Chapter 118 - He Thought It Was An Illusion

He Thought it was an Illusion

「H-How…?」

He couldn’t detect any person nearby. Not even animals.

「Impossible…」

He couldn’t grasp what was happening. If the enemy used concealment-type magic, this combination of spells should have found him.

「Did he really teleport?」

Interpreting “Change Coordinates” literally would mean the man used teleportation magic. But that sort of magic can only be found in legends and doesn’t actually exist. Even if it did, no human should be able to use it.

「No, I suppose it is possible…」

As the Cardinal thought about it more carefully, there could be spells out there that he didn’t know about. After all, the Sage class is something that only he and a few members of the organization know about. They still haven’t uncovered the whole truth, so it’s definitely possible.

There’s one way to find out for sure. In fact, it’s the easiest method to test his theory.

「If such a spell really exists, then I can use it as well.」

Spells are basically just Skills, and Skills are learned automatically with enough experience. If two people had the same level of experience, what spell the other can use, the other should be able to cast as well.

Skills are equal across the board. By chanting the right incantation, the spell should activate. Human experimentation done by the organization proved this to be true, so there’s no doubt about it. In short, the Cardinal should be able to cast any spell that the youngster used.

「Change Coordinates.」

The Cardinal recited the same spell that the enemy used, but nothing happened.

「Steam Explosion.」

This time, he recited a different spell — a spell that according to the reports was the one he used to destroy the altar. But all the same, nothing happened.

「Was he bluffing?」

There were two possibilities. First, the enemy was bluffing about his spells. Second, the enemy was more experienced than the Cardinal himself, which would mean Georgis hadn’t learned the Skills just yet.

But the latter was highly unlikely. The enemy clearly looked like a young man. There was no way he had more experience than the Cardinal.

However, if he was bluffing, then how did he disappear? Then the Cardinal arrived at a conclusion.

「Could it be… That was an illusion all along?」

The Cardinal’s paralysis spell didn’t have any effect, flames didn’t burn him, and he disappeared without a trace. If the one Georgis launched a surprise attack on was nothing but an illusion, that would explain everything.

The Cardinal is aware of plenty of illusion type Skills. If it was an illusion by a Sage, he’d notice right away, so it was most likely a Skill used by some other job class. An ally proficient in illusions was lying in wait beforehand in the forest. That would explain why he got fooled.

But since when did I get tricked by illusions? Georgis wondered.

「That intruder is too dangerous.」

He had an idea of the man’s identity. The adventurer named Eld who’s working with Count Meigis.

Eld was a very mysterious person. If he was an ordinary adventurer, his face wouldn’t appear in the documents that Cardinal Georgis examines, not even his name. There’s only one renowned adventurer in the Count’s domain and that’s Mylia the Flame Spear.

The Cardinal only knew about Eld’s face because of the adventurer’s out-of-the-ordinary feats. He had heard rumors of things that the guy did that should be impossible for a Novice to do. Even if he wasn’t a Novice, no rookie should be able to achieve what he did. There were even talks about how maybe the guy was hiding his real job class because he was simply too strong.

But Georgis believed Eld was just a little bit strong for a Novice. It’s not unheard of for those with aliases to accomplish extraordinary feats during their rookie days.

「Are those rumors true, then?」

Eld’s face only showed up in the documents recently. Apparently, he defeated an Emperor Ogre solo and deflected the attacks of a Sea Serpent using only a sword. If these rumors were true, Eld might not even be human. There was even word that it was Eld who killed the Heaven-Rending Lightning Dragon.

But if he was a Sage, some of the rumors might actually be true. Killing an Emperor Ogre solo might be impossible, but stacking defensive spells could be enough to deal with a Sea Serpent’s attacks. If Eld could do that, that means he’s either as strong as Georgis, or even more.

「I can’t let him live. 」

Before the illusion disappeared, he muttered something about his victory being certain. That was most likely just a bluff to confuse the Cardinal and buy some time.

Georgis didn’t intend to believe those foolish rumors. There’s no doubt that about ninety percent of them are nothing but lies. The Cardinal wasn’t stupid enough to believe that Eld could defeat the dragon, even if he was a Sage.

However, the rumors being lies doesn’t change the fact that he still poses a risk. The fact that he could infiltrate a heavily-secured zone makes him extremely dangerous.

Georgis already received a report of the attack. The altar itself is fine, but they couldn’t stop evidence from being taken.

Still, even with the evidence, the Cardinal believed he can still get through this by using his political power and money. This case would deal a huge blow on him, but not enough to wipe him out completely.

If he did manage to get away with it, the suspicion that he used live humans in rituals would still persist. In that case, he’d have to reduce the number of humans to use as food for the evil spirits. This is a huge obstacle for his plans.

「I swear I will kill you.」Georgis muttered as he stepped on the spot where Eld’s illusion was earlier.