Otherworld TRPG Game Master - Chapter 341



341 – Afterword: What the Illusionary Tower Left Behind – 2

Honestly, I thought I could just smack him down right away.

“『Sleep Arrow』.”

Even when I cast the illusion magic to put him to sleep, aiming for his forehead after distracting him with the club, I was sure the next scene would be Envers snoring away.

“Hah!”

CRACK-!

From the moment my sleep arrow shattered into pieces with just one shout, things started to feel a little off.

“Wait, how the hell did you break my magic…?”

“『Illusion(幻)』!”

“Uwoooh…!”

Envers’ form blurred and spread out, three translucent Enverses swinging their swords in different trajectories. I hastily raised my guard and began evasive maneuvers.

But it was a feint. The Envers clones just hovered like they were going to strike, then scattered like mist. And exploiting that gap, the real attack came stabbing in.

CLANG!

I transformed my right arm’s skin into its giant monster form, hardened it, and deflected the thrust. Then, using the longsword’s blade as a launching rail, I slid in and unleashed a punch.

Thud.

He blocked my fist with the hilt of his longsword.

“『Scatter』!”

From noble mtl dot com

He dispersed like a cloud. Then reappeared three steps behind.

I was dumbfounded by the flow of this bizarre fight, and looked at the glass. Wondering if I was dreaming. But she also looked surprised.

“Your means of attack have become incredibly diverse since I last fought you. It appears to be an application of 『Imperial Sword Style』. Concentrating information at a single point in space to break through the opponent’s illusion magic…”

“Concentrating information on a specific path, making it act like pseudo-illusion magic, right? Moving beyond the existing 『Imperial Sword Style』 which overloads the area with information, and making it selectively controllable.”

“It’s like dividing the power you always used at 100% into 30% and using it with precision.”

“Still, Envers is Envers… Ugh!”

My body seized up. A crushing pressure, like the world bearing down, was acting on my joints with pinpoint accuracy. It’s the original application of 『Imperial Sword Style』… but more refined.

It’s more troublesome than just a heavy weight. Because if you lock up someone’s joints, their entire body creaks.

Originally, when this disabling attack was used, Envers should have been incapacitated.

But the efficient use of power gave him a slight margin, and with that, Envers was moving, albeit slowly. As slow as a snail. But compared to me, completely frozen, he was moving dozens of times faster.

“Receive my inevitable blade.”

*Scree.* Envers’s sword slowly rose. I followed his movement of assuming an upper stance with my eyes and thought.

This b*stard… why’s he so strong?

“Your ‘Ascension’ ability was already powerful. Until now, a lack of experience and clumsiness prevented you from unleashing its true power, but this… this ‘Demonic Celestial’ state. It’s arrogant, but it also looks more seasoned.”

“What the hell, is this some kind of enemy-turned-ally power-up….”

“Are you going to just take it? I know you’re infatuated with the Great Beast’s physical abilities, but I don’t want to see my body get beaten up.”

“……”

Alright then. Let’s end the martial arts play here.

“Release constraint.”

Click.

Fwooossssh-!

I aimed my right hand finger and reverted to my Kaiju form. Being a 150-meter-tall colossal Kaiju, even my finger is easily over 10 meters.

“What kind of sorcery is th- uhmph!”

No matter how much the Emperor Sword Form flutters and flies, how can it block this much matter?

Kwaaang-!

Envers was swept away by a torrent of white viscous fluid, crashing straight into a building wall. In the process, I used small tentacles to inject a sleep spell. Subjugation complete.

I retracted my finger and approached Envers.

It really hits me again, it’s the user, not just the power itself that’s important. Just changing the way I fight and the strength I feel shoots way up.

So, what course of action should I take?

I placed my hand on Envers’ forehead, scanning his body thoroughly.

“What do you think, Mima? Will he live forever as a Demonic Mara? Does he need physical resocialization?”

“No. We can gather the dispersed information. Originally, I planned to dispose of it, but looking at this combat power, it’d be better to make it into a module that can be toggled on and off.”

It’s like adding a transformation function, like his brother Rodelus.

His Highness has proclaimed a plan to subdue the spicy red flavor, so won’t this guy also face his family to shake off his musty past? For that time, he needs to have as much combat power as possible.

After finishing the treatment, I woke Envers.

“…P, Professor. What happened? I was clearly fighting the Tower with 『Emperor Sword Form』… ick, my head.”

