Chapter 40: Magician Maya (3)
As the evening sun cast its gentle light.
In the centre of the village stood a tall stack of straws.
It caught fire.
The rising smoke signalled the beginning of the festival.
People sang to the tune of the accordion and danced to the beat of drums.
Amidst the blazing flames, the head of the hardworking scarecrow for the past year snapped and fell.
When the heat of the harvest festival enveloped the entire village,
A dense shadow began to loom over the hill behind the village.
At someone's scream, people raised their heads to look.
A massive island spanned the dark sky.
Fireworks burst endlessly above the island, and the cheers of the people echoed endlessly.
It seemed like a joyful festival was taking place up there.
Though it was unlikely to be seen from up high, people waved their hands towards the Sky City.
"We hope you're as happy as we are!"
A crow that had been munching on a rotten pumpkin in a corner of the village perked up at the sound.
With curious eyes, it looked up at the sky.
An island floating in the sky.
What could be up there?
The lights and sounds emanating from it tempted the crow.
With outstretched wings, the crow headed towards the island.
As the crow approached the island, buildings became visible through the clouds.
The sight of the city floating in the sky taught the crow, even a mere beast, the feeling of wonder.
The ornate decorations hanging all over the city excited it.
Something extraordinary must be happening!
With rising anticipation, the crow drew closer to the city.
But gradually, it began to feel that something was amiss.
The screams of the people.
They were different from the voices of the villagers down below.
They were filled with fear and agony.
"Ahh! Don't come! Stay away!"
"Eeek!"
"Save us, save us, help, ack!"
Screams and cries echoed through the streets.
Every alley was filled with cries of horror.
Blood and flesh flowed in the city's various corners.
Massacres were taking place throughout the city.
The ones doing the killing were mainly the colourful-clad jesters and acrobats.
With their elongated arms, sharp teeth, long tongues, and spikes protruding from their backs, they grabbed, tore, stabbed, and mauled people in ways unimaginable for regular humans.
They were no longer human.
"Hehehe! Witness my skills!"
"Offerings to the Mage!"
"Will you not watch the show?"
In the eyes of those who kill and torture, there was a certain thrill and excitement.
The crow flapped its wings even faster.
Feathers fell off in surprise.
It was madness. Everything here was going crazy.
Madness felt throughout the entire city.
One wrong move, and it seemed like he might get sucked in too.
With a bang, flames shot up.
And a firecracker whizzed past him.
Intermittent gunfire erupted, and gunpowder smoke obscured the view.
By avoiding and dodging, he had unknowingly reached the central part of the city.
There, the crow witnessed an unexpected scene.
Amidst this chaotic hell, there was a man standing in complete tranquillity.
With golden hair down to his shoulders, wearing a black silk hat, a black suit, and a black cape, he stood at the pinnacle, gazing down at the city.
His smile was incredibly beautiful.
The crow descended slowly in front of him.
There was no hostility in his gaze as he looked at it.
In fact, he seemed pleased.
The crow felt relieved.
He was the only intact human in this place.
He approached.
His hand gently enveloped the crow.
His mouth opened.
Wide.
Wider.
Beyond his cheeks, his mouth stretched wide open, revealing dozens of sharp-edged teeth and tongues with thorns, twisted like snakes.
The crow's eyes were filled with astonishment.
But he couldn't move at all.
The man's hand that gripped his body had transformed into claws like an animal's front paws, tearing his body apart.
And so, the crow's head disappeared into the man's mouth.
Crunch.
Crunch.
Crunch.
With the sound of flesh being chewed and bones being crushed, the game's title appeared on the screen.
"Tril Trilo."
The camera retraced the path the crow had taken.
The camera seemed to want to get away from the smiling man as it sped up, illuminating the alleys where slaughter was taking place, displaying the names of the company, director, investors, and developers.
The camera finally stopped at the edge of the city.
A large man, towering among the soldiers screaming at the monsters, was commanding them with a shield and sword.
The camera fixed on that man.
The game began from here.
Players controlled Sir Ivan, defeating monsters and rescuing people while learning how to use the knight's abilities.
Using the knight's strength to clear obstacles, breaking through weak walls with a charge, and advancing.
Finally, he arrived at the scene where people were being hunted by monsters.
A group of monsters spewed saliva while flapping their bat-like wings in the air.
People hit by the saliva screamed in agony as their skin burned.
