"You are all dead, only I am alive. ”

The message from the Coral Witch, although it was only a simple sentence, was enough to make Muhadi's mind tremble.

How is this possible?, the psychic sorcerer scanned the morgue in the fortress of the undead. The ground was cold and damp, and the cold air spread down his legs. The female psychic Aisha was beside her, vigilantly watching. Satili's body lay across the two of them, like a sleeping beauty, suffocating gracefully. Every qiē feels extremely real, and there is no half-illusion.

If Satili's information is correct, then it means that she is the one who died in the explosion, but her consciousness has not yet admitted it. If what she said was true, then now Satili was the one trying to communicate with the dead. And he is just a motionless corpse lying on the ground, only the mind that has not yet dissipated is immersed in the illusion that he is not dead.

But is what Coral Witch says really true?

“...... I'm trying to resurrect you, but I haven't fully mastered the ability yet......" The Coral Witch's thought swings sent such a message. “...... Can you describe your current state, for example, what you can see and hear now? Forgive me, but I've always been a little curious about what people see after they die. ”

The psychic warlock felt Aisha's gaze fall on him, and he looked like he wanted to say something, and seemed worried. She was able to manifest her abilities, and there was no doubt that the Psychomancer knew what the Coral Witch had said.

"Do you think it's possible that what she said is true?" Muhati decided to ask the Psychosis what he thought before responding to the Coral Witch.

Aisha lowered her head, and a wisp of beauty fell, covering the small half of her face. "If Lady Satili is right, I'm dead now......" she said, looking up at the Psychic Warlock. “...... Before the soul of the dead dissipates, there may be a period of intermediate state, let's call it the bardo body. But it is impossible for the minds of two dead people to communicate with each other, or even communicate directly. ”

“...... This means that I am not the real me standing here, but just a projection from your own imagination. Aisha whispered. "Even so, do you want to ask me what my opinion is?"

"Well, there's some truth. But even if you're right, I still want to ask. Sometimes I ask myself some questions, which helps to clear my mind. Plus, I've seen too many things that are impossible to give birth to. Even if you reproduce the minds of dead people, it is not surprising that they can still connect. Muhadi paused and said. "What's more, even a coral witch can make mistakes. ”

The Psychomancer nodded, then took a deep breath, as if plucking up courage for herself. She then said to Muhadi: "I think it's possible that what she said is true." Come to think of it, since we've entered this fortress of the undead, there have been so many weird and illogical things to live. When did Nibennay set the bomb on the Silent King, and why didn't the undead notice it, and how did he know we were here?"

"Also, the Witch King Niben Nai is known as the Shadow King, and illusion magic is what he is best at. How did he make such a powerful magic bomb? Maybe we're really dead, and death makes our memories wrong, which is why our experience is so weird. ”

"Well, it's a possibility. After thinking about it, Muhadi agreed with the female psychomancer's claim. "My psionic powers suddenly failed, and it was as if Kailin and the dwarven thief O'Gren suddenly didn't know me...... These oddities can be explained in this way. Still, I always felt that something was wrong. ”

"For example, why do we fall into the illusion that we are alive and that Satili is dead? It's not like something you should see when you die, it's like you've received an outside influence. Why, then, would anyone want to create such a fantasy? And if Nibennay and Polis had the ability to kill me, they would have done it a long time ago, and as for designing this trap? There's a good chance that we'd not have come to this fortress at all, so wouldn't their design have been in vain?"

"And this corpse...... said Muhadi, looking at Sadiri's corpse in front of him. "If Coral Witch's words are true, then we are the corpses lying on the ground. In our eyes, she is a corpse. But it's also possible that we're alive and that Sadiri is dead, but she has strange hallucinations that she is the one who lives. ”

"But we can't prove it. "The female psychomancer told sù Muhadi.

The Psychic Mancer nodded, trying to get in touch with the Coral Witch once more.

"I'm still in the fortress of the undead," he told the female mage. "Beside me is Aisha, the Psychic Warlock, who came here with me not long ago. I've also met Muscle Daddy, the blazing god Kalin, and the Gis Seray warrior Daken. Your body is right in front of me now, just before you spoke to me, and I thought you were the one who died, and we survived. ”

He then sent the message. "In fact, the world I see here is almost exactly the same as the real world. I can't even tell how it differs from reality. I'm afraid I can't answer your initial question about what people see when they die. ”

"What?!" replied in bewilderment, through the psychic energy. "But my spell is not yet complete, and you can't resist that kind of explosion. I only had time to barely protect myself, and I knew I was supposed to save you, but at the time...... At the time......"

"In my side of the experience, your spell was also unfinished, but you managed to protect the others, and you took the full power of the explosion yourself. Muhadi explained to her using psionic teleportation.

This time, the Coral Witch's reply came a little late. “...... I should have done that, shouldn't I? I wish I could...... But there is no going back, and I can only try to resurrect you. ”

"Have you considered the possibility - you did die in the explosion to save the rest of us, and now you are the one who has been misled by posthumous hallucinations. Muhati spoke to the Coral Witch with his heartfelt speculation.

