It succeeded.
Rhode heaved a sigh of relief, lowering his head and gazing at the card in his hand. It was a green card with Sonia in the middle. But unlike the Sonia from Rhode’s impression, the young lady on the card was kneeling in the middle of a world of mirrors. At first glance, she had as though entered a house of mirrors in a carnival, placing her clenched hands on her chest as though she were praying. Although the card was distinct, for some reason, he had an indistinct misconception as though the card wasn’t an entity, but was more like an illusory existence. The upper right corner of the card was marked with a huge [I], while the bottom had the numbers 2 and 3 respectively. Rhode flipped the card around and a system prompt appeared before him.
[Received Hallucinatory Heart Deck 1/5]
[Sonia Lockos (First Seat of Hallucinatory Heart. Human) Offense 2 Defense 3: Illusory Elf. Infusible. Illusion Creation. Language Control. Physical Change. Illusory Attribute. Skills Possessed———Sound of Nature (Once the sweet voice rings in your ear, everything will turn into true, visible dreams)
Illusory Form (Illusory Attribute)
Core Card (Can summon all cards)
Lost Journey (Dream Control)
Call of Mind (Maze Summon)]
What a strange card.
After reading the text on the back, Rhode knitted his brows curiously. The attributes of this summoning spirit had nothing to do with the history of its previous life. Even though Rhode was curious as to what Sonia had become, her transformation surprised him greatly. He had never heard about this so-called ‘Illusory Elf’. Besides, judging from her attributes, she didn’t seem like the kind suitable for confrontational battles. If not, she would be instantly killed in a single blow with the low offensive and defensive values of 2 and 3. Perhaps any warriors who transcended the Master Stage would easily slaughter her. But after carefully analyzing the skills, Rhode discovered that it wasn’t as simple as he had imagined.
First, Sonia’s race turned from human to elf. But the elf didn’t refer to the White Elf, Moon Elf, Dark Elf, Flower Elf, or Earth Elf. On the contrary, she seemed more to be caught between elemental and physical beings like Agatha, the Ocean Elf. However, the Ocean Elves’ bodies were made of the water element, while Sonia’s new body structure was made of the ‘Illusory’ element. From a certain degree, Sonia had become a presence that was a part of this world’s rules. Of course, the more inferior type.
Judging from this, Sonia’s entity was caught between existence and non-existence. In other words, if Sonia wanted to, she could conceal her presence and turn into an ‘illusion’. The ‘illusion’ could be seen by eyes, but couldn’t be hit. From a certain degree, this was considered a form of invincibility because ‘illusion’ itself was a rule. This was why apart from people who grasped the same rule, it was basically impossible to land a hit on Sonia, be it sword skills, magic spells, or spiritual spells. Of course, this didn’t mean that Sonia was totally invincible because as long as one was in the Legendary Stage, one would more or less possess one’s own rule. When she faced such opponents, her ‘illusory’ attribute would be less effective. In other words, she was impressive in the eyes of opponents weaker than the Legendary Stage. As for the opponents in the Legendary Stage… she posed no threat at all.
But Sonia didn’t have a class for confrontational battles, anyway, which was apparent from her skills. [Lost Journey] allowed her to enter and manipulate others’ dreams. [Call of Mind] allowed her to create a maze and trap people who might possibly threaten her. All in all, after turning into a card spirit, Sonia became one who could wreak havoc in secret. She could sneak into dreams and use her voice to manipulate the victim’s subconscious, create a maze for victims to wander around indefinitely, or create an illusion to lure them into taking the bait. It was obvious that her card consisted of her expertises.
Rhode felt really glad after reading the details. Of course, he knew that Sonia was an expert in these fields because he assigned her the mission of disrupting peace in the Country of Light to waver the people’s hearts. Judging from the results, it went pretty well. But he didn’t expect her to be upgraded to an Illusory Elf with these expertises. This was simply… Rhode shrugged and threw the messy thoughts to the back of his head. He picked up the card and a system prompt appeared before him.
[Detected the Core Card]
[Please appoint the card]
Rhode pondered for a few moments. Then, he extended his arm and loosened the grip on his right hand. The green card quietly hovered in midair. A thin mist emerged from the card and slowly wrapped around it.
[Core Card appointed—Joining the 10 Strongest Spirit Decks—Success]
“…”
Unlike Orchid Heart’s and Gillian’s great influence and power, when Rhode appointed Sonia to one of the seats in the ten spirit decks, the card floating before him suddenly emitted an indistinct mist. Shortly after, it enfolded the room completely and an illusory silhouette appeared before his eyes. As the illusory silhouette became clearer, the mist slowly dissipated. After the mist disappeared entirely, Sonia appeared in front of him.
“Welcome back, Sonia.”
Rhode raised his hand and greeted her. Sonia looked at him in a daze as though she hadn’t returned to her senses. She lowered her gaze to her hands, and lifted her head again to look at Rhode. After a few moments, she returned to her senses and suddenly jumped out of the bed to embrace the man beside her.
“Master…! I’m back! Master… I… I thought I was dead…”
“Alright, alright. Sonia, stay calm.”
The corner of Rhode’s mouth twitched after Sonia pounced into his arms. He patted her shoulder and Sonia seemed to realize what she had just done. She took a step back hurriedly and lowered her head in uncertainty.
“Sorry, Master. I was…”
“It’s fine. You did well, Sonia. In fact, I didn’t expect you to do so well. And now, you’ve earned the right to stand alongside me.”
Rhode didn’t say it to console her. Currently, he lacked subordinates who could cast debuffs. In the game, clerics could choose to specialize in curse spells or cast spells with negative effects. But in this world, Rhode couldn’t find any of them who were bored enough to master curse spells. And now, with an Illusory Elf like Sonia who could cast debuffs, it would be a great help to him. Moreover, she could sneak into others’ dreams and tamper with their consciousness and thoughts. It was just too useful for him.
“Thank you, Master…”
Sonia lifted her head and gazed at him. After a few moments, she gnashed her teeth and said softly. To Sonia, this perhaps was the one and only goal that she worked hard for and now, she felt the joy from finally succeeding. She had never expected to turn into someone like Christie, Lize, Marlene, or the others: valued highly and loved by Rhode. But she used her own method and sought her own ways. To Sonia, there was nothing more important than receiving the recognition of her master.
After Sonia calmed down, she quickly told Rhode what she experienced, especially in the case where the parliament brought her to the tomb and Nakvard forced the disgusting bug into her body. The thought of that made her shiver all over. Even though she became the Illusory Elf and wasn’t human anymore, the painful experience was still etched in her mind.
“Everything is in the past, Sonia.”
Rhode didn’t interrupt her. Instead, he listened patiently to the end of her report. He knew that she wasn’t only fulfilling her duty, but also venting her frustrations and expressing the fears in her mind. No matter what, she was killed once. Besides, with her age, it was too challenging for her to deal with the sly and cunning Chaos worshipers. It was obvious how much pressure she was under in Casabianca. And now, she finally returned to his side. If she didn’t vent the frustrations, perhaps she wouldn’t be able to tolerate it herself.
This was why he didn’t interrupt her. After she finished speaking, he extended his arm and caressed her hair.
“It’s all over, Sonia.”
“… Yes, Master. I apologize for my…”
“It’s fine. Since you’re willing to do so much for me, I don’t see why I must blame you for it.”
Rhode waved his hand airily to her uncomfortable apologies.
“But now, we have a problem that needs your help.”
“What is it, Master?”
Sonia asked curiously. Rhode shrugged and said, “Lilian.”
