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nAurora's POV

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"Aurora, what are you thinking about?? And what're you exactly staring at??

" Tristan tilted his head waving his right hands in front of my eyes to snap me back from the conversation in my mind.

nI touched the necklace, it started to grow weaker and weaker. And when I clenched my hand, the strength didn't feel the same anymore.

nDefeating the demon faster, the better. And in order to defeat him, I had to drink his blood...

nHe didn't shed a single drop of blood fighting against over ten people, just how should I...

nHm? Tristan wasn't even the slightest injured either.

nWhat should I do in this situation? With my strength alone, I won't be able to injure him.

nUsing a sword is off limit for me. I wounded myself using it once.

nHmm...

nWait...

nWho said we needed a weapon from the real world?? This realm is also mixed with illusion and reality. So as long as it was in this realm, anything is possible.

nThink, think, Eun-Kyung, think. Which weapon will be perfect to go against him??

nThe demon charged at me right when I was thinking, I barely dodged it and he spread the smoke again. I inhaled it and got inside the illusion.

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"Eun-Kyung, here's my homework.

"

nI couldn't believe I thought this was the reality once.

nI sighed and rushed out of the classroom to the sidewalk. As I got into the illusion often, I knew how to manage the time here. Time flows differently.

nI got barely an hour before the demon's sword reached my neck in the real world.

nWhich weapon?? Which weapon will allow me to draw out the demon's blood easily??

nSuddenly, the tree fell down right in front of me when I crossed the road. The light bulb appeared over my head as I ran to the man with the chainsaw.

nI smirked and grabbed the chainsaw with me. The smirk didn't last long when I had to do the same thing again.

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"Good luck, Eun-Kyung...

" but that time, instead of driving over her, I hit the brake right before I hit her.

nI got down from the car and walked to Sun-hee in the middle of the road.

nI always wanted to know why she always said that when I almost killed her. I knew she wasn't the real Sun-hee but...she was the Sun-hee I spent many years with in the world of illusion.

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"Why did you keep saying that??

"

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"Why did you stop the car??? You should've driven over me.

"

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"Not until you answer my question. Who are you???!!

"

nShe looked at me with her pitiful eyes, she murmured to me as the rain fell down over us,

"I'm the one who made sure you stayed here, Eun-Kyung.

"

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"As expected. Then why do you want me to leave me this illusion??

"

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"I'm tired of all of this...I'm not the real Sun-hee...but you're a friend to me...Eun-Kyung. I want you to leave this fake world...

"

nI get it now...

nI walked back in the car and drove backward then stepped on the gas pedal toward that woman.

nIt's nice knowing you. And I won't come back to this fake world again, I promise.

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"You're my friend too, whatever your name is!!!!

"

n

"...yeah...

"

n!!!!

nBang

nUrghhh

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"Eun-Kyung!!! Look out!!!!

" my hand was wounded by the demon sword as my super strength couldn't hold his sword any longer. I bit my lip and took many steps away from the demon as the soldiers and Tristan stepped up to protect me.

nHere goes nothing...

nI raised the chainsaw I got from the fake earth and shouted to everyone to move.

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"Tristan, immobolize him!!!

"

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"I trust you, Eun-Kyung.

"

nDeath Roses Magic: Roses Vine

nSomething was off...

nThe rose vine really immobilized the demon, and I succeed in cutting off the demon's arm but not a single drop of blood was on the floor.

nHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

nMy eyes widen hearing the laughing voice in the room full of mirrors.

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"You coward, where are you???

"

nThe demon we were fighting for many hours turned to the broken mirror then fell to the ground. The mirror had the face of one soldier in it.

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"I'm not a coward, I'm a man of tactic.

"

nTactic?? You clearly had the upper hand. Now that explained why all those frames disappeared. All the soldiers who were trapped in the illusion turned to his minion.

nWe rescued ten to fifteen of them, that meant...we had to do again and again with all these mirrors???

nIt was endless.

nI felt the cold sweat behind my back when the mirror started turning into the demon, I walked slowly to Tristan and whispered,

"You, deal with them. I'll deal with the real one.

"

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"Are you sure you'll be okay??

"

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"The worst could've happened is me dying.

"

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"Yeah, that's the worst. So stay alive, okay??

"

nI was surprised hearing that even though I said it jokingly to him. When did he become so soft??

nI shook the thought distracting me from my head and followed the voice inside the maze of mirrors I was in before.

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"Come and find me.

"

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"I'll find you, Lucas, or whatever.

"

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"What's that in your hand?? A sword??

"

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"Poor demon, there were many things like this in my world illusion~I bet this is the first time you see something like this.

"

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"That's ridiculous. Why would I be interested in something useless like that??

"

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"In my illusion, we have a thing which allows us to talk to someone far away...I could bring it in this realm...but I couldn't give it to you...since you're a coward.

"

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"Such an obvious trap, only idiots fall for that.