Unfortunately, Sir Ivan had no means to attack the airborne enemies.
Then, the perspective shifted once again.
A woman on a rooftop, wearing her hood and surveying the situation.
She suddenly turned her head and smirked when she saw Sir Ivan's appearance.
Behind her, a monster acrobat with a knife raised stealthily approached.
But she shot an arrow backward as if she had eyes on the back of her head.
The monster was pierced through the forehead and fell below the building.
The winged monsters' attention turned in their direction.
The thief was ready for battle as she stood on the roof.
Now players learned how to play as the thief, defeating winged monsters with arrows and using double jumps to escape when the roof collapsed due to the monsters' acid spit.
If the arrows ran out, she replenished them from the corpses of dead soldiers.
After clearing the monsters, Sir Ivan thanked her.
They moved together.
Utilizing Sir Ivan and the thief appropriately, they advanced through obstacles blocking their path.
However, the bridge to the other island had already burned down and was severed.
The island was slowly losing altitude, plummeting.
Sir Ivan and the thief argued.
The thief insisted on going to the pier and escaping on an airship, while Sir Ivan argued that they should go to the other island to help people.
Then, the camera moved into a well beside them.
Inside, a white-haired wizard was sleeping with her eyes closed.
Perhaps she woke up because she heard Sir Ivan and the thief arguing, but she blinked and saw that her head was bleeding.
She had fallen into the well while running away from the monster attack.
From this point on, players could control the wizard.
The wizard's special ability, "Barrier," allowed her to create a sturdy polyhedron.
Using the cursor, I placed a dot and connected the edges to form a barrier. By stacking blocks inside the well, I created stairs to exit and meet the knight and thief.
Creating a bridge in the form of a long plank using the magician's barrier allowed them to cross to the opposite island. As soon as they crossed the bridge, the opposite island crashed to the ground.
Knight, thief, and magician. The three of them breathed a sigh of relief as they looked around the city's centre.
The sky city was engulfed in screams and chaos.
That's how the prologue stage of TT1 ended, and the main story began.
I found myself lost in thought as I looked at the girl with white hair. Her appearance was not much different from the Maya I knew. However, compared to her future self, who was composed and dignified, there was a hint of discomfort in her expression. Of course, only I, who had been watching Maya throughout the series, could notice it.
For anyone seeing her for the first time, it would be impossible to read any emotions from her expression. Maya always wore an icy, composed expression. That's why only the laughter of the knight and thief was effective for the conditions to recruit "Allen and Joe."
Trying to make her express laughter, her lips only curved up ever so slightly. Whether in a good or bad sense, she was like a doll. Her age was probably the same as Ella's.
In the TT1 timeline, it was mentioned that she had recently become an adult. Maya originally came from a famous magician family in Castya.
She joined the circus to hone her magical skills. The circus troupe she belonged to was known as the "Veil Circus," a place renowned for effectively utilizing illusion magic.
Unlike the knight and thief, who were recruited from the city's security or came to steal, she had a direct connection to the Grand Prix Circus and its events.
That's why I thought she had the highest probability of encountering the three heroes. However, I didn't expect to encounter her so quickly, especially since she was not yet member of it.
The opening ceremonies were only two weeks away. In the game world, she referred to the circus people as her colleagues for the past two and a half years.
Does that mean she will be hired by the Veil Circus here? I suddenly felt greedy. What if I took her with me from here? It would make solving illusion magic problems a breeze.
But would she be willing to join our circus? I remembered dozens of acrobats I had missed over the past few days. Perhaps her reaction wouldn't be much different from theirs.
Then, light emanated from her hand. Her white skin and hair emitted various colours in response to the illusion magic she was casting.
People exclaimed in admiration at the mysterious aura her appearance gave off.
I swallowed hard. In terms of the game's setting, she was undoubtedly the most brilliant prodigy from her family.
Her magic was undoubtedly extraordinary. In the game, it was represented as stacking polygons, but how would it manifest here? The mathematical calculations seemed to be over as light burst forth, and the magic began taking a concrete form.
A brown, round body. Brown, round legs. Brown, round... wait, what's this? It could be described as the work of a kindergarten student who tried to make something with brown clay but gave up halfway. In other words, it looked like a poorly made lump of dough.
Fortunately, it provided an answer by making a sound.
"Meow."
This... is a cat? Only I could tell, but there was definitely a tinge of embarrassment in her expression.
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