Alex embraced and kissed her deeply. She wasn’t Maximilia now. She was Jade herself.
Whoosh!
Maximilia’s body started falling apart. As if she were porcelain, her body slowly shattered into small pieces. She was smiling, with a faint layer of red on her cheeks. She stared at Alex as her life was put to a halt…
Alex watched as Maximilia vanished into thin air. Pieces of her fell down like petals, crumbling into dust. The sight saddened him quite a bit. Suddenly, a ray ofwhite light shone onto him. It would seem that he had to leave this illusionary realm as well.
“No way… I got the eggs. Should I hand it to the woman in the painting?”
“I’d still like to find Ynes’ ancestors! Hey…”
However, the light didn’t care about his wishes. It opened up a portal and separated Alex’s soul from his current body. His soul was then sent through space, reaching the second step with the white light.
Whoosh!
Alex found himself back in his own body.
He then moved around, turning to look behind. Jade seemed to be standing at the bottom of the stairs. At the time, she stood there quietly, as if she were in a trance.
‘She’s not Maximilia anymore! She’s now the real Jade in this reality! Everything that happened was just an illusion!’
He turned back to the front and lifted a leg.
Stomp!
With this, he got up to the second step. Initially, Alex thought it would be just like the first step. He would be sent into a special illusionary realm, where he would be playing a persona and completing a random mission. However, nothing happened, no matter how long they waited.
‘Nothing?’
Alex took another step, going up the third step. But, again, nothing happened at all.
Jade smiled brightly. “This guy is always so remarkable…”
Gilbert asked, “Commander Benmore, did you end up in the same illusionary realm as Alex when you went up the first step? What did you two experience there?”
‘What did we experience?’
Jade’s heart thumped slightly when reminded of their little “session”. Nevertheless, she remained calm on the outside.
“We had to do a mission in the desert. It was way too hard. I couldn’t even get through the first step. It looks like I’d have to work harder from now on. Would you like to give it a try too?”
Gilbert nodded. “Alright!”
He took a step up, but there… Wasn’t any illusionary realm as they had expected before.
He looked back several times, his face filled with disbelief as he went up the second step. “Where’s the illusionary realm? Why didn’t I get it? Did I walk with the wrong posture?”
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