"

nHis voice was echoing from all directions, and all the thing I could see was the mirror. It was really annoying especially running with the heavy chainsaw.

nRunning around really drained out my stamina, I destroyed the mirror in my path one by one till there was no mirror left in the room.

nThe smoke at that time came out from the wall, as soon as I see it, I covered my nose and then walked to the wall which emit the smoke and destroy it in one punch.

nThere was the magical orb at the other side of the wall I destroyed, without hesitation, I destroyed that orb, and the smoke disappeared all at once.

nAll that was left was the demon's hideout.

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"Oh no, I inhaled the smoke...

"

nI closed my eyes trying to fool the demon with the stupid lie. I opened my eyes a little waiting for that demon to come out.

nI knew clearly that demons won't fall into such a trap but I want to know what was he doing when the soldier was trapped in his illusion and what was the process of turning them into the mirror.

nI dropped my chainsaw on the floor then fell on the ground to make it seem realistic.

nJust as I expected, when I laid down on the floor, the pieces of mirror levitated in the air and gathered to a mirror again.

nA person who came out of the mirror was none other than the demon.

nI couldn't even gulp in that situation, my hands were urging to grab the chainsaw and wounded him to get his blood.

nBut that demon wasn't a fool to believe in my little trap, he destroyed my chainsaw first and then he summoned many mirrors surrounding me.

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"This is a trap, isn't it??

" he whispered into my ears, I no longer pretend to close my eyes. There was red light shining on both of us. The white floor was covered in red blood as that demon grinned at me.

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"That necklace...isn't that from the southern empire?? Your super strength should be gone many years ago, I never expect to see such power again.

"

nI glanced at the red blood on the floor, my jaw dropped when seeing his face without any trace of pain even after slicing his own arm.

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"Are you confident in defeating me?? Here's my blood, drink it!! Then we'll see who will win in the battle of illusion.

"

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"If I win, what's my prize??

" I gulped and asked him as my hands already touched his cold blood.

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"I will release all of the soldiers. But if I win...you'll have to become my slave and go back to the demon realm with me.

"

nThat was such a ridiculous bet, but let's see...you're only the ancient demon, and I'm the girl from the modern world...in terms of illusion, I clearly have the upper hand but...

nAnyway, there's no opportunity like this ever again, let's bet my life on this!

n

"Deal!

"

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"On the behalf of the demon king, if one of us betrayed the condition, they will die.

"

nHe summoned the portal with the purple smoke, we walked in it together.

nAnd what awaited me on the other side of the portal was something I never expected...

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nMarinette's POV

nWhen the dawn arrived, I got out of the bed and woke Valencia who slept next to me up.

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"I'm still sleepy...

"

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"Let's go meet Lucas. Let's get out of this empire.

"

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"But Unnie, didn't you say you lost something here??? Don't you want to find it first?

"

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"It doesn't matter.

"

nI've been thinking all night, the body swapping process could wait, and as long as Diana was in Marinette's body, that emperor won't hurt her.

nI needed to save Tristan first, he is the duke right now. If he ever dies, it will be a problem for my future plan.

nI put on the dress for Valencia, she was at my height but she behaved like a child. With the white hair wig and glasses, I took Valencia's hands and made our way to Victor's room.

nKnock knock

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"Victor!! Victor!!! Wake up!!!

" there wasn't any response coming from the other side of the wooden door. So I used the death roses magic and opened the door from the inside.

nThe room had nobody in it.

nWhere is he???

nDon't tell me...

nI had a guess of where he should be, so I rushed to the alley full of trashes immediately. What I saw was the man still wearing the same clothes as yesterday with the bag under his eyes.

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"Marinette!!! I...I finally found it!!!!

"

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"Victor, are you finding it all night?? I told you to get some rest...why don't you listen to me??

" I took off my jacket and brought out the handkerchief to wipe the stain on his face.

nHe didn't even wear the jacket in the cold weather, his face was pale.

nI put on the jacket and glared at him. I was glad he could find the antidote but he turned really weak, it will be bad for him to travel on the mountain crossing the border.

nHis face was saying like praising him, he was sulking since I scolded him instead of praising him for searching for it all night.

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"You did a good job, but don't overdo it next time, okay??

"

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"As long as you're happy...

" he replied with the dimple on his cheek.

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"Did he find it, Unnie??

"

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"Yes, Valencia. We finally found it.

" I replied to the woman who was still rubbing his eyes.

nSeeing both of them didn't get enough sleep, I let them sleep in the inn for one or two more hours as I walked around the empire.

nThere were posters of Diana's face and Victor's face. The difference was on top of Diana's face, they wrote the word missing. And On Victor's, they wrote Dead Or Alive.

nI have already cast the death roses magic barrier surrounding the inn, if anything happened, I will know immediately.

nKwack Kwack

nWhen I was walking around the remote alley, the purple phoenix I saw back at the mountain came to me and rest on my shoulder.

nI was frozen when such a majestic animal sat on my shoulder like that, its feather was glowing beautifully.

n'Long time no see, lady Marinette.'

nI was no longer surprised at that point when the bird talked to me.

n'Who are you???'

nI felt like I caught a gleam of this phoenix once in Marinette's past life's memories.

nWho was that phoenix??

nTo be continued....!

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