This Black Tower warlock had a mysterious appearance, bizarre skills, and a spine-chilling way of making an entrance.
But in reality, beneath that aloof mask, their heart was probably as fragile as a glass marble.
Isolde stared at them, suddenly harboring a trace of doubt toward that supposedly secretive and terrifying organization known as the Black Tower.
Could the admission standards of that place just be a casual formality to fool people?
The black-clothed figure seemed to notice her undisguised, odd gaze, and their heterochromatic eyes shifted slightly toward her.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Isolde casually withdrew her gaze. “Nothing. I just suddenly felt that for a place like the Black Tower to successfully nurture you into a functional talent, it must not have been easy along the way.”
The black-clothed figure: “...”
A very faint intake of breath came from beneath the mask. They seemed to want to speak up to defend the Black Tower's education system again.
Isolde cut them off before they could speak; she really didn't want to continue bickering with this stubborn blockhead.
“Alright, stop. How exactly do we get in? And once we're in, what are we supposed to do?”
The black-clothed figure withdrew their hand, finally getting to the point.
“This requires two people to sink into the depths of the illusion simultaneously. Within the false reflections of the mirror, we must find and destroy the two reverse anchors supporting the illusion.”
Isolde narrowed her eyes. “What do these anchors look like?”
“We'll only know once we're inside.”
Isolde nodded. “Fine.”
After briefly explaining the rules, the black-clothed figure raised their right hand, and a blade condensed from shadows cleanly sliced open their palm.
Thick, pitch-black shadow dripped from their fingertips into the array runes on the ground, staining the holy radiance into an ominous dark hue.
“Once you're in, don't believe anything you see,” the black-clothed figure warned one last time.
Before Isolde could even respond, a pool of black liquid surged up from beneath her feet, wrapping her completely.
Isolde felt the ground vanish beneath her, and a sudden rush of weightlessness overtook her.
As she fell, she heard countless sounds whistling past her ears.
Prayers, neighing, and the sound of chains dragging across the floor.
And a very soft voice, calling out to her through the mist.
“Yu Lingye.”
...
Yu Lingye's long eyelashes trembled slightly as she stood in place, dazed.
She subconsciously lowered her head, looking down at her hands.
The monk robes she had used as a disguise were gone, replaced by her ordinary adventurer outfit, and she held a wooden staff in her hand.
A gentle breeze blew past her cheek, the air carrying the fresh scent of sprouting grass and the dampness of a stream.
She was shocked to find herself standing on an incredibly vast, lush green grassy slope.
Looking as far as the eye could see, a few low wooden cabins humming with life sat in the distance. A crystal-clear stream wound past the village, and the warm afternoon sunlight fell in fragments on the water's surface, creating shimmering ripples like countless tiny gems scattered across the water.
Several figures stood not far away, waving and calling out to her:
“Lingye, what are you doing standing there alone in a daze? Come over quickly, everyone is waiting for you!”
“Didn't you keep clamoring yesterday about wanting to learn that new skill? Come eat something, I'll personally teach you in a bit.”
“You don't need to keep watch tonight, I'll take your place. You just got hurt yesterday, so today you better rest up.”
Yu Lingye stood frozen. She felt as if she had just woken up from a cold, endless nightmare.
In that absurd dream, the world was filled with pain and betrayal.
There was endless blood, cold corpses, and a towering hatred that could not be caught or shaken off even in death.
But now, the sky had brightened, and the dream was over.
She had miraculously returned to her companions' side.
They hadn't betrayed her, they hadn't left, and they were still waiting for her patiently in the same place.
Here, she could explore this unknown but beautiful world with her companions without any guard up.
They could take on bounty quests together, slay monsters in perilous dungeons, and then, after a grand victory, sit around a crackling campfire and cheerfully share piping hot roasted food.
The ecstasy of regaining what she had lost broke through her rational defenses. Yu Lingye's eyes grew slightly warm, and she ran happily toward her companions.
“Coming!”
The days that followed were so beautiful they were free of any impurity, and time here seemed to stretch on infinitely.
She and her companions traveled across high mountains, searching for lost treasures together.
