Hikari: Rise Of The Weapons Master

"How many times has this happened?" Emma asked while wiping the blood off her face.

"This was the twenty-third time they tried to trap us in an illusion," Zack replied as Eirias glowed brightly in his right hand.

The sword was not glowing with blue flames since no members were siding with the dark side were present near Zack. It was instead burning with his determination to win.

Emma's stats had received a fifty percent boost due to that. The pink-haired girl had been hit in the chest by an earth golem and the blow had made blood come out of her mouth.

Both of them were back on the first floor only to be met with ten illusionists and five mages. The mages had been using powerful spells and skills from time to time while the illusionists were trying to trap the duo.

They had managed to escape every single illusion but there was a huge chance that they might get trapped inside one if they were not careful.

'Fortunately, we came prepared.' Zack thought with a sigh as he unleashed the daggers of sky.

The illusionists had concealed themselves so well that not even a single one of Zack's attacks had hit them

Even Emma's auto-aim had failed to detect them. She had tried shooting at random locations but didn't have any luck either.

The only reason they had come to the first floor again was because of the warden's diary. According to him, the boss resided on the first floor only but not on the other side of the black door.

The door in itself was a trap while the real way to meet the ruler was by obtaining a key that one of the people on the first floor held.

However, they had no idea who the person was.

---

Stats:

HP: 7220/7220 (5020/ 5020)

INT: 45 (+30) AGI: 44 (+20)

STR: 44(88) (+15) DEX: 44 (+15)

VIT: 46 (15)

Special effects: All stats +25% (Hero's courage)

All stats +50%(Khryselakatos's special ability)

---

Currently, Zack was fighting at his strongest possible form. Every single passive boost to his stats was there yet he and Emma were still struggling.

The five mages in front of them had some kind of special ability that prevented the duo from using inspect on them. Furthermore, their appearances were exactly the same, bald, black-eyes, and robes matching their element.

"Here it comes," Zack said while gritting his teeth as the mages raised their hands together and pointed their palms in the duo's direction.

This was the sixth time that this was about to happen and Zack had Emma had been pretty tired. They had managed to survive the past few waves due to Zack's blue flames and Emma's traps.

She had managed to catch the lightning and earth attacks using cobwebs while Zack had burned the water, lightning, and fire attacks.

If they continued to do that, it would continue on like an endless cycle.

'I have to kill them.' While staring at the five mages, Zack sighed and raised his right hand forward. He had been saving this skill for quite some time.

If not for the situation, he wouldn't have used the skill unless and until there was someone that he couldn't beat.

"Blue flames tornado." The moment the words left his mouth, a tornado the size of the room conjured up in front of him.

The blue tornado immediately started advancing forward towards the mages who released their attacks simultaneously.

"Now we only have the illusionists to worry about," Zack said while turning his gaze away from the five mages.

For him, they were dead meat the moment he used the skill. Blue flames tornado could only be stopped by certain skills and spells.

The mages didn't utter a single sound as they were burned to ashes by the tornado.

Suddenly, both of them appeared in real life and saw a building burning in front of them. The building was the orphanage Emma had grown up in.

The pink-haired girl stared at the orphanage before sighing. They once again appeared back inside the room as she had broken the illusion.

[ If not for that, we would have been stuck in a life of illusions long ago. ]

**

Before leaving the warden's office…

"Emma, take out a dagger and cut a small slash across your right hand's palm." Zack suddenly said as he did the same thing.

She didn't say anything and instead cut a small wound across her palm using a dagger. Blood started dripping from the wound as Zack asked her to wipe it with a cloth.

"Now, whenever you think that we are in an illusion or something similar, focus on that wound. That will act as an anchor to reality."

After that, the duo moved out of the room.

**

[ Emma, what if this room is nothing but an illusion from the beginning and the one controlling the illusion is the person we have to find? ] Zack suddenly asked as he stood in his place.

[ You know, I wonder if you were the one who created this game and then thought that it would be a good idea to play it from the beginning. ] Emma too sat down while staring at Zack.

[ That's an interesting theory. ] Zack replied before closing his eyes.

To break me from an illusion, one had to find an anchor to reality. Anything could become an anchor if the person had enough belief in it.

Zack and Emma decided to use each other as their anchor since that was the thing that they were sure was real.

[ Just think of me. Should be enough to see if we are in an illusion or not. ] Zack suggested as he started thinking about Emma.

He thought about her hair and eye color, her tone of speaking, and the moments they had shared.

Overall, he was just thinking of how he had met Emma in the special quest of the fairy king's forest and the two of them had become partners.

The latter was thinking the same thing though from a different perspective. Emma felt as though she owed Zack a lot of things from the moment she had joined with him.

'If I had acted like a few of the other top twenty-five at the time, where would I be now?' She wondered while keeping her eyes closed.

The duo didn't realize it but the walls in the room suddenly started to crack. The cracks moved from the top of the room to the bottom as the entire place cracked away.

When they opened their eyes, they found themselves sitting on top of the sand in a black-colored dome-shaped arena.

Zack's expression turned grim when he saw the statue standing in the middle of the arena.

He remembered the arena's name after seeing the statue of the black viper.

"The pits of the black python…" He muttered before standing up with Emma.

Both of their weapons were floating beside them as the statue's eyes suddenly started glowing. The marble statue unleashed a blinding flash of light which blinded the duo.

At the same time, they heard a voice rising through the entire arena.

"Looks like someone has finally arrived here. Now, you will go as soon as you had come."