APPARITIONS

"So simply put, just touch 'em with mana and they'll die," Ivan explained his theory to the other two. Well, it was less of a theory and something he was one hundred percent confident with. Especially after testing it out with a few other apparitions. But rather than defeating these ghost things, their priority lay elsewhere.

"...Do you think the exit is on one of these ships?" Yue asked. The ships numbered well in the hundreds. But aside from them, there was nothing else in the scenery. The island they were formerly on disappeared completely, all that was left was the ocean. There was the possibility that the objective of clearing this test was to just commandeer a ship and steer it out to the possible exit.

The challenge for that being 'survive while being chased by hundreds of ghosts who seek to kill you' is a fun test indeed but not very time effective. Who knew how long this water spanned. It could just result in another infinite loop like at the entrance of the dungeon.

"Alright, considering we're in a time crunch just go ahead and blow everything up. I doubt if an exit were on a ship it wouldn't be easily destroyed. There are more people than ships, eliminate all ships until only ours stand. Then they'll have no choice but to come to ours for refuge. We'll just camp the ladders and make 'em swim until they tire out and drown."

Ivan turned his gaze toward Felis, Yue was all he needed to obliterate these ships but he had a feeling Felis would get upset if she were just left to her own devices. With that, he gave her a separate mission.

"Felis, take this. It's a spear that absorbs the user's mana to form a blade of mana. Inject enough mana and it'll elongate." The plan was simple, give Felis the spear Yue didn't use anymore and allow her to go wild out on the battlefield. Of course, there was a secondary objective.

"Go out there and investigate the other ships. See if it is as true as Yue says, if there happens to be a portal or some door to lead us out of here, mark the ship and return to us with the information." There was no harm in being extra careful. If the liberator who formed this dungeon was sadistic enough to hide the portal and allow it to be destroyed, effectively locking them here, then it wouldn't hurt to double-check.

'Yes, I won't let ya down, Boss!" She saluted exaggeratingly before pouncing away with the spear in her mouth. A minute later, while Yue was getting to work on blowing shit up, he saw giant rays of light bisect ships in half.

"She's doing a great job! I'm so proud of her~!" Ivan clapped appreciatively. Much to Yue's chagrin, as he was responsible for defending her from incoming enemy magic. Noticing his partner's glare, Ivan got to work himself.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Explosions littered the sea. Miniature missiles whistled through the air, whizzing by an enemy from enemy and instead focusing on creating large craters in the vessels. Just two each was enough to cause a ship to sink, meaning all Ivan had to do was start blasting for a few seconds, and subconsciously take out tens of ships in seconds.

Yue's gravity magic wasn't slacking either. It combined with her fire magic made a Flame Wyrm not too unlike her Lightning Wyrm, it flew from ship to ship, burning masts and underbellies of ships.

It was a bit vivid hearing the reactive screams of the combatants, crying out in fear about a dragon made of fire. Ivan once again praised this illusion or whatever it was, as the reactions give for great immersion.

Ivan smiled brightly seeing even more ships get chopped up by Felis' blades. As a homunculus her mana capacity was enormous. That along with her training made her a force to be reckoned with. He had a feeling that even if he and Yue didn't do anything, Felis would get the job done herself eventually.

— An Hour Later —

The hundreds of ships floating on the surface turned into tens. Felis returned a while ago confirming that none of the ships had any artifacts or portals to transport them back to the others. From there she just sliced ships from the comfort of the main one.

Ivan on the other hand just camped on the ladder leading up to their ship. Anyone that sought refuge on their ship was met by a gray tendril of mana. His shamelessness knew no bounds. The only thing that dampened his mood was the few times Yue waddled over to him to recharge on blood. Not that he disliked the act. In fact, it was pleasurable. It's just that losing blood made him a teeny bit tired.

"... I'm getting bored…" Eventually, the destruction was getting boring to the young Felis. She even stopped waving around her staff to just lay on her back on the deck. And both Ivan and Yue agreed, first of all, that the significance of the test was lost on them the moment they started. Then the shock factor didn't exist because they didn't care for the history. Now it was just mindless blowing things up.

Until— BANG!

"... Oh, that was the last ship…" Not exactly as the last ship was the one they stood on. But with those words, Yue focused on attacking the swimmers in the water. Lightning spell after lightning spell, Ivan pitied the damned souls.

