Chapter 12 - Simon the Illusionist - Part Two

I leaned near Grace. “This is a bit dangerous. How good are you at powering me up?” I asked Grace. She looked a little exhausted from healing Elowyn so extensively. She was fast asleep now, and she looked almost peaceful.

“I did what I could,” Grace admitted. “I don’t think even I have enough to fully power you up, Razan.”

I turned to see Brent charge towards Simon, he was slashing at nothing, no doubt a sign of the illusions taking work.

“Two abilities…I only saw two abilities…” Elowyn groaned. “Lifelike illusions. He can even manipulate and read minds.”

“Then you didn’t see the third and final ability.” It seems his powers ran a perfect counter to mine. This could be bad, especially since I’m still exhausted.

All I could do was hope Brent knows what he’s doing.

Brent charged forward again.

“Take thiiiiiiis!” He let out a sharp battle cry as he swung at Simon. Who looked relatively surprised.

“He’s still hitting through my illusions?” He grunted, having just survived another near miss.

“Your tricks will never work on–hic–me!” He looked so plastered that it was a surprise he could walk. Let alone fight.

“It’s working, he’s so drunk he hardly notices the illusions.” I looked on in awe.

“Is he a friend of yours?” Grace asked.

“Something like that,” I replied.

But I needed to use this time wisely; I needed to think about his weakness.

“You know, he maintains illusions for the entire town. I wonder how he does so?” I wondered. I decided to get up I felt a bit better than before. “I’m going to investigate.” With that, I snuck off into the village.

From Grace’s Perspective.

I continued to block the bleeding from Elowyn’s wounds. Even with my healing magic, her wounds were quite severe. All I could do was keep her alive and wait for the healing the kick in.

I noticed a lack of people in the village. I suppose it might have been evacuated, but even that would have raised somewhat of a commotion. All I could do was focus and do my part while Razan investigated and Brent fought Simon.

“Heeeeey, why you wavin’ around for?” Brent slurred out, his strikes were fairly precise for a drunk man. “Aren’t you gonna fight me? Or are ya scared of the big bad Brent?” He seemed to already be envisioning victory.

“Razan sure has strange friends.” I sighed. I decided to venture into a nearby house to grab some clothes. Luckily, there was still something left in the nearby house. As destroyed as it was. I figured if I could grab something to use as a makeshift bandage, I could at least block the bleeding a little. Near the hole in the wall was a dresser, or what is left of it.

The house looked like a tornado had touched down, furniture all over the place, yet I didn’t remember the battle between Razan and Tetsuo being that destructive. Sure, there was some damage, but the entire village must have taken some damage before their fight.

Either way, I opened the dresser up and grabbed a bright-looking dress. I grabbed a knife on the belt that held my robes together and began to cut the dress into something suitable.

As I left the building, I felt a cold wind. As if a sinister presence had taken hold. A presence that was behind me.

I turned around to find a strange-looking knight. His armor was black as the night. Stained occasionally red. He held a slim-looking sword that reminded me of a katana. Yet despite this, I couldn’t help but feel a sense of familiarity.

“Are you the one who torched Lakewest?” I asked.

The Knight did not speak. Instead, he placed a hand on my head, his fingers slightly nudging my cat ears.

“That I am, but it was necessary. You’ll understand in due time, Grace. When the time comes.” His voice sounded familiar, too. Like I had heard him speak before.

“Do I know you?” I asked. The memory of him felt far too distant to recall, like a cruel case of deja vu. I couldn’t help but look at his sword.

“Are you going to kill me?” I asked.

“No, you are far too important to kill. However, I ask you to stay here; there is a threat I seek to eliminate.” With that, he wandered away.

I had almost forgotten about Elowyn. When I turned to face the Knight again, he had vanished just as quickly as he had appeared. I raced back towards Elowyn. She was still alive, thankfully, and the spell had begun to kick in as planned.

“Here, I’m going to wrap this around you. Hold still.” If he were the same person who destroyed Lakewest. We did not have much time before this place became a similar warzone.

Razan’s perspective

None of the houses I found had anything worthwhile. Brent could only hold off Simon for so long, and we still had no idea of his weakness. Eventually, as I stumbled onto the furthest house from town, it stood out to me.

It was the only house that looked to be still standing. I opened the door to find a bunch of people inside. They all looked exhausted, some even looked to be dead.

“What happened here?” I asked more so to myself as I opened the door wide.

“Are you with Simon?” An older man asked.

I shook my head. “No, my name is Razan Hamada. I’m with the Heroes Guild.” I introduced myself. They seemed a little skeptical here.

