School Transmigration: I, Chosen as the Saint by Dragons at the Start-Chapter 133 --The Illusion of Death

In the trial chamber, Owen lay on the bed, his face expressionless.

Beside him, a teacher paced back and forth in the room, often glancing up at the ceiling.

This time was the most tedious for her; she had to stay close to the students in case any emergencies arose.

Though it was just a fragment of their souls absorbed into the illusion, some students struggled to distinguish between the illusion and reality.

There were instances when a student, at the moment their soul shattered, would instinctively use arcanergy to strike those around them, still believing they were battling an enemy.

It was then that the teachers had to intervene, stabilizing them to prevent the room from being destroyed.

The teacher glanced at Owen and thought to herself, "His name is Owen, right? Quite handsome, but he doesn’t quite fit the image of a magus." However, her expression quickly shifted to one of concern.

She hurried to Owen’s side, scrutinizing his face, not out of admiration for his looks, but because she noticed a subtle change: his complexion had turned a shade paler.

Such a minor alteration might go unnoticed by most, but not by her.

As a master-tier peak academy teacher, she could detect even the slightest variations.

She observed that Owen’s vital energy had weakened, his skin growing visibly paler.

"Something’s not right," she murmured.

When the soul is completely detached from the body, the body naturally begins to deteriorate.

The soul of a sage can preserve a body for years without decay.

After a grandmaster’s soul leaves the body, it quickly weakens, possibly only enduring for a few months.

For a master, the situation is even more precarious; once the soul fully departs, the body can decay beyond recognition in just a day or two.

Now, just over two hours had passed, and Owen’s body was already showing signs of decay.

She channeled the arcanergy within her body, infusing a pale blue light into the crystal ball before her.

In the crystal ball, runes suddenly emerged, obstructing the flow of light.

The female teacher’s face turned ashen.

Without a moment’s hesitation, she rushed out of the room.

Outside, the corridor was in uproar.

One of the teachers shouted, "Easley, Bryce’s condition is very unstable, his body has started to decay!"

Easley, the chief instructor of this trial and a grandmaster, immediately floated into Bryce’s room.

Bryce’s face was contorted in agony, his once black hair now half white, his skin aged and sagging.

He was the young student who had been pushed into the pool by the River Crossing Demon offspring.

Easley’s fingertips flickered with arcanergy as he touched Bryce’s body.

Bryce’s expression of pain finally froze, as if time on his body had been stopped.

Easley glanced at the crystal ball, clearly seeing the blood-red runes floating on it.

"Daring to target the students of our four major academies," Easley muttered, his brows furrowed.

"What?" The nearby teacher was stunned.

Easley spoke in a grave tone, "Send a message to the four major academies. Tell their grandmasters to start limbering up."

The teacher was still bewildered, and it took a few seconds before he responded, "Oh, right, I’ll get on that."

Easley’s gaze darkened as he mumbled to herself, "Level 6 magic array·Soul Draining... Whose handiwork could this be? Could it be the demonhand race?"

On the continent of Novalia, there were few enemies of the human race, with the demonhand race being one of them.

She then shook his head, his face grave, "But that doesn’t make sense. Why expend such vast resources against mere youngsters? A level 6 magic array could trap and kill ten grandmasters. Isn’t it wasteful to use it on master-tier students?"

She sighed, "I just hope these youngsters can hold on until we locate the magic array."

...

Willow opened her eyes, her face dark with concern, "Bryce is right. It feels like our souls have completely entered this illusion."

Brawny, sensing a deep-rooted fear, stammered, "What... what does this mean?"

Willow’s eyelids twitched frantically, sensing the environment turning a hundred times more sinister.

"It means if we die in this illusion, we will actually die in reality."

The students erupted into chaos, their composure shattered.

Jonathan’s usual calm demeanor disappeared, "We’ve been set up. Someone is targeting us deliberately."

As they conversed, the River Crossing Demon offspring was not about to give them any respite.

A claw suddenly emerged from the rock wall behind Willow, attempting to push her into the pool.

She was still in a state of panic, not ready to face this new threat.

Owen, having regained his composure, moved swiftly like a dragon.

In two strides, he plunged his longsword into the back of the creature’s hand, yanking it outwards with force.

Having already been tricked once, he was not about to let the River Crossing Demon succeed again.

