The illusion formation had been forcefully broken apart for the most part, and the guards who had fallen into it slowly regained their senses.
When they saw the grim reality around them — the bodies of their fallen companions lying in pools of blood — their faces turned ashen, trembling with lingering terror.
“What a terrifying illusion… to so perfectly mirror the desires within the human heart,” Margaret whispered, her voice quivering. Gratitude toward Dustin filled her eyes.
Dustin’s gaze flashed like lightning as he suddenly turned his eyes toward the deepest part of the valley — the only truly real place — the spring.
The air above the spring began to twist and ripple, as a vague silhouette slowly took shape.
It was a woman dressed in flowing robes of seven-colored light, her beauty dazzling and almost inhumanly bewitching. Her body seemed to be woven from mist and radiance, flickering between existence and illusion.
Barefoot, she hovered above the spring, surrounded by an aura of seductive energy that stirred the hearts of all who beheld her. Her eyes, deep and dark as twin pools, reflected countless images of the world — yet within them was only emptiness.
She looked at Dustin, lips parting slightly as a voice both ethereal and faintly surprised echoed through the valley:
“To see through my Realm of Seven Emotions and break it by force… Intriguing. Outsider — your spiritual will is strong.”
Dustin stood with his sword in hand, expression calm and unyielding.
“You feed on the desires of living souls, weaving false paradises to ensnare them — draining their spirit and essence. You must be the guardian of this array… Shen, aren’t you?”
The seven-colored woman — Shen — smiled faintly. That smile was enough to outshine the flowers, yet carried the allure of death itself.
“Guardian? You could call me that,” she said lightly. “I simply enjoy watching beings like you — struggling, lost in your desires, until you become nourishment for my illusions. Your spirit is steady… but your companions? Their hearts are riddled with cracks.”
Her gaze swept across Margaret and the shaken guards, a trace of hunger flickering in her eyes.
Dustin stepped forward, placing himself protectively before the group. His sword angled toward the ground, its blade humming softly as a cold, pure sword aura drove away the lingering traces of seduction in the air.
“Your tricks end here,” Dustin said firmly.
Shen’s lips curved into a haunting smile, her voice whispering like a charm.
“End? No… the dream has only just begun. Why suffer in the pain of reality, when you can bask in blissful illusion? What you call truth is only attachment…”
Her voice carried a strange magic that seeped into the mind.
The guards, barely awakened from the earlier illusion, felt their eyes glaze once more. Deep within, the most longed-for visions of their hearts began to surface uncontrollably.
Even Margaret felt her mind tremble — her father’s frail figure and the warm vision from before overlapped within her heart, suffocating her, dragging her toward delusion once again.
“Enough of your deceit!” Dustin’s voice thundered, cutting through Shen’s enchantment.
He knew — against such an illusionist, he must never let her seize the rhythm of his mind.
Without another word, his wrist flicked. His sword let out a clear, dragon-like cry. A blade of condensed azure light flashed forth like dawn breaking the night, slicing through the clinging haze of seduction and shooting straight toward Shen above the spring!
The sword aura struck like lightning.
But the instant it was about to hit, Shen’s body rippled like a reflection in disturbed water — and vanished.
The sword aura passed through her fading afterimage, slamming into the rocks behind the spring. Stone exploded, leaving a deep scar upon the cliff.
“Hehe… brute force cannot shatter a realm of illusion,” her airy laughter echoed from all directions, as though the entire valley itself was laughing.
The next moment, her form coalesced again beside a withered tree to Dustin’s left, her face glowing with amusement.
Dustin’s eyes narrowed slightly, calm but resolute.
He moved like a shadow, his sword dancing in a blur, weaving a web of dense azure light that closed in around where Shen stood.
Yet again, the result was the same.
The sword web only tore through a wisp of shimmering color — her true body had already appeared atop another boulder, her demeanor serene, watching the scene as though it were a performance staged for her amusement.
“It’s useless,” Shen said with a silvery laugh. “My true self is everywhere, and nowhere. This entire Valley of Mirrored Moons and Flowing Illusions is my domain. How could you possibly harm me?”
As she spoke, she lifted a slender hand, and the scenery began to twist once more.
Before their eyes, the dark-red earth turned into soft, fragrant grass. The jagged stones and dead trees transformed into jade branches and luminous blossoms. Even the sulfurous spring became a pool of radiant spiritual energy.
But what truly terrified them — were the faces of their companions.
To Margaret’s eyes, the loyal Qingzhu beside her suddenly morphed into the face of a bitter enemy she despised most — grinning wickedly.
To the guards, the comrades beside them became old rivals, enemies, competitors for treasures long past — all brandishing weapons, all attacking.
“You! It’s you!” one guard screamed, eyes bloodshot, swinging his sword down at the “enemy” beside him.
“Stay away from me!” shouted another, slashing wildly at the air.
Chaos erupted.
Though their reason whispered that it might all be illusion, the sensations — the sights, the smells, even the heat of blood — were too real.
Their already fractured minds broke completely.
Under Shen’s sorcery, they turned upon one another —
and began to slaughter their own. - Marinien
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