Chapter 190: The Shattered Illusion

The Shattered Illusion

Rowan’s staff intercepted it.

Pale Spiritual Qi surged from the elder’s weapon, colliding with the purple energy around Lothe’s spear. The impact sent dust across the floor.

Rowan’s expression turned furious.

"You dare?"

His staff twisted against the spear. Then he drove forward.

BOOOOM!

Lothe’s weapon was knocked aside. His body shifted with the impact, but he rotated his wrist and redirected the force before it could break his stance.

Rowan attacked again.

His staff swept toward Lothe’s ribs.

Lothe ducked beneath it and stepped inside Rowan’s reach, thrusting toward his abdomen.

Rowan turned his waist, allowing the spearhead to pass beside him. Lothe reversed the shaft and struck toward his wrist.

Rowan blocked with the center of his staff.

CLANG!

Their weapons collided.

Rowan’s cultivation was higher, and he could have overwhelmed Lothe with raw force. But Lothe refused to fight at his rhythm.

He kept his movements short and precise, using the spear’s reach and spatial control to exploit small openings.

A thrust forced Rowan to adjust his footing.

A short sweep made him change his grip.

Lothe shifted angles, sending the spear toward Rowan’s shoulder.

Rowan parried, but the spearhead still grazed his sleeve.

His eyes narrowed.

For the first time, he was being forced backward.

Lothe had not surpassed him. He was simply preventing Rowan from using his superior strength properly.

Lothe rotated the spear and struck Rowan’s staff near its center, pushing it away from the attack line. He followed with a thrust toward the elder’s chest.

Rowan twisted aside.

The spear passed close enough to disturb his robes.

Lothe shifted his grip. Purple spatial Qi gathered around the spearhead.

He prepared to strike again.

But the child remained behind Rowan.

The elder’s eyes burned with fury.

"Enough!"

His Spiritual Qi erupted, shaking the chamber.

At the same time, another lion beast roared and lunged toward Darian’s weakening barrier. Caelan rushed to intercept it, while Oren’s projections scattered to contain another beast.

Nyren saw Lothe’s spear moving toward Rowan’s chest.

She acted immediately.

Frostveil swept through the air.

Silver ice Qi surged from the blade, forming a translucent barrier between the two cultivators.

KRAAAASH!

Lothe’s spear struck the ice.

A fracture spread across its surface.

Nyren’s expression changed. The barrier was reinforced with her Spiritual Qi, yet the spear continued pushing through.

Lothe rotated his wrist, concentrating his spatial force at the point of impact.

BOOOOM!

The ice barrier shattered.

Crystalline fragments scattered across the chamber. Nyren staggered from the backlash, but Lothe continued through the falling shards, his spear still aimed at Rowan.

Their weapons collided again.

CLANG!

For a brief moment, they stood locked together.

Rowan’s greater cultivation pressed down on Lothe’s spear. Lothe’s meridians strained as the strange vitality drain continued weakening him.

He shifted his rear foot, rotated his hips, and redirected the pressure through the spear shaft.

The weapon slid along Rowan’s staff.

A narrow opening appeared.

Lothe stepped into it and drove his shoulder forward, forcing Rowan to adjust his stance. His spearhead rose toward the elder’s throat.

For an instant, Lothe regained control.

Then Rowan released one hand from his staff.

Spiritual Qi gathered in his open palm, dense enough to distort the air.

Lothe saw the movement and tried to withdraw his spear.

He was too slow.

Rowan’s palm struck his chest.

BANG!

The Qi-coated blow shattered Lothe’s spatial defense. The impact sent him flying across the chamber.

"Little Fox!"

Seana moved immediately.

She abandoned her position crossing the roomim a blur of crimson light, her Nine Crimson Blood Pearls flashing around her.

She caught Lothe before he struck the ground, though the force pushed her several steps backward.

Lothe coughed, pain spreading across his chest.

Seana held him upright, her expression tight with concern.

"Are you hurt?"

"Nothing broken," Lothe said through clenched teeth.

"That wasn’t what I asked."

Before he could answer, a lion beast slammed into Darian’s barrier. Its surface flickered.

Caelan moved to intercept it while Darian reinforced the ward. Oren’s projections attacked another beast’s flank, and Nyren’s Frostveil Sword flashed with silver ice Qi.

Rowan remained between Lothe and the child, staff raised. "Don’t come near him again!"

Seana helped Lothe straighten. His gaze passed over Rowan and settled on the boy, still clutching the elder’s robes.

"Grandpa Rowan..."

Rowan’s expression softened. "I’m here."

Lothe watched them. He had suspected Rowan was the illusion’s anchor, but he hadn’t expected the elder’s reaction to be so fierce—or his counterattack to hit so hard.

The beasts were still attacking. The drain continued. The longer they stayed, the weaker they became.

Seana turned to Lothe. "You had better have a good explanation for what you just did."

"I think we’re inside an illusion."

Darian glanced at him. "You think?"

"I can’t confirm whether the whole chamber is fabricated or if something is manipulating our senses. But the creatures, the drain, and the child may be connected." Lothe winced as he shifted. "The beasts’ markings keep glowing after they fall. Our strength fades at irregular intervals. And the more urgently we react, the less time we spend questioning what’s happening."

Another beast lunged at Oren. He and his projections moved together, drawing it off balance before striking its leg. The creature collapsed. Red mist rose from its markings, and Oren’s shoulders tensed as the drain hit again.

Lothe kept his eyes on Rowan.

"I don’t know what’s causing it. But I think it’s using something we care about to keep us fighting."

Caelan followed his gaze. "The child?"

"Rowan seems more attached to him than the rest of us."

Rowan’s expression hardened. "You attacked him to test your theory."