After eliminating the remaining stragglers, the illusion finally ended. The scene returned to the ship graveyard that Ivan had already forgotten existed.

Eventually, the scene changed again. Much to Ivan's frustration, they had yet to even take a step before they were thrown into another illusion.

This time though there was no war. No blood, no fear, just people having the time of their lives. They were still on the large ship they had fought on. Only this time it was lavishly dressed and decorated. The moon glimmered on the ocean below, making for pretty scenery.

"A party!" Felis was correct in her observation. All attendees dressed in fancy clothing, hell there were even folks of different races joining together in this ceremony. None of the discrimination nor hatred that appeared in the modern Tortus showed itself here. Whether it be humans, beastmen, or demons.

Ivan tapped his foot along to the music, taking Yue's hand before deciding to take advantage of the opportunity for some fun. Right now was the calm of the storm, and he knew that. But there wasn't likely going to be another situation like this. Felis joined the two as they enjoyed the dance.

None of the locals from this recollection even acknowledged their existence.

After some time, a middle-aged man climbed up onto the podium at the end of the deck and waved to everyone. Behind him stood a figure clad in a dark black cloak, their facial features are hidden.

"Ladies and gentlemen, all of you who gathered here today are heroes. Brave heroes who fought not to make war, but to make peace. I am honored and humbled that you all agreed to come to this event. I cannot tell you how happy I am that this war has ended with my generation... Seeing peace come between our two nations has always been my dream." Everyone listened with rapt attention.

If Ivan's assumption was correct, this was the human king. Listening to the murmuring of those who respected him, the king was a man who sought peace.

"Now, after a year of peace, I've come to realize something... How worthless it truly is." Everyone glanced about in confusion. They looked at each other, wondering if they'd misheard the king. The speech everyone had thought finished continued.

"Wh-What are you saying, Aleister!? What's gotten into— Gah!?" The demon who'd stepped forward to protest coughed up blood. A sword was sticking out of his chest. A human who he was only moments drinking with had disregarded his clothing to reveal a suit of armor.

"Now then, ladies and gentlemen. Like I said in the beginning, I am honored you all agreed to come. You have made my job that much easier. It grated me day after day to watch as you ungodly heretics attempted to create your own nation. As if monsters who've turned their backs on Ehit, the sole creator of the world, could ever be equal to humans. But that all ends today. You barbarians who worship a heretical god do not deserve to exist on Ehit's holy Tortus. We will only have true peace when vermin like you are eradicated! If only you knew how much joy it brings me that all the leaders of all the nations willingly gathered here today. Believers of Ehit, bring down the iron hammer of retribution on these nonbelievers! Lord Ehit, are you watching!?"

What pursued was a slaughter. Anyone that wasn't human was brutally executed on the spot. Anyone that attempted to escape via the ocean was met with soldiers lying in wait with small boats.

The nice atmosphere had been destroyed, in its wake pools of blood.

Unperturbed by this Ivan ran up to the podium, the way the king acted reminded him of Ishtar and the other members of the Holy Church. He had a feeling it had to be related to the suspiciously cloaked figure that stood beside him on stage.

And as expected they– or rather she, seemed anything but normal. She was young, or at least she looked young. She was at least the same age as Ivan, which was 17. She had long flowing silver hair and deep blue eyes. Her face could have been considered beautiful if not for the void expression that marred it.

He documented her in his memory. If he remembered correctly one of the boys back in his Church days mentioned that one of the nuns had silver hair and blue eyes. Ivan personally couldn't remember such a figure but that probably wasn't strange considering he hardly left his room.

Then, the illusion ended.

"What did you think, Yue?" Ivan decided to ask his partner for her opinion before expressing his opinion.

"...It was odd. I doubt a king that is beloved by people of different races could have been that sinister without anyone noticing. That and he seemed very irrational for someone who managed to obtain peace. Everything about him was unnatural."

"Mm~ That seems to be the case. If I gotta come to a conclusion he was being controlled, or perhaps he was replaced by a lookalike. Motive, likely the gods didn't approve of the peace he brought about. Their games would end if nobody fought."

With that settled, the group moved forward.

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Aleister seems like a good guy huh... Honestly didn't even know that was his name until reading this one volume. It was quite a shock. But aside from that this dungeon is pretty fucking long ey! I haven't even thought about how I'm going to do the Divine Mountain but we'll get there when we get there.

Aside from that, thanks as always! Have a great evening, and see you all soon~!

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