But they didn't even have time to discuss Lin Ling’s appearance.
The moment the forest shattered, the magic screen in the meeting room began to collapse as well.
Crack.
Cracks spread from the center of the screen.
The image that had been showing Lin Ling’s figure peeled away into tiny fragments of light.
Everyone moved almost simultaneously.
A magic circle suddenly expanded from Cecil's fingertips.
Aliviel's dream dust turned into fine purple sand, surrounding the remains of the screen.
Phelan's detection crystals floated up one by one.
The mana on Baroque's body dropped sharply, like a giant beast ready to pounce at any moment.
Ivelia stood at the very front, her dark red mana spreading out silently.
Because they all felt it.
Something was about to come out from inside the screen.
The moment the last piece of the image shattered.
In the spot where the magic screen had been, a woman wearing a white smiling mask stood there.
It was as if she had been standing there all along.
The hem of her moon-white dress hung down softly, and her white gloves were so clean they didn't have a speck of dust.
The smile on the mask was curved just right.
Gentle.
Polite.
And so fake it made one's spine go cold.
She lifted her skirt and gave an elegant bow to everyone in the meeting room.
Like an actress taking a curtain call for the audience after completing a meticulously planned performance.
“I wonder...”
Her voice carried a hint of a smile.
“Are you all satisfied with the performance I arranged?~”
No one answered her.
Every bit of mana in the meeting room tightened at that moment.
The masked woman, however, seemed completely unaware of the danger, lifting a finger to tap lightly on her mask.
“Oh, right, right.”
“I forgot to introduce myself.”
“How rude of me.”
She tilted her head slightly.
“My name is Kavia~”
“Just an ordinary...”
She paused intentionally.
Then her smile deepened.
“Deceiver.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a fist tore through the air, smashing toward her face.
“You actually dare to show yourself!”
Baroque's voice was suppressed with rage.
He didn't have the habit of listening to people finish their nonsense.
Moreover, this person of unknown origin had dragged Lin Ling into a dream, used the entire Demon King's Castle as a stage, and then dared to stand before them and laugh.
The fist struck Kavia squarely.
Boom!
The masked woman was sent flying, crashing hard against the wall of the meeting room.
Dust exploded.
Web-like cracks spread across the wall.
“How crude~”
The smiling voice, however, rang out from behind Baroque.
“Is this how you treat Lin Ling's friend?~”
Baroque's pupils shrank.
He whipped his head around.
Kavia was standing behind him.
Her hands were behind her back, and her mask tilted, as if she were admiring the expression on his face.
“How was it?”
“Did it feel like you hit me?”
She suddenly leaned in closer, her tone excited like a child who had seen a new toy.
“Did it? Did it?”
Baroque did not speak.
He simply clenched his fist again.
But this time, he didn't strike immediately.
Because the dust was settling.
Kavia raised her hand and lightly snapped her fingers.
“Guess who was the one sent flying?”
She drawled.
“The answer is—revealed!”
“It's this gentleman from the demon race!”
The dust completely cleared.
The one smashed into the wall was actually Cecil, who should have been sitting in his seat.
Cecil slid down from the wall, coughed twice, and patted the dust off his shoulder.
He looked down to check himself.
No injuries.
Not even the hem of his clothes was torn.
He fell silent for a moment, then looked at Baroque.
“Ahem.”
“Baroque.”
“Your fist seems a bit soft.”
A vein throbbed on Baroque's forehead.
“Do you want to try it again right now?”
Cecil immediately raised his hands.
“I take back what I just said.”
Kavia clapped her hands happily.
“Of course~”
“This is Kavia's legendary deception magic.”
“How is it?”
“Isn't it interesting?~”
As she spoke, she had already appeared behind Ivelia without anyone noticing.
The temperature in the meeting room dropped suddenly.
Aliviel's gaze darkened.
Phelan's detection crystals lit up simultaneously, only to lose their target in the next instant.
Niya wanted to stand up, but found that her body couldn't move at all.
Not just her.
Except for Baroque, who had been “allowed” to throw a punch, and Cecil, who had been caught in the trick, everyone else was pinned to their seats or where they stood.
Even the flow of mana was bound by a layer of invisible lies.
Ivelia's eyes were terrifyingly dark.
But she didn't move either.
It wasn't that she didn't want to.
Rather, some older, more overbearing power was pressing down on her.
Like an invisible hand lightly pressing her shoulder.
Kavia leaned beside Ivelia's shoulder.
The white smiling mask was almost touching her cheek.
“It's very interesting, isn't it?”
Her tone was sugary sweet.
“Ivelia-chan~”
Ivelia's pupils shrank imperceptibly for a moment.
Kavia leaned into her ear and whispered a sentence.
Even though everyone in the meeting room possessed powerful perception, they couldn't hear a single word.
After she finished speaking, she straightened up and waved her hand with a giggle.
“Heehee.”
“No need to panic.”
“I don't have any ill intent.”
“I just gave cute little Lin Ling a small gift~”
She turned around, as if making a final curtain call to the entire audience.
“This performance was very enjoyable.”
“I'm really looking forward to our next meeting~”
After saying that, she walked over to Niya's side.
Niya's body still couldn't move; she could only watch with wide eyes as the woman approached.
Kavia raised her hand.
The white glove landed gently on top of Niya's head.
She patted Niya's head as if playing with a small animal.
“Take good care of her.”
In the next instant.
The moonlight flickered.
Kavia's figure vanished.
Only a playing card remained, drifting lightly onto the table.
The face of the card was pure white.
In the center was a crookedly smiling devil icon.
The restraint in the meeting room was finally lifted.
Baroque rushed to the playing card, his fists clenching until they creaked.
“Damn it.”
“What exactly is that thing?”
Aliviel steadied herself by leaning on the edge of the table, her face grim.
“She could deceive our perception and even forcibly rewrite the dream that Cecil and I set up together.”
“An ordinary Deceiver?”
She let out a cold laugh.
“She better really be joking.”
Cecil walked back from the wall, his expression uncharacteristically serious.
“Kavia...”
“I've never heard that name before.”
Phelan looked at the playing card on the table, and his pen could finally move.
He looked down and recorded quickly.
“Kavia.”
“Self-proclaimed Deceiver.”
“Capable of interfering with dreams, perception, and the results of attacks.”
“Possesses an unknown connection with Lin Ling.”
Writing to this point, he paused.
Then he looked up at everyone.
“She mentioned Lin Ling.”
“Once Lin Ling wakes up, perhaps we can ask her if she knows this name.”
Ivelia did not speak.
She just stared at the playing card, her mind replaying the whisper Kavia had left in her ear.
...
On the other side.
In the pure white dream.
The void domain began to crack.
Leticia watched the space around her gradually splinter.
Fragments of light seeped through the cracks, as if the entire dream had finally reached its end.
She instinctively looked at the woman before her.
“Is it over?”
The woman stood up.
Her outline remained blurred, yet she felt more real than any divine statue.
“It seems time is up.”
She approached Leticia.
She raised her hand.
Her fingertips lightly brushed over Leticia's eyes.
In that moment, Leticia felt a warm light sink into her gaze.
The light felt like it was gently lifting a thin veil that had been covering her vision.
“Child.”
The woman's voice was very soft.
“May you see clearly from now on.”
Leticia opened her mouth to speak.
But before she could, the space beneath her feet completely shattered.
The white domain turned into countless fragments of light.
The woman's figure also slowly dissipated along with it.
Rate on N.U.
