Chapter 11 - Simon the Illusionist - Part One

Simon stood on top of the ruined building still, his hair, in a neat bowl cut, came temporarily undone.

“You three threaten my paradise. Look at it, Oren is now largely in ruins because of your battle with Tetsuo. Razan Hamada.” My name was spoken with pure venom.

However even with Grace’s healing, it would take a while for my energy levels to get back to their full potential. The only person here who could fight was Elowyn.

“I can’t just sit here and let you do all the work, Razan Hamada.” Elowyn spoke, her tone likely bitter from her failed attack on Tetsuo earlier. “I’ll take you on, though I must say. With a haircut like that, I can see why you want paradise.”

There was an eerie silence. I expected Simon to blow up on her, however he just smirked.

“You got quite the mouth on you missy, but surely you have your troubles. If you just allow me to help you. I can make you as happy as you could ever want.”

I remembered he made a similar offer to me. His paradise, a town of people forced to smile and to never stop. Did Elowyn ever want that?

“I have problems, sure, but nothing you can fix. With everything going on and your house of cards crumbling to the ground. I’d say you should worry more about yourself than me.” She pressed a thumb to her chest. “If you want Razan, beat me first.”

The invitation simply prompted his first attack.

The battle between Elowyn and Simon from Elowyn’s perspective.

I saw my surroundings change around me, the ruined husk of a town transforming into a bustling metropolis of the future. Though it was strangely uninhabited.

“I can make anyone happy, myself, Lorelei, Tetsuo. Yet it’s you three brats that seek to get in my way.” He gestured towards the surrounding area. “You can even live in the present for all eternity. Immortality of your own making.”

His ability or his first one, must be to manipulate the mind. In other words, illusions. Now to pin down his other two.

I looked behind me, Razan and Grace sat there, completely oblivious to where I was currently. They must not see it, they must not be under the same illusion.

“I may not be as strong as Tetsuo per se, but I’m far smarter. You may have figured it out already but I’m able to make the mind think of whatever it pleases and make it reality.”

Suddenly, three copies of Simon appeared around me with all three coming in for a punch.

I took a wild guess and swung causing one of the doubles to vanish, the second punched me right into the third copy's punch. I hit the ground with a thud.

“You can’t hit what you can’t see.” Simon grinned, appearing right before me.

“Fireball!” A burst of flame shot forward, however the blast simply went right through him. Another illusion.

“Awfully persistent aren’t you? You’re certainly no Razan.”

That did it.

“Of course I’m not! I’m better!” I shot fire in all directions, a move that seemed to surprise even Simon as he appeared out of nowhere. Now covered in flames.

“Ow! Ow! Owwwww!” He cried out as he danced in flame, before dropping to the ground and rolling. After a few seconds of this, he finally put the flames out. However I had him right where I wanted.

“Sorry bud, but you’re no Tetsuo.” I pointed the staff at him, ready to finish him off. However my surroundings changed again. “Wait! Before you kill me! Think about what I can do!”

Before me was a wooded area, I was home. The houses built high upon the tree tops, the magnificent buildings of wood complimented by jewels of all kinds. As I wandered through the elaborate replica, I found myself before the Sacred Crystal. It shone a brilliant crystal blue light that illuminated the surrounding area.

“It’s…here?” I said, amazed. It felt like a genuine article.

Simon appeared beside me. “Yes, you see? I can even emulate its effects for you. Back in elf land. An hour in the real world can feel like hundreds of years to you. All you have to do is accept my offer.”

I could have what I wanted, without needing to fight the Goddess. It was all so…

“Stupid!” I fired a blast at Simon once more. It was a double, because of course it was. “I’m a proud elf! I’m too good for the likes of you! Not all of us want to crawl away in a tiny hole and pretend nothing else exists!” I began.

“Some of us want to fight our problems head on! Solve them!”

Simon genuinely looked stunned.

“The same insolent words Razan spoke. Fine, if you’re that much like him. You’ll find this next opponent a little more suitable.”

