Louisa's hand trembled as she saw the person before her: short golden hair, green, emerald eyes, and a handsome face. The man looked to be in his late thirties, wearing casual clothing.
However, his plain white shirt now had a thin golden spear piercing his chest and exiting his back.
His shirt was then slowly turning red as it was stained with his blood.
"You would kill your own father... even after everything I did for you and your mother." The golden-haired man said weakly. Louisa did not say anything; she watched as his blood slid down the length of her spear before subsequently falling to the ground.
'Th-This isn't real.' She thought to herself. Her father should have been dead long ago. He gave his life on the battlefield so that his family could live a better life.
That was hundreds of thousands of years ago. Her father wasn't an immortal being like her; he was human. Louisa knew that Owen was playing with her head using his illusions. However, what made her annoyed was that breaking free from an illusion wasn't easy; only those who possess immunity to mental attacks could do so, or those who are also skilled in the field of illusion magic could easily break free.
Unfortunately, Louisa didn't spend much time on this particular field since she always thought illusions were useless.
While gritting her teeth, Louisa pulled out her golden spear from his chest, causing his blood to flow out. "... Are you done with your little illusions?" Louisa asked as she slashed fiercely forward!
Her spear easily sliced through the body of the man who was her father. However, with eyes filled with determination, Louisa's casual swing did not hold a single hesitation.
The body of her father became illusory as he slowly faded away. However, before he completely disappeared, he uttered.
"You, you should have never been born."
A faint light shone in Louisa's eyes for a brief moment before disappearing a second later.
Clang!
Soon the sound of metal echoed once again. While their spears locked, Louisa's pink lips parted as she asked.
"Are you done wasting time with your annoying illusions?" Her voice was laced with anger as she questioned.
While she knew it was a simple illusion, she didn't like being shown the people she had lost many years ago.
However, Owen smirked as he heard her question. "Illusions are a waste of time, you say. Can you tell me what exactly the difference is between illusions and reality? Are illusions really nothing more than mere fantasy that we think of with no meaning?" He said as he thrust his spear forward! However, Louisa skilfully evaded his strike by knocking his spearhead into another direction with her spear.
"When will you take this seriously? I'm starting to get board from all the illusions." Louisa said casually. However, "... I see. In that case, let's see how you escape this world of illusions."
As he said that, his figure became a blur as he disappeared.
Louisa promptly raised her vigilance as she scanned the surroundings. "I'm surprised how much you depend on mere illusions. Don't you know illusions are for the weak." Louisa said mockingly.
"Be careful... not all illusions are simply mere illusions. Sometimes what we believe is only an 'illusion' is even as real as our own heartbeat." A voice echoed through the forest.
Once again, Louisa couldn't discern his location. "Sigh, what a troublesome ability." She mumbled. "Detect." Louisa chanted. A wave of magical energy left her body. The energy spread rapidly, covering a distance of twenty kilometres.
However, what Louisa saw made her eyes widen. She noticed she was surrounded by a dome-shaped barrier for several kilometres.
"I see... those within the dome must be under the influence of his illusions," Louisa muttered. 'In that case, I will break this barrier.' She thought.
At the same time, the runes carved onto her golden spear suddenly emitted a faint golden light.
"Indeed, this entire area has been turned into my own personal domain. Breaking free from this isn't going to be as easy as before. If you want to break free, then let me give you a hint." Louisa's eyes darted around as she tried to find his location. However, no matter where she looked, it was impossible; it was as if he was literally everywhere at the same time.
"Destroy the illusions in the four-cardinal direction, once you do, then this barrier will be broken. If you actually succeed in doing that, then I will personally allow you to finish me... but I do wonder if you can do it?" He said, curiously.
Soon, his voice grew distant until she could no longer hear it. "Destroy the illusions on the four cardinal directions." She muttered as she looked into a southerly direction.
Soon, her figure was enshrouded in a faint light as she moved swiftly through the forest with such speed that all that could be discerned was a blur.
Meanwhile, Owen sat on top of a tree branch as he gazed up at the blue sky above his head. "Don't underestimate my illusions. I do wonder if you have the heart to witness everything being taken from you again and again." He muttered, to no one in particular; his voice was carried by the rustling of the leaves.
...
Meanwhile, Ethan continued on his path towards the lich. Along the way, he was attacked by many undead, but he easily decapitated them all.
'Hmm... the number of undead is slowly decreasing. Does that mean that the lich is running out of undead?' Ethan wondered to himself.
[It's not just that; the density of the magical energy in the atmosphere is also decreasing. Which means that thing must also be running out of mana.] Grim informed.
