It was hard.
It was very, very hard.
To deceive a Mana Core-level existence.
Adam felt like he had achieved significant mastery over the Eternal Soul Lotus as he weaved an elaborate illusion to deceive Felix’s senses.
And not only that, he had even kept the illusion running for more than ten minutes—or at least, what he felt were more than ten minutes—until Felix was certain that Adam was indeed truly injured.
In the process, the youth received several more injuries just by remaining in the vicinity of their battle. A battle between two Mana Core-level beings was truly frightening, to say the least. Moreover, Adam couldn’t even protect his body with mana.
He had to play the part of being on death’s door; otherwise, Felix would have never cancelled the chain spell. Considering how cautious and cunning the cultist was, Adam had to go to great lengths to deceive him.
But Adam was able to deceive only him...
For so reason, the four-ard monster had been immune to his illusions. Perhaps it was because it was blind, or perhaps sothing else entirely. But Adam knew that he had failed at deceiving the creature.
That is why, when the creature had "severed half his body", it examined his torn body part with confusion. Then, the next thing it did was approach Adam to finish him off, knowing full well that its previous attack had sohow been dodged by the youth.
Luckily, Felix had arrived just in ti to save him. Also, fortunately enough, the four-ard creature was incapable of communication, or it might have given away the fact that Adam was completely unhard.
Still, Adam had to go to great lengths to fully deceive Felix. One could argue that more than fooling the man’s senses, Adam’s greatest achievent was deceiving his mind. After all, Felix had once seen through his illusion before, so what was stopping him from seeing through it again?
That is why Adam risked his life to act completely incapacitated while still being bound to the chain. He risked being heavily injured—and perhaps, even dying—by staying close to the two Mana Core Rank beings’ ferocious battle. And all that while, he didn’t even raise a finger to protect himself.
It was only then that Felix was convinced that Adam was truly incapacitated.
It was only then that Felix was truly deceived.
Trickery and deceit didn’t always require magic. There was a philosophical truth in that statent, but Adam was in no position to reflect on it now.
The mont he felt the chain around his neck disappear, he couldn’t help but feel exhilarated. It might have seed like nothing from the outside, but Adam had never risked so much to co out victorious. Moreover, he had won without using his fists.
Despite being free from the chain spell, Adam still remained motionless, lying on the ground, gasping for air. He still kept the illusion of his mutilated body activated... just in case.
His caution paid off, though. Felix spent another ten minutes keeping a watchful eye on Adam while battling the four-ard monster. Only then did he shift the battle away from the youth.
Adam had already sustained far too many injuries just from being near their battle. Any more and he wouldn’t just be close. He would die.
Stay calm, stay calm. You’re almost there, he thought to himself, trying his best to prevent a wide grin from appearing on his face.
His eyes were burning from overusing the lotus, but he endured the pain anyway.
Adam closed his eyes, feeling his anchors in the material world. Several seconds passed, but nothing happened. Just when panic started to bloom in his heart, he finally felt it.
It was the Staff of Calamity!
He held onto the faint connection that anchored him to his ho. After establishing his return route, he extended his Sphere of Resonance outward. Felix and the four-ard creature were still locked in a deadly battle.
Furthermore, they were far away from him. Their battle took them further down the hill.
Ah, luck is truly on my side today, Adam thought gleefully.
The distance between them was safe... for now. The ti it would take Felix or the monster to close that gap was just enough for Adam to weave his hand seals, conjure a portal, and leap through it.
He continued to keep a watchful eye on the two’s battle, while at the sa ti, he cancelled the illusion on himself, and started weaving hand signs as fast as he could.
Once he cancelled the illusion, two things happened almost imdiately.
"Constantine!!"
A furious roar erged from sowhere down the hill. The voice belonged to Felix. It would appear that the cultist, too, had been keeping an eye on him.
But even though Felix may have realized that he had been tricked, he still couldn’t do anything about it. He was still engaged in a deadly battle against the ruler of the snowy island.
However, he had already made arrangents!
"If I don’t leave this realm, then neither will you!!" Felix’s wrathful voice, filled with indignation, was heard once again before being drowned by the thunderous explosions of his battle with the four-ard monster.
The second thing to happen was...
Boom!
A blackish-red centipede erupted from the ground underneath the raven-haired youth. Caught off guard, he could only widen his eyes in shock as the summoned creature coiled around him in an instant, and then... viciously squeezed.
Adam’s spell-casting was interrupted, and the portal that was re seconds away from materializing in front of him instantly flickered out of existence.
He gritted his teeth, his dark eyes gleaming with a divine, holy light.
And just before the centipede’s claws were about to bite into his body and turn him into at paste, he blinked out of existence once again, reappearing over a dozen ters away from the creature.
He had committed a grave oversight. Earlier, while using the Sphere of Resonance, he only tried to sense his surroundings. He never thought about looking out for any potential dangers underground. And that was what led to his current failure.
Blood spurted out from his eyes as his vision grew blurry, and his thoughts turned sluggish. He bent over and coughed out a mouthful of blood.
"Damn it all!" He cursed out loud. He didn’t even have enough ti to catch a breath because the centipede was almost upon him.
Cursing under his breath, he turned around and dashed towards the summit of the peak. This ti, he didn’t teleport. He simply used his physical strength to scale the distance.
He needed to outrun the centipede. He needed to get as far away as possible from Felix and the four-ard monster. And finally, he needed to get the hell out of this accursed place.
And he needed to do it quickly!
Adam dashed towards the summit at his fastest speed, the monstrous centipede slithering in relentless pursuit behind him.
But little did he know, an even greater horror awaited him at the summit.
One far more terrifying than the four-ard monster...
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