“Listen carefully, Cheonghwi, due to the workings of the Tower of Illusion, some of the information you generate has materialized, and as a result, a mass of information with considerable arrogance and violence has been created-“

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Dark magic has taken root in your head. I’ve sealed it for now, but I’ve set it up so the seal breaks when you speak the incantation. If you unleash the magic in a dangerous situation, you’ll get about 2.4 times stronger, so use it in emergencies.”

“I understand perfectly what you’re saying. A stroke of luck, then.”

It was a stroke of luck.

Looking at Envers’ case, I figured maybe the other students who got caught up in the 『Phantom Tower』 might have gotten something too. Using the 『Phantasmagoria』 phenomenon written in Yuri’s report, that is.

A phenomenon where the resistance to phantasmal magic in a part of the body weakens, and hitting it with phantasmal magic can make it disappear. In other words, it’s not far from partial info-life conversion.

Right now, I’ve locked down its functions and made his body normal again, but if I tell him how to manipulate it, he might gain the kind of traits where parts of his limbs can freely transform, he can hack things, like something that would fly around in a cyberpunk setting.

Let’s try this out later, on those who apply for it.

After hearing the command for what we’ll call ‘Demonic Transformation’ from me, Envers let out a snicker, looking pretty happy. Judging by the way he mumbled about dark power and stuff, he seems to really like it.

Yeah, any guy will go wild for an alter form, that’s how it is. I can relate.

Now that the work is done, I was about to send him back.

“If that strange tower caused a change, then the Blue Rose must have gained something too.”

“Wait a minute, when shit went down, Rode… no, was the Blue Rose there?”

“She was. That… child she’s been taking around lately, you know? When asked the purpose of her visit, she said she was here for treatment.”

“………”

For the treatment and education of Kim Hayang, born from Faceless’ body, Loderus and Kim Lulu were visiting the Academy periodically.

And it seems they were on the scene when this incident broke out too. Then, since the Phantom Tower blurs the boundaries between illusion and reality… ?

Then, fuck, maybe.

Maybe the magical girl transformation form, which is a fiction, actually materialized and she permanently got TS’ed or something, an emergency situation.

“Oh no, no way, not before you get to use it at least once, Dae-su!”

They’re checking up regularly, but as far as I know, the Daesu-Ruru couple hasn’t done it yet. They’re holding off on settling down until after they chop off that Red Flavor Duke’s head… I understand they’re holding it in.

But to just suddenly break down like that?

That kind of future can’t exist. Daesu, wait for me, I’m coming!

“Mima, where are you suddenly going…”

“Gotta see a friend!”

I bolted off, running towards my friend.

Ran through the forest, teleported, and finally got to Rodesu’s newlywed home. I knocked on the front door, but strangely, no one came out.

Maybe they were just too deep in grief and had holed up in their room, starving, so I picked the lock and went in. And when I burst open Rodesu’s door–

“Buddy, is your downstairs okay…?!”

The moment I walked in, I was greeted by Kim Ruru’s shocking line.

“If the transformation doesn’t wear off, we can just have it together, right?!”

“……..”

“……..!!”

The friend I was worried about was getting pinned down by Kim Ruru, in the middle of a cute little sitcom, so then and there I realized my narrow-mindedness and deeply reflected on it. What does gender matter, when they love each other this much?

To him, gender was no longer important.

“Um, sorry. I’ll come back later. You two have a beautiful love.”

“Wait, wait, you crazy magician! Don’t leave! I’m being attacked by Kim Ruru right now! Help me!”

“Oh Daesu, say you’ll have it with me!”

“Please, think about it Kim Ruru, I’m still a man—”

I quietly closed the door.

–

Oh Dae-soo emerged a moment later, looking utterly disheveled. Then, as if nothing had happened, he began explaining. A coldness, befitting an assassin.

“…Luckily, I didn’t get caught up in that ‘Tower of Illusions’. But just being near it makes my fable act up. I can’t undo the transformation. That’s what you’re here to fix, right?”

“Hm.”

“And if this isn’t fixed, I can’t operate as a Redburn family spy. This is a serious problem. That’s why you rushed here, isn’t it?”

“Mhm.”

“Stop just making noises and say something!”

*Thump!*

Oh Dae-soo slammed his fist on the table. I crossed my arms and thought for a moment, then, after several calculations, I finished my diagnosis.

