To exhaust all possibilities and arrive at change, to shift with form and alter with circumstance-this is transformation, this is illusion.
Only when one understands that illusion and transformation are no different from life and death may one begin to study illusion.
Illusion.
Killer still relentlessly carved wound after wound into Murder's body with her dagger, hoping to inflict unimaginable pain.
Yet... after the first wound, Murder's expression barely seemed to change. He simply kept staring at Killer with an eerie look in his eyes.
Every so often, his whole head would jerk, as though his neck did nothing to restrain it.
But his eyes were still the most terrifying part. That feeling... was like a hellhound's stare.
It made her skin crawl a little.
"Hey... Murder, say something? Don't give me the cold shoulder, okay...?"
Killer forced out as much of a smile as she could and slowed the movements directing her slashes.
"..."
Murder remained silent, but when he heard Killer's words, he seemed to sense something and tilted his head to the other side.
"...Killer, long time no see."
"!?!?"
Killer took several quick steps backward, willing the illusion around her to change.
The entire pure-white expanse instantly became a sea of fire. Several Sanses from other universes stood beside Killer like controlled puppets, their eyes vacant and numb as they readied their attacks.
These were versions of herself from other universes that she had constructed based on her past combat experience. Within the illusion, they could unleash combat power no weaker than the originals.
But...
Nothing seemed to change noticeably. After Murder finished that sentence, the space returned to stillness.
Apart from the crackling flames and the sound of magic gathering in the Sanses' hands, everything seemed to have gone back to how it had been