Atticus’s Odyssey: Reincarnated Into A Playground

Chapter 1267: Illusion

Atticus gazed at the blue dome that had covered most parts of the wasteland with narrowed eyes.

’A trap?’ he wondered. They’d been shooting through the wasteland for a while now, why was it only happening now?

And besides, they weren’t even flying close to the ground. How the hell had anyone sprung a trap?

Atticus glanced at the others. Ozeroth had also narrowed his eyes, while the others had frowns on their faces as they stared at the dome.

Regardless, they didn’t stop. Doing that seemed stupid. If this was a trap, then they had every intention of blasting right through it.

But barely a second passed before Atticus felt a heavy force slam into his mind.

’What—?’

His vision went blurry for a moment, then his will roared. In his mindscape, it looked like a bonfire being doused with fuel.

The invading force vanished as quickly as it had come, and his vision cleared.

’A mind attack.’

Atticus shot his gaze back to the others. Ozeroth had squinted, his expression twisted. It looked like he was fighting an internal battle, but Atticus could tell he was going to be okay. Ozeroth wasn’t the one he was worried about.

He tore his gaze away and focused on the others, then came to an abrupt stop.

Magnus, Aric, and Zenon had all stopped moving. They hovered in the air, wings flapping slowly, gazes lost as though they’d entered another world entirely.

’They couldn’t fight it,’ Atticus realized. Though their wills were restricted, it was only to the point that they couldn’t use them offensively.

He and Ozeroth still had their depth, still had their boundlessness. They had just been attacked in the mind. Atticus had fought it off. So had Ozeroth.

But Aric, Magnus, and Zenon, though they had hardened wills from countless life and death experiences, hadn’t been able to resist.

’What are they seeing?’ he wondered.

Their eyes were lost, darting all over the wasteland, constricting at every second. It looked like some kind of army was marching toward them.

Atticus glanced around, but there was nothing.

’An illusion.’ He realized quickly. Only an illusion could make someone see what wasn’t there.

He focused on the mana in the air. If he could read and copy the mana signature of the world, he could negate the mana fueling it. No illusion or technique could persist without a source.

But not even a second passed before a frown appeared on his face.

’It’s rapidly changing…’ he thought, mind already spinning. Just like with the Empress, something, or someone, was rapidly altering the mana signature around them.

’Around the dome.’

The realization made his mind run cold.

’They knew.’

This wasn’t the kind of power just anyone could have. Copying and modifying a world’s mana signature wasn’t something people at their level should be capable of.

That was common knowledge. But whoever did this had taken deliberate precautions.

Against him.

Atticus’ gaze turned cold.

’Quiet Flame didn’t say anything…’

They hadn’t just known about their arrival. From how specific this trap was, it was clear they also knew what he could do, what he was capable of.

Which begged the question, had Quiet Flame told Eldoralth what the opposing team was capable of?

Somehow, Atticus doubted it.

’He would have said something.’

And besides, it was probably a rule that only the Stars who had attended the Virelenna meeting knew about.

’He probably had no idea he could warn them,’ he concluded. But that didn’t make it better.

In fact, in Atticus’ mind, it made everything worse.

’Eldoralth is the only unprepared world.’

The world of Vortharion had been prepared. Eldoralth was not. The situation was far more dire than he’d thought.

The enemy could reach the city before anyone even realized there was a threat.

’We have to move fast.’

That was the one thought that stuck in his mind. Atticus snapped his mind back into focus and turned to the trio.

“Can you hear me?” he said.

The trio’s heads snapped toward him.

But Atticus’ gaze sharpened the moment he saw their eyes. There was no recognition. No familiarity. Only one thing filled their gaze, killing intent.

Atticus’ expression darkened as their auras exploded, hands reaching for their weapons.

“They’re trapped in an illusion,” Ozeroth suddenly said from behind.

Atticus glanced back and saw that his eyes had turned completely clear.

“You’re okay?” he asked.

“Of course I’m okay,” Ozeroth said with a smirk. “Their puny mind nonsense can’t work on me.”

Atticus turned back toward the trio. Their eyes looked at him and Ozeroth like they were nothing but enemies.

“I’ve always liked those two. It’s a shame we’ll have to put them down,” Ozeroth said suddenly, pointing at Magnus and Aric. He ignored Zenon.

Atticus silenced him with a glare.

“We’re not taking anyone down,” he said with a frown. “They’re acting like this because their minds have been poisoned.”

“So what do you suggest? We waste time trying to calm them down?” Ozeroth shot back.

Atticus’ eyes flashed as his mind spun. “No. I have an idea.”

The trio’s auras erupted again. Their killing intent blanketed the scene as they began to surge toward him, just as Atticus raised his hand.

An orb of pure mana appeared above his palm, pulsing once before detonating into a dome that encompassed the group.

His mind worked fast. His other hand rose, a dark brown aura forming above it, the aura of negation.

The next second, he released it.

The aura washed over the trio in a burst of light, and the mana around them vanished like a candle caught in the wind.

Magnus, Aric, and Zenon froze mid air, and Atticus saw their eyes begin to regain focus. They glanced around the wasteland, then turned toward Atticus and Ozeroth, confused.

“What happened…?” Zenon asked. An army of soldiers had been charging at them just moments ago, but now, they were gone, as though they had never existed.

Worse still, Atticus and Ozeroth had appeared like high ranking enemy officers, exuding overwhelming power. The three of them had been charging to fight them, then everything vanished all at once.

“You were all trapped in an illusion,” Atticus said quickly, gesturing down at the blinding sigil spread out beneath them.

Their eyes widened.

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