After a pause of "no ......", Sadiri denied the possibility in her reply. "You're a very gifted psychic manicer, Muhadi, I admit it. You're also a good religious leader and a good warrior...... But with all due respect, your knowledge of magic is very limited, and neither are your companions. Only illusionary magic can give people the illusion that they are still alive after death. And if I were hallucinating, I would be able to perceive it. For those who have little knowledge of magic, it is difficult for them to realize that they are affected by illusion magic. ”

"More than anyone, I'd like to see you survive the explosion, but that's not true. Her thoughts fluctuated in response, apologetic.

"Can you be sure of that?" asked Muhadi, somewhat uncertain.

"I'm sure because I'm a sun mage. This time, Coral Witch's mind fluctuated with some confidence.

It's quite convincing, Psychic thought. "What should I do?" he interrogated. "How can you resurrect yourself with your newfound abilities?"

After another pause, the Coral Witch's reply came. "I haven't fully mastered this ability yet, so when I use it, I have to be undisturbed, not distracted. ”

"From your description, I think you may have fallen into a kind of magically created hallucination. In order for my abilities to take effect, you must destroy this illusion. ”

"What can I do to break this illusion?" Muhathir asked.

"Spell counter ability is a very subtle skill, and only the most powerful mages can counter this powerful illusion. Satili explained. "However, there is an easy way to break free from even the most powerful illusions. ”

"It sounds like you're having a lot of concerns about this 'easy' approach. ”

"Listen," Sadiri's thoughts fluctuated as she continued. "You must commit suicide in this illusion in order to break free from the control of the illusion. ”

"What?" the psychic almost blurted out. Then he realized that the other party couldn't hear him, so he used his ability to send it again.

"I know it's hard, but you have to do it, or you'll be almost impossible to counter the illusion. At the same time, your soul can disappear at any time and never be awakened. Coral Witch said in a tone that almost sounded like a pleading.

"This ......" Muhadi was about to say something, but suddenly another message came from Sadiri, and it seemed very urgent, as if she was in great danger. "Someone's coming! I have to cut the connection! Remember, I must break the illusion! The sooner the better!"

Then, no matter how hard the psychic sorcerer tried, he couldn't feel the slightest fluctuation in Satilly's thoughts.

Someone tried to attack her, it's obvious, but who exactly?

More importantly, should I listen to Satili's advice and break free from this illusion by committing suicide?

The Coral Witch probably wouldn't deliberately deceive herself, Muhathir thought. Although her positions differed, she was a respectable person and was unlikely to use dishonorable means. Although it is terrifying, maybe I should listen to her advice.

"You heard the Coral Witch just now, right?" said the Psychic to Aisha. "How's that? Do you think we should adopt her suggestion?"

"If I were the Witch King Nibennay, and that explosion didn't kill you now, I'd definitely try to make sure you were dead with something else. Aisha said. "Since he is a master of illusion magic, he can create one illusion, but he can't create a second illusion? What better way to do that than to induce an enemy to commit suicide?"

She had a point, and Mohathir realized that the problem was back in place. Which part of what I have experienced is an illusion, and which part can I believe?

For a moment, the psychic warlock was a little hesitant, which made Muhati suddenly feel a little alarmed. I didn't seem to be so indecisive before, could it be that after losing the ability to show my abilities, my own will was also weakened?

"Maybe we should be cautious. "Maybe we should think of a way to prove that we are really trapped in a fantasy." ”

He looked around, and the fortress of the undead was simple and cold, with a Gothic style and not much furnishings. The morgue was emptier and gloomy than the others, and the chill seemed to emanate from the marble floors and walls.

Muhadi stood up and walked to a corner of the room. There, he found a mirror that reflected coldly on the room. Aisha followed him, not understanding what the Psychic Warlock was going to do.

The Psychic reached for the mirror and broke it into two pieces about the same size, hoping it wouldn't bring him any bad luck. He then placed the two mirror fragments opposite each other so that they reflected each other's images.

Muhadi saw that in each fragment of the mirror, an infinite number of reflections were reflected, each smaller than the other, until it shrank to the point where it was completely indistinguishable. He turned the angle of the mirror slightly, and the reflection changed.

It's all too real, the Psychic Mancer thought. On Earth, if such a scenario were to appear in a virtual scene simulated by a computer, a huge number of people could cause the machine to crash. He guessed that if the nature of illusion magic was similar to that of computer-generated virtual reality, then doing so should make it untenable.

But nothing is born, and what is seen in the mirror is the same as the real one. This seems to indicate that illusion magic does not work this way, or that you are not in the illusion at all, this is reality.

This approach doesn't work, Muhadi said to himself. He pondered hard, and suddenly remembered the egonett dilemma proposed by the ancient great psychic wizard Pierce. Each person's knowledge is limited by his (or her) own experience, and cannot go beyond his or her own experience. The great psychic warlock Pierce also named the way in which the world really exists as "reality", and named the external information felt by the human mind as "phenomena". And it is asserted that there is no way to prove that "reality" really exists through the "phenomena" that people feel.

