The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices

Chapter 145: It Wasn't an Illusion, It Was Reality

The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices – 145

EP.145 It Wasn’t an Illusion, It Was Reality

Raymond quickly pulled Luna back. She cried out, trying to reach the fallen Elliot, but Raymond held her back. Now was the time to think rationally. He had to protect Luna at all costs.

“Why are you doing this? What has this child done wrong?”

“Oh, God… Another fool bewitched by the witch….”

Raymond’s pleas fell on deaf ears. The villagers slowly advanced towards him and Luna.

“Please, I beg you. This child is innocent!”

Desperately, he stood in their way, but he was soon stabbed and fell to the ground.

“You dare protect a witch? You must die here as well!”

Blood poured from Raymond’s abdomen. It had been such peaceful days… How had it come to this? Luna’s anguished cries echoed in his ears. She wept, overwhelmed by the sorrow of losing her father and the guilt of seeing Raymond fall while trying to protect her.

‘Hah…’

Maybe he should have fled with Luna. He should have been more cautious when the village chief made that request. He had been too complacent. But Raymond’s thoughts didn’t continue. His consciousness began to fade. It felt like he was floating on water, the line between reality and illusion blurring.

The sounds around him grew fainter and fainter.

‘This… could it be…?’

Raymond recalled the sensation he had felt when he first entered the illusion. The scene before him gradually lost its color, and his body felt increasingly light.

‘Kaleido, you bastard!’

He finally understood the situation. At this critical moment, he was being pulled out of the illusion.

‘No!’

The agony of leaving behind the horrific scene, escaping alone, was unbearable.

‘I’m sorry….’

But his words reached no one. His vision blurred, and his consciousness began to fade.

“……”

“……”

Luna’s cries and the villagers’ shouts were no longer audible. Raymond struggled to turn his head. His gaze fell upon the adventurers.

‘Dambi… Lils….’

The adventurer who had introduced himself as a half-vampire. Even if he couldn’t trust him, the woman beside him was a mage. Perhaps the two of them could stop the villagers.

He looked at them with all his might. He wanted to beg them to protect Luna. But no words came out.

“……”

Just as his consciousness was about to slip away completely.

Dambi’s eyes met Raymond’s.

“……”

He still couldn’t hear anything. However, he could vaguely understand the meaning through Dambi’s lip movements.

Don’t. Worry.

Yes, the man seemed to say that. No, he had to have said that. Soon after, Raymond’s vision went dark.

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“Haah!”

Raymond shouted as he bolted upright.

“Welcome back. Did you enjoy your exploration in the illusion?”

The inn was gone, replaced by the reality he had returned to. In front of him stood Kaleido, grinning as he greeted Raymond.

“No… Please, send me back…! I beg you…!”

As soon as Raymond regained his senses, he fell to his knees, pleading. But all he received was a cold rejection.

“Haha, the place you were in was merely an illusion.”

Kaleido’s curt response.

However, Raymond couldn’t dismiss the emotions he had felt as fake. Even if it was an illusion, he wanted to go back and finish what he had started.

“I told you not to get consumed by the illusion. And more importantly, illusion magic isn’t something that can be used so easily. Compose yourself.”

With Kaleido’s continued persuasion, Raymond calmed his mind.

‘Yes, it was just an illusion.’

Raymond adjusted his clothes.

But then, he felt something damp.

‘…Blood?’

There were faint traces of blood on his clothes.

‘Where did this blood come from…?’

He suddenly remembered that he had come here with his friend, Ethan.

“By the way, where is Ethan?”

Ethan was nowhere to be seen. They had definitely come together.

“Well… he said he had something urgent to attend to and left. Besides, Ethan refused the illusion magic from the start.”

Raymond nodded at Kaleido’s words. Normally, he would have been suspicious, but he didn’t have the energy for that now. The exploration of the illusionary world had drained him completely. More than anything, he was more concerned about what had happened to Luna. Ethan’s whereabouts seemed trivial in comparison.

‘Then whose blood is this…?’

The blood on his clothes puzzled him. He had been cut by a sword in the illusion, but there was no reason for blood to appear in reality.

Something was off.

Lost in thought, Raymond asked Kaleido a question.

“Was it really illusion magic…?”

It was a small doubt. Even Raymond found his question absurd, but Kaleido simply smiled again.

“What do you think?”

The ambiguous answer didn’t satisfy Raymond, but he moved on. He wouldn’t get a clear answer from Kaleido.

“Oh, as promised, here is this.”

As Raymond tried to leave, Kaleido handed him a pouch. Inside were numerous gold coins and jewels.

“Since you completed the exploration safely, this is your reward.”

Kaleido’s smile was like that of a child who had just received a delightful toy.

“……”

Raymond snatched the pouch and immediately turned away. Normally, he wouldn’t have accepted it, but there was something he needed to verify. He headed straight into the darkest alleys of the underworld. After wandering for a while, he entered a small, dimly lit shop. Inside, a woman with her face covered awaited.

“What do you need?”

This was a place where information was bought and sold in the underworld. Raymond wanted to confirm a faint possibility.

“I’m here to buy information.”

He lowered his voice as much as possible.

“Is there a place where an inn was recently attacked?”

An inn that had been attacked. In the illusion, Raymond had been attacked by villagers at an inn.

