Chapter 18: The Illusion

Chapter 18: The Illusion

"Wait, Daniel. Do you mean to say someone from the Temple of Diablos attacked this place?", Noah asked as he momentarily stared at Lucifer and Maya.

"Yes."

Daniel pulled himself up, now sitting straight.

He didn't want to rest anymore, for time was of the essence. Since they had decided to leave together, he thought it was right to share some more information.

"The attacker is none other than the Grand Wizard Jorren.", he revealed.

Noah was flabbergasted at the revelation which was the same for Maya.

Jorren was famous, and why wouldn't he be? A Grand Wizard at the mere age of twenty-five, the youngest in the entire history and also a great devote of the Deity Diablos, there was no way that he wouldn't be known! Holding the fifth place in the rankings made his name more valuable.

"A Grand Wizard did this?", Noah muttered after he heard Daniel.

"Yes."

"How? How did you come to know this?", Maya intervened and asked out of curiosity.

Daniel took a deep breath before saying, "The attacker had a book in his hand and I was able to peek at the title somehow. It said: Diablos, the God of Mercy."

"Just based on that?", Maya asked.

"No. The spell which he used, gave him away as well. I am pretty sure sir Noah had ended up with a similar conclusion."

Noah nodded upon hearing that.

"The curse that he uttered is something only wizards related to the temple would know. And the strength of the spell, which even I couldn't nullify – it is something only wizards standing at a higher ranking than me can do."

"I suspected it to be another Master Wizard or a Grand Wizard, but after Daniel's statement, it is now clear that it was Master Jorren."

"Then, why did he take Vineca? Any idea?", Maya asked.

Daniel and Noah, both of them shook their heads for none of them had thought about it much.

"Not sure. But at least, we know about the place."

"It is the Temple of Diablos in Hancer town. Let's leave immediately.", Daniel suggested.

Everyone supported his words, except Maya.

"But both of you look tired. Don't you think you should rest a bit?"

Daniel momentarily stared at Noah upon the mention of rest for he indeed looked a bit tired. He hadn't rested enough. But he knew that Noah would think of resting as a secondary matter right now. He was going to tell that but Maya's next words infuriated him!

"Also, what is the guarantee that Vineca is ali-"

"MAYA!", Daniel screamed, his voice like that of a lion's roar.

It caused Maya to flinch and almost fall down the chair on which she sat.

"Vineca is alive.", Daniel said with confidence, his eyes holding flames.

"Ah, yes yes. I'm sorry. I shouldn't think like that.", Maya shook her head, apologizing for the words she blurted.

The entire place was again engulfed in silence, all of them keeping mum. With only the mention of departure did this silence break.

"Let's leave.", Noah said, getting off the bed while gripping his hand.

Daniel nodded and got down from the bed and walked close to Noah.

Noah was going to chant the Stynom spell right away, but Maya stopped.

"Sir, please only teleport yourself and Daniel to the place. I will take care of myself and Lucifer."

Daniel wanted to question her but Lucifer ended up answering it with a question, "To conserve his energy?"

Maya looked at him and with a smile said, "Yes."

"Sir Noah is the strongest among us. It's best he conserves energy to fight at the time of need."

Hearing this, Daniel nodded his head and Noah did the same.

"Alright. I and Sir Noah will go ahead."

"Stynom!", Noah and Daniel warped away from the place, leaving Maya and Lucifer behind.

Now, Maya turned towards Lucifer and showed her left hand, "Here."

Lucifer grabbed ahold of her hand seconds after which, she chanted, "Stynom."

Both of them left the scene as well, away from the place.

.

.

.

Opening his eyes, Lucifer found himself in a rather weird place. It was twilight, a bad time to linger in alleys – that's where he exactly was for he could barely see ahead.

To his left remained a gigantic building and the same to his right.

Lucifer turned towards Maya and then after glancing here and there, asked, "Where is Sir Noah? What about Daniel? Where are they?"

However, Maya did not reply. Her gaze was fixated on the ground, an eerie shadow cast on her face.

Her eyes and lips barely visible due to the darkness but also due to the strands of her hairs that covered them. She no longer had the pony, rather, her hair remained free.

"Maya?", Lucifer called out yet again, walking towards her to check if she was fine.

But that was his mistake apparently. Maya lunged towards him, her right hand thrust forward with great speed and strength, aimed at his neck.

In an instant, she grabbed his neck, pushing him further and pinning him to the wall.

Thud!

His back hit the wall.

"Maya!?", Lucifer raised his voice, confused.

"Maya? Pfft. She is long gone.", a male's voice reverberated from the Maya's body.

As she raised her head, instead of the ordinary eyes, there remained a pair of menacing red eyes, staring right at him. Combined with that, a sinister nerve-wracking smile was etched on her face.

"Who? Who are you?", Lucifer asked, his voice wavy.

It was as if he was scared, shivering.

"What use telling that when you are about to die?", just as the words left her lips, the grip around the neck got tighter.

Cough!

Lucifer started to wiggle as if in pain which only caused smile to erupt on Maya's face.

"Hahahahaha!", a manly laughter exited her mouth, echoing throughout the alley.

"That's how you should grovel!"

"Die, peasant!", and the grip kept growing tighter.

But then all of a sudden, a gulp of blood exploded inside Maya's body, traveling all the way and exiting her mouth with a cough.

Cough!

She vomited blood which dripped down her lips and even got on her clothes.

"Wha-", confused, she stared down at the ground and then glanced at her clothes.

"Blood?", her gaze became blurry momentarily. Her eyeballs trembled in confusion for she couldn't understand what was happening, when finally, her gaze landed on Lucifer's face.

What she clearly observed was a smile – yes, Lucifer was smiling.

This time, his face was lowered, cast in shadow while only his smile visible.

"No way…"

"It can't be…", the words escaped her mouth following a few drops of blood.

And it was now, Lucifer's turn.

"Realized, have you?", a deep voice escaped Lucifer's mouth, reverberating in her ears.

The vision kept getting blurry and she felt difficulty in breathing. In fact, the one who possessed her felt the same difficulty, experiencing the same thing.

"Ugh! Let me go!", a loud bloodcurdling cry escaping her lips.

"Let you go? Aren't you the one who is holding me?", Lucifer chuckled, merely mocking the man.

The scenery changed and the roles were reversed. Nay, it wasn't reversed but was this way from the start!

Lucifer was the one who had grabbed Maya, yet the illusion that he cast made her believe that she had the upper hand. It made her believe that she had grabbed Lucifer's neck when in reality, Lucifer almost choked her.

Right now, Maya remained pinned on the wall, her feet barely touching the ground as Lucifer's left hand kept rising, lifting her with brute strength by her neck.

"Speak, who are you?", Lucifer asked, his eyes glowing crimson red, especially his pupils.

"D-don't you care what happens to her!?", the voice retaliated.

Lucifer merely chuckled, "Aye, I don't."

"I could gladly sacrifice her if it meant killing you."

The one that possessed her, glanced at Lucifer's dead serious eyes. He did not care about Maya. Right now, he cared about catching the man.

'I can't…'

'Need to escape!'

All of a sudden, Maya raised her head, her face facing the sky. Her mouth opened wide and from it came out a haze of red smoke, bursting forth with great force.

It acted like a smokescreen, blocking Lucifer's vision.

"I will kill you for sure! Just you wait!"

Those were the last words before the red haze vanished.

As Lucifer now blinked once or twice, he only found Maya in front of him, her heart beating normal.

"Alive."

"That's enough for now.", Lucifer uttered in the least audible voice as he pulled Maya closer to him, hugging her.