CHAPTER 269: 269. JOIN US

Asher’s eyes darted toward the direction from where the footsteps were approaching and clicked his tongue.

"Fine then," he muttered darkly. "If that’s how you want to play, I’ll play it too!"

Max let out a grin through blood-stained teeth.

Asher stood firm near the prince he had just punched to near death, ready for whoever was coming. But the footsteps—echoing ominously—kept drawing closer. Yet, not a single person came into view.

His throat tightened.

Then the sound shifted.

The footsteps were now coming from behind.

He spun around instantly, thinking he’d be attacked from behind, but there was nothing.

And then the footsteps began coming from all directions.

Everywhere.

Even from inside the walls.

The rhythmic sound pierced into his skull, ringing inside his head with nauseating intensity. His balance faltered. His vision swam. He squinted.

"What kind of sick joke is this?!" he growled. "Come out, cowards! Quit playing hide and seek!"

He began turning in circles, dizzy and breathless while the world before him acted like it was warping against itself.

Then he noticed—the prince who was just beside him moments ago was gone.

But it didn’t stop there.

The cells were gone. The rooms were gone as well.

He now stood in a long, dimly lit corridor, surrounded by nothing. Only an unreachable light flickered at the far end.

His heart pounded as he turned and sprinted toward it.

But no matter how much he ran, the light never drew closer. It was like chasing a mirage in an endless loop. His feet slammed against the cold floor again and again, and the footsteps around him grew louder—no longer just sounds, but forces clawing at the edges of his sanity.

A sharp, glitching voice cracked in his mind:

[Sy-sy—scratch—tem Notice!!]

[A loop-- d-om--ain h-ad b--een detec-ted!!]

[Host is un-der an il-lusion sp-ell!!]

His system’s feminine voice broke into static, its interface buzzing and glitching like a dying machine. The screen flickered and faded.

Asher had no time to question what was going on.

He stopped running, breath ragged. He was under an illusion. But not just any illusion—this was next-level. The only way to escape might be to get out of this entire space.

He steadied himself, forced his mind to focus, and summoned his dimensional door.

To his relief, the door shimmered into existence.

He