The skin of the monster seemed immature and not very tough; his blade easily penetrated, splattering green blood that landed on Monkey’s face, causing him to wince and his eye to twitch.

Under less dire circumstances, Monkey might have cried out in pain.

Owen remained vigilant, fixing his gaze on the River Crossing Demon.

The creature let out a howl and lunged at him, seemingly indifferent to whom it attacked.

With a cold snort, Owen dodged the creature’s lunge.

His arcanergy surged, transforming into golden chains of light that securely bound the River Crossing Demon offspring.

This was Metal-based advanced magic – the Golden Binding Spell.

Owen’s extensive reading in the library paid off, allowing him to effortlessly cast spells from various magic schools.

The River Crossing Demon offspring struggled fiercely, but it was too weak to break free, its slender form devoid of any hope for escape.

Brawny pointed to a recess about ten meters away, "Go there for shelter."

It wasn’t exactly a hole but a depression in the wall, spacious enough to accommodate four or five people.

Bryce, who was pulled to safety, was still emitting wisps of blue smoke.

Though his consciousness had returned, the pain caused his body to tremble uncontrollably.

The creature, in its frenzied state, struggled violently.

The sheer steepness of the stone walls made it difficult to stand, and Owen almost got dragged along.

"What do we do now?" Willow asked, looking desperately at Jonathan for guidance.

Jonathan, far from his usual relaxed demeanor, was drenched in sweat, his face etched with fear: "We have to survive. The teachers must be trying to fix this. The longer we can hold out, the greater our chances of survival."

Surrounded by a grotesque scene of black and red cavernous walls that seemed to open like the maw of a demon awaiting its next meal, the shadow of death loomed over them.

The illusion now felt dozens of times more terrifying.

Every step forward required immense courage.

Owen, acting on his own initiative, pinned the River Crossing Demon offspring to the ground.

Unable to kill it, he decided to restrain it instead, preventing it from causing further trouble.

The creature squeaked a few times, glaring at the stone walls.

Then, the entire cave began to undulate.

It was a true undulation, the mine tunnel twisting and contracting like a snake, squeezing and grinding in a bizarre pattern.

Could this place actually coordinate with the River Crossing Demon offspring to attack its enemies?

The group, startled by this development, scattered and ran towards the depression.

One of the students, losing his footing, crashed into the stone wall and almost fell backward into the pool below.

Fortunately, Owen swiftly caught him.

The student, pale with fright, stammered, "Thank you, thank you."

Owen, with a stern face, advised, "You are a master, not an ordinary person. You must learn to use your arcanergy."

This reminder bolstered everyone’s confidence.

"Move," Owen urged the still-dazed student.

"Quickly."

The group clumsily jumped into the depression, with Owen still holding the River Crossing Demon offspring.

Brawny and Monkey carefully removed Bryce’s clothes.

"Can you manage?" they asked.

"I can... I can," Bryce trembled, barely able to speak as the acidic water had also entered his throat.

"It’s just... my eyes, I can’t see."

Willow, gritting her teeth, tried to offer comfort, "Don’t worry, once we get out, all your injuries will heal."

Her words hung in the air, leaving everyone silent, except for two students who continuously applied healing magic to Bryce.

Could they really escape?

They were facing a Devourer that even sages couldn’t handle once fully grown.

Owen had been keenly observing their surroundings in the illusion.

Suddenly, he spoke, "The way we came in has been blocked."

Everyone looked up to see that the path they had taken had shrunk to a mere crevice, which then slowly vanished under their watchful eyes.

"We can’t see an exit, and don’t know how to get out," a team member voiced anxiously.

"Getting out... seems unlikely," Owen thought to himself, but wisely chose not to voice these demoralizing thoughts aloud.

Willow, with her resilient nature, surveyed their surroundings and suggested, "If the way forward and back are blocked, then our only option is upward..."

She tossed the glowworm upwards with force.

It soared twelve meters high, revealing that although there was no opening directly above them, there was an inward fold, slanting upwards.

Monkey’s eyes lit up, "Is that the cardiac orifice?" he wondered aloud, referring to the passage that connects the esophagus to the stomach.

But his enthusiasm quickly faded, "But it has to open before we can climb out, right?"

"And even if we could climb out, the passage above is nearly vertical. This ’body’ we’re in is temperamental; it won’t let us ascend easily."