape from my strongest illusion." The mocking applause he heard was enough to make Levin roll his eyes in exasperation. "As for being haunted by your other victims… Well, you are unlucky, because I don't like those weaklings, I just killed their soul and let them rot in the deepest hell possible. So, no, you won't be able to use their power as well."
Of course, there was no way Levin would trust this psychopath with his words. Unfortunately, the illusionist was the only source of information he had right now. Moreover, even though he tried his best to hide it, the soldier was also worried about the effect of having this voice inside his head for too long. Was this also the first sign of someone suffering from schizophrenia?
"Okay, now I know that this crazy wave of illusion in front of me is because of you. So, tell me, is it because you are pulling this to greet me or is it me who unconsciously uses your illusion?" Levin asked another critical question.
"Oh, if only I could greet you, that would be awesome… There are so many things I have in mind to do to you… Ah…." The illusionist's voice moaned creepily, making Levin understand that the death illusionist was not just a psychopath, but also a pervert as well. "But no, all of the illusions in front of you are because of your first contact with this power, so it is natural for the illusion to grow uncontrollably. I have to say, though, that this is impressive. You managed to pull a reality-altering illusion on such a wide scale for your first-ever try. Maybe, you really are a genius in this art."
For all the things that the illusionist spoke, Levin could only understand one thing, and that was the fact that the illusion in front of him was because he just untapped a new power inside him. However, that begged him a question, how could he stop and control this?
"Kyah! Uncle, there is the scary alien that you fought here!" Mira's panic shout suddenly came from the other side of the building, making him realize – and remember – that he wasn't alone in this shit here. "Uncle Levin, have you figured out something?!"
Mira's panicked voice really sent a shiver down Levin's spine. The soldier could still remember vividly the pitiful state of the girl after the fight against the illusionist, and he didn't want her to suffer from the same torture again.
"Shit! Oi, Illusionist Bastard, I don't care whether you are a ghost, a hallucination, a real soul attached to mine, or whatever bullshit you spouted before. Right now, what I care more about is how to stop this shit before Mira could get hurt! Quick, Bastard! Just think of this as a payment for the living rent inside my head!"
"A payment for the living rent? What a funny concept." The illusionist chuckled amusedly. "But I cannot do anything about it, though. The only way I can think of about how to stop the illusion is either for the caster to stop it directly or for the victim who got caught to receive an excessive amount of pain to bring him or her back to reality. Other than that… Well, your guess is as good as mine."
Levin cursed immediately when he heard that, remembering full well how he had to kill himself just to escape from the illusion. There was no way he would condemn Mira to the same fate. Hell, even he himself would never dare to do the same thing again, having the trauma of his own gun. However, he still had to stop the illusion, especially when he knew that Mira was affected by it too.
"Come on… Think… There is no way that those two are the only ways to break out of the illusion… There must be something else hidden here…"
Then, Levin tried his best to remember all the illusions he had seen before, from the first illusion where he had to fight the intelligent alien that was his biggest nightmare, the wall of the building that was crumbling slowly like a sand castle getting hit by the wave from the sea, the moving floor, Mira's panic on the other said of the building, what the illusionist said….
Eh?
Levin widened his eyes in realization as his brain suddenly connected all the clues here. Then, he closed his eyes quickly, sitting with his legs crossed before trying to keep his breath steady. This was the most basic pose of meditation, and slowly but surely, as he could feel his heart becoming calmer, the illusion around him also disappeared slowly, leaving everything normal and intact as if nothing just happened here.
"Well, congratulations, Mister Soldier. You manage to crack one of the basic exercises for an illusionist, how to breathe. Maybe, you really are as talented as I initially thought."