Chapter 257 - Vol. 4 - 56

Okay, now, where the fuck do I go?  Ash wondered.

"Ash," the illusion behind her said. 

Hm. Is there some way I could figure out where I am based on this map? The half-demon asked herself, as she looked down at the piece of paper in her hands. On it was the Mist Realm, clearly represented by a grey blob located northwest of Amber, but it didn't have much of anything else other than that, which made knowing which was the right way to go almost impossible. 

"Aaash!"

Nah,  the half-demon told herself. Although, there does look like there's some sort of fortress north of here. And, below, there are some small mountains, that I think I've been to already. In that case, yeah, I could keep walking straight, leave this place, and whatever I see when I get out would tell me where I am! 

"Ash!" 

Ash turned toward the illusion angrily, gritting her teeth as she was about to throw a few curses at it. The Kaori-like image flinched, and that brief flash of anger quickly faded as Ash just let out a bitter sigh and turned away. 

Just ignore this thing,  she told herself.  It'll go away on its own eventually. 

Quickly, not wanting to waste a second, Ash began her stride forward. She made an effort not to deviate, which was difficult as there was, of course, no real path to follow. However, as she passed over fallen branches and glowing leaves, Ash kept her focus ahead, even as the fake Kaori behind her continued pestering the girl. 

"Stop ignoring me! I'm real!" 

You're about as real as Magia's sense of shame, Ash countered in her mind, rolling her eyes. 

And, that brief moment of distraction allowed for a strange, slimy green projectile to land on her chest. 

"Ugh, what the fuck?" Ash asked as she felt her chest burning. She threw her bag down quickly and then gracelessly tore the top of her dress off, casting it aside as well, just to prevent this acidic substance from hurting her any further. 

Brushing away any remnants of the green slime from her skin, she looked ahead to see what had attacked her and found a pair of small red eyes looking in her direction, from behind a large bush. She couldn't see the creature itself though, only its glowing pupils.

"Bow,"  Ash quickly said and her  Lust transformed. She shot out a pair of arrows quickly at whatever it was that had attacked, and the creature scurried away. Ash waited, but it showed no signs of returning. 

"What was that thing?" The illusion asked beside her, and, once again, Ash ignored her, though she couldn't have answered that even if she wanted to. 

Looking down, she saw the piece of the dress she'd taken off stop burning, just as Ash crouched to take it and throw it in her bag, picking the thing back up again.

That was dangerous, actually,  Ash thought.  Whatever that was, it was definitely strong enough to hurt me. Gotta be careful. 

"Ash, please," Kaori's image crouched down in front of her, and suddenly, her eyes were right in front of Ash, and she couldn't turn away. "I swear to you, I'm not some illusion." 

However, Ash wasn't about to let that get to her. Mainly, because she knew that if she did, it was going to hurt more than it already did when the illusion faded. 

A part of her wanted to indulge in this. Treat this illusion like it was the real thing, even if she knew it wasn't. Think of things she may have wanted to tell Kaori that she never got the chance to before that coma happened. However, again, all of that would only make the inevitable moment where the illusion disappeared hurt even more. 

She wasn't about to do that to herself. Especially not in a place this dangerous. 

The half-demon continued walking forward, this time, keeping her eyes peeled for whatever monster it was that had attacked her. Eventually, and thankfully, the illusion grew silent, and Ash was allowed some peace and quiet, though she wondered why the thing didn't just disappear if it wasn't going to bother her. 

Unless it's tied to the creature that just attacked me. Could it have been stalking me for that long? Ash wondered. 

Suddenly, another glob of green was slung at her, but this time, Ash heard it whistling through the air before it could land. She ducked. The projectile sailed over her head as her eyes scanned for the attacker. Again, she saw the same red eyes staring at her from the north. 

Gotcha, she thought, and Ash sprinted forward. 

Her dexterity made catching up relatively easy, and she finally identified the monster as it turned and tried to run away. 

It was almost like a goblin, except with a much rounder body, equipped with long, thin arms and a mouth that was far too wide for its head. Most importantly, however, Ash got to see its level. 

Level 41

MP: 300/400

Okay, motherfucker, come on, you asked for this!  Ash thought as she caught up to it and tripped the creature, making it fall forward, on its face. As she dropped her bag, Ash transformed her  Lust into a sword, and raised it up, about to let it descend on the creature's head. 

Then, suddenly, another pair of red eyes appeared just in front of her. Ash looked up, noticed them, and this was what allowed her to duck under the next glob of green slime that shot out toward her head. 

What? This thing's got a friend? Ash asked herself as she sank her blade into the monster underneath her, killing it quickly so that she could focus on the other. 

It wasn't just one, however. Another pair of eyes appeared, then another, and from one moment to another, Ash was looking back at five other potential enemies. 

Level 42

Level 41

Level 41

Level 40

Level 40

...  Okay,  Ash thought, taking a deep breath.  Friends. Great. 