"Oh, that makes things even easier," Ethan said as he swung his sword horizontally, severing the head of an undead.
In less than ten minutes, Ethan was now standing on a mountain of undead corpses. "... I tried contacting Louisa, but she isn't responding... do you think something has happened to her?" Ethan asked.
[Impossible, we both know that sociopath who likes cutting the flesh of her enemies while hearing them scream won't die so easily.] Grim responded confidently, to which Ethan nodded his head. "In that case, I'll go on ahead; I'm sure she will catch up," Ethan said as he moved forward.
...
Meanwhile, Louisa was now standing on a grassy plain that was partially covered with fresh blood, surrounded by hundreds of different warriors. It was a gruesome scene that would make one feel a sense of repulsion. However, "..." There wasn't even a frown on Louisa's beautiful face as she looked at them.
These were victims whom she had killed long ago. Some were ordinary civilians whom she had killed either inadvertently or intentionally.
While there are some who she had fought and had killed long ago.
Blood slid down the length of her spear as she watched the bodies of all the people she had killed in her life.
"... Do you feel regret?" A voice echoed beside her ear. She wasn't surprised by Owen's voice reaching her ear. If anything, she no longer cared. She still remembered the looks of hatred they all gave her as though cursing her entire existence.
"Regret... I felt no regrets. After all, I did what I had to do to survive." She muttered. If there was anything she regretted that was not being able to save those whom she couldn't save.
"Do you want power? Do you want strength? Sure, many people would scream to have such things. However, those who have power will eventually be drawn into battle whether they want to or not. It's a simple fact: many people call me the strongest, the Overlord. However, I never saw myself that way, as even for me there are many who I couldn't save." Ellard's voice echoed within her mind.
Those were the last words he had said to her before he had died. Soon, the dead bodies who were killed by Louisa slowly vanished, and even the red blood that had painted grassy fields had disappeared completely.
Louisa didn't waste any more time here as she went in a westerly direction. As Louisa slowly approached the location of the second illusion, mist slowly covered the area. With her sharpened senses, the mist wasn't a problem for her. However, as she got closer, she could faintly hear the sound of running water along with someone singing.
The voice sounded youthful, and the song sounded somewhat familiar to her. However, as she got closer, that distinct voice became more discernible. "This... M-Mother." Louisa's blue sapphire-like eyes glistened as she saw a woman sitting down by a small river while singing.
When she got a little closer, she could see a beautiful woman with long, waist-length silky golden hair; her slender legs were placed inside the cold waters of the river. Seated beside her was a young girl who also had golden hair.
Louisa watched her mother sing while a younger version of herself listened to her voice. 'That song is.' Louisa felt her grip on her spear loosen as she listened to that song.
It was the song her mother always sang to her whenever they spent time together when she was younger. They came from a rather poor family; her father had died in a war. So, her mother was the only one who was left to take care of her. However, her mother overworked herself and got ill, and she eventually died, leaving Louisa as an orphan at a young age.
Seeing the face of the woman she had always wanted to see her entire life made her feel an emotion she hadn't felt in a long time.
"Why are you hesitating? You must kill her." Owen's voice once again resounded inside her head. Louisa's pupils constricted once she heard his question. "Y-You! Bastard!" She exclaimed, as her hand trembled in fury.
"Why are you so emotional? Isn't this nothing more than a mere illusion? If you want to escape my prison of illusion, then take the life of your own mother... There is no other way." Owen said coldly. Louisa's face grimaced as her heart squeezed tightly inside her chest.
'Why?' Louisa's seductive body trembled as she held her golden spear. With a heavy heart, she slowly approached the mother-daughter pair who sat at the edge of the river. She stopped one foot away from her mother; the woman didn't seem to notice her. She kept singing her song while watching her daughter with a lovely smile on her face.
Louisa slowly raised her spear upwards as the runes carved onto the spear glowed subtly. '... I'm sorry.' Louisa thought as she brought the spear downwards!
BOOOOOM!
The surroundings rumbled fiercely as a golden energy was released from the spear; everything within twenty meters was completely obliterated. And even the river stirred fiercely and shook constantly under the force.
"Very good... Only two more to go. Though, I should warn you the next two won't be so easy." Owen said. However, Louisa's long golden locks covered her face, preventing anyone from seeing her current expression as she uttered coldly.
"Easy? You think that was easy?" Her voice was so low that it was like a whisper. However, Owen could somehow hear her perfectly despite not physically being present. Louisa clenched her fist as her mouth moved.
"With the heavens as my witness... I swear I shall make you suffer the worst torture before killing you!" Louisa exclaimed.
A gentle gust of wind blew, scattering the gathering leaves inside the forest.