Chapter 66: The End of the Tok Mercenary Corps

Swoosh!

A fragment of stone is picked up by Tok, hurled violently into the sky, the stone emitting a shattering sound as it speeds toward its target.

Yet at the moment the stone is about to strike the youth, an invisible force field halts it.

Pause, reverse, accelerate.

The stone, at exactly the same speed, fiercely counterattacks the original thrower.

Tok raises his hammer, the hard magical weapon collides with the stone, instantly crushing the latter.

Naimi Xisi chuckles, his figure gradually blurs, as if space were warping.

Then twelve identical figures split from his body, quickly spreading across the sky.

Tok's face darkens as he tries to discern which is the true body, but to no avail.

"Damn, illusionists are really troublesome."

The mercenaries grab bows and arrows, firing at the Spellcaster in the sky; Tok gives a look to one of them, and another immediately sneaks back underground.

The dense rain of arrows, before reaching Naimi Xisi, meets the same fate as the stone.

Under the protective field of Reverse Arrow, any projectile is imparted kinetic energy by the Magic Net's power, sending it back to its point of origin.

"Don't rush," one of the Naimi Xisis said,

"Your turn will come," another figure added.

Naimi Xisi extends a hand, and all the figures follow suit, massive Mana continuously flowing, countless Star Matter coalescing beneath the thirteen figures.

Four-ring Creation System ability 【Star Matter Construct】 ×50!

A full 350 points of Mana evaporate into the air, massive Star Matter manifests from the void, tendrils intertwine, forming hundreds of figures.

Centaur clad entirely in black armor materializes in the world under the power of Mana; unlike ordinary centaurs, each bears a massive, robust ram's horn atop its head.

They are Swift‑step Leapers, Star Realm monsters that match a Seventh-level Warrior.

"Damn, how are there so many monsters! This is impossible! It's all an illusion! Yes, it must be that damned illusionist's illusion! Don't panic!" Tok shouts loudly.

Naimi Xisi's lips curl in a mocking smile, of course it's the power of illusion.

Four-ring Illusion system spell 【Phantasmal Scene】 created thirteen times the number of monsters, of which only fifty are real.

But how would they know which are the real ones?

The Swift‑step Leapers impatiently paw at the ground, then the dark, massive half‑goat half‑horse monsters charge at the mercenaries.

Even though they know in their hearts this is most likely false, an illusion; yet these pretentious low‑level professionals, upon seeing the monster horde bearing down, cannot help their legs trembling.

Some mercenaries, when a Swift‑step Leaper is about to collide, crouch in fear, awaiting death; others try to run backward, testing whether their two legs can outrun the four‑legged beast.

The illusion, after contacting one mercenary, immediately passes through him and stops behind, the illusion looks at the mercenary resentfully, angrily exhaling hot breath.

The mercenary freezes briefly, stands, raises both hands, and joyfully shouts, "It's all fake, all fake."

He had only said half the sentence when another Swift‑step Leaper charged at him; he boldly stared at the foe while joyfully shouting his discovery.

But the next instant, when the Swift‑step Leaper touched his flesh, it was not a passing illusion but a real, violent impact and the ensuing pain.

The mercenary is slammed dozens of meters away, a large hole gaping in his chest; the Swift‑step Leaper's sharp, hard ram horn easily pierces his chest, the massive thrust shattering all his ribs. Such scenes are common; among countless illusions, a few truly powerful monsters are interspersed.

Some lucky ones evade the real monster attacks; others merely dodge in vain.

The mercenaries are being decimated, and Tok feels the same distress.

He hasn't even had time to grieve his men's losses; under the attention of several Swift‑step Leapers, he has already relied on his strong combat intuition to dodge multiple blows.

But one genuine creature overlapping an illusion breaches his guard, slamming into him hard.

His previously flawless white magical armor now cracks open with several large fissures; another hit would likely render it completely broken.

"Damn. We must identify which are illusions, or we'll be worn down eventually. That idiot still hasn't shown up!" Tok mutters inwardly.

He flips and leaps again, evading an illusion's strike; a figure emerges from the basement passage, the mercenary who had just sneaked away.

He holds up a cat's eye stone, hurls it at Tok: "Boss! I got the True Knowledge Stone! Catch it!"

Tok catches it quickly; the next instant, the cat's eye stone turns to ash, an invisible force covering his eyes.

Six-ring Divination system spell 【True Knowledge Art】! The greatest nemesis of the Illusion system, an eternal foe.

"Oh? The True Knowledge Stone?"

Naimi Xisi looks at Tok with interest; he knows this single‑use magical device is a very expensive and popular Magic Item.

The True Knowledge Stone uses a cheap cat's eye stone to bear one 【True Knowledge Art】 activation; the user can expend the stone to temporarily gain the ability to see the true nature of all things.

It is an important income source for senior spellcasters, because in Frelen's adventures, the power of True Knowledge Art is virtually usable in any situation.

Tok, empowered by 【True Knowledge Art】, instantly sees through all illusion disguises; clusters of Arcane Power coalesce within the illusions, driving their forms in the world.

Tok, brimming with confidence, lifts his refined iron hammer, ignoring all the incoming illusions and focusing solely on the sole genuine Swift‑step Leaper.

The hammer's massive force smashes the centaur's long neck, the unrivaled impact instantly snapping its cervical vertebrae; the centaur whimpers as it collapses, silver blood spilling from the broken bone that pierces the skin.

A black pentagram gem on Naimi Xisi's chest gently lifts, wavering in the air as if stirred by wind.

The youth points a single finger, an evil curse descending upon the white knight.

"Exhausted, weakened."

Three-ring Necromancy spell — 【Curse of Descent】! Afterwards, Naimi Xisi whispers a tongue‑twisting incantation, and a more evil power is manifested by mana.

Four-ring Necromancy spell — 【Weakening Energy】! Four-ring Illusion spell — 【Sensory Deprivation】! "No, curse! It's a Necromancer!" Tok kneels on one leg, covering his eyes, shouting wildly.

The necromantic curse coils around his body, siphoning his strength; even the knight's robust physique cannot halt the spreading evil.

The weakness alone is lethal; following it is the deprivation of the five senses.

Sight is the first to fade; darkness beneath Saar's hem shrouds Tok, then he finds the surroundings fall into silence.

Next comes the loss of smell, then taste, and finally the sense of bodily touch.

Tok tries to scream loudly, but he doesn't know if his mouth is open, and he cannot hear his own echo.

He falls into a dead silence.

(End of chapter)