25 Illusionary Trap!

"Hmph! Very well."

The man thrust his axe against the ground and looked at Ray, asking,

"Before we proceed, I'd like to have a formal introduction so that I can remember the name of the nuisance I'm about to slaughter."

"Ho~?"

Ray grinned after hearing his outrageous comment and rested his blade on his shoulder, introducing himself.

"You can call me Ray Night; better remember my name since it will help you worship me later on."

"Hmph! How uncouth."

The man snorted and raised his axe, stating,

"And I go by the name Regan Forster."

*Swish!*

Introducing himself, Regan vanished into thin air, and the fog started surrounding the area, making everything hard to see through.

"?!"

Ray quickly became vigilant after noticing his disappearance and the formation of fog as he began surveying the surroundings with his attentive crimson gaze, knowing well that an attack could come from any direction now.

"Hmm, it's nice seeing your attentiveness."

Suddenly, someone's whisper was heard in his left ear, and his eyes dilated in surprise.

"?!"

Ray hastily swirled his blade backwards towards his left, making an arc of white light, but only air got pierced by his blade; no one was there at all.

"Poor Soul."

"?!"

Ray's eyes widened as he heard a familiar voice from his right.

Hurriedly, he turned his head to the right and was left awestruck as he noticed a familiar figure standing there with a pitiful smile on his face.

"You…"

Ray frowned yet was perplexed since the phenomenon around him was just unexpected to occur in the human world.

"William…"

He clenched his fists after recognizing his opponent, or most likely his enemy, there.

A boy with red hair cascaded down his neck with his blue-piercing eyes.

He was wearing a white astral dress.

Ray just showed a disdainful expression after noticing him but stayed still in his position, asking inwardly.

'System. Tell me what's going on. It's a trap, right?'

"Ding!"

As Ray asked, the system clanged, reporting,

[Yes, host. It looks like this person can manifest illusions. He's trying to lure you to show your anger and stay trapped within this illusion. Most likely, it's a test of your emotions.]

[It seems like this Regan guy doesn't fight despite having such a lethal axe, but instead, he creates illusions and defeats his opponents by devastating them mentally.]

[Listen, I think you better walk forward without getting distracted by any entity that appears here.]

[Don't worry, they can't touch you as long as you don't touch them. So, just try to get out of here.]

"...I see. Okay then."

Ray averted his gaze from William, lowered them, and sighed.

"My, are you disappointed? Poor soul. A loser like you shouldn't even exist, you know? You get everything thanks to the status of your father."

"After all, you alone were and still are nothing, just a piece of shit, right, Requaniel?"

William continued taunting Ray with a bright smirk on his face.

Ray ignored him and began walking forward.

"Oh, are you ignoring me now, shithead? Hmph. How revolting. It's better if your crappy gaze doesn't fall on me. It's disgusting."

"No, actually, you're disgusting. Maybe that's the reason why your father didn't care about you, right?"

"Hah, he didn't even think before who was the actual culprit and exiled you. It's obvious that he just wants to get rid of you."

William continued to blabber, while Ray just ignored him and continued to walk forward.

"Since your existence is foul for everyone, it even affects that goddess. Heh, it was the best day of my life when she died. After all, you're the son of that traitor."

"..."

Ray halted after hearing this; his gaze was still down to the ground. He realized that William just disrespected his mother.

He felt so irksome by William's statements, but he knew if he showed his anger or any emotions, he might get trapped there forever.

So, he gritted his teeth and continued strolling forward.

'It's just an illusion, just an illusion, or nothing else.'

"Hey, wait! I haven't done talking yet! Where are you running off, you asshole? Wait up!"

William raved, but ignoring him, Ray walked away, and soon William vanished within the fog.

Sigh!

Realizing that William had vanished, Ray sighed, mumbling,

"Even his illusion was pesky as hell."

He continued to cast wary glances in all directions as he walked, thinking that perhaps Regan might suddenly appear now, yet there was no sign of him to be found.

As he walked further, he noticed a familiar figure yet again, but this time he had a stick in his palm.

"Requaniel! You're late again! Where are you running off to? Get back to the class!"

It was his mentor from the land of honour.

'Just an illusion.'

Ray made an indifferent face and continued walking forward while his mentor continued reprimanding him, but he just disregarded that.

As he walked further, another familiar figure made his appearance, but this one made Ray irate enough that he increased his speed.

"Requaniel."

It was his father.

