Allegrato (3)

Lizzy and the three Knights entered the boundary field.

And as soon as they entered, the illusion shifted, and the forms of the three Elemental Wizards also materialized.

Following this, Lizzy and the other students appeared inside the dreamscape without any distortions.

After all, any incongruity inside the illusionary world would have been easy to notice.

Naturally, both the Knights and Lizzy, with their memories muddled, didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

"All of you can go. We shall follow at a reasonable distance."

The group split up as per the exam instructions with the aim of reaching the center of the forest…

All thirteen students took out their assigned corpses from their subspaces and started using the autonomous control technique.

And so, the final exam would commence.in this illusionary world.

* * * * *

At first, Ferzen, who had fallen into the Sephar's boundary field, didn't feel any sort of discomfort.

Although still wary of his surroundings, he walked towards the center of the forest with Isabel's corpse faithfully trailing behind him.

As he reached the center, Ferzen opened his subspace and pulled out a large mirror from within, and set it on the ground.

"..."

However, upon seeing his reflection, Ferzen immediately felt a sense of disparity.

"This..."

His hair and eye color remained the same, but his face and stature were different.

For this wasn't the appearance of Ferzen nor Seo-Jin.

The being reflected in the mirror exuded an oppressing aura of cruelty and lordship.

Indeed an appearance fitting for a Tyrant.

And as he continued to examine the reflection, something shifted.

As if his sense of self was being consumed and overwritten by something else.

Only then did Ferzen realize the nature of his situation.

Pinch!

The pain he felt from pinching his arms was real.

Or at least it felt real.

Combining this fact with his situation, Ferzen could naturally guess what had happened.

"Sephar."

No. That wasn't entirely correct.

"Krocell..."

The name referred to a monster who resided on the second floor of the Underworld, who despite its fairy-like appearance, reveled in ravaging the minds of its targets.

"..."

However, Ferzen himself wasn't supposed to possess this tidbit of information.

Especially not the true name of the creature who inhabited the second floor of the Underworld.

Although the words flowed out of his mouth with familiarity, his voice sounded different.

But now, armed with the knowledge of the Illusionary world, he managed to revert his appearance back to normal.

After all, once one realized they are inside the illusionary world, they can influence it to some degree, depending on their mental strength.

'It seems it was naive of me to think they would target the students.'

A chance to harm a direct descendent of the Brutein bloodline.

It could be considered the greatest damage incurred in this trap.

With this in mind, Ferzen began to walk through the forest.

Somewhere in these woods, the astral projection of the Warlock responsible for this was hiding.

And to a wolf, there was no greater pleasure.

Than to hunt those who dared to hunt him.

* * * * *

Rustle!

「How dare filth like you has the audacity to cast your gaze upon the heavens? Your place is in the muck, crawling like the lowly worm you are. Consider it an act of benevolence that I permit your pitiful existence to writhe upon this wretched world.」

An unforgettable voice.

Krocell's mangled wings trembled and itched, the remnants of the punishment given to it.

The Warlock who had summoned the Krocell, felt a strange sense of uneasiness as he looked at the trembling figure of the monster but quickly dismissed it.

They had been here for 5 days.

The cost of summoning this creature directly for five days amounted to 2.6 Billion Berns.

Furthermore, in preparation for this moment, the Warlock had killed a mercenary who had entered the forest a week ago.

The Mercenary association would then send an expedition to sweep the forest clean and after that...

They would become a bit lax, thinking that the place was secure for the time being.

At present, the Warlock's physical body resided inside the corpse of a giant worm in the depths of a cave in the forest, where it would eventually die of asphyxiation after a period of time.

But the Warlock wished to avoid such a dreadful death if possible.

Of course, in the event that he failed in his mission to kill Ferzen, The Second Son of Brutein, he would have to commit suicide and erase any evidence of his presence.

And if his countermeasures failed?

Then, he would undoubtedly meet his end on the guillotine.

To prevent this, all he had to do was kill Ferzen.

When the Obern Kingdom went to war, Empress Gremory of Elmark would be brought into the fold, igniting the flames of war that she so desired.

This was also the wish of the Obern Kingdom.

Or so they were led to believe.

Their fervent thirst for freedom resembled a hungry flame, and because of this, they would never realize the game was being orchestrated from within the shadows.

And in time, they would bow to the Elmark Empire.

Just remembering the words spewed by the King of Obern, who believed himself to be cunning, a cruel smirk formed on the Warlock's face.

