Shoujo Grand Summoning Chapter 1081: The fight within the mist, the illusion after the dream

After going through that event, Wu Yan is sure of one thing.

The Guardian Tree's trial is aimed at making people waste the 10 days they have inside the Domain of Gods.

After the time's up, anyone who can't pass the trial will naturally forfeit their right to enter the core of the palace.

Like Wu Yan, he would have stayed in that perfect dream conjured by the Guardian Tree were it not for Natsuki's timely intervention. He would have wasted 10 days hanging out with Asuna & Yui inside his dream. In the end, he will most likely be sent out of the Domain of Gods.

"It seems I must be careful..."

Wu Yan raised his guard immediately.

Getting sent out of the Domain of Gods without even a chance to view the inner core of the place isn't desirable, even if one discounted the Ring of Power objective.

"Magic power is sealed here, huh?"

Natsuki mused out loud as if warning him.

"In other words, you can't use vassal beasts here?"

Vassal beasts are pure magical entities. When they are sealed within the host, they are no more than consciousness lurking within someone.

In essence, the process of summoning a vassal beast is a two-step process involving the awakening of familiars within the magic user and then giving it form through magic power contribution. The manifested vassal beasts use the magic energy provided by the host to exist in the real world.

Familiars are just formless consciousness if they aren't summoned.

Take Kojou as an example, if his familiars go on a rampage then there's very little he can do to rein them in. The beasts forcefully took his magic power and conjured themselves against the wishes of the host. If he had perfect control over his magic power then Kojou wouldn't suffer so miserably.

Without magic power, the familiars within Wu Yan can only converse with Wu Yan, they can't turn into Wu Yan's strength because he can't summon them.

"It looks like we won't be able to help you!"

Natsuki said without holding back her tone.

"Get out of this place as soon as possible, your current means cannot defend against the changing tactics of the Guardian Tree."

"I agree."

Wu Yan nodded. He glanced at the green mist shrouding him.

"Before that, I need to find Sylph!"

"Make haste with it."

Natsuki used a stern tone that resembled her Assault Mage past.

"The mist here is a bit weird. The sooner you get out, the better."

Wu Yan also looked grim.

In terms of power, Natsuki is weaker than Wu Yan without his familiars. However, she does have roughly a decade's experience dealing with magic disasters and demons. She has just about seen it all.

Her experience gave her the combat instinct to sense when something's wrong. Her gut is telling her that the mist around them is fishy.

Wu Yan didn't delay this matter any longer. He closed his eyes and tried to gauge Sylph's presence.

With his magic power sealed, Wu Yan can't use detection spells. Looking for another person in this thick mist is also a herculean task.

Fortunately, Sylph has Meteor Shower.

Meteor Shower is Wu Yan's Noble Phantasm. Only he can use it although he can grant usage permission to other people.

Noble Phantasms, crystallized miracles and legends. Noble Phantasms are ultimate weapons created with imagination as the foundation. In other words, Noble Phantasms aren't purely physical constructs.

Only the masters of the Noble Phantasms can truly control their treasures. They can also sense the location of their Noble Phantasms, it's rare for Noble Phantasm users to let their treasures out of their sights anyway.

The green mist carried a weird vibe. Wu Yan used his perception to gauge the location of the Meteor Shower.

Soon enough, he found the vague connection of his Noble Phantasm.

He started dashing in a certain direction.

He was moving so fast the green mist in his way got blown away. Like a hurricane, he forcefully carved a path through the green mist.

However, this path only lasted a short while before green mist regained control.

Wu Yan stuck to the connection as he left afterimages in his trail. He can clearly feel the distance between himself and his Meteor Shower shortening.

Sylph is over there!

He gazed into the distant green mist. After getting to about 10 meters of the estimated point, he jumped one more time, immediately closing any distance between the weapon and himself.

A familiar blue figure entered Wu Yan's vision.

He wanted to shout when he noticed something weird in the green mist. He stopped running with a stunned look.

The figure within the green mist noticed a disturbance in the environment so she looked at him for a brief moment with flashing eyes only to return to her usual nonchalant look.

That's as expected since it's not the time to greet someone casually.

He looked at the two figures with an astounded look.

There are two silhouettes over there.

That's not the most important part, the two ladies were...

They spotted the same hair, eyes, clothes, even the emotionless expressions...

They were identical in every aspect.

Two Sylphs.

"What the..."

The two Sylphs held each other at gun points with their Meteor Showers. Wu Yan subconsciously stepped back. He raised his guard instantly.

"Another dream realm?"

"No, this isn't a dream. A dream can't trap me when I am just an independent consciousness body."

Natsuki explained.

"This is an illusion."

"An illusion?"

Wu Yan narrowed his eyes. He stared at the two icy ladies.

"In other words, there is a high chance that these two ladies are fake?!"

"No, one of them is fake."

Natsuki chimed in.

"However, they can't fake your Noble Phantasm even if they can conjure a realistic fake person."

"But..."

Wu Yan is puzzled.

"I can sense the existence of the Meteor Shower. However, I can't determine the real Meteor Shower between the two weapons here..."

"I reckon this is the effect of the illusion. I am not surprised given the intensity of the dream realm before this..."

Natsuki is also stumped. She's examining the two Sylphs here.

"If your Noble Phantasm wasn't an imaginary construct, I highly doubt you can track it to this place..."

He bitterly laughed. Natsuki had a point.

He looked between the two princesses, in an attempt to determine the fake, he scrutinized everything. Alas, the two princesses are exactly identical, even down to the icy aura they gave off. He can't tell the difference between the two princesses.

With the bowstring pulled, the two princesses threatened mutual destruction while leering at one another. They didn't let their eyes wander anywhere else. It's like they didn't notice Wu Yan's arrival.

Typical Sylph response.

How is anyone going to tell them apart?