“So, what happened here anyways?” I asked. “Why is everyone like this?”

The older man simply looked down. “We all lived in Simon’s utopia; we are the citizens of Oren. About a few weeks ago, a Black Knight came and killed most of us. Then not long after, Simon. He offered us utopia. A chance to live in happiness. For a cost.”

I wondered where this was going. He mentioned a Black Knight; the images of Lakewest’s burning flashed through my mind. If he were responsible for this, they might have some leads.

“But what cost was it?” I asked.

“Our energy, he simply asked for lots of food, drink, and he needed lots of rest. We complied because we thought we would meet our loved ones. Live on like normal.” A nearby woman explained.

Another man cleared his throat; it was the same man on the missing person report back in Astora. He must be Sarah’s husband.

“I was visiting when all of this went down. I was caught up in it all. But I do know some people went missing. Over time, we felt we were getting more tired.”

The old man nodded, confirming the man's suspicions.

Then it seems that was his third ability: he can drain people's energy to fuel himself. He must have needed it to maintain the illusion.

“I need all of you to hide here for now. I’m going outside to take care of Simon.

As I turned to leave, the Old Man hobbled towards me. He grabbed my arm with a firm grip, despite his fingers looking withered and bony. His clothes were tattered and dirty.

“Listen, you must not kill him. I know you may be a hero of the Goddess, but you must not. He gave us everything we wanted. If he lives, we may still get to see our loved ones.”

I didn’t know how to respond, so I simply nodded my head and left.

As I walked back, I thought of everything that went down and how Elowyn fought.

He was able to create illusions.

He could alter the mental states of his opponents.

Whether subconsciously or on purpose. He can drain energy from those around him.

I needed to find a weakness within these three things. Luckily, I think I had an idea, but ideas were useless unless I could put them into practice. Then I realized. He can drain energy.

My friends were still there, and given the conditions of the villagers from gradual amounts over a length of time, this could be bad. I began to run. Hoping I would make it in time.

Grace’s perspective.

After a few minutes, Elowyn’s condition drastically improved. She certainly wasn’t combat-ready yet. But she would at least recover.

I looked over at Brent. He was still fighting.

“You, you’re tougher than you look, that alcohol of yours is no joke. But, I still have my secret weapon.” Simon grinned.

“Hah, but I’m afraid you’ve met your match, I may be full a’ booze! But I’m still gonna be the best Hero of all time!” He began to charge his sword, as if he were preparing for a bigger attack.

“Unfortunately for you! You won’t get to finish your attack!” He stretched out his hand, and Brent seemed to freeze in place, his body locking up, and his mouth went slack. He looked like a doll. The color seemed to slowly drain from his body as the magic glow in his sword began to fade away.

“You’ll be sorry you messed with me! Besides, the villagers were getting a little empty. Don’t feel too bad about losing, you’ll be making plenty of people happy!” Simon chuckled.

If I didn’t do something, he was going to die.

“Stop it!” I charged.

“Grace! What are you doing?!” Elowyn shouted.

Simon turned his head to face me; however, he had no time to react or turn before my punch connected with him. It sent him flying back against the nearby fence.

“Tch! Arrogant girl!” He grunted. I looked over at Brent. He was alive, albeit in very bad shape. However, Simon simply got up and walked over to me. I went for another punch, only for it to be blocked.

“Someone as pretty as you shouldn’t be fighting. You’re certainly no Elowyn, and you’re no Brent. You’re especially no Razan.” His hand began to glow as I felt my very essence be pulled away from me.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be dead soon. Just like everyone else who defies me and my paradise!” Simon gloated over his impending victory. However, perhaps he celebrated too early, as another punch would go flying his way.

Razan’s perspective.

When I returned to the battlefield, I found Brent on the brink of death, Elowyn slowly crawling towards Grace, and Simon, sucking the very life out of her like he did to those villagers.

“Don’t worry, you’ll be dead soon. Just like everyone else who defies me and my paradise!” Simon’s laugh sent a chill down my spine. But as a chill went down, I felt my anger begin to rise. I dashed and punched him in the face.

“Leave her alone,” I stated angrily. Grace looked a little exhausted, but she was overall ok.

“Seems it’s your turn, Razan Hamada. Your turn to die by my hand, and once you’re dead. I’ll kill the girl, the elf, and finish that other Hero off.” He wiped the blood dripping from his mouth as he spat out a tooth.

It seemed I was the only one standing in the way of Simon’s heaven.

To be continued.