'Well…..'

The time had come.

It seemed that not only Ferzen had entered Sephar's boundary field but also four other individuals. However, they weren't worth worrying over.

Because within this illusionary world, he was an almighty existence.

Gremory Elden Ishtar Elmark.

Recalling the power that women possessed, and imagining it, he could feel his body being strengthened.

His mind faltered a little from the intense strain of emulating her power, but the overflowing might and vitality coursing his veins...

It was as if he had become a god for a moment.

Such was the power of beings who had transcendent humanity.

And now...

"For the glory of Elmark."

After whispering his prayer.

He, a proud member of the glorious Elmark Empire.

Within the territory of their prey, the Ernes Empire.

Would hunt down the bloodline of Brutein.

* * * * *

Lizzy Poliana Claudia.

She belonged to the second group of students, along with four others.

Not long after they ventured into the forest, the group encountered some beasts that served as hosts for the parasite.

There were a total of eight such beasts.

Since all the beasts had the corpses of veteran mercenaries, the group dealt with them quickly and without much difficulty.

However, the parasite was able to regenerate the host's body to a certain extent.

The only exception to this was the host's brain, and because of the tenacity of those beasts, the mercenary corpses began to accumulate damage.

It seemed that the efforts of the other students paid off as the mercenary corpses continued to fight like faithful battle dolls.

But Lizzy's corpse, which did not received feedback in the same manner, stood out from the rest. Especially as her corpse seemed to have taken a vanguard role, disrupting the formation that the corpses had established.

"...That's crazy!"

The four students – or rather, the illusions of the four students – looked at Lizzy in astonishment.

"Just... how did you receive the feedback?"

"As usual. I simply read the file about her life."

"Are you stupid?! Don't you know how dangerous it would be to blindly receive all the feedback from the corpse? You never thought about the trouble you could cause for the whole group?"

"Don't get me wrong. This test only evaluates our skill with the autonomous control technique."

"Yes! That's why you—"

"Do you really think that regulating the feedback and turning them into nothing more than battle dolls is an effective use of autonomous control?"

"..."

"And how are you going to keep using the corpse with such horrible mana efficiency when we fight against a big group of hosts?"

In the midst of a heated argument, as the atmosphere grew tense,

The battle that had been going on for a long time finally came to an end.

Aside from Lizzy's corpse, the corpses of the other students all suffered considerable damage.

Because of this, they naturally directed their resentment towards her.

Lizzy's corpse contributed to the damage suffered by the others by breaking the formation, which only amplified their anger.

However, it couldn't be entirely her fault.

Rather than disrupting the formation, it would be more accurate to say that she tried to change it.

After all, no plan survives contact with the enemy, and a battle formation must adapt to the flow of the battle.

However, she failed to account for the fact that the other students were limiting their feedback and treating their corpses like dolls.

As a result, instead of adapting to the flow of the battle, the corpses chose to stick to their previous stance.

"Sometimes I do feel sorry for you. You were a despicable woman who would trample over others and do anything to maintain your current status."

"How could I be despicable?"

"If you don't know what despicable means, this is your chance to realize it, isn't it? It's because of actions like yours that we call it despicable."

"If I received feedback by resorting to tricks as you did, then my controlled corpse, standing in the forefront, would have suffered the greatest damage. On the contrary, if I received the same feedback as you did—!"

Without saying another word, Lizzy closed her mouth shut.

When a normal person is inserted among a majority of abnormal individuals, it's natural for the normal person to be treated as the odd one.

After all, it was Ferzen who created such a rule for the exam.

The other students wrongfully interpreted the instructions as if they were factual, and now, when confronted with another point of view, they blame others.

'Sigh...I already expected that anyway.'

Perhaps it wouldn't be wrong to call her despicable.

Because Lizzy herself choose to not express her own opinions about the exam, in an attempt to achieve a higher score.

Of course, there may be other students who also avoided the pitfall that many fell through.

But defying 'common sense' was not an easy thing to do.

If everyone had taken the exam under the same understanding of the parameters, wouldn't the one who excelled the most receive the highest score, while the others would be left with average ones?

However, Lizzy didn't wish for such an outcome.

The act of bending over to accept what's dictated as 'common sense' was something she only needed to do once in her life.

"Fine. If I'm in the wrong, then the results will speak for themselves. But I have no intention of changing my mind."