Before I could ask him what I meant, Razan Hamada appeared before me.

His neatly swept black hair made him look rather gentlemanly, if it wasn’t undercut by torn and battered peasant clothing. Though that sword and shield he had was pretty strong.

“You’re going to have me fight another illusion?” I asked. “He’s not real and he cannot hurt me.” I boasted, before lifting a pile of rock and stone from the ground and sending it his way.

The Razan before me blocked it with his shield. It glowed a little before it fired pure magic.

I didn’t even have time to dodge.

I was thrown back, my body ravaged by pain and magic flowing through me. It felt as if my entire nervous system was being fried.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s real or not, your brain thinks it's real. Besides, there’s also no guarantee this isn’t the real Razan Hamada under my control.

He was right, now I felt even more unsure than before. I wasn’t sure if I could win this without torching the entire area, and that may kill Grace and Razan as well.

I needed to think so far his abilities were the following:

Ability to create illusions so convincing the brain automatically accepts them as real.

The ability to alter one's perception of time.

Mind control maybe?

I wasn’t able to find so much weakness in either of them. However, if I could figure out this last ability. Maybe there is a way to beat him in that.

Razan charged, before I swung. I realized that neither he or I was reacting to the soul contract. In other words, this was not the real Razan Hamada.

“You’re not real, nothing will happen.”

I repeated this phrase like a mantra. A human from another world once told me the following.

“A lie told often enough becomes the truth.”

It worked, Razan Hamada ran through me, his sword not doing a single thing.

“Looks like your illusions won’t work on me, Simo-” I was cut off with a knife in my gut. I couldn’t even see it coming.

“Here I thought Razan would be the one to destroy you, but I suppose I’m wrong on that one.” Simon muttered. “Mages aren’t known for their hand-t0-hand combat prowess, now are they?”

I fell to the ground as the knife exited my body. The world I thought was my home vanished all around me.

“Miss!” Grace ran after me, immediately tending to my wounds.

Back to Razan Hamada’s perspective.

The fight didn’t seem to take very long. Elowyn punched herself a few times, then Simon came and stabbed her in the gut. She even fired a few spells into nothing. Yet I could tell she was fighting herself.

“Your only capable fighter is done for. I suppose that means your mage can’t teleport you three out either, all of you are truly and utterly finished.” Simon grinned as he approached Grace, still attending to Elowyn’s wounds.

“Hands off of her!” I grunted, slowly getting up, my muscles burned and my body protested. Yet I stubbornly persisted. Suddenly I heard something new.

A horse was approaching, I looked behind me. The man riding the horse was an armored Knight with the symbol of the Heroes Guild dead and center. The figure and even the horse surprisingly smelled of booze.

“Heh, time for good ol’ Brent Woodward to make a fine rescue.” He slurred his words as he fell off his horse. Slowly but surely getting up.

Simon made a face as if something smelled horrible. “Just what is this supposed to be?”

Brent finally got up, standing tall and firm before saluting. “I’m here to investigate the recent disappearances in Oren.” Magically sobering up as the opportunity to exert his influence and authority presented. “His majesty ordered me personally.”

Simon’s eyes squinted.

“Another opponent of my paradise, well, Mr. Woodward, I can certainly see you dying in the near future. Why don’t you ride back to wherever you came from.”

However Brent simply gave a hearty laugh.

“Hah, fat chance, especially when the lovely Miss Collette offered me a kiss! A KISS! Just if I handed your sorry ass to the authorities.”

Simon simply looked confused now.

“I’m sorry, but your story keeps changing, why were you sent here?”

Brent simply smiled.

“I’ll tell you, it’s because a customer really wanted me to save her husband, and so here I am. Because I’m just that guy.”

Now he was just stealing my story. Besides, Simon didn’t look too impressed. Then I noticed Grace and Elowyn were gone. She must have gotten her somewhere safe.

I spotted Grace behind a few trees nearby, and slowly made my way towards them. Now I clued in just what Brent was doing.

He was buying time.

To be continued.