"You're becoming disobedient day after day. What on earth were you thinking when you disregarded your mentor's word?"

"You need to be punished. Where are you running off to? Stop right now."

Ray didn't respond but continued walking.

"I said stop. Don't you hear me?"

His father—Michael's voice became grave after noticing Ray not halting in his way.

"Yes…"

Ray finally stopped and glared at the illusion of his father, scaring him with his crimson gaze. He warned him.

"It's better if I don't stop now, or else, who knows…your head won't stay connected with your neck."

"Requaniel!"

Finally, Michael roared in anger after hearing this revulsive statement from his son.

"Tch."

Ray, on the contrary, just clicked his tongue and continued walking forward while Michael resumed screaming at him from behind.

Shortly thereafter, the illusion of Michael vanished as well. Now, there was no illusion to be seen as far as Ray's eyes could witness.

'So, is it finally over?'

Ray mulled over as he paced forward, still on guard since he thought that Regan might still make an opening.

"Ding!"

[Host! Be on guard!]

Out of the blue, the system warned Ray to be on guard; perhaps it had tracked down some of the potential dangers there.

"Where? Where is he?"

Ray held tight to his blade since he thought that perhaps the system was warning him about Regan's arrival.

Nevertheless, the situation was completely different from what Ray had anticipated.

Shortly, two figures were seen from a distance waving their hands towards Ray.

"Requaniel~"

"My sweetheart~"

*Clink*

Unawarely, Ray's blade fell to the ground, and his eyes started to get watery.

"M-Mother…My Lady…"

Ray called out as the tears started pouring down his cheek, and he began to pace forward towards them, forgetting everything about the illusion.

[Host!! Don't go!!!]

The system exclaimed, continuously trying to stop Ray, but in front of his mother and lover, he defied everything.

A faint smile shaped his face as he noticed them extending their arms towards him for an embrace.

"Mother. My Lady."

His smile widened with tears in his eyes as he forwarded his arms to embrace them.

[NO!!!]

The system yelled, trying to snap Ray back to reality, but he ignored its voice.

"I missed you a lot, my child."

"Where have you been, Requaniel? I felt so lonely without you."

"My bad."

Ray smiled as he was finally about to embrace them.

"I won't go ever again," he added as his arms were about to hold them.

'Eden.'

"?!"

Abruptly, Ray's eyes dilated after hearing a familiar voice in his head and he stopped in his tracks.

A picture of a girl with orange hair crossed his mind as his teary gaze turned dry again.

"Em…Emilie…"

He called out in a trance as he recognized that picture.

'If you think you can make me fall in love with you, then go for it.'

'I'll be glad to see your efforts.'

Her voice rang across his mind again, and thanks to that he finally started to calm down.

"What's wrong?"

His mother and Lady Celestia asked in unison after noticing him not giving them the embrace they had anticipated.

Ray smiled at them and bowed a little to show his gratitude to them, then turned around and started walking away.

"Hey, wait! Where are you going, Requaniel?"

"Wait, son! Don't you want to show me your drawing again? If not, then what about I make some lunch for you? I know you love my cooking, right?"

Ray didn't reply but started running away while hiding his eyes.

"Requaniel, wait!"

They both cried out, trying to stop him. But he continued running without looking back. A smile appeared on his face, he mumbled,

"Mother, my lady…thanks a lot for everything, but I don't like to live in delusion."

Then, he clenched his fist as his blade reappeared on his palm and he made a swing, adding,

"My reality is waiting for me."

*Creak!*

Unexpectedly, the area around him broke like a mirror, and shortly, Ray arrived at the battleground again.

"What?! How could you?"

Regan, who was standing on the battlefield, was left baffled after noticing Ray's arrival.

"Enough of your plays."

Ray said it in a grave voice, tightening his blade as a combination of golden and green aura surrounded him.

Then, he flashed forward and swung his blade at Regan.

"Ngh!"

Regan swirled his axe in defense, but shockingly, Ray's blade cut through Regan's axe and finally decapitated him.

"Ugh…?"

Regan let out a lifeless response as his head fell to the ground and his body fell afterwards.

Ray's body trembled a little in uneasiness since it was the first time he killed a human; the man whose abdomen he slashed wasn't as lethal as Regan's.

"It's not my fault."

Ray mumbled as he jumped forward without even giving a glance at Regan's body, adding,

"I thank you for letting me meet those two again. But never try to play with my emotions…because the consequences will be way worse than you could even imagine."