NOVEL NEXT Chapter 133: Thousand Illusions
Just like before, when Agares arrived in front of Virelion's gate, there was no one there. He had spent a lot of time on the 85th floor—around six months. Yet, no adventuring party had managed to reach the 80th floor.
Even if someone did, it was unlikely they could enter the 81st floor because of their status. They would just be stuck in despair, realizing there was no way to move forward.
"Are you ready?" Agares asked. Aoi nodded in response.
He removed his gloves and revealed a red saber pattern glowing on the back of his right hand.
The saber pattern fired a laser forward, activating the gem above the door, which immediately opened.
Slowly, he stepped through, with Aoi still sitting on his shoulder. The farther he walked, the closer he got to the cliff's edge—where floating floor islands connected through the skies.
He had already conquered the floor islands from the 81st to the 90th. Technically, Agares had completed the 85th to 90th floors during the Advanced Trials.
He didn't know if there were more Advanced Trials on the higher floors.
'Hopefully there are, since I already know how to deal with them.'
"Hold on tight, Aoi."
Aoi nodded, summoned her fox claws, and dug them securely into Agares' armor. Black bat wings emerged from Agares' back, and he immediately took off, flying through the sky and past several floor islands.
"What kind of trial is waiting on the 91st floor?"
"I don't know. But judging from the previous trials, it's probably going to be much tougher."
"I'll try handling it alone. Once it's done, you can help me, Aoi," Agares replied.
The white fox nodded in agreement. She didn't know what kind of trial was ahead, but based on Agares' strength, she felt confident that he could overcome it.
They passed over the floor islands from 86 to 90. Aoi and Agares only saw them briefly from above since they had no reason to visit. Those trials had already been cleared.
Agares stopped flying when he reached the border between the sky of the 90th floor and the 91st. An invisible wall blocked his path. He tried touching it—it felt solid and impossible to pass.
"What's going on?" Aoi asked.
"There's a barrier between me and the 91st floor."
"Hmm… maybe you can use the knight token to get access," Aoi explained.
That idea hadn't crossed his mind. He patted his magic pouch and gripped the knight token with his right hand.
Surprisingly, the token marked with "91st floor access" stuck to the invisible wall like a magnet, causing the wall to open and letting the token's owner pass through.
Agares smiled. Aoi's idea worked perfectly—the solid wall recognized the access rights of his knight token.
He retrieved the token and flew into the sky above the 91st floor island. The conditions were just like before—nine islands, each with life on them. Knight soul fragments floated across the area.
But something shocked Agares.
The knight soul fragments acted aggressively. They flew from the city straight toward Agares as if he were an intruder. Their intent to kill was obvious.
"Damn it! Has the trial already started?" Agares groaned.
He flew fast, dodging their attacks using his wings, then turned and fought back.
With the purple-lit Shadepiercer in hand, Agares swung his sword sideways, releasing a shadow slash that struck multiple knight soul fragments at once.
They vanished—but reformed just as quickly. Not just one or two, but all of them regenerated.
Agares' attack was useless against them.
'They didn't disappear. They just reformed their soul fragments. Looks like saber skills won't have much effect on them,' Agares thought.
He had to think fast to dodge their attacks and make it to the city.
Then he remembered Aoi's ability—mid-level illusions. Illusions worked well on someone's consciousness. While the soul fragments might no longer be fully human, they were still souls.
The soul and consciousness couldn't be separated. If one was affected, the other could be too.
"Aoi."
"What?" she asked.
"Use your illusion to trick them."
"What kind of illusion?"
"Make it look like there are thousands of us. That way, they'll have to chase one of the copies."
Aoi fell silent for a second, then nodded. She understood exactly what he meant and was ready to act.
She closed her eyes. The blue patterns on her fur glowed brightly—her power was activating. A cold white mist burst from her body, sharply reducing visibility.
Inside the mist, Agares saw illusions of himself. Not one, but hundreds—each floating in the air with the same black wings. Aoi had done it.
The knight soul fragments entered the mist and started looking around in confusion.
There were hundreds of Agares, and they couldn't tell which one was real. Their only option was to destroy all of them and find the original.
Seeing the advantage, Agares flew backward, letting the soul fragments chase after the illusions.
When he spotted an opening, he darted forward and slipped past a few fighting soul fragments, finally reaching the 91st floor island.
As soon as he arrived, the soul fragments stopped chasing him—as if there was a barrier. Agares felt relieved. Aoi's illusions vanished from the sky now that he was safely on the island.
"One problem solved."
"Now comes the trial."
Agares walked through the city gate. Just like before, the city was filled with soul fragments interacting with each other, completely ignoring Agares.
[91st Floor]
[11th Saber Knight Trial]
[Trial: Invasion]
[Objective: Stop the Invasion and Protect the people until the time is over]
[Duration:]
[00:06:00:00]
[Accept Trial?]
[Yes || No]
Agares paused mid-step, his eyes locked onto the trial panel that appeared before him. This trial was different from the ones before.
A timer had appeared, meaning Agares had to hold back an enemy invasion, organize citizen evacuation, and protect everyone from the attackers.
He had six hours to survive the invasion. But he didn't know what counted as failure in this trial.
Would someone dying mean failure? Was there something he had to protect? He had no idea.
One thing was certain—this trial was much harder than the last.
Agares would have to manage his power and keep a clear mind to complete it. If he failed, it would all be a waste of time.
"Invasion?" Aoi asked.
"I knew this kind of trial was coming. But I never found any clues."
"I need to be careful."