"You old lecher, it’s all your fault. Swallowing saliva like you can’t hold it in."
"How can you blame me? She took her clothes off without any warning, I was shocked too."
"You were shocked! Next time someone battles with you, they could just throw a few beauties your way, and you’d surrender immediately?"
One voice carried a tone of complaint, while the other tried to clear their name, feigning innocence.
To No. 03, these voices sounded unbelievably familiar.
Isn’t this the voice of Ferro and Nis?
Could they be here?
Aren’t they outside, raging incompetently?
No. 03 couldn’t help but look at the water mirror she had summoned earlier. Inside, Ferro was still wildly burning the Surge Alchemist’s head, while Nis summoned countless undead flames to vent his anger through their blaze.
At first glance, everything seemed normal.
But soon, No. 03 noticed something wrong, as when she tried to retract the water mirror, she found that it wasn’t under her control at all. It was as if she hadn’t summoned it.
No. 03’s face contorted in shock, and she couldn’t help but take a step back.
Meanwhile, the image in the water mirror began to ripple, and the previously furious Ferro and Nis suddenly froze, like puppets on strings, gradually turning their heads to meet No. 03’s gaze through the mirror.
The two in the water mirror simultaneously wore strange smiles.
No. 03’s face turned pale in an instant.
Like a startled beast, she leaped up, frantically smashing everything around her, whether it was the golden pool or the chairs and sofas in the crystal area. But after she wrecked them, these objects only turned to smoke and quickly reformed, as good as new.
"Illusion!" she snarled, the word hissing out through her clenched teeth.
By now, how could No. 03 not understand? Everything that felt strange or wrong, it was all due to an illusion. Not only was the golden pool fake, but everything around was fake, even this Watermark Space was fake.
Everything around was an illusionary realm.
Such a realistic and intricate illusion, capable of deceiving even her, few in the Southern Domain Wizards’ Realm could achieve this.
At any rate, it was definitely not Nis and Ferro.
This means someone is hiding behind these two.
Recalling Nis and Ferro’s background, No. 03’s face darkened abruptly, a name slipping out, "Illusion Master?"
In the Barbarian Cave, only Sanders and Sumishe could perform an illusion to deceive her senses. She knew of Nis’ good relations with Sanders, so her first thought was Sanders.
As for Angel... Although the base had received intelligence that Angel advanced to wizard, No. 03 didn’t think that a newly advanced wizard, likely having learned only a few spell techniques, could deceive her with illusions. Moreover, No. 03 hadn’t realized that Angel was an illusionist wizard; in her understanding, Angel was a remarkably talented alchemist.
Thus, No. 03 almost concluded that it must be Sanders who came.
With a Second Level True Knowledge Wizard personally present, how could No. 03 not look grim?
However, No. 03, too shocked at the time, hadn’t noticed some overlooked details, such as: if Sanders really came in person, there’d be no need to hide, nor to stage such a scene before.
Having already made a decision on a cognitive level, preconceived notions obscured No. 03’s subconscious call.
"To think a wizard from the Outer Domain has heard of my name, should I consider it an honor?" a deep, hoarse voice sounded inside the Watermark.
"So it really is you, I didn’t expect even the Illusion Master would be sent to deal with our base." No. 03 almost gritted her teeth as she spoke.
"Hehe..." A chuckle from deep in the throat echoed in her ears.
The more persistent the laughter, the worse No. 03’s expression became.
In her preconceived notion, the acknowledgment of Sanders’ identity by the other party could only mean it truly was Sanders, without a doubt.
"Ma’am, are you sure you want to talk to me in this posture? I certainly don’t mind, but it does give my old friend an advantage."
No. 03 glanced down, and her face, already ashen, grew even more so.
Had it not been for Sanders’ reminder, she would have forgotten that she was still stark naked.
With a wave, the blue-scaled dress that had fallen to the ground draped over her again.
Once she had dressed, the space in front of her flickered, and three figures appeared before her simultaneously.
One wore a calm expression, seemingly deep in thought, this was Ferro; another one had a look of regret, wiping saliva, this was Nis. As for the last person, sitting on a sofa, dressed in a black gentleman’s suit with a felt hat, holding a short cane, exuding the aura of traditional nobility – that was Sanders.
No. 03 had seen pictures of Sanders, so she recognized at once that this was the undefeated War God of the Southern Domain, Sanders.
However, compared to Nis and Ferro, Sanders’ figure appeared somewhat illusory, seemingly just an illusion.
"The Illusion Master comes in person but is unwilling to show his True Body?" No. 03 knew escape was nearly impossible, thus she seemed calmer than before.
"I am here, it’s just that you can’t see," Sanders responded blandly.
Sanders’ words darkened No. 03’s eyes further; she understood the implicit meaning of his statement. — Not only now, but even during her battle with Ferro and Nis, Sanders had been watching, unbeknownst to her.
Sanders was pointing out an insurmountable gulf between them.
It was a gap of status, as well as strength.
Of course, this was No. 03’s overthinking. Angel, suddenly inspired and roleplaying his mentor, did not intend that much when he said those words... He was merely pondering how to behave like a strongman mentor, ensuring No. 03 couldn’t discern the reality, so he chose a strategy: deliberate mystification.
As for how to mystify deliberately, it was to not share the same context as the opponent, to transcend, to overlook, to be vague.
Angel’s words indeed had some effect. No. 03’s own assumptions led her to believe Sanders didn’t reveal his True Body because she was too weak, not because of the opponent.