Reincarnated As The Villainess's Son-Chapter 535: A Hopeless World [6] [Tree]

"......"

I sat on a chair with my eyes blankly staring at the wooden ceiling.

More than half a day had passed since I had been stuck in this accursed place.

The place was like an endless loop with no way out.

"Look at me~."

"Az~."

"Let’s go to bed~."

And now, I was stuck with the illusions of women in my life.

I lowered my gaze slightly to find all of them laying together on the large bed.

’...Oh, fuck me.’

I closed my eyes as I turned my head up.

No matter how much restriction I put on myself... it was really hard not to give in to temptation.

’I am a Fallen Angel of Lust for fucksake.’

I dragged a hand down my face and let out a slow breath.

I opened my eyes and looked up.

The ground beneath me cracked as I jumped, breaking the wooden ceiling.

But as I remained in the air, I saw nothing but water.

I was in a boat and as far as my eyes could see there was nothing but sea.

Gravity did its work as I reached the master bed once again and the ceiling repaired itself.

My gaze shifted towards the bed once again.

Siersha shifted on the bed, propping herself up on an elbow, her body covered with a thin fabric.

"You look frustrated," she said gently, her voice just as I remembered. "...Come, let me help you."

Christina, Inna and Arianell also moved forward in a lewd way.

I bit my lips, feeling the blood flow in my body changing directions.

Though, the thoughts halted when I saw Belly and Adaliah.

They smiled like I was their long lost lover.

’As fucked up as I am, there is no way I would ever imagine myself with them.’

I raised my hand, hurling an invisible blade of mana.

Their bodies dematerialised and regained form in just a split second.

Their smiles were still the same.

’I guess they were here to invoke my sin of Pride.’

I let out a sigh as I sat and leaned back in the chair.

’What type of illusion was this?’

Siersha slid one leg over the side of the bed, her bare foot touching the floor.

"Why are you fighting?" she asked softly. "You’ve already lost so much."

She walked closer until she stood right in front of me.

On the other hand, I saw Shyamal walking closer as well.

I raised my hand to destroy the illusion of Siersha... but I couldn’t.

The illusion took my hand and began licking my fingers.

Shyamal on the other hand grabbed my other hand and placed it over her chest.

"...Come with us." She said, with a gentle smile. "We will do everything to satisfy you."

I kept on staring at her face as I pulled my hand back.

"Shyamal would never would never use the word ’we’."

Her smile remained the same as I pulled my hand from Siersha as well.

’Ah, I don’t want to use this....’

Closing my eyes, I drew in a deep breath before I used fate.

In an instant, everything around me began to blur out.

When I looked through the illusion, I found a white fluffy thing attached to the boat.

The illusion panicked as well, rushing forward to cling to my body.

But I didn’t let them, I launched hundreds of mana blades at the white thing in an instant.

The chair beneath me cracked, then dissolved into drifting particles of light.

The floor followed, then the walls, the bed, the air itself unraveling thread by thread, unable to maintain structure.

My eyes once again looked at the dissolving figures until they landed on Inës.

’....What the fuck was she doing here anyway.’

I blinked as I felt the world taking a different shape once again.

’....’

I looked around, finding myself on a rocky island.

The same fluffy white things that had been attached to me were floating in hundreds.

With no sky and stars, their light was the only thing illuminating the place.

’What the hell was this place?’

I wondered as I began to walk towards the brightest light in the far distance.

The ground beneath my feet felt rough and uneven, made of dark stone that looked ancient.

The floating white creatures drifted slowly through the air like seeds carried by invisible currents.

They ignored me for most of the time but a few did reach closer to examine me.

They too were moving towards the source of light just like me.

Tweet!!

"Huh?"

I froze in my place as I suddenly heard a very familiar voice.

"Liraz?"

The blue bird floated over my head for a few seconds, chirping loudly before he rushed in the opposite direction.

’..What the hell is he doing here?’

I couldn’t help but wonder as I quickly rushed where he was leading me.

It didn’t take me long to reach a place where one of those white creatures had Epione within its body.

I immediately began to separate them, raising both my hands.

The glowing mass dented inward as if an invisible hand had grabbed it, the surface warping, light leaking through thin cracks forming across its body.

The creature made its decision, leaving Epione’s body behind, it chose to run away.

I gently guided Epione’s body down before I grabbed her.

Her eyes fluttered open as she looked up at me.

"W-what happened?"

I tapped on her head hard. "I asked you to stay behind."

With a small wince she rubbed her head, standing on her own.

"You were missing for so long." She replied. "Sir Arawn was worried so he walked inside the portal and I joined him."

"Arawn is here as well?" I asked as I looked towards the light at the horizon.

Liraz circled once above our heads, then landed on Epione’s shoulder, still alert.

His tiny body was tense but no longer trembling the way he had before.

I looked at Epione once more, making sure she was alright. "Stay close."

She nodded as I began to walk towards the light once again.

"Any idea what that is?" She asked, pointing at the creatures.

"No." I replied. "What did they make you see?"

Epione remained silent for a long second before she replied. "....A happy life."

"...."

Why the fuck did I get ’that’ kind of illusion?

"Liraz is scared of them." Epione said, patting her bird. "But I don’t think he was ever afraid of anything other than a dragon."

"....I see."

Come to think of it, I didn’t feel any shred of mana from them.

It’s like they were not from Lumina.....

’...Wait, are they invasive species?’

Given the current situation it wouldn’t be wrong to say they really were an invasive species.

’....But how were they even coming here?’

"Whatever this place was," I continued, "it wasn’t just a trap. It was a dumping ground, or a nest, or maybe a wound."

"A wound?" Epione repeated quietly.

"In reality," I said, my voice flat, because the idea had settled into me. "Something tore, and these things were what seeped through."

She went silent at that, her hand resting more firmly on Liraz as we kept walking.

The ground gradually sloped upward, the dark stone smoothing out as if worn down by countless feet that no longer existed.

The pillar of light was no longer just light now; shapes moved inside it constantly.

Overlapping silhouettes of wings, horns, hands, and beasts, all layered over each other like memories stacked in the same space.

"....What the hell is this place?"

My steps slowed down as I saw a figure at the end of the slope.

The elf stood with his back towards us, hands behind his back.

’.....Well, he was never the type to lose to an illusion.’

I walked closer as Arawn turned to look at me.

"We are in a pocket world." He spoke, with a slight bow. "I have seen something like this before."

I walked towards the end that was a cliff.

"...."

My jaw clenched as I saw something that I would never forget.

An enormous dragon whose body had become part of the land itself, its ash-colored scales dulled by time and dust.

Its wings were torn and half-buried in stone like fallen cliffs.

A massive tree had forced its way out through the cavity of its ribcage, roots burrowing through bone and flesh as if the dragon had been nothing more than soil.

The tree was not normal.

Its trunk was pale, almost white, with veins of soft light moving inside it like slow lightning.

It held countless of those floating white creatures among its leaves, as if they were fruit... or offspring.

"The dragon is named Alamin." Arawn spoke softly. "....And he is still alive."

"...."

I didn’t respond as my gaze shifted to those small creatures around it.

They were vampires that were worshipping, trading and moving around the tree.

’...So, they are the ones who are behind the death of Asuras?’

I wondered, staring at them for a long second before I looked back at the tree.

"Do you have any idea what that tree is?" I asked, looking at Arawn.

He remained silent for a long second before he turned to look at me.

"Sir Azrael once told me about an Outer God." He responded. "The One who was on par with the Creator God."

"....."

I kept on staring at him without any response.

"I believe the tree belongs to her." He said, softly.

"....The Mother of Endless Dreams."