He had underestimated the dark cloak.
Ace realized that now.
The dark cloak had been ssing with their minds the mont they stepped foot into the cursed land. It seed they didn’t only work at night; they were active anyti.
Ace made his face calm and composed. His sword was still pressed against Julius’s throat. One thing he couldn’t forget was that the dark cloaks could manipulate illusions.
Julius might not be Julius, and the so-called Jeff might not be Jeff.
One thing was certain.
A monster was among them.
"Julius, when did we have a Jeff among us?" Ace asked.
Julius frowned. "Well, the Jeff that we recruited two weeks ago because...! Wait, what’s going on?"
The others, who had also caught up with what was going on, distanced themselves from the so-called Jeff. The reality and clarity of the situation had begun to unravel the illusion placed in their minds.
Fortunately, the illusion hadn’t taken a firm grasp of their minds yet.
Ace watched Jeff. "Are you the monster?"
Jeff shook his head, his smile gone. "I... am Jeff! You know , right? Rember how we t? You personally ca to find and said you wanted to join you...!!"
Ace’s face darkened, and he swung his sword around. "Enough. I have made my decision."
Julius, beside him, nodded. "Good. We should deal with the monster quickly."
Celia frowned. "What are you...?"
Ace swung the sword again. This ti, he added acceleration, and the blade had crossed Julius’s neck before anyone knew what was happening.
Blood sprang into the air, and the head rolled in disbelief.
The others reacted with the sa manner of surprise.
They jumped away, their bodies moving into fight mode and Etherion aura covering them like a cloak, rippling in the air around them.
"What the fuck, Ace!"
"What are you doing?"
"The hell!"
The only one that sighed in relief was Jeff.
Ace flicked his sword. "I have killed the monster."
Serena blinked, and the ash sword she was holding devolved. "The monster..."
As they watched, the body of Julius on the ground rippled and twisted. The body lted away to reveal what lay beneath.
A monster that was as dark as night with a wrinkled body and long claws. It looked like the wrong version of a goblin but far thinner, like it was starving.
Everyone looked at Jeff.
The Jeff they were looking at slowly changed, the illusion on him wearing away, and they saw what lay beneath.
Julius.
Julius’s eyes were almost vacant. He blinked several tis as if he was just waking up from a dream. He was. "Shit, I thought I was going to die."
Derrick looked from the monster’s body to Julius. "What the fuck is going on!"
Ace returned his sword. "The monster had been ssing with us from the very beginning. Their target was Julius, likely because he’s the weakest and their greatest threat here.
"They slowly put an illusion in our minds, that of a new mber that would likely replace Julius in our minds if I didn’t notice in ti."
Ethan swallowed as he realized how dangerous the place they were walking was.
The others felt the sa way as they moved together.
"Then what about Julius? Why didn’t he shout?"
Julius adjusted his glasses. "Because I’m also under illusion, a much stronger one that targets my mind. It’s almost as if I was dreaming, and yet I was aware, but my mind wasn’t fully under my command."
Julius looked at Ace and shuddered. "My question is though, how did you know which one is or the monster?"
"You tried to adjust your glasses as Jeff. I guess your strong habit can’t be overridden by illusion that easily. And the whole aura surrounding the Jeff beside was wrong."
Ace looked up at the sky. "We’ve lost a bit of daylight. Julius, you must start protecting us with your mind powers now. Serena, I hope you are ready."
Julius nodded with a grimace. "I’ll try my best."
Serena nodded. "I will start once the sun is down."
They continued walking, only stopping to eat once. Ace made himself stop at random intervals to count them. Even with Julius protecting their minds, he was still on guard.
The cursed land had no other monsters, and that’s one thing they were glad for.
But gradually, night fell, and the darkness that had been trailing them since got bold enough to cover them, crowding around them and blanketing the sky above them.
It was as if they were surrounded by black ink, with them in the middle.
"So, when are we going to kill them?" Ethan asked as he tore into dried at.
They were sitting around a box equipnt that gave off fire and ran on an Etherion battery. They held sticks and took turns to roast their at.
Surrounding them were five rods driven into the ground, each rod giving off blinding lights.
Julius grimaced and massaged his head. "Yes, when? They’re getting more forceful. My head will soon explode."
"Well, Serena?" Ace asked.
Serena raised her stick, and with her mouth full, she mumbled sothing.
Ace looked at the darkness around them and the eyes he felt on him. The monsters must have been frustrated because their usual strategy wasn’t working.
They first take control of their prey’s mind and then stalk them until they devour.
But now, things were different.
Ace pointed at the light. "They won’t fight us today. They’re not desperate enough. We too won’t go out. We’ll just spook them right back."
He then went to the chest and picked up a small ball. With his Etherion as activation, the ball lit up with golden light.
Without waiting, he turned and hurled it at the darkness.
The ball parted the darkness as if it wasn’t there, and in that brief instance, they saw red eyes and claws.
Before the light ball could reach the ground, three spears of ashes blurred forward, and three dark cloaks fell.
Celia shook her head in awe. "Even their death is silent. They’re the perfect creep."
Ace picked up more balls. "We will deal with so of them tonight."
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