Due to the unexpected situation with the orange cat, Saul and White Beard didn't receive timely air cannon support. The two were temporarily trapped among the tree root walls, unable to advance or retreat.
"Kate!!!" White Beard shouted at the top of his lungs. "Whatever you've encountered, fire the air cannon first, or we can't get over to help you!"
Obviously Kate was the orange cat's real name.
White Beard was afraid the orange cat might not understand code names in his panic, so he called out his real name, hoping to get his attention.
White Beard's words had some effect, but not much.
Orange cat Kate did fire a small air cannon.
But the air cannon shot wide, about twenty meters away from the two men—roughly the same distance as from them to the tree stump.
"Damn it." White Beard couldn't help cursing when he saw this.
White Beard actually had backup plans for this situation, but those plans could only save himself.
It wasn't that he was particularly kind and wanted to save Saul, but after finally assembling a well-coordinated team, it would be a real shame to disband like this.Most importantly, who knew how long it would be before they could get this close to the tree stump again.
Just as White Beard was hesitating whether to use his last resort, Saul suddenly jumped into the air.
Immediately, numerous tree roots followed to attack him.
Just as White Beard was wondering if Saul had given up and wanted to escape, a large number of black blades suddenly appeared around Saul.
But this time, the blades were gleaming black, different from their previous dull state.
"He actually modified Jasim's strongest magic?"
The black blades shot out rapidly, instantly cutting through all the tree roots attacking Saul and embedding into nearby root walls, leaving small holes.
More black blades were fired toward the tree stump, turning the root walls there into swiss cheese.
But that seemed to be all.
In terms of attack power, it didn't seem much stronger than the original Soul Blades.
However, something happened that nearly made White Beard tear out his beard in shock.
This time, the tree roots cut by the bright black blades actually didn't automatically repair themselves.
Not only that, the tree roots seemed to have encountered corrosive liquid—the wounds pierced by the blades kept expanding.
The side toward the tree stump was even more exaggerated. Without White Beard needing to act, the root walls were corroded into a large hole.
Saul landed and looked expressionlessly at the dumbfounded White Beard. "This is my trump card. Let's move quickly before the effect wears off."
After speaking, Saul immediately charged into the damaged root walls, continuing toward the tree stump.
Despite Saul's demonstration, White Beard still cautiously observed for two seconds before following.
He was afraid of being affected by Saul's magic's corrosive effect.
To prevent being trapped here, he still chased after him before Saul's figure disappeared.
However, after entering the damaged root cluster, he indeed felt somewhat uncomfortable. Though not very serious, it showed how terrifying Saul's recent attack had been.
Moreover, this uncomfortable feeling was somewhat familiar, seeming like some kind of pollution, but he couldn't remember where he had felt the same aura.
With no time to think further, White Beard eliminated the scattered tree roots that appeared and finally reached the tree stump.
The tree stump was only two meters high, level with White Beard's height.
He leaped lightly and jumped up.
When jumping, two thoughts flashed through his mind.
First: The Black Blade Wizard's magic has quite a long duration. We've charged all the way here and the tree roots show no signs of recovery.
Second: Why haven't I seen Black Blade and Kate who should have arrived here first?
When White Beard's feet landed on the tree stump's fresh, newly-cut surface, the scene before him suddenly changed.
"Illusion?" White Beard didn't panic but immediately began observing his surroundings and spreading his mental power, trying to find Saul and Kate who had come up earlier.
Now, there was no tree stump or densely tangled tree roots around him.
Not only that, even the time had changed.
When they took action, the sun had just risen above the horizon.
At most half an hour had passed by the time he stepped onto the tree stump.
But now there was a crescent moon overhead.
Time had suddenly shifted from day to night.
Under his feet was a clean, neat stone road.
On both sides were towering buildings, with a few windows dimly lit while most were dark.
If Saul were here, he would recognize this as clearly the night scene of the inner city district before Caugust's inner city was destroyed.
But this night scene was somewhat abnormal.
Sometimes black figures would appear in the lit rooms around, but when you looked carefully, they would be gone.
"Hmph." White Beard sneered. "Using such low-level scare tactics on a second-rank wizard?"
However, he still cautiously walked to the middle of the road, staying away from the nearby buildings.
It wasn't that he was being stubborn—he was actually worried that this eerie scene might hide traps capable of harming him.
He wasn't afraid of ghosts—what he meant was he wasn't afraid of fake, harmless ghosts, not powerful second or third-rank ghosts.
There was a streetlight every dozen or so meters on both sides of the road.
However, the lighting was dim, only allowing people to barely see the road ahead.
Even though White Beard was a second-rank wizard with night vision abilities, it didn't work.
The entire illusion was sending signals to his brain that he couldn't see clearly.
"Since I came in, Black Blade Wizard and Kate should also be here. I just don't know if the illusion will prevent us from seeing each other, or even make us treat each other as enemies?"
"Don't look for people first. First find the source in this illusion that's affecting my spiritual body. Eliminate the source and naturally escape the illusion."
Within these few thoughts, White Beard had already made his decision.
He didn't stand in place waiting but stepped forward.
"Since I was facing this direction when I appeared, the illusion's source probably wants me to walk forward too."
Following the illusion's guidance, though it might lead to danger, could also help discover flaws more quickly.
White Beard was confident in his strength and naturally felt that action was better than stillness.
"Meow."
He had barely walked ten meters when he heard a cat's call.
White Beard chuckled mockingly. "Sure enough, changes are appearing."
"Meow."
Another cat call.
"The imitation isn't very good. Although Kate looks like a cat, his voice still differs somewhat from a real cat's."
Despite having seen through the other's disguise, White Beard still walked forward.
"Let me see who's calling."
He continued walking forward following the sound.
The streetlight overhead flickered several times, as if the magical device inside was malfunctioning. With each flicker, the light dimmed a little more.
After the streetlight flickered for the fourth time, a huge cat shadow suddenly appeared under a streetlight ahead of White Beard.
Due to the dim lighting, White Beard could only vaguely see the outline of the cat ahead.
He frowned slightly, feeling there was something strange about that cat's appearance.
"Trying to imitate Kate's appearance, but it's several sizes larger. And what's with those limbs? Is that cat standing on its tiptoes?"
The cat shadow ahead had its back arched high, limbs straight, with only the very tips of its claws touching the ground.
As if that cat wasn't standing on the ground.
But was hanging...
Hanging at a height where its claw tips just touched the ground.
(End of Chapter)