The Great Psychic Warlock has also completed a famous thought reality, or "brain in a vat". He kills a random person and takes the victim's brain alive and puts it in a nutrient solution to maintain its physiological activity. The Great Psychic Warlock uses psychic abilities to send the same neural signals to the brain in the vat, and gives the same signal feedback to the brains as usual. As a result, the brain in the jar is completely unsure that it is living in a virtual world. Because the only way it communicates with the outside world is to send and receive signals, and the Great Psychic Warlock's abilities are enough to confuse the real with the real.

In other words, theoretically, if an illusionary spell can imitate the information transmitted to consciousness from the outside world to the exact extent, then it is incomprehensible, Muhadi thought, at least for himself who does not understand the mechanics of magic.

Is there really no way? Only suicide can break free? If this is really not a hallucination, I will kill myself.

Suddenly, the Psychic had an idea.

"Aisha!" he shouted to the female psychomancer. "Remember the first time we both arrived in Tyre?"

"Psychic sorcerers never forget, of course I do. Aisha said suspiciously. "What's wrong?"

"We tried to read each other's minds, and we both fainted, right? Muhati said, his tone a little higher.

"That's because I'm reading your inner mind, and your mind-reading ability is reading that I'm reading your heart, and I'm reading you're reading you're reading your heart, and you're reading I'm reading you're reading your heart......" Aisha said, not yet understanding Muhadi's intentions. “...... This is repeated indefinitely, and in an instant both of our minds accept the infinite amount of information, and we can't cope with it, so we faint. What does this have to do with the predicament we are in right now?"

"What if, I mean what if. Mohathir said. "We are now trapped in a fantasy where we are still alive. Everything we feel is a false signal created by illusion magic. So, it should be possible to do so...... No, it is absolutely possible to destroy the effect of this illusion magic. It can't simulate the near-infinite amount of information in the brain. It's also impossible to simulate the experience of reading each other's minds, Niben is a master of illusion magic, but he is not a psychic mancer, he can't know how a psychic feels. ！”

By the time he said the end, the Psychic Warlock's tone had become unequivocal. "It's so much better than suicide. If we weren't in a hallucination right now, it wouldn't kill us, we'd just be in a coma for a while!"

"This may work. Aisha understood the mindmancer's idea. "But I can't build yì for us to do it here, it's too dangerous in this fortress, and the battle could spread to this side at any time. The undead believe that we killed the Silent King, and they will not rest on their laurels...... It won't be long before they search the house. If we happen to be in a coma at that time, we are dead. ”

"Then let's go to a safe place first. Muhati responded.

"What about the others?" asked the telemancer again. "Muscle Daddy, what about that Gis Sere warrior, and the Otherworldly Servant Karin?

"They need to learn to take care of themselves. The Psychic Warlock said. "And I don't think these undead can deal with Muscle Daddy or Kailin. He was lucky, and Kailin, as a celestial creature, was born to restrain the undead. ”

"So be it. Aisha unleashed her morph ability and collected the Coral Witch's corpse. "Let's get out of this fortress quickly. ”

Muhadi nodded, and the two of them immediately went out, heading towards the exit of the fort, while trying to avoid a fight.

Most of the powerful undead seemed to be drawn into the battle on the throne room, with only a few miscellaneous soldiers such as skeletons and zombies blocking the way. Every now and then, there was a tremor from the base of the fortress, which seemed to indicate the fierceness of the battle on the throne room.

It took Muhadi and Aisha about half an hourglass to finally reach the exit of the fort. Luckily, there weren't any powerful enemy handles, just a lich who was running out of light spells. It didn't last long in the face of Aisha's psionic onslaught.

"Alright, let's get out. The Psychic Warlock and Aisha rushed out of the fortress's gates, hoping that the rest would be as smooth as it was now. They had been walking for a long time when they had come to the fortress at the bottom of the sewers, and it would have been a hassle if the undead had guards in the sewers.

"Wait!" Aisha exclaimed suddenly. "This is not the place we came!"

Muhadi stopped abruptly and looked around. The female psychic was right, this was indeed not what it was when they came. This isn't the intricate, labyrinthine sewers beneath Seal City, and it's not even in Seal City at all.

The ground is a scorched wasteland, with fiery red mountain walls and sloping hills with sloping side walls rising abruptly. The sky was filled with a blood-red light, the sun was not visible, and from time to time fireballs fell from the sky and exploded on the ground. In the distance, a river of blood flows slowly, and by the river is an improvised dock made of bone scaffolding, empty and unguarded.

In the multiverse, there is only one place that fits such a view. There is only one place like this where mercy withers and resentment grows.

This is the home of the Devil of Barthez, the Nine Prisons of Barto.

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P.S. Sorry to be late, the plane is late. I returned to Hong Kong from Indonesia.

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