Macar was taken aback. “What?”
“I mean... we might not actually be in reality. Haven't you noticed we haven't run into a single other person this entire way?” Ogre walked toward a patch of shadow, then rolled up his sleeves and called out, “Night Crow!”
‘Master... I am here,’ Night Crow's voice resounded in Ogre's heart.
“It does seem that way. Wait! Who is Night Crow?”
Macar was extremely curious, but he soon got his answer—as a crow as pitch-black as a shadow flew out from Ogre's shadow.
“A shadow demon!” Macar's eyes went wide. “How... how could Miss Gelin be a Rogue?”
“Is this a mirror space?” Ogre had no intention of explaining, instead simply posing the question to Night Crow.
“My master, this is reality,” Night Crow, hiding in the shadows, replied.
‘Being able to summon Night Crow... could this be a false illusion?’
“Then why can't I touch him?” Ogre pointed at Macar.
“My master... Night Crow does not know either.” Night Crow was also somewhat dazed.
It didn't understand how it had suddenly been summoned when it had been resting so peacefully.
‘Wait, that person's outfit... could he be a Paladin?!’ Hidden under the shadows, Night Crow finally took a close look at Macar.
“Let me just try to grab you,” Macar also realized that now was not the time to fuss over Ogre's identity.
But he would definitely have to inspect this shadow demon later!
“Kar,” Ogre called out softly, but he couldn't stop Macar—their bodies passed right through each other, unable to touch.
Then, Macar reached out to grab Night Crow, but a bizarre scene occurred—his hand passed straight through Night Crow, even passing right through the trunk of a tree.
“Is it my problem?!” Macar finally discovered the cause.
“Kar, on your calf...” Only now did Ogre notice something abnormal on Macar's calf.
“When did...”
Macar looked down at his calf. A red needle was pricked into it.
‘Why don't I feel pain?’
Realizing that the needle might be the cause, Macar immediately bent over, reached for the thin needle, and yanked it out.
“Wait!” Ogre tried to stop him.
But Macar had already completed the action. The instant he pulled it out, his body began to flicker.
Then Macar vanished.
He vanished right before Ogre's eyes.
‘What's going on?!’ Ogre's mind fell into a slight disarray.
“Master, that Paladin seems to have been removed from reality,” Night Crow's voice resounded in Ogre's heart.
“I'm just wondering... when did he get hit...” Ogre muttered to himself.
He looked up at the sky—nightfall was not far off.
...
“Where is this?” Macar looked around, highly alert.
But his surroundings were a complete void.
“Paladin, do you feel fear as well?” A female voice sounded from behind Macar.
Swish—
Macar didn't waste any words, spinning around and slashing with his sword, but hit only empty air.
“Just as decisive as when you killed my 'brothers,'” a white-haired girl slowly materialized in this void space. “So decisive that they lost all value in an instant...”
“You didn't save your brothers who had turned into monsters, yet you pop up now to threaten me... Let me guess, your ability is just utilizing illusions—you're afraid of me!”
Macar still pointed his sword at the white-haired girl.
“You won't know until you try,” the white-haired girl smirked coldly.
Immediately afterward, she dissolved into a plume of black mist. When she reappeared, she was already behind Macar, baring the fangs in her mouth.
...
“And here I thought we were already pulled into a dream back when we were in the village.” Ogre leaped down from the tree.
Just now, standing on a high point, he had used his enhanced vision to look toward the town and spotted other adventurers.
It seemed they hadn't run into anything earlier simply because of luck.
In other words, he wasn't trapped in some dreamscape together with Macar...
After all, if all of this could be a dream, that power would simply be too terrifying—Ogre felt that someone with such power wouldn't resort to such a cowardly fighting style.
This was not a level of power a Professional could possess.
Yet the strange attacks and powers shown later didn't seem like something an ordinary Professional could manage either.
“That fellow's target is only Macar... but why didn't they make their move earlier? Was it to wait for the moment his guard was down?”
Ogre felt that what had just occurred was a bit too strange.
Right now, he was pondering the reason why this opponent had made their move so late.
“Time... numbers?” Ogre felt like he was missing something.
‘Should I leave this place, or keep waiting for Macar...’ Ogre looked at Night Crow beside him, who had yet to fully recover.
“Night Crow, have you noticed anything?”
Night Crow: “...”
Could it say no?
“Just what could the reason be?”
...
“What on earth are you...”
After flaring his battle qi to repel several consecutive attacks, Macar couldn't help but feel suspicious—he could sense that each of the opponent's attacks was physical.
Failing to connect with her consecutive attacks, the black mist transformed into bats before reforming into the white-haired girl, landing lightly on her tiptoes in this void space. “Just a victim of a mad Warlock's experiments.”
“A vampire? A shadow demon? Doesn't look like either. What kind of product is so deformed...” Macar felt a bit of a headache, as his battle qi wasn't very effective against this creature either.
But he could also understand why they hadn't detected this creature's attacks earlier—the creature hadn't been in the real world at all before this.
“You call me deformed?!”
As if her sore spot had been struck, the white-haired girl's eyes instantly turned crimson.
“Hmph. No matter what your past is, it cannot be an excuse for harming ordinary people!” Macar's body flared with battle qi as he swung his sword forward.
“You cannot harm me.”
As expected, his sword swing struck empty air once more.
Accompanied by a sharp, piercing sound, the white-haired girl reappeared behind Macar, mocking him ruthlessly.
“Shouldn't you be the one angry? You didn't save anyone.” Macar turned around, calm and unbothered.
He was certain that this creature had been watching since they entered the village.
But she probably hadn't expected him to be able to slay the snake-man in a single strike, let alone drive the other, fleshy man into becoming a semi-monster.
A flesh-ball man who had become a semi-monster was effectively dead anyway, regardless of whether he killed him afterward.
“Knight, your power will eventually run dry...”
“And your power isn't endless either. Otherwise, there would have been no need for you to even appear. Since you struck so impatiently, it only proves that you are the one who is afraid...” Macar said, his eyes clear and sharp as he held his sword.
The final lesson in becoming a Paladin was to face fear and remain calm.
Only then would one not allow their flaws to be exploited by a variant.
As for consumption?
The greatest strength of a Professional Knight was none other than their endurance, which allowed them to fight for three days and three nights!
“Then let's drag this out!” The white-haired girl's figure vanished in an instant once again.
She merely showed up from time to time, baiting Macar into burning his battle qi.
...
“Is it dark yet?”
Ogre stood up from the tree he was leaning against.
With the arrival of nightfall, Night Crow finally had the capital to move freely—its current body's transformation was incomplete, making it useless during the day.
It could only exert some power at night.
Two days of recovery was still too short.
“Night Crow,” Ogre called out softly.
“Master...” Night Crow flew over and landed in front of Ogre.
“You can enter the mirror world, right?” Ogre reached out his hand and asked.
Rate on N.U.
