The brain seemed to be pierced by countless fine needles, the intense pain making Sullivan's forehead veins bulge, and his field of vision rapidly narrowing. It was only by sheer willpower that he managed to remain standing and not collapse.

Suddenly, a warm sensation was felt on his lips. Raising his hand to touch it, crimson blood gushed out from his nostrils, flowing continuously.

...

"Hmm... Something doesn't feel right."

The young girl sat in front of her computer, holding her chin in contemplation. It wasn't just about not being able to watch new anime episodes anymore. After confirming that the internet connection was fine, she checked the forums, and a growing sense of unease crept into her heart. A faint voice was reminding her that something was amiss.

Although everything seemed normal and familiar, there was a strange aura lingering in the air.

"Ugh, this is so annoying..."

Shaking her head, the girl stood up and walked outside, trying to dispel the melancholy that shrouded her mind by taking a walk around.

The weather today was not very good, with overcast skies dimming the scenery. However, the absence of scorching sunlight was more to the girl's liking. Even though she didn't have classes in the morning, the bell from the academic building continued to ring, signaling the end of the class period, with sporadic figures appearing in the distance.

Speaking of which, are those two rushing to the library? If they pass by the cafeteria, maybe they can bring me lunch?

Thinking so, the girl took out her phone from her pocket.

"Hehe, another day without anyone messaging me... Just as expected of me."

The social media friend list was quiet, with the latest messages from two days ago, reminding her of the class monitor diligently urging her to submit the ideological report. It was sent in the early hours, truly inconsiderate.

Well, I was probably busy playing mobile games at that time.

"But it's surprising that even the LSP group is so quiet."

The lack of new messages in a gaming group chat was unexpected. It was a large group with thousands of members, and even if there were no hot topics, there would usually be people constantly requesting resources or chatting. Enjoying a moment of silence was rare.

Wait.

A message?

The girl blinked and reopened a well-known domestic app to browse and find the latest information.

Published at 9:29.

Now, she understood where the sense of unease was coming from.

Isn't this world a bit too quiet?

Of course, this quietness was relative, and as someone who spent most of her time as a shut-in, she was accustomed to this solitary tranquility and hadn't noticed anything unusual.

For her and the events happening around her, the world was still functioning. But just like in "The Truman Show," there might be moments where time stood still in places she couldn't see.

"...What am I even thinking?"

As she held her phone, the girl couldn't help but cover her face and laugh at the extreme thought. The possibility was too far-fetched.

Setting aside the fact that she hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary in her twenty years of life, even this situation itself seemed like something out of a novel or a teenage fantasy.

Could it be a display issue or a server problem?

"However..."

Driven by curiosity, the girl continued to open other similar forums and discussion boards.

The latest post times still did not exceed 9:29.

Despite being absurd, the fact stood there like a solid block of iron, displaying its existence.

Thud.

A sudden impact from behind made the girl unsteady on her feet, nearly causing her to drop her phone. A figure in a gray hoodie carrying a backpack had already walked past her.

"Hey, watch where you're going in the middle of the road."

It was a bit odd to suddenly stop in the middle of the road to check your phone, but was it necessary to bump into someone? Annoyed, the girl reached out to grab the person's shoulder, but her hand froze mid-air.

What's happening?

It was indeed a seemingly ordinary student, but the texture of their backpack, clothes, and even hair all seemed oddly different, almost like the appearance of character models in a 3D movie or game before they were fully rendered.

Instinctively taking two steps back, she felt another bump.

Turning around, she saw the figures that had appeared near the academic building now in front of her, all equally blurry and plastic-like as the first person.

In her hand, the phone seemed to go crazy, endlessly refreshing with information.

...

Reaching the limit, Sullivan could no longer stay standing. His mental energy depleted, he collapsed on the beach, half of his face covered in sweat and sand.

How could something so unreasonable occur? What kind of illusion had the Silver War Maiden created to consume such a massive amount of mental energy?

Everything in the illusion was based on the mental imprint of the person trapped inside, including events reconstructed and deduced from their memories, and to some extent, in accordance with the expectations of the illusion caster. With Sullivan's mastery of illusions, he could replicate even the grand scenes imagined by the caster.

His fear stemmed from the "unknown."

This was inherently contradictory. Illusions were constructed based on the caster's memories, and the contents were what the caster already knew or what was consciously forgotten. However, Tiran was a time traveler, with memories including the "internet," a bug-like entity for illusions, effectively penetrating the weakness of the illusion.

For Tiran, the existence that was known but impossible to deduce, along with the vast amount of information closely tied to life, prevented her from being steered away from the illusion using vagueness or hints, thus requiring enormous psychic power to calculate an unattainable result.

Ultimately, this led to mental exhaustion and the collapse of the illusion.

"You can't hold on any longer."

Behind Sullivan, Vera appeared out of nowhere, lightly jumping in front of the holy knight and wiping the sweat off his face with a smile.

"Why are you here?"

"Because I couldn't defeat those two quickly, and it's more fun to mess around here. Enduring that battle for too long would be boring."

Vera clicked her tongue and then glanced back at the three Holy Ranks still trapped in the illusion by Sullivan's efforts.

"Actually, this is a good opportunity. They are defenseless now, and a triple kill would not only complete the mission but also eliminate future troubles."

"No!"

Even with a splitting headache, Sullivan understood clearly that this was the one thing he couldn't allow. The purpose of their mission from the Pope wasn't to start a war with Milania, and killing – especially involving the second princess – was absolutely forbidden. A full-scale retaliation from Milania would be disastrous for the church.

However, when Sullivan struggled to lift his head and saw Vera's smile, his heart sank halfway.

This guy...

"Hmm, I suddenly feel that starting a war between Milania and the church would be quite interesting."

As she spoke, Vera retrieved a delicate and sharp dagger from her boot, stepping towards Tiran.

"Stop!"

Struggling to get up, Sullivan was hindered by a strong sense of weakness. And even if he could stand, he probably wouldn't be able to stop Vera in this state.

Damn it! Shouldn't have trusted her from the beginning, right?!

It seemed there was only one solution left for him now.

"At the very least, I must take the Queen away..."

With this thought in mind, Sullivan voluntarily dispelled the other illusions and focused all his psychic power on casting an illusion on Vivian.

"Tsk, really, you're so unwilling to let me kill them? What a waste of a good opportunity..."

Vera noticed Sullivan's actions and, feeling a bit petty, clicked her tongue, then vanished into thin air with a cloaked invisibility.

As the illusion dissipated, the three people who had maintained their standing position suddenly sobered up at the same time.

"I'm not me!" Aya crossed her hands in front of her, her face full of panic and confusion. Little Angel had a flushed face, unsure about what she had seen in the illusion.

The only one who realized what had happened was the princess, and as she opened her eyes, a look of melancholy and loss appeared on her face.