The old witch’s laughter echoed through every corner of the cavern.
It bounced off the crystal walls until it became impossible to tell where she was sitting anymore. Every direction sounded the same. Every shadow looked alive. Vines continued to slither across the walls and ceiling while dozens of identical figures appeared and disappeared between them, each wearing the same rotten smile.
"What’s wrong?" she mocked. "You were so confident a moment ago."
Liam didn’t answer.
He remained exactly where he had landed.
His breathing gradually slowed until it became almost impossible to hear.
The witch tilted her head.
"Oh?"
Another wave of vines exploded toward him.
Some burst from the ceiling.
Others emerged from the walls.
Several even erupted beneath his feet.
This time...
Liam closed his eyes.
Tatiana’s expression immediately changed.
"Liam?"
Mary stared in disbelief.
"He... closed his eyes?"
Even Leonid frowned.
Against an enemy who specialized in deception, voluntarily giving up his sight sounded like madness.
The witch burst into laughter.
"Have you finally accepted defeat?"
"You poor child."
"You couldn’t tell reality from illusion with your eyes open, so now you’ve decided not to use them at all?"
Her cackling grew louder.
"What an amusing way to die."
Liam ignored every word.
Darkness filled his world.
His hearing sharpened.
The cool air brushing against his face.
The vibration beneath his feet.
The faint pulse of mana drifting through the cavern.
Everything became clearer.
His breathing slowed again.
His thoughts became completely still.
Within that silence...
A single notification appeared before his mind.
[Aether Sense (Level 1) Activated.]
He didn’t need to read it.
He could feel it.
The countless illusions surrounding him were loud to the eyes...
But silent to everything else.
They had shape.
They had movement.
They even carried traces of mana.
Yet they possessed no life.
No intent.
No weight.
No disturbance in the air.
Only one presence among the countless attacks truly existed.
"There."
Whoosh!
Without opening his eyes, Liam sidestepped.
A thick vine crashed into the exact place where he’d been standing.
Boom!
Stone shattered.
The witch’s smile faded slightly.
Another barrage came.
This time nearly fifty vines rushed toward him simultaneously.
Liam didn’t move immediately.
Forty-nine...
Were empty.
One...
Was alive.
His body twisted naturally.
The real vine brushed harmlessly past his shoulder while every illusion swept through him like mist.
The cave suddenly became quiet.
The witch stopped laughing.
"...Lucky."
She crossed her fingers.
Fine roots spread beneath the stone floor.
Hundreds of fake footsteps echoed around the cavern.
Her copies multiplied.
Ten.
Twenty.
Fifty.
Soon the entire chamber appeared filled with old women.
Each one whispered.
Each one laughed.
Each one pointed toward Liam.
He remained motionless.
Eyes still closed.
His ears ignored the voices.
His nose ignored the smell.
His skin ignored the cold breeze.
Everything except...
His senses.
"There."
He stepped forward.
Not toward any visible witch.
Toward empty darkness.
The spectators looked completely confused.
"There isn’t anything there..."
Mary whispered.
The instant Liam reached that empty space...
He threw a punch.
Bang!
The air exploded.
A loud cry echoed through the cavern.
"Agh!"
The illusion shattered.
The real witch was suddenly sent crashing through three crystal pillars before rolling across the floor.
Everyone froze.
He had...
Hit the real one.
Without seeing her.
The old witch climbed back to her feet, genuine disbelief filling her wrinkled face.
"Impossible..."
"You never opened your eyes."
Liam finally spoke.
"I don’t need them."
He slowly adjusted his stance.
"You made one mistake."
The witch’s expression darkened.
"What mistake?"
"You relied on fooling my eyes."
Liam’s voice remained calm.
"But my eyes were never my greatest weapon."
He tapped two fingers lightly against his chest.
"My senses are."
For the first time since the battle began...
The witch felt uneasy.
She suddenly clapped both hands together.
The entire cave trembled.
Mana flooded every corner.
If illusions alone wouldn’t work...
She would bury him beneath sheer numbers.
Thousands of vines burst from every wall.
The cave itself seemed to come alive.
Some attacked.
Some restrained.
Some pierced.
Some swept across the floor like serpents.
The assault was endless.
Yet Liam never opened his eyes.
He flowed through the battlefield.
Every movement was economical.
A single step avoided three real attacks.
A slight tilt of his shoulders allowed an illusion to pass harmlessly through him while a genuine thorned vine narrowly missed his neck.
His fists became devastating.
Every strike landed only on something real.
Boom!
A real vine exploded.
Bang!
Another was torn apart.
Crack!
A third shattered against his elbow.
The witch’s breathing became uneven.
Every illusion she created was immediately ignored.
Every real attack was instantly intercepted.
The advantage she had spent decades perfecting...
Was disappearing.
"No..."
"This isn’t possible..."
She retreated deeper into the cavern.
Liam followed.
