Chapter 194: Asagiri's Choice
This was the first time in Iwanaga Kotoko's life that she had encountered something like this.
As the God of Wisdom of the Yokai, her mental strength had always been far above that of ordinary people. After being strengthened through multiple Dungeon clears, she had become the person with the highest mental strength in the team, even surpassing Asagiri. On top of that, she possessed resistance against Supernatural-like phenomena.
And yet, even she had fallen into the illusion.
What was even more terrifying was that Iwanaga Kotoko knew full well that the scene before her was fake, but the smell, the sounds, the visuals, everything she perceived was flawlessly real.
"Violet? Phantom? Leader?"
Iwanaga Kotoko looked around, but she could not see Asagiri, Yuuki Asuna, or Kato Megumi anywhere.
"So the illusion separated the four of us..."
She waved her hand beside her, but touched nothing.
"If this were only a visual illusion, then even if I couldn't see them, I should still be able to feel them. Or... has my sense of touch been affected too?"
Even in such an unbelievable situation, Iwanaga Kotoko remained calm. She knew very well that the moment she panicked, the moment her mind wavered, her judgment would be compromised. And once that happened, she could be dragged deeper and deeper into the illusion, unable to free herself until her spirit slowly weakened and was completely devoured by the eerie existence that had created it.
According to Iwanaga Kotoko's understanding, the reason yokai and evil spirits used illusions in her world was never simply to frighten humans. Like spiders weaving webs, they used illusions precisely because they lacked the ability to hunt humans directly. They had to first break down a human's psychological defenses and only then devour their spirit.
Just then, an evil spirit with a horrifying face drenched in crimson blood suddenly appeared beside Iwanaga Kotoko, baring its savage fangs as it lunged at her.
"Heh. Childish."
Iwanaga Kotoko did not move at all. As expected, the evil spirit's body dissolved like smoke the instant before it could touch her.
And right after that, she felt a familiar warmth against her hand.
Even though there was nothing visible there, a faint smile still appeared on Iwanaga Kotoko's face. She clasped back in the most natural way possible, without even needing to think, threading her fingers through that invisible hand.
Just as she had guessed.
Asagiri possessed Human Asura's special passive effect, complete immunity to all forms of mental interference. That meant that even if she, Yuuki Asuna, and Kato Megumi had all fallen into the illusion, Asagiri alone would remain clear-headed.
Meanwhile, Asagiri, looking at Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi standing beside him, was currently pondering an extremely serious problem.
He was already holding Iwanaga Kotoko's hand with his left hand, which meant...
Only his right hand was free.
So whose hand should he hold?
And what about the remaining one?
There was, technically, a simple solution. He could summon Human Asura or Meta and let one of his Personas hold the remaining person's hand.
But doing that would create a terrifying problem.
A Shura field.
No matter whose hand he chose to hold, once the illusion ended, the person left out would inevitably feel a little disappointed.
"This is seriously difficult..."
If the mastermind behind all this knew that Asagiri had not only resisted the illusion completely, but was even calmly worrying about something like this, they would probably cough up blood from rage.
"Hmm... Looks like there's only one way."
At that moment, Yuuki Asuna, trapped inside the illusion, suddenly felt a hand seize her neck. When she turned her head, a hideous, blood-soaked face filled her vision.
"Ah!!!"
The sudden appearance of the grotesque face made Yuuki Asuna's body tremble. She could no longer maintain her composure and instinctively let out a cute scream.
But the next moment, warmth touched her hand.
Just like Iwanaga Kotoko, Yuuki Asuna instantly realized it was Asagiri's hand, and her heart settled at once. Right after that, Asagiri traced something teasing onto her palm, making her face flush red with embarrassment.
"My cute girlfriend screaming in fright, trembling like that. I finally got to see it."
At the same time, Asagiri was writing something else onto Iwanaga Kotoko's palm.
"I'm going to carry you on my back."
Iwanaga Kotoko replied the same way.
"Hurry. I can't wait!"
Asagiri thought, as expected of Iwanaga Kotoko. He immediately hoisted the petite girl onto his back, then held Yuuki Asuna's hand with one hand and walked over to Kato Megumi, who was standing there with vacant eyes.
Slowly, he extended his hand.
Kato Megumi's pupils contracted in shock. She had clearly seen some horrifying illusion as Asagiri approached, just like Yuuki Asuna and Iwanaga Kotoko had. Needless to say, this had to be the work of the mastermind, trying to trick them into avoiding Asagiri on their own.
What the mastermind never could have predicted, however, was that even though they were girls, and even though Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi were indeed somewhat afraid of ghosts and eerie apparitions, none of them were stupid.
And more importantly...