As if speaking to a whining child, Lizzy uttered those words in an exasperated tone.

"Yes, let the results show your foolishness."

"I already said that. So let's not engage in this pointless argument anymore…..!"

"That is exactly why you are despicable! You think you are so smart, aren't you? That you are better than anyone else here? Can't you drop this condescending tone—-!"

One student with a visible frown on his face grabbed the forearm of Lizzy's personal corpse servant, that was supporting her, and forcefully lowered it.

"Ah!"

Naturally, without her support, Lizzy's body began to fall.

In a desperate attempt, she reached out with both hands and grabbed the corpse's shoulders, barely keeping herself from falling.

Her body trembled, and her breathing was rough, as she was naturally taken aback by the sudden course of events.

"People like you are so annoying...A crippled person who can't even walk keeps thinking they are better than everyone else."

"Hey, man that's..."

Aside from the one student who took the initiative, the rest of the group appeared shaken by the scene in front of them.

Although they are indeed irritated and displeased by her actions...

Lizzy's brother was a member of the Imperial Knights.

And he was married into the Alfred Family.

Furthermore, Yuriel, the youngest daughter of the Alfreds was now Ferzen's mistress.

So causing any harm to Lizzy was almost unthinkable for them, as the barrier between their social status was unreachable. That is, of course, aside from the student who showed aggression.

"..."

As Lizzy clung to the lifeless corpse, she soon experienced another shock, but of a different nature.

Even if she had managed to grab the shoulders of the lifeless body in that slipping moment, the instinctive reaction that took precedence was to firmly plant her feet on the ground.

It was a natural action for any human being.

But as Lizzy's broken leg, along with the other leg, supported her entire weight…

With the sensation of something shattering into pieces in her mind, distorted memories came rushing back in their entirety.

Although interference was possible in conscious aspects, the drawback of the illusionary boundary was that it couldn't interfere with the unconscious.

Taking advantage of this point, Lizzy convinced the Knights to enter this realm.

She had anticipated that there would be conflicting opinions during this examination.

Regarding the student at the forefront, considering their background, Lizzy had judged that they would undoubtedly express their emotions fully.

What sent a chill down her spine, however, was...

Even if those four students were called illusions, she couldn't sense any discrepancy from them at all.

'That's not important anymore.'

Somewhere behind the group.

A knight followed them from a distance.

And if that knight was to witness Lizzy walking on both legs, he would realize that this place was an illusion.

That's why Lizzy once again nestled herself in the embrace of her corpse servant and chose to bid her time.

'For now...'

Ferzen should be monitoring their overall situation through the mirror fragments scattered across the forest.

Lizzy's main objective would be to interfere with this, making it impossible for Ferzen to watch her movements.

And thanks to the boundary field, there should be no suspicion towards her actions up to that point.

"..."

But to her surprise, her mental strength remained intact.

She couldn't feel any sort of exhaustion.

This meant that Ferzen wasn't observing the entire forest.

That was why Lizzy couldn't interfere.

Because there was nothing to interfere with.

As such, it was highly likely that Ferzen had already begun his battle with the one responsible for the boundary field.

Lizzy started to get anxious.

'They are just illusions anyways...'

Even if the students died, it wouldn't matter in the slightest.

So in order to escape from the knight following their group without arousing his suspicion...

"What, what is this...!"

A crisis was needed for him to 'protect' them.

"Oh no…..!"

Those who realized that they were trapped within the Illusionary world could alter it to some extent.

And so, making use of this, Lizzy conjured 20 beasts who were being used as hosts for the parasite in front of the group.

This wasn't something the students could handle, so the Knight and the illusionary Wizards were forced to act.

"Ugh...!"

And in addition to that, she conjured twelve more beasts behind them.

Immediately after this, Lizzy felt an intense headache and her nose started to bleed.

Even in this chaotic situation, while being attacked from the front and the back, the students were trying their best to evacuate to a safe place.

If she could find an opportunity to escape as well, she wouldn't be blamed even if she and the Knights regained consciousness.

As they would undoubtedly think that this entire crisis was something orchestrated by the Sephar and the enemy Warlock.

'...Now.'

Ferzen Von Schweig Louerg.

No, Ferzen Von Schweig Brutein.

For Lizzy, being at his side was the most disgusting and horrible thing she could ever think about.

But in his last moments...

'I will be by your side no matter what.'

And she would watch his demise with her own eyes.