“An inn that was attacked… that’s too broad.”

Unfortunately, there were countless inns for adventurers across the continent. Many of them had been attacked by monsters, adventurers, or bandits. He regretted not finding out which country that place was in. Why hadn’t he asked such basic questions while talking with Luna and the adventurers?

Raymond chastised himself and elaborated on his question.

“The inn was in a forest, or maybe a mountain? And a village… no, several people with weapons attacked the inn.”

The woman pondered Raymond’s question for a moment. She then sifted through a pile of documents and pulled out a sheet of paper.

“Ah, there is a similar incident.”

There was an incident that closely resembled what he had experienced. Raymond felt a mix of excitement and dread, hoping it wasn’t the same event he had gone through. It was better if the story within the illusion remained just that—an illusion.

“It’s similar to what you described, but there’s not much information. The inn’s location was indeed in the mountains.”

As the woman continued, Raymond’s expression grew more serious.

“According to the information, bandits killed the innkeeper. The number of bandits is estimated to be in the dozens, but their exact identities remain unknown.”

So far, it matched. The inn’s location was similar, and from an outsider’s perspective, the villagers could be mistaken for bandits.

“What happened next?”

If the incident was known, there should be a conclusion. Raymond couldn’t hide his excitement and shouted.

“That’s all the information we have.”

“What?”

It was unbelievable. That was all?

“No, if the incident was investigated, there should be results. What is this…!”

The woman slightly bowed her head and whispered to Raymond.

“The next piece of information is uncertain. However, it is quite dangerous, so the fee is high. Are you okay with that? Again, it’s not confirmed information.”

Raymond nodded and opened the pouch he had received from Kaleido. He took out some gold coins and a few jewels and handed them to the woman.

“For reasons unknown, this information is being controlled by the Sael Kingdom.”

“?”

Information controlled by the kingdom? It seemed far from the details he sought. The story of Luna and the villagers wasn’t something that would be managed at a national level. Still, he had already paid for the information. Refunds weren’t an option, so Raymond decided to listen to the woman’s words before leaving.

“Just take this with a grain of salt. Don’t go spreading it around.”

What kind of information warranted such caution? He had no intention of gossiping, so he nodded in agreement.

“To get straight to the point, all the bandits who raided the inn are dead.”

A sudden revelation. All the bandits dead? Perhaps a powerful adventurer had been staying at the inn? The image of the adventurer party flashed in Raymond’s mind.

“Well… I don’t know how the bandits died, but one thing’s certain: it wasn’t the work of humans. According to the information, there’s a rumor that it was the work of a vampire, but it’s not confirmed.”

“A vampire…?”

“Yes, a vampire. It may sound ridiculous, but if a vampire was involved, it makes sense why the Sael Kingdom would control the information.”

Normally, he would have laughed at such an absurd claim, but Raymond’s expression remained serious.

‘Dambi….’

He thought of Dambi, the adventurer who had introduced himself as a half-vampire.

“Moreover, there were traces of magic used at the scene. But the combination of a vampire and a mage… it’s just a ridiculous story, so you don’t need to take it too seriously.”

Raymond mulled over the information. An inn in a remote mountain. A band of raiders.

‘The location, the situation, even the presence of a vampire and a mage….’

Everything was eerily similar to what Raymond had experienced. It couldn’t all be a mere coincidence.

‘No, it can’t be a coincidence.’

This led to another question. Were the events he experienced truly an illusion? He recalled Kaleido’s ambiguous response to his question about the illusion magic.

– What do you think?

‘Kaleido, you bastard!’

A small doubt transformed into certainty. Raymond, now convinced, asked his next question with urgency.

“Was there a small girl’s body among the dead?”

His tone had changed, filled with desperation. The woman frowned at his question. However, since Raymond had already paid for the information, she reluctantly continued.

“I’m not certain, but while there were bodies of the innkeeper and the guests along with the bandits, there was no mention of a girl’s body.”

Raymond bolted from his seat and ran towards the arena building. He searched every corner, trying to find the place he had entered with Ethan. But the location he sought was nowhere to be found.

“Sir, is there a problem?”

A guard managing the arena approached Raymond. Before he was dragged out by the guard, he couldn’t find the place where Kaleido had been.

It was only then that he realized. The world he thought was an illusion was, in fact, reality.

Raymond believed it to be true.

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– All intruders in the Satellite Dungeon ‘Nest of Corruption’ have been repelled.–

– The Satellite Dungeon has been perfectly defended.–

– A special reward is granted.–

– As a special reward, the Satellite Dungeon ‘Nest of Corruption’ gains the Concealment attribute. The dungeon owner can set the concealment status.–

– As a special reward, Kaleido’s (★★★★) magic is enhanced.–

– Kaleido’s skill ‘Eye of Illusion (A)’ is upgraded to ‘Prison of Illusion (S)’.–

– Eye of Illusion (A): Sends the target into an illusionary world. -> Prison of Illusion (S): Traps the target in an illusion, making it impossible to distinguish between reality and illusion.–

– Kaleido’s skill ‘Illusion Projection (B)’ is upgraded to ‘Illusion Distortion (A)’.–

– Illusion Projection (B): Projects an illusion as if it were real, confusing the target. -> Illusion Distortion (A): Disrupts not only the target’s visual perception but also their senses.–