Even if they couldn't see or hear properly, just from the touch alone, they could tell it was Asagiri, and trust him completely without hesitation.
"Persona..."
With his right hand holding Yuuki Asuna, his left hand holding Kato Megumi, and Iwanaga Kotoko on his back rubbing her cheek against his neck while openly taking the chance to act spoiled, Asagiri summoned a Persona.
But this time, it was not Human Asura.
"Alice."
A blonde, blue-eyed little girl in a dress appeared slowly, hugging her teddy bear. She wore a sweet, innocent smile as she spoke softly.
"What is it, Big Brother?"
"Do you have that kind of..."
Asagiri thought for a moment before finally settling on the best wording.
"That full-power Spinosaurus mode? The moment when you feel like you're at your absolute most terrifying?"
"The most terrifying time?"
Alice tilted her head, confusion filling her small face. After a long pause, she answered cautiously,
"Even though I don't really understand what you mean, Big Brother... I can try."
After saying that, Alice hugged the teddy bear in her arms more tightly. Her eyes turned the same brilliant gold that Asagiri's took on when summoning Human Asura, and her pale golden hair began to float without wind.
At that moment, cracks began to spread across the visions of Yuuki Asuna, Iwanaga Kotoko, and Kato Megumi, like glass about to shatter.
A few seconds later, everything exploded apart.
Bang.
The illusion collapsed, and their senses of touch, smell, hearing, and sight all returned at once.
"Phew... We're out..."
Yuuki Asuna let out a sigh of relief first. Feeling the warmth still lingering in her palm, she instinctively turned her head, only to see the current scene clearly.
Then she could no longer hold it in.
"Pfft... What kind of pose is that? That's way too funny..."
Asagiri's posture at that moment really was rather comical.
His left hand was holding Kato Megumi's.
His right hand was holding Yuuki Asuna's.
If that had been all, it might even have looked vaguely romantic, as though he were embracing both of them.
The problem was, Iwanaga Kotoko was still clinging to his back.
The whole image instantly shifted from "handsome Tokyo harem protagonist" to "exhausted father taking care of three daughters."
"You three are seriously embarrassing."
Asagiri let go of Kato Megumi and Yuuki Asuna, then set Iwanaga Kotoko down from his back. Shaking his head, he spoke bluntly.
"To actually get caught in an illusion like that. It's a good thing I'm a gentleman. If I'd taken the chance to do something indecent to you, what would you even have done?"
Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi both had no idea how to answer that.
Iwanaga Kotoko, however, looked delighted.
"Forced play? That would be amazing~"
Asagiri could not help exclaiming at once,
"Ho. You're a pure pervert."
"That's called honesty. It's a virtue."
Iwanaga Kotoko said it without a shred of shame, then smiled again. Seeing that expression, Kato Megumi could not help asking curiously,
"Just imagining doing that kind of thing with Leader makes you that happy? You're smiling like a total pervert."
"Shut up. You're the pervert."
Iwanaga Kotoko snapped back before raising her cane dramatically, full of momentum.
"I laugh at the stupidity of evil spirits and the lack of strategy of Black Watch. An illusion? This is the biggest flaw of all!"
Then she turned to Yuuki Asuna and Kato Megumi and asked with a meaningful expression,
"The illusion the two of you saw, it was also a bustling scene, right? Orderlies, patients, doctors, all moving around constantly?"
"Yes. The three of us all saw the same illusion...?"
"And why was that? Why did all three of us see the exact same thing? If the goal had really been to delay us or break our composure, it could have created something far more horrifying. That's why I say this is the flaw."
A confident light shone in Iwanaga Kotoko's navy-purple eyes. At this moment, the petite girl who normally loved fooling around and saying absurd things showed another side of herself, the side befitting the God of Wisdom.
"Yokai use illusions on humans for only two reasons. The first is to break the spirit of the victim so they can hunt them. At first, that was what I thought too. But after thinking about it, the evil spirits here are already strong enough. They can also regenerate endlessly. There would be no need to use such a roundabout method. Which leaves only the second possibility."
Iwanaga Kotoko's eyes flickered as she swept her gaze over the doors in the hall.
"The enemy wanted to use the illusion to ensure we would go to a place where a trap had been prepared, or else make absolutely sure we avoided a certain place. But if it were the former, then why not do that from the beginning? Why bother letting the Twin brothers ambush us here first? So I think the more likely answer is this, we killed the Twin brothers guarding this area, and that made the mastermind feel threatened. As a result, they used the illusion to make sure we would not go somewhere."
"As for what place that is, and which path leads there, we only need to compare what we saw in the illusion with the reality in front of us and look for the differences."
She lifted her chin slightly, confidence filling her expression.
"That... is the flaw."
.....
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