Chapter 303

“Stop.”

In that instant, an unbelievable miracle happened.

The Demon Wolves faltered for a moment.

Chris had momentarily disrupted the Beast King’s conjuring.

It was only a brief pause, but that was all it took.

Whoosh!

A storm of blood surged forth.

The Demon Wolves’ necks were severed in an instant, their heads floating in midair.

“What?! How did you interrupt my conjuring?”

The Beast King shouted in shock.

“I just did it.”

“What did you say?”

“If a mere beast like you can do it, it’s nonsense to think I can’t.”

Of course, that was a lie.

‘I used a trick.’

He had used Alos.

There was a reason he had left the demonic beast Alos abandoned in the demon realm.

Currently, Alos’s soul was bound to Chris.

Through Alos as a medium, Chris could wield dark magic.

He had secretly observed the direct descendants of the demon realm performing their conjuring and devised a way to counter it.

‘I also referred to the conjuring manual the Beast King gave me.’

Though the demon realm’s conjuring differed entirely in method from the manual, the core principles were inevitably the same.

“You bastard!!”

The Beast King’s eyes went wild as his cherished demons were slaughtered.

Ignoring his summoned beasts, he charged at Chris.

Though the Beast King’s conjuring was powerful, his main strength lay in his martial prowess.

His terrifying sword strikes came crashing down.

Slash!

Chris’s neck was cut, his head floating in the air.

The Beast King smiled triumphantly, but then his eyes widened.

Suddenly, Chris’s body dissolved like mist.

An illusion!

“How?”

It was nearly impossible to fool someone like the Beast King with illusions.

No matter the illusion, he could distinguish it through his senses.

“No matter how sharp a beast’s senses are, all it takes is to deceive them.”

“What?”

“Come out.”

To everyone’s surprise, another Chris appeared.

It was Jupien disguised as Chris.

Thanks to the Crest of the Constellation, even the essence was perfectly mimicked, making it impossible to tell who was real.

But Chris’s trickery didn’t stop there.

Swish, swish.

Three, four, five… seven, eight.

Countless Chrises appeared.

They were mirror illusions modeled after the original.

The problem was that these illusions were manifested through the Crest of the Constellation.

Since the illusions were based on the essence itself, even the Beast King’s senses couldn’t tell them apart.

‘Moreover, with two Jupiens as the source of these illusions, it’s even harder to distinguish.’

On top of that, this was a sacred place imbued with illusions.

And a place where senses were disrupted.

In the end, the Beast King’s only option was to slash through every illusion.

But that was no easy task.

First, the summoned beasts of the Illusion Realm held him back.

“A fake again? You fell for it once more?”

“Shut up!!”

“Ah, this time it’s real. But you’re too slow.”

No matter how strong the Beast King was, he wasn’t the kind to play hide-and-seek with illusions and catch them.

Granted, Jupien was a problem, but Chris had prepared a solution for that too.

‘That’s why I made them my minions.’

As minions, they could share senses in real time, allowing Chris to relay solutions in moments of crisis, narrowly avoiding danger.

“You! Wolf or dog? You stink. Go wash up.”

“You bastards!!”

In the end, the Beast King changed tactics.

He abandoned Chris and decided to strike at the Illusion Realm.

“Your cheap tricks won’t work!”

Boom!

The Beast King’s power overturned the Illusion Realm’s domain.

“Ugh!”

The Illusion Realm groaned.

The Beast King was renowned as the strongest head of a prestigious magical family, relying purely on physical strength.

And now, wielding the Berserker Sword, his power was beyond imagination.

Every time he swung his sword, the illusionary world trembled as if an earthquake had struck, and the Illusion Realm’s complexion grew paler.

‘As expected, it’s not enough.’

The Illusion Realm’s achievements were lacking, but the matchup was also unfavorable.

As king of countless Ain tribes, the Beast King possessed mental defenses far stronger than other absolute beings, making him especially resistant to mental attacks like illusions.

Therefore, the Illusion Realm had to intervene directly in reality through illusions to inflict damage, but it was insufficient against the Beast King.

Eventually—

“Cough!”

The Illusion Realm spat blood.

He had reached his limit.

The Beast King smiled grimly.

“You brat of the Dark Demon Realm. Next, it’s your turn. I’ll cut your throat, plant your head on a flag, and burn the Dark Demon Realm to ashes.”

But Chris only smirked.

Despite being outnumbered, his attitude was incomprehensible.

“Well? I don’t want to hear the barking of a dumb beast who doesn’t even realize the danger he’s in.”

“What did you say?”

Then, something unbelievable happened.

Stumble!

Suddenly, the Beast King staggered.

His vision was engulfed in darkness, as if he had fallen into empty space.

He was caught in an illusion!

“What?”

The Beast King reacted as if it was impossible.

The Illusion Realm beside him was equally stunned.

“Did he cast an illusion on the Beast King? That’s absurd.”

Even the Illusion Realm couldn’t deceive the Beast King with illusions, but Chris had done it!

“It’s thanks to studying illusions hard for the past few days.”

“…What nonsense is that?”

“I studied, and it worked.”

A story that made the Illusion Realm, who had devoted his life to illusions, look like a fool.

Of course, Chris had used a trick.

‘I used the Berserker Sword.’

Giving the Berserker Sword was obviously a trap.

One the Beast King would never notice.

‘Normally, it wouldn’t even be considered a weakness.’

