Chapter 79: The Dreadful Tomb and the Magnificent Illusion
After passing through the first hellish, dangerous land, the scenery suddenly changed.
The dark, oppressive atmosphere vanished, replaced by a sunny, fragrant meadow.
Bai looked back, seeing only a lush, green landscape.
“…”
She took a step back.
Nothing changed.
“It seems this dangerous land is… some kind of illusion…”
She scratched her head. Dream Demons were masters of dreams, not illusions.
If there was a connection, it was only that both were… unreal.
But dreams were a “real unreality,” while illusions were an “unreal reality.”
“And since it’s an illusion, I can’t use the void currents to navigate…”
She had also lost her connection to Isabelle.
“If only I could ask her. I remember Shadow Demons and Illusion Demons are both skilled in illusion-based domains. Although this seems more like the work of an Illusion Demon, it’s still better than me, a half-baked Dream Demon…”
An illusion was a falsehood, attached to reality. The key to breaking it was to find the point of reality.
Once you realized what was real, the illusion would shatter.
Like in the old human fairy tale—the little match girl.
The light from her matches had created illusions, a grand feast, toys, her grandmother…
But the moment she touched them, the moment she realized the “reality” of the illusion was just the light from the match, the illusion vanished.
Of course, everyone knew the story.
But the little girl had never touched the light. She had remained in her illusion, and had frozen to death, alone.
This was a common fate for those trapped in illusions.
Although Bai knew how to break them, a high-level illusion wasn’t so easily broken.
The fewer points of reality, the harder it was to escape.
Sight, sound, smell, touch… every aspect of this illusion felt real, a… false reality.
Isabelle, with her deep understanding of Shadow Demon abilities, would have had a much easier time.
Bai considered her options, then decided to explore, to observe.
…
“The two dangerous lands are intertwined. No matter which path you take, you have to cross both,” Rex said, his voice a low rumble, his expression serious. “In other words, danger is everywhere. One wrong step, and you’re dead.”
Diana’s brow furrowed, a thoughtful expression on her face.
When she had deployed her troops, she had discovered that besides the one safe path, there were several other dangerous areas.
Dozens of beastkin soldiers had already been lost, a non-combat casualty that would reflect poorly on her command.
She knew she couldn’t let her mother find out.
And if she showed any weakness now, her position as Diana the Great would be challenged by her many “good sisters.”
So, she had summoned Rex again, to get a better understanding of the dangerous lands, to ensure she could complete her mother’s mission.
“Please continue,” she said, looking up at him.
Even Rex, a Calamity Class being, seemed wary of this place.
“This place is called the Dreadful Tomb. It was once a beastkin town, but it was destroyed by the Abyssal Demon Realm, and has since become a dangerous land,” he said, pointing at the map. “The weakest unknown being here is at the Calamity Class level. Without that level of strength, it’s impossible to cross.”
“And the strongest?”
Rex was silent for a moment. “It’s said there’s a blood body of Queen Shaya here, with about thirty percent of her combat strength.”
Queen Shaya, who had decimated the elves, even the High Priestess Nimora…
Nimora, whose strength was comparable to Queen Arachne’s.
A tenth of Queen Arachne’s power had been enough to dominate the Tide of Madness. Thirty percent of Queen Shaya’s…
“Even my mother, in person, would only be a match for her,” Diana thought, a cold sweat breaking out on her back.
She hadn’t known such a dangerous place existed within the Savage Lands.
“But if, as you say, that little fox is as strong as you claim, then this dangerous land shouldn’t be a problem for her,” Rex continued.
“The powerful beings in the Dreadful Tomb are all in a deep slumber, including Shaya’s blood body. As long as you avoid them, you’ll be fine. It might take a bit longer, but you’ll get through.”
“And that’s the safe path?” Diana asked.
“No, the safe path is to go through the Dreadful Tomb first, then the second dangerous land, the Magnificent Illusion,” Rex said, a look of fear in his eyes. “Legend has it that the Magnificent Illusion was created by the most powerful Illusion Demon in the Abyssal Demon Realm, with the last of his life force. There’s only one true path through it.”
“And if you take a wrong turn…?”
“My grandfather was one of the first to explore the Tide of Madness,” Rex said, his voice low. “His expedition was composed of seventy-eight Calamity Class or higher tribe leaders. But when they returned, less than half of them were still alive.”
“Less than half, even for Calamity Class beings…”
Diana was stunned. The Tide of Madness, a place any of Queen Arachne’s children could freely enter, was so terrifying.
“Less than a tenth,” Rex corrected her. “And most of those who returned died within a year.”
“Suicide, illness, madness…”
“No one knows what they experienced. My grandfather didn’t know either. His eyes were blinded in the Dreadful Tomb, and he only managed to escape the Magnificent Illusion by following the others.”
“Blinded?” Diana’s pupils constricted.
“Yes. Not just closing your eyes. To survive, you have to blind yourself.”
Rex touched the scar on his eye and smiled.
“But it’s not like it can’t be healed. Otherwise, how could I have gotten this map, written by my grandfather’s own hand?”