Eyes still closed.
He no longer chased what he saw.
He pursued only the living presence hidden among the sea of falsehood.
The witch created another illusion of herself.
Then another.
Then a hundred more.
Liam walked past every single one.
His pace never changed.
The real witch’s heartbeat quickened.
"He found me..."
She turned to flee.
Too late.
Liam appeared directly before her.
His eyes remained closed.
His right hand shot forward.
Clench.
His fingers wrapped around her throat.
The old witch’s pupils shrank.
"Found you."
For the first time since they had entered her cave...
The witch’s laughter disappeared completely.
The old witch clawed desperately at Liam’s wrist.
Her long black fingernails scraped against his skin, but they might as well have been scratching solid steel. His grip never loosened. His eyes remained closed, his breathing calm and controlled as though everything around him had faded into silence.
For the first time since they had entered the cave, genuine fear appeared on the old woman’s face.
"You..."
Her raspy voice trembled.
"...what are you?"
Liam didn’t answer.
His attention wasn’t completely on her.
His Aether Sense remained spread throughout the cavern, searching every corner. Even now, he wasn’t willing to believe the fight was over. An enemy that had deceived them this many times deserved caution until her last breath.
The witch suddenly smiled.
It was a horrible smile.
Crooked.
Rotten.
Mad.
"You think..."
"...you’ve won?"
She burst into another fit of laughter.
"Ahahahaha!"
The sound echoed violently throughout the chamber.
The crystals lining the walls began glowing brighter than before.
Everyone instinctively looked around.
The vines covering the cave started writhing like living snakes.
Mary’s expression changed immediately.
"Liam!"
"The mana!"
"It’s increasing!"
Agatha felt it too.
"This isn’t normal."
The witch laughed harder.
"You’ve forced me this far."
"So be it."
"If I die..."
"...none of you are leaving this place alive."
Dark green mana exploded from her body.
The vines covering the walls rapidly thickened until they resembled the trunks of ancient trees. The crystals embedded throughout the cave pulsed in rhythm with the mana, casting sickly green light across the chamber.
Without opening his eyes, Liam felt it.
The entire cave...
Was alive.
No.
It had always been alive.
The witch hadn’t been controlling ordinary vines.
She had been connected to the cave itself.
The floor trembled beneath everyone’s feet.
Cracks spread through the stone.
Huge roots burst upward from every direction.
Tatiana immediately grabbed Mary’s arm and pulled her backward before a root erupted where she’d been standing.
Leonid shielded Gregor’s unconscious body with his own while Irina sliced through a thick root charging toward them.
Agatha hurriedly formed several glowing magic circles.
"Protective Barrier!"
A translucent dome expanded around the group just as dozens of thorn-covered roots crashed against it.
Boom!
The barrier shook violently.
Cracks immediately spread across its surface.
Agatha’s face paled.
"They’re too strong!"
Liam finally spoke.
Still without opening his eyes.
"Get everyone outside."
Tatiana looked toward him.
"What about you?"
"I’ll follow."
She knew that tone.
There wasn’t a trace of hesitation in it.
He had already made up his mind.
Tatiana bit her lip.
For a brief moment she wanted to stay.
To fight beside him.
But she also knew something else.
Gregor was unconscious.
Mary and Agatha needed time to cast.
If they remained here...
Liam would have to protect all of them while fighting.
She nodded once.
"Everyone!"
"We’re leaving!"
Leonid immediately lifted Gregor onto his shoulder.
Irina moved beside Agatha while Mary reinforced the weakening barrier.
Together they began retreating toward the entrance.
The witch watched them.
"You think I’ll let them escape?"
Countless roots shot toward the fleeing group.
Liam moved.
His eyes never opened.
Yet he appeared directly between the roots and his companions.
Boom!
His fist smashed into the cave floor.
The impact created a shockwave powerful enough to pulverize every root charging toward them.
Splinters flew in every direction.
The witch’s pupils contracted.
Every time she attacked...
He was already there.
It was as though he could predict the future.
No.
Worse.
He could feel the intention behind every attack before it even happened.
The last of his companions reached the tunnel leading out of the chamber.
Tatiana was the final one to leave.
She looked back one last time.
"Liam."
He gave a small nod without turning around.
"I’ll be right behind you."
She disappeared into the tunnel.
The cavern suddenly became much quieter.
Now...
Only two people remained.
Liam.
And the witch.
The old woman slowly stopped smiling.
"So."
"You sent away your protection."
Liam tilted his head slightly.
"My protection?"
She grinned.
"Those people."
"They’re your weakness."
He let out a quiet chuckle.
"No."
"They’re the reason I can fight without holding back."
For some reason...
Those words sent an uneasy feeling through the witch’s chest.
Liam slowly rolled his shoulders.
Then...
For the first time since closing them...
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"You’ve had your turn."
"My turn now."
The pressure that erupted from his body made the entire cave tremble.
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