Chapter 61: illusion?

Our group stepped down, The entry path was wide, but the air inside changed instantly, becoming thin and static. Along the sides, large clusters of minerals grew straight out of the masonry, giving off a green glow that did not look natural.

Five hundred guards marched behind us in a tight formation, Victor kept his eyes fixed straight ahead, his features tight as his hand stayed on his weapon grip.

"The layout here is completely different from the capital tunnels, sir," Victor said. "The tunnels split into four separate branches every fifty paces. It is an easy place to get turned around."

"Keep the squad close together, Victor," Suzy ordered. "We do not know how deep this old extraction lines go."

As we moved past the third intersection, the glow from the walls began to change, turning into a glossy reflection that looked like polished glass. The air grew warm, and a strange vibration started to run through the floor underneath our foots.

Suddenly, a guard near the back of the line said. "Who goes there?! Identify yourself!"

I turned around quickly,The guard was pointing his weapon at an empty alcove in the wall, his eyes full of confusion. Before I could speak, another guard on the opposite side gasped, his body stop as he stared at his own reflection in a large mineral cluster.

The glass surfaces were not just reflecting our shapes; they were actively twisting the images, showing figures of skeletal miners with hollow eyes who were reaching out their hands through the rock.

"It is a distortion matrix," Suzy said as she stepped closer to my side. "The energy from these minerals is playing tricks on the guards’ minds. They are seeing the ghost of the workers who died here."

Before Victor could regroup his team, a huge wave of green magic shot out from the center. The sudden flash didn’t make a noise, but it completely blinded us, filling the hallway with a th

choking cloud of green dust.

I reached out my hand instantly, my fingers closing around Suzy’s wrist to keep her from getting separated in the chaos. Her skin felt warm.

With a pull, I drew her body close against my chest, using my speed to glide straight down a side opening to get away from the main blast area. The green fog rolled past our position, and a stone divider panel dropped down from the ceiling behind us, sealing the entry path completely and spreading us off from Victor and the others guards.

The side tunnel we were trapped in was completely quiet. The reflections were still everywhere, casting long lines across our clothes. Floating out from the glossy rock faces came three distinct, crystalline figures. They did not have flesh or bones; they were made entirely of translucent green minerals, their shapes mimicking the tall frames of the dead miners.

They floated two feet off the ground, their hands extended as they released a wave of mental pressure that aimed straight for our heads, trying to fill our minds with fear and panic.

"Barry," Suzy said, her voice low as she adjusted herself, her fingers tightening around my clothes. "The pressure is targeting our core balance. If we try to use a physical strike on these, our weapons will just pass right through the crystal reflections."

I looked at the three floating figures, my hand resting near the handle of my new sword. I remembered the system warning from earlier—activating my new signature technique would drain seventy percent of my current energy pool. Wasting that kind of trump card on an illusion would leave me completely vulnerable on the field.

"I am not wasting our premium assets on a few floating mirrors," I said, a smile showing on my face as I looked down at her. "We just need to clear the connection."

"Let’s combine our energy loops," Suzy said.

"If we link our inputs together, we can create a stabilizing aura that will shatter these reflections from the inside out."

"Let’s do it," I laughed, keeping my left hand firmly around her waist to anchor our positions.

We closed our eyes at the same time, triggering the internal link between our cores. I released a stream of my yellow snake energy, while Suzy channeled her deep purple magic right into the same path. The two mid-stage forces did not fight each other; they blended perfectly, creating a glowing dome of pure Ascendant power that expanded outward from our bodies, filling the tunnel.

The moment our combined aura touched them, the illusion could not handle the it. The green mineral figures began to vibrate violently, their translucent bodies cracking down the middle as our stable energy forced the distortion paths to collapse.

’Crack’ ’Crack.’

All three ghosts shattered into tiny green crystal shards that fell into the ground, their mental pressure vanishing instantly from the room.

The walls returned to their normal state, and the hidden anchor of the curse was finally broken. Right ahead of us, the tunnel opened up into a massive underground sorting yard where a large, glowing chest was sitting right on top of an extraction cart.

I walked up to the frame as I reached out my right hand to flip the brass seal open.

Suzy stepped up right next to my shoulder, her eyes wide with curiosity as she watched the container pop open. Her clothes was covered in dust from the tunnel walls, but her expression was completely still and focused.

Inside the container sat a roll of parchment paper wrapped in a protective layer. I pulled it out and spread it across the top of the cart, using my wrist lights to make the ink clear.

It was the original distribution chart for the entire mining province. It did not have any complex magic seals or status screens. It showed a hidden trade network drawn in red ink lines that bypassed the capital city completely, leading straight toward the deep outer mountains.

"Look at this layout, Barry," Suzy said, as her fingers traced the red ink lines. "The old Prince didn’t just hide the production numbers from the main guild. He built a completely secret road network to transport the minerals directly to his private outposts without paying a single coin in public fees."

"It is a classic case of tax evasion on a massive scale," I said.

"With this chart, we don’t just own the local mine. We can track every single hidden warehouse he built across the western province."