To protect innocent villagers, they fought side by side to drive away rampaging monsters.
At twilight, they sat side by side by the clear stream, washing their mud-covered leather boots while laughing and playing.
As time went on, the legend of “sword and magic” spread to every town and village on the continent.
Yu Lingye and her companions became the most dazzling and righteous heroes, praised by everyone.
Here, the monks of the Holy Court wore spotless, clean robes, their eyes compassionate as they gently handed baskets of brewed herbs to the disaster-stricken refugees.
And on the vast central plaza of the grand Holy Court, a herd of pure white Mooncrown Unicorns walked past quietly.
Their fur was as white as fresh snow, and their long manes were as soft and silky as moonlight in the sun.
Several children in plain cloth clothes gathered around laughing, carefully reaching out their small, dirty hands to pet the holy beasts' docile heads.
Yu Lingye stopped to watch everything in front of her. Someone stood beside her, speaking softly.
“This world is beautiful, isn't it?”
“Stay. The holy light here can heal all your weariness and resentful hatred.”
“Those painful things have already passed. One cannot always live in the past.”
“Clinging to hatred will sooner or later turn you into a hideous monster as well.”
“You are clearly already standing in heaven now, so why do you still stubbornly look back?”
Those voices were as soft as gentle hands, trying to push her back into a docile, obedient position that conformed to worldly rules.
Yu Lingye suddenly felt an overwhelming wave of fatigue crash over her.
She was too tired. Since the world had already become so clean, and since everyone had the best ending, why should she still struggle?
Why not... just sink into this gentle, sweet dream and fall fast asleep?
At the very moment she wavered, Yu Lingye suddenly felt her palm grow lighter.
Something extremely crucial, a core essence, was being forcibly drained away thread by thread from her fingers by this hypocritical illusion.
Deep in her vision, a line of red text suddenly flashed.
【Warning: Proxy of Last Wishes identity is wavering】
Proxy of Last Wishes?
Just as Yu Lingye was feeling puzzled, an incomparably holy Mooncrown Unicorn slowly paced to a spot not far in front of her.
Its head lowered slightly, watching her from afar with golden eyes that were gentle to the point of compassion, as if it could wash away all the sin and bloodstains in this world.
“I am no longer in pain.”
The holy beast's ethereal voice echoed in her consciousness: “Please do not grieve for me anymore. Let hatred stop at this moment, and enjoy freedom to your heart's content.”
Yu Lingye's gaze began to scatter bit by bit, and her mind, which had regained clarity, gradually grew numb under the soothing influence of the holy light.
She looked at the white Mooncrown Unicorn in front of her, her throat feeling as if it were blocked by something.
“If... you really are no longer in pain...”
Before she could finish her sentence, a faint sneer abruptly sounded by Yu Lingye's ear from the void.
“Hehe... How unsightly.”
Yu Lingye's eyes raised slightly. The voice pressed against her ear, carrying a familiar, pathological mockery.
“These hypocritical beasts have only given you a tiny, insignificant amount of tenderness, and you are already so impatient to lay down your killing knife?”
“They merely wove a cheap, fake dream for you that is full of logical loopholes, and you have already forgotten how you died screaming as you were bitten by snakes in the mud?”
“How did I never know... that you were actually so easy to coax?”
The sound of the wind, the stream, and the laughter of her companions instantly froze.
Time seemed to have paused. Yu Lingye gritted her teeth, asking with difficulty in her mind, which felt as if it were being torn apart.
“Are you... Isolde?”
That voice laughed softly, the laughter sharp and manic, carrying a hair-raising pleasure.
“I am Isolde.”
“I am that pervert who likes to play with corpses and desecrate death, the lunatic who killed her adoptive father with her own hands, the new master of that dark castle.”
“I am vicious, I am hypocritical, I treat the living in this world as pawns that can be discarded at any time, and I even extremely enjoy the clear pleasure that stinging pain brings to my soul!”
“Forgiveness is nothing but a fig leaf used by the weak to cover up their powerlessness. Only pure darkness is the cradle of a witch's life.”
“Wake up, Yu Lingye. You are suited to fall into hell with me. Heaven is not where you belong.”
Rate on N.U.