Backing up slowly from the corpse of the creature she'd had just killed, Ash muttered:

"Gauntlets," figuring that this wasn't going to be pretty.

Don't underestimate them,  Ash told herself. If they can all do that acid spit thing, then, yeah, they could probably take me down.

One by one, they emerged from the bushes holding wooden spears in their hands, and rambling angrily at her. Ash narrowed her eyes at them, before charging at the closest one. Predictably, it instantly shot out some acid at her, and Ash leaned down, avoiding it as she then went to stab the creature. She managed to do so, and this creature fell to the ground with a screech. 

Still, she turned away and focused on the others, just in time to run off to the side, avoiding multiple globs of acidic spit. 

"Bow." 

Mid-sprint, Ash switched weapons, crouched, and shot out two arrows that landed as perfect headshots, killing her targets easily, before the other two reacted by running at her, now that they knew she could play this ranged game too. 

They were surprisingly quick, but not quick enough. Ash didn't even block their attacks. Instead, she struck their spears away with her gauntlets and then slashed their girthy necks in a couple of fluid swings of her fists. 

And, both of those strange monsters fell as Kaori's illusion cried out. 

"Ash, watch out!" 

But, she heard that too late. A glob of acidic spit struck her right in her waist. 

"Agk!" Her midsection burned as the creature shot out another one. Ash leaned away, dodging it, and then, bearing the pain with gritted teeth, she raised up her right hand, formed a  Divine Spear in it, and shot the bolt of light out at the enemy. 

The monster's body exploded, and Ash hissed as she looked down at herself. The acid burned for a few extra seconds, and Ash could almost see her muscles under her skin when it was done. 

"Desperation begets action, but kindness must not be forgotten." 

Casting  Burst Heal,  however, the pain quickly went away, and Ash fell on her back, taking a few deep breaths. 

Over her head, the total amount of EXP she'd gotten showed up. 

EXP Gained: 150

EXP: 300/750

Ash nodded to herself, deciding to take a second and calm down before she kept going. 

At least, that had been her intention, until Kaori's illusion crouched by her side, looking down at her with eyes that were just so kind it hurt to think about. Because they reminded her of the actual Kaori. 

"..." Ash stared back at the illusion, unwilling to move. Kaori's illusion appeared saddened, but she said: 

"That was really good stuff," Kaori's illusion said, with what looked like a forced smile. "You've gotten better." 

"..." Again, Ash remained silent. 

She paused for a while. Nothing came out of her as she simply stared up at Kaori's fake face. 

But then, a thought appeared in her mind, like an unimportant gust of wind during the day. 

Tyl had said that... She'd said that the Mist Realm would distort the senses. My senses. It can change reality, Magia said that too, but as far as illusions go, it can't actually do more than mess with my senses. 

Ash's brows narrowed. 

... I didn't notice that acid coming at me, Ash thought. Hell, I didn't even realize that monster was still alive. So, how did an illusion that's supposed to be based on my senses tell me something that I had no idea about? 

...

Ash blinked. 

She sat up. With shocked, cautious eyes, she looked at the illusion in front of her. 

"..." Ash's lips parted, as she started to wonder. Her eyes looked straight into the illusion's own, wondering if this really be happening. 

"Ash?" The image of Kaori noticed how her look had changed.

The half-demon looked away. 

... Test. I need to do a test, she told herself repeatedly, trying to think of something, and then, she got it. 

"You," she pointed at the illusion, with a trembling hand. Her heart rate began to speed up as she said, "I'm going to stand up, and walk backward," Ash said, trying to speak with a clear voice, though it was hard to do so, due to how tight her throat was getting. "You... You keep me from running into anything. Got it?" 

When she heard that, the illusion's eyes widened, and she nodded eagerly. 

"Y-Yes! I understand!" 

"..." Her excited response sent shivers down Ash's body. 

There's no way,  she thought.  There's no way, there's no way.

To make this even harder for herself, Ash closed her eyes entirely. 

"Ready?" She asked. 

"Yeah," Kaori's illusion replied. 

Then, Ash took a step back. Then another, and another, feeling nothing but dirt and leaves under her boots. 

"There's a bush behind you, walk to your left a little." 

And, she did so. Again, she kept going, and then, Kaori said: 

"A tree, uh, walk to your right." 

Taking a gulp, Ash did as the illusion said, and she expected to run right into something, but it never happened. Instead, Kaori's illusion said: 

"Uh, you can't really keep walking anymore. There's a line of big plants here." 

Ash opened her eyes and looked around. 

Everything the illusion told her had been true. 

And, Ash had no idea what to think. 

Her legs gave out from under her, and Ash fell to her knees as she struggled to breathe. In the darkness, she kept her eyes on the dirt until she saw a pair of pale legs crouch in front of her. She looked up and saw Kaori looking back at her with hopeful, but scared eyes. 

"... Kaori?" Ash asked, and her voice broke. 

Ash saw a tear slide down the girl's face before she replied: 

"Yeah, it's me."