MTL NOVEL Chapter 27: Chapter 24: A Game of Illusions
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Prologue: The Curtain Rises Once More
The air was still heavy with Cetz's lingering presence.
Even though the illusions had been shattered, Akira could still feel their echoes in his mind—like the afterimage of a bright light that refused to fade.
Hiroshi exhaled sharply, wiping sweat from his brow. "What the hell was that?"
Kenji cracked his knuckles, his body still tense. "That… wasn't just illusions. It felt real."
Daisuke forced a grin, though his fingers still trembled. "Yeah, well… that's kinda the point, isn't it?"
Mei stayed silent, her gaze locked on Cetz.
The Phantom Illusionist stood casually, hands in his coat pockets, watching them with amusement.
He had let them escape his illusions—
But only because he had wanted to.
That fact made Akira's stomach twist.
"You disrupted my Mirage Symphony once," Cetz mused. "That was… unexpected. But now I'm curious."
His golden eyes gleamed.
"What happens when you're faced with an illusion you can't break?"
Akira's fingers twitched. An illusion I can't break?
Before he could process those words—
Cetz snapped his fingers.
And the world shifted again.
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Phase One: The Unwinnable Game
The team vanished.
No—
They were still there.
But suddenly, they were separated.
Akira was alone.
No ruins. No battlefield. No allies.
Just blackness.
Then—
A light.
A single flickering streetlamp above him, illuminating a deserted road.
Familiar.
Too familiar.
His stomach turned.
He knew this place.
He had walked this road before.
The night his mother died.
"No…" Akira whispered, taking a step back.
But the illusion didn't care.
A distant melody played from a half-broken radio nearby—his mother's favorite song.
His breath came faster.
The street was silent—except for the faintest echo of footsteps approaching.
He knew what was coming.
He had relived it a thousand times in his nightmares.
The accident.
The moment his mother's voice went silent.
The moment her song stopped playing.
And now—
He was here again.
But this time—
He couldn't wake up.
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Phase Two: The Phantom's Test
Akira clenched his fists, forcing himself to breathe.
It's an illusion.
It's not real.
He knew that.
And yet—
The streetlamp's light felt warm.
The pavement beneath his feet felt rough.
The cold wind bit into his skin, just like it had that night.
Cetz's voice echoed from nowhere.
"Even if you know it's an illusion," he murmured, "can you stop yourself from feeling it?"
Akira gritted his teeth. "I won't fall for this."
"Won't you?"
Cetz's voice was closer now.
And then—
The car appeared.
Its headlights pierced the darkness, rushing forward at full speed.
And in the middle of the road—
A silhouette.
A woman.
His mother.
Akira's breath hitched.
The car's engine roared—
Tires screeched—
"Mom—!!"
His feet moved before his mind could think.
A mistake.
The moment he lunged forward—
A hand grabbed his wrist.
Cetz.
Standing beside him, smiling.
The car never hit her.
The moment it should have made contact—
The woman vanished.
Like she had never been there.
Akira's stomach dropped.
His body was shaking.
Cetz let go of his wrist, stepping back with an almost bored expression.
"See?" he said. "You still react. Your heart still believes it, even when your mind doesn't."
Akira's breath was uneven.
Cetz chuckled. "So tell me, Akira—if your heart can be tricked, does it really matter if the illusion is real or not?"
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Phase Three: The Others' Battles
While Akira was trapped in his nightmare, the others were facing their own.
Hiroshi
Hiroshi stood in a dimly lit dojo, the smell of incense thick in the air.
He knew this place.
This was his master's dojo.
And standing before him—
Was his master.
Sword drawn.
Expression cold.
"You have disgraced our name."
Hiroshi's chest ached.
"Master, I—"
"Draw your sword," his master interrupted.
"This time, I won't hold back."
The last time Hiroshi had stood here—he had walked away in shame.
This time—he might not walk away at all.
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Kenji
Kenji stood amidst the wreckage of a collapsed building.
Concrete dust filled the air.
Screams echoed in the distance.
His breath came fast.
This was—
The accident.
The one that had nearly killed him.
The one where he had failed to save them.
And then—
A voice from beneath the rubble.
Weak.
Pleading.
"Kenji… help me…"
His hands shook.
This wasn't real.
He knew it wasn't real.
But he still reached out.
And the moment he did—
The rubble collapsed again.
Crushing everything.
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Daisuke
Daisuke found himself back on the racetrack.
Engines roared.
Wind whipped against his face.
The speedometer climbed—higher, higher.
Too high.
His hands tightened on the wheel.
He knew what was coming.
The moment everything changed.
The turn he had taken too fast.
The crash that had almost ended his life.
But this time—
He couldn't stop it.
The brakes failed.
The car spun out of control.
And just like before—
The world flipped upside down.
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Mei
Mei stood in the middle of a battlefield.
Smoke and ashes filled the air.
Bodies surrounded her.
And in front of her—
Her father.
His sword raised.
"This is the path you've chosen, Mei," he said.
His eyes pierced into her.
"If you cannot defeat me—"
His blade whipped forward.
"Then you do not deserve to wield a blade at all."
Mei exhaled, tightening her grip on Razor Symphony.
She would not falter.
Even if this was an illusion—
She had to fight.
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Phase Four: The Breaking Point
Cetz watched all of them struggle.
Every one of them trapped in their deepest fears.
Their strongest regrets.
He leaned back, smiling.
"This," he murmured, "is true control."
And yet—
Somewhere in the darkness—
A faint pulse of sound rippled through the illusions.
A single, off-key note.
Cetz's eyes narrowed.
"Oh?"
The illusion trembled.
Akira stepped forward.
"You think fear makes us weak?" His Stand, Echo Chamber, hummed with power.
He smirked.
"Fear just means we have something worth fighting for."
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