LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 32
The world has flipped upside down.
Literally flipped upside down.
The classroom has flipped upside down.
Everyone inside the classroom has fallen towards the floor, no wait, towards the ceiling.
“Are you alright?!”
And now I’m cradled in Yurasia’s arms.
Of course, I reacted quicker. The moment I sensed something off, I tightly hugged Yurasia, and given her petite stature, it ended up looking like I was snuggling into her embrace.
How humiliating…
“Yeah. I’m fine. How about you?”
“I’m fine too.”
“…Then, can you let go of this?”
“Oops, yes!”
Only after Yurasia’s arms, which were firmly wrapped around my back and behind, loosened could I rise.
“Ha…”
I let out the breath I had been holding and scanned my surroundings.
Of the eight people besides Yurasia and me, two had passed out, three were in no condition to move, and three were somewhat alright.
Those three are:
Princess Silina de Herman.
The Squirrel Beastman hugging her tail.
And the plain girl with round glasses.
Half are left, and half have been knocked out.
“What the heck is going on…?”
After tidying her clothes, Yurasia, who had approached belatedly, surveyed the chaotic classroom and picked up a broken desk leg.
“…I wonder.”
She tilted her head and looked out the window. I could see a broken glass window.
Ground is visible ‘above’, and sky is seen ‘below’.
And sand and various facilities are raining down from the ground to the sky.
I lightly bit my tongue to draw blood. Rolling the blood in my mouth awakened my senses. The taste was faint.
I concluded the situation.
It’s an illusion spell.
Not an ordinary illusion spell.
It’s a spell that blurs the lines between dreams and reality, forcing one’s dreams and imagination into the minds of others.
Or rather, it’s an ability.
Legion Commander Luxrina’s ability, the Lustful One.
And.
Luxrina is already dead.
I personally took her head.
I burned her corpse to ashes with Luna’s sacred fire.
So why is Luxrina’s ability manifesting?
A dark mage? That doesn’t even make sense.
An existence with no ashes left in this world cannot bestow authority to a dark mage.
Then is it the unique magic of a grand mage?
There is a possibility to some extent.
Right now, that’s what I must assume.
However.
I can feel magic in this space.
Not ordinary unique magic, but dark magic.
…It’s possible it could be Luxrina’s ability.
“…Young Lady?”
I slightly opened my clenched fist, gathering the blood dripping from it before closing my fist again.
“Yeah.”
“Are you… okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
There’s no malice. No hostility.
The magic is obedient. It doesn’t invade human bodies. Rather, it seems to be avoiding and reading our flow.
Someone is watching us.
Testing us? With dark magic?
“Ha…”
What kind of scumbag is playing these kinds of games?
I roughly swept my hair back and met the gaze that had been piercing me since earlier.
Silina de Herman. Her platinum eyes were staring at me intently.
And then her lips parted.
“Eliaernes Eustetia.”
“Why.”
“Gah.”
“Eek.”
Yurasia gasped, and the plain girl with glasses trembled. The Squirrel Beastman was still quite dazed.
Silina’s eyelids twitched, but then she continued speaking with a calm expression.
“You know what kind of situation this is, right?”
“It’s an illusion spell.”
Silina’s eyes narrowed.
“…This is an illusion spell?”
“Then does this look like reality to you?”
“Gah. Ah, Young Lady…”
“Eek…”
Silina squinted at me while glaring, then looked out the window at my gesture. After a while, she let out a soft sigh and stood up.
“It seems that way. Sorry for doubting.”
“U-Um… So, this means we’re inside an illusion… right?”
The glasses girl, unsure whether to use honorifics or speak casually, awkwardly asked.
“It’s not just an illusion, nor is it reality.”
“…E-Excuse me? What does that mean?”
“Somewhere in between. If you’re going to speak casually, make it clear.”
“Uh, y-yeah. N-Now that you mention it…!”
The glasses girl finally gathered herself and slowly stood up.
Now all that’s left is.
The Squirrel.
I looked at the Squirrel Beastman.
Looking around, aimlessly searching for someone, when she noticed my gaze on her, she startled and suddenly ran my way in a flurry.
I wasn’t calling her over.
“So, what should we do about the ones who are left here?”
The glasses girl hesitantly came closer and mumbled while glancing at the scattered students.
“Leave them.”
“Uh, really? Is that okay?”
Silina seemed to agree with me as she picked up some random scrap metal and walked toward me.
“Uhm… What if they die?”
“Yeah.”
They won’t die.
They aren’t pulling out this illusion to kill us.
From their expressions, it seems they are in pain, but if they pass out like that, they will be pulled back to reality.