"Yes."

"And if you were wrong?"

"Then I was wrong."

Lothe didn’t make excuses. "But the drain was getting worse, and we couldn’t keep fighting without understanding why."

Rowan’s grip tightened around his staff.

"You want to save the missing children," Lothe continued. "You want to find whoever took them. And solving this case could bring you recognition in the sect. Those reasons may all be genuine."

Rowan stared at him.

"But your reaction to this boy is different," Lothe said. "You protect him as if losing him means more than failing the investigation."

Rowan’s anger faltered. He looked down at the child, who still clutched his robes.

"Grandpa Rowan," the boy asked, "why is he saying those things?"

Rowan’s breath caught.

He knew that voice. He remembered the boy’s fear, the questions he’d asked, and his promise to take him somewhere safe.

But when Rowan tried to recall their first meeting, the details slipped away. He remembered the emotion clearly; the surrounding events wouldn’t settle into place.

The boy tugged at his sleeve.

"Grandpa Rowan?"

Rowan looked down at him. The fear in the boy’s face seemed real. That made the doubt harder to bear.

What if the child was a real captive? What if Lothe was wrong?

Rowan glanced at the others, still fighting to protect him. Their strength was fading.

If he kept defending the boy without questioning the illusion, the whole team might fall.

"You promised you’d take me home," the boy said.

"I did," Rowan whispered.

"Then please don’t leave me."

Rowan looked down at the child clutching his robes. He could still see the pale face, the dirt on his cheeks, the fear in his eyes. He could still remember the boy asking for help when they first opened the door.

Behind him, a beast roared.

Darian’s barrier shuddered under another blow. Caelan and Nyren fought to keep the creatures away from the others. Oren’s movements had grown slower. Seana’s pearls still circled Lothe, but their light had begun to fade.

Everyone was suffering.

And Rowan was still guarding the boy.

"Elder Rowan!" Lothe called over the noise. "We can’t keep fighting like this!"

The elder heard him. He also heard the boy.

"Please," the child whispered. "Don’t let them take me back."

Rowan’s hand tightened around his staff.

His duty was to protect the child. His instincts told him that leaving the boy would be a betrayal.

But the longer he held on, the weaker the others became.

Lothe’s suspicion might be wrong. The boy might be real. Rowan might be about to abandon a child who had trusted him.

The thought hurt more than the beast’s claws or the draining force in his body.

The child tugged at his sleeve. "You said you’d keep me safe."

Rowan closed his eyes. "I know."

"Then don’t let go."

For a moment, Rowan couldn’t move.

He had spent his life protecting people who couldn’t protect themselves. He had taken that responsibility seriously, even when it cost him. The boy’s fear felt real because Rowan’s concern for him was real.

That was what made the illusion cruel.

"Argh!" Seana cried as she deflected a beast’s claws with her Blood Moon Sword.

Rowan opened his eyes.

He looked at Lothe. The young man was barely standing, blood on his lips and one hand pressed to his chest. Seana was still shielding him. Darian’s barrier was close to breaking. The others were losing strength by the second.

Rowan had to choose.

His eyes returned to the boy.

"I’m sorry," he said.

The child’s grip tightened. "Please."

Rowan raised his staff, but his arm shook.

"Please don’t leave me."

He hesitated again.

Then another beast struck Darian’s barrier. Cracks spread across its surface.

Rowan saw the others stumble. He saw Seana’s pearls dim. He saw Lothe still trying to stand.

He could not protect the boy by sacrificing everyone else.

"I’m sorry," he repeated, his voice breaking.

Rowan brought his staff down.

It passed through the child.

The boy didn’t bleed. He didn’t fall like a living body. A crack appeared across his chest, thin as a line in glass.

The child looked down at it.

Then back at Rowan.

"Grandpa Rowan?"

Rowan’s face twisted with grief. "I’m sorry."

The crack spread across the boy’s body.

The child reached for him, but his fingers broke apart into tiny fragments of light.

Then he shattered.

The boy vanished.

To everyone else, Rowan’s staff had struck empty air.

But Rowan remained staring at the place where the child had stood. His hand shook around the staff, and his breath caught in his throat.

The beasts froze.

The crimson mist stopped moving.

For one quiet moment, the entire chamber held still.

Then the illusion began to break.

The beasts blurred at the edges, their glowing markings stretching into threads of red light. The walls cracked like glass. The floor beneath them dissolved into darkness.

Darian’s barrier flickered out.

Oren dropped to one knee, gasping. Nyren caught his arm before he fell. Caelan lowered his sword, still watching the space where the creatures had been.

The draining pressure eased.

Not all at once, but enough for everyone to feel their strength returning.

Rowan stood motionless, his staff lowered.

"Elder Rowan," Seana said softly.

He didn’t answer.

The chamber disappeared.

Cold air swept across them. When the darkness cleared, they were standing in a forest clearing, surrounded by tall trees and pale grass. Thin mist moved between the trunks.

There was no transfer chamber. No iron door. No broken wall.

Only the child was gone.

Rowan lowered his head. For a moment, he seemed older than he had before.

Lothe pressed a hand against his aching chest. They had escaped the illusion, but they still didn’t know who had created it or why it had brought them here.

Then a calm voice came from the mist.

"Take them away."

Nyren turned toward the sound. Oren raised his sword. Caelan’s Qi stirred, and Darian reached for his formation rings. Seana’s crimson pearls formed around her.

Lothe tried to summon his spear.

An unseen force swept through the clearing.

Their Qi scattered. Their bodies stiffened. One by one, they fell unconscious.

Lothe’s last sight was Rowan standing alone in the mist, his staff lowered, still staring at the empty space where the boy had been.

Then everything went black.?