“I can fix it. If we return the parts that gained physicality from the ‘Tower of Illusions’ back to illusion. Then, you can go back to being a variable TS-male, like before.”

“Could you perhaps try to be more reserved with your words?”

“I can fix it… but your sister’s got a kind of power-up event going on. You too. These side effects could actually be used effectively, depending on how you use them.”

After all, the fact that some illusions gained power and became reality means we can save energy equal to the amount used to make the shift.

If we control it precisely, we could even strengthen his fable with the saved energy.

I placed a rainbow-colored metal on the table. About the size of a finger, it’s a mystical metal that makes you feel hazy just by looking at it.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a mineral left behind at the spot where the ‘Tower of Illusions’ vanished. A substance that didn’t exist before, and won’t again unless Yuna blows up once more. I call it ‘Phantasmite’.”

It doesn’t have the immense power to casually shift illusions into reality, but analysis shows it’s effective at aiding and amplifying illusion-based powers.

“According to my calculations, this can turn you into two people. You can use your fable’s mana hardening to create a near-physical doppelganger. The advantages are obvious if you think about it, right?”

“…I wouldn’t have to struggle to maintain dual identities then. ‘Rodelus’ can be stationed with the Redburns, and ‘Oh Dae-soo’ can keep doing his thing.”

“Plus, it’ll be useful in battles. Roderus, the selection for the throne is coming up soon. Prince Irid is planning to use that timing to hunt down the Red Flavor Duke. It’s your time to shine.”

“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”

If you prepare for that time, the more power you have, the better.

And if you just accept this TS situation, you can enhance your power almost for free. What’s more, your daily life won’t change much either.

It’s just that while using this power, your original gender will be switched. It won’t be that you return to your male form, but rather you’ll ‘summon’ your male form.

Roderus pondered for a long while, then.

“⋯⋯Once everything’s over, will I be able to go back to normal?”

“It’s possible. But this is like maintaining a nail half-driven into a wooden board. If an accident happens and external force drives the nail in all the way, you might not be able to pull the board off.”

“⋯⋯Even so, I guess my answer is already decided. If it’s for the sake of protecting this daily life, I can endure that much risk. Now, what do I have to do?”

“I’ll explain how to use it. So, first—”

In the end, he accepted the new power.

–

“While I’m here, I’ll give Hayangi a maintenance check. Where is Hayangi?”

“Hayangi’s in her room. Left at the end of the hallway.”

“How’s she been? No signs of Faceless trying to surface?”

“She’s fine. Listens well, eats her broccoli, and doesn’t show any violence. Lately, she’s gotten more mature. She’s been reading more.”

The fact that he could talk so naturally about it, it’s like he’s really raising her as his own child. Maybe it’s because he was starved for family affection himself. He would’ve been a very caring and good father.

I changed my voice tone to “kid-mode” and, with an excited tone like a kindergarten teacher, I opened the door and went in.

“Our Hayang-ssi, the doctor’s here for a house call today— dammit.”

“Crazy mage, what happened?”

Hayangi, with a hazy expression, waved a hand, greeting them with a soft “Moong.” The pattern of her actions was no different from usual, but the problem lay within.

There was nothing where there should be something.

“There’s no soul, this… It’s a meat puppet assembled with Faceless’s ability. You didn’t teach Hayangi your power, did you?”

“……No.”

“……She’s awakened. And escaped.”

The Redburn Duke’s assassin had returned.

–

She was back.

Finally back. It felt like waking from a long, drawn-out dream. Faceless had finally snapped out of her protracted stupor and regained consciousness.

She staggered towards the Redburn Duke’s manor. She would have her revenge. On that swordsman who’d done this to her, and on the Corpse Flower who’d used her as a meat shield.

The more she mulled it over, the angrier she became. Why did *she* have to suffer such a fate? She was chosen by her father, a human with destiny! How dare they.

Even after unleashing a torrent of curses inwardly, her rage didn’t subside. She needed to vent. Yes, after returning to the manor, she’d kill someone. And after torturing them horribly, she’d turn them into a puppet.

And from now on, she’d never expose her own position. She’d remain hidden in the shadows, sending out only her puppets to do her bidding.

Consumed by her blind rage, Faceless…

“Moong.”

…failed to notice.

That another version of herself, reflected in the mirror, was staring right back at her.