“That makes sense, right? Since it’s an illusion… The Professor is probably just testing our levels.”
Muttering—
The glasses girl reluctantly nodded and tried to rationalize the situation. In reality, it wasn’t even reasoning.
She was almost self-hypnotizing herself to convince she was okay.
The Squirrel, looking scared, clung to my side.
Yurasia looked ready to listen to anything I said, and Silina appeared peeved.
What’s my expression like, I wonder.
I don’t know, but I’m guessing it’s similar to Silina’s.
“Eliaernes. Do you know how to get out of here?”
I do know.
I could leave right now.
But I don’t want to. I can’t.
I mustn’t show my full power to the overwhelmingly strong dark mage of the present timeline.
Even if this is a test to understand our levels, I won’t be exposing my strength.
To an opponent we will face, I need to conceal information.
If they know I can shatter this illusion magic instantly, they might pull out other tricks when it comes time to face me.
So, I have to say something else for now.
The straightforward method.
“Just head to the end.”
Silina tilted her head slightly.
“To the end?”
“The end of the illusion spell.”
“Do you know where that is?”
I completely untangled my messy twin-tails and began to re-tie them.
“Well, we’ll have to search for it from now on.”
*
Three in front, two in the back.
Fortunately, we divided quite well.
Yurasia, me, and Silina.
Yurasia has a sword, I have my fists, and Silina—though I don’t know what it is right now—has two weapons.
The Squirrel and the glasses girl.
The Squirrel seems to be doing nothing like shooting arrows, so I let her fall back.
The glasses girl can use magic.
It seems to be pathetic without a staff, but at least she can use it.
So, after dividing our positions, an hour has passed.
Yurasia has dealt with roughly ten to fifteen monsters that popped up.
Every time that happened, Silina wore a strangely disappointed expression while the glasses girl sighed in relief.
On the other hand, the Squirrel, who hadn’t lifted a finger alongside me, clung to my uniform every time a monster appeared, hiding behind me.
I couldn’t understand why she kept hiding behind me.
If you’re going to hide, shouldn’t you be close to Yurasia, the one who looks the strongest here?
If we’re going by appearances, I should be the weaker one compared to the Squirrel.
“By the way, what’s your name?”
In that moment.
Yurasia, having just killed a freshly emerged monster with a desk leg and wiped its blood off her cheek, asked with a warm smile.
The glasses girl turned pale upon witnessing that.
“I-I’m Gailan. I don’t have a surname.”
“Gailan, huh? Then, what about you?”
The Squirrel girl, with her ears down and curled tail, was trembling and muttering.
“Um? Huh…? Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Could you say it again?”
Mutter, mutter—
Yurasia’s face grew mysterious.
Gailan’s expression also turned puzzled.
Even Silina, who had been disinterested, glanced at the Squirrel.
So, I looked too.
As a result, the Squirrel, trembling in fear, covered her eyes.
I had been curious about this for a while; why does she keep covering her eyes?
I wanted to ask, but held back.
I decided it would be better not to say anything since she struggled to breathe whenever I tried to speak.
On the other hand, Yurasia listens very well.
While sticking close to me, she has conversations with me and Yurasia.
It’s a bit frustrating.
“Are you perhaps… having a hard time speaking?”
Yurasia asked cautiously.
The Squirrel’s eyes sparkled.
Nodding energetically—
In an instant, Yurasia’s face darkened.
Gailan’s face also fell.
Silina seemed to have her question answered, staring ahead.
And I murmured.
“If you can’t speak, just say so. Why don’t you just say… Oh. You really can’t speak. I’m sorry.”
The Squirrel looked like she was about to choke again.
Yurasia forced a smile at the Squirrel, saying it’s okay, while Silina glared at me.
“…I was being ridiculous. I’m sorry.”
I nervously scratched my head and picked up a pen and paper lying on the ground, or rather, the ceiling.
“Here. Use this to talk. No, just write on this.”
Nodding—The Squirrel enthusiastically nodded her head and began scribbling something on the paper.
Her handwriting looked shaky as if she had tremors.
[My name is Pina. I don’t have a surname.]
“Ah, so your name is Pina. Got it. I’m Yurasia Espirot. Nice to meet you.”
[Yes. Nice to meet you, Yurasia Espirot.]
“Uh, um… You can speak casually, you know?”
[No. I find it comfortable to speak like this now.]
“Well, okay. Then there’s no helping it. Alright! Shall we get moving again? If you’re tired, feel free to let me know… Well, just tell me anytime. We can rest.”
[Yes. Thank you.]
With that awkward conversation wrapped up, we resumed walking.
Now, we have floor three above us and floor two below us.