Gunmage
Chapter 68: Web of deception

Chapter 68: Chapter 68: Web of deception

Lugh’s vision blurred, darkness creeping in at the edges, but he still had options. His fingers brushed against the tarnished silver ring in his pocket, its effect unknown.

He could also command the dagger, Dain, telepathically, yet he was certain his opponent would anticipate that. No, he needed something unexpected.

His grip tightened on the unseen dagger in his other hand, a blade he had never named, but one whose terrifying properties he knew well.

It ignored all defenses, treating steel and stone like paper. More importantly, it could strike immaterial targets, piercing through illusions and phasing tricks alike.

A cold resolve settled over him. It didn’t matter if she could phase or not, this was checkmate.

Summoning the last of his strength, Lugh drove the dagger between his ribs, aiming for the heart.

His strike was true. And yet, something was wrong.

His hand connected, that much was certain. He had struck her. But there was no resistance, no wound, no blood.

To an outsider, it must have seemed like he had simply struck her with the underside of his fist. The blade should have been embedded in her body, yet she didn’t even flinch.

Instead, she simply glanced down at his so-called attack, her expression unreadable. Then, without a word, her grip tightened around his throat.

Before she could squeeze further, Lyra’s sword streaked forward like a rocket. The woman twisted to the side with inhuman precision, avoiding the lethal thrust.

Seizing the brief opening, Lugh raised both legs and kicked hard against her torso, breaking free from her iron grip.

He collapsed to the rain-soaked ground, coughing violently. Saliva splattered from his lips, washed away in the downpour.

The sword that had missed its target suddenly glitched, vanishing from the air before reappearing seamlessly in Lyra’s grasp.

Without hesitation, she charged, unleashing a flowing sequence of stabs and slashes, forcing the woman to retreat.

Then, just as quickly, Lyra fell back, crouching beside Lugh.

"Are you okay?"

She asked, eyes scanning his pale face.

"Yeah"

He rasped before adding

"Something is wrong."

"Of course it is."

The voice came from Xhi, who had somehow appeared without them noticing. Her deep set eyes flickered between Lugh, Lyra, and their enemy.

"If any random mage was this strong, the world would’ve ended a long time ago"

Xhi muttered.

"Huh?"

"Strong?"

Lugh and Lyra echoed, glancing at each other warily. Yes, the woman was formidable, but not to the level Xhi was implying.

Xhi sighed, then elaborated.

"The true rank of magic isn’t determined by power alone. It’s measured by how much it deviates from natural occurrences."

Lugh listened but still couldn’t grasp where she was going with this.

"Dimensional weaving. Cloning"

Xhi continued, crossing her arms.

"If she had phased through a single attack, I’d call her a once-in-a-thousand-years prodigy. Twice? A legend. Three times? An ancient dragon disguised as a human.

But she’s done it more times than I can count. And she’s created clones. Doesn’t that seem... excessive? Are her mana reserves infinite?"

The woman in question was smiling. Listening to their conversation, and waiting for them to reach the wrong conclusion. Amusement gleamed in her silver eyes.

"No. Her mana isn’t infinite."

Lugh exhaled sharply.

"To be precise... we aren’t even fighting her."

The words hung in the air, drawing all attention to him. He met their confused gazes

"You mean—"

Lyra started, her voice cautious.

"We’re hallucinating."

He confirmed

"Just like Captain Renshaw. Just like the soldiers we saw"

Lyra frowned.

"How can that be? We’re all seeing the same thing."

Lugh shook his head.

"It’s not strange at all. When we came out earlier, didn’t we see people playing a board game? Even though there was nothing there?"

He paused, letting the memory settle.

"My guess is these illusions can be shared."

A soft laugh broke through the rain.

"Oh?"

The woman finally spoke, her voice silky.

"You think this is fake?"

Amusement laced every syllable. Then, her hands crackled with arcane energy, and she smiled wider.

"Well then, let’s see how fake this pain feels."

She moved—but Lugh cut her off.

"Do you know the other enchantment of this blade?"

He said while pointing at Lyra’s sword. That stopped her.

Lugh nearly smirked.

"It’s an entropy blade."

A flicker of something crossed her face.

Lugh pressed on.

"It breaks down matter. Boils blood. Crumbles armor. Flesh turns to ash in seconds. In other words, it accelerates decay."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lyra’s expression shift. She was catching on. Good, that was good.

Lugh stared their opponent down.

"You’ve been wounded multiple times, and yet you aren’t dead. Aren’t those injuries also fake? They’re shallow cuts. No one would let their guard down because of them. What purpose do they serve now?"

The woman’s face darkened.

That was all the confirmation he needed.

Lugh exhaled. The answer had been simple all along. The effects of the enchanted sword never manifested simply because, she hadn’t known about them.

His invisible blade hadn’t worked because she wasn’t even aware it existed in the first place.

This might have been a hallucination, but it was a carefully crafted one.

His guess was that she used hallucinogens in tandem with illusion magic to reduce the mana costs.

They were most likely flailing at empty air, no different from the soldiers they had witnessed earlier.

That also explained why his Mawglass hadn’t broken the illusion. If it were merely a spell, it would have. But if their very perception was compromised?

It was like a scientist trying to see through a microscope while drunk. The lens was fine, but the viewer was impaired.

The signs had been there. When Lyra first arrived, Lugh had mistaken her for his mother, an absurd lapse in judgment.

Lyra herself had been unusually snappy, to the point of yelling at the priestess. A stark contrast from her usual demeanor.

Even Xhi, the ever graceful, poised Xhi, had tripped and fallen flat on her face inside the vehicle.

Yet they had ignored it all. Why?

Because she had told them to.

"How did you find out? Not only that, you also managed to remain completely unaffected."

Her words when she first arrived seemed like a casual remark when in fact, it was a carefully placed seed of deception.

She had used the same trick even when he was controlling Riley.

"You’re finally awake."

She had said, despite him having only been unconscious for a few minutes.

From what lugh gathered, she was of the extremely cautious type, a master who could craft elaborate webs of deceit with a few glancing words.

Fortunately the Fisherman, the accomplished spy whose memories he had stolen, was a lord of deceit in his own right.

A soft clapping sound echoed through the rain.

The white-haired woman smiled, slow and deliberate.

"Well done,"

She murmured, silver eyes gleaming.

"You’ve figured it out."

She leaned forward slightly.

"So... what now?"