The Berserker Sword amplifies its wielder’s power like a berserker.

In the process, the wielder’s mind becomes similar to that of a berserker. Not losing reason, but altered enough to be a formidable magical sword.

The problem was that this process created a faint mental vulnerability.

So subtle it was almost undetectable, and even if noticed, impossible to exploit.

But the problem was that the Beast King’s opponent was Chris.

Throughout the battle, Chris had secretly targeted this mental weakness and finally succeeded.

‘Of course, the power of my illusions isn’t that strong.’

What mattered was that he had created a crack in the Beast King’s mind.

“You bastard!! I’ll kill you!”

The Beast King tried to shake off Chris’s illusion and charge, but it was too late.

The Illusion Realm stepped forward.

Whoosh!

An illusionary spell infused with the essence of the Illusion Realm struck the mental crack in the Beast King.

Its power was, of course, terrifying.

“Arrgh!!!”

Confused by the illusion, the Beast King writhed in pain, screaming.

The tide of battle reversed in an instant.

‘This is the terrifying nature of illusions.’

Fighting the Illusion Realm’s sorcerers was all or nothing.

If you could resist the illusions, you won.

If you succumbed, it was over.

“Beast King, a worthless beast like you dared to insult me until now. I’ll make you drown in eternal torment and die.”

The Illusion Realm’s illusions piled on, piercing deeper into the Beast King’s mind.

As if trying to crush and erase his mind completely with illusions.

“Arrgh! Illusion Realm, you bastard!”

The Beast King didn’t just take it lying down.

He summoned all his strength to shake off the illusions.

But it was useless.

“Me too?”

Chris intervened intermittently, disrupting the Beast King’s resistance.

Then—

Flare!

“Arrgh!!”

Flames erupted from the Beast King’s body.

His mind was not only consumed by illusions but the illusions manifested physically from his body into reality.

‘It’s over.’

The fire was just the beginning.

Ice hell, electric storms, blades raining down—countless illusions materialized, ravaging the Beast King’s body in moments.

Boom.

The Beast King collapsed, and the arena fell silent.

They had defeated the Beast King!

“Ugh.”

The Illusion Realm spat blood again.

Though victorious, his injuries were severe.

“This isn’t exactly a time for congratulations.”

Wiping the blood away, the Illusion Realm glared at Chris.

A clear murderous intent in his eyes.

Jupien frowned, tilting his head.

“What’s up with that old man?”

“Who knows?”

Chris shrugged.

“Why the glare? You changed your mind now that the Beast King’s down?”

“No.”

The Illusion Realm sneered.

“I never intended to keep you alive.”

A chilling statement.

From the start, the Illusion Realm planned to use Chris and then eliminate him.

The reason was simple.

“Are you trying to ally with the Four Kings’ Castle?”

“Yeah. The Dark Alliance has no chance against the Four Kings’ Castle anyway. If I’m going to side with someone, better to side with the winner.”

A cold murderous aura radiated.

“You’ve been so arrogant until now. I’ll make you writhe in endless torment within illusions and die.”

A desperate crisis.

No matter how exhausted the Illusion Realm was, he was an absolute being among the eight stars.

There was no way Chris could win.

“Try me.”

“…What?”

“Let’s see just how great you really are.”

Chris’s confident attitude made the Illusion Realm scowl.

“That arrogance ends now!”

Whoosh!

An illusionary spell struck Chris’s mind.

The Punishment of the Eight Prisons.

By experiencing eight kinds of excruciating pain through illusion magic, it wasn’t just mental torment—the punishments manifested physically, leading to a gruesome death.

Just as a scream was about to burst forth, Hwangong twisted his lips into a crooked smile.

“Wow, this is impressive. Such a sophisticated illusion.”

“!!”

Chris let out a sound of admiration.

In a calm voice.

“What?”

“Oh, you’re wondering how I’m okay? Since I know it’s all fake, there’s no need to panic. You just have to see through the illusion.”

“Don’t talk nonsense!!”

Low-level illusions can be dispelled by simply discerning what’s real and what’s not, but this was no ordinary illusion.

You need the mental strength to withstand the ‘compulsory force’ of high-level illusions.

‘No way…’

A thought struck Hwangong, and his eyes snapped open.

“This isn’t over, is it? It feels like a waste to end it here. Put more effort into it.”

Gritting his teeth, Hwangong unleashed the illusion again.

All-out, powerful illusions rained down, but the result was the same.

Chris remained completely unharmed.

“W-what…?”

Hwangong stumbled backward.

Chris smirked.

“Let me ask you something. Did you really think I didn’t expect you to betray me?”

“!!”

That’s right.

Chris had anticipated Hwangong’s betrayal.

In fact—

‘I was hoping you would. Taking out Hwangong was the only way to fully subjugate the triangular alliance.’

He had no worries.

“Unfortunately, my mental strength surpasses even the Beast King’s. Believe it or not, my body transcends the limits of mortals. No matter how hard you try, you won’t be able to break me with illusions.”

Hwangong clenched his teeth.

“W-what… shut up!!”

Whoosh!

The illusory world Chris had used against the Beast King earlier unfolded again.

All kinds of phantom beasts were summoned, radiating a fierce aura.

“You’ve already revealed all your weaknesses. What’s the point of this?”

Crash!

“Ugh!”

With a flick of Chris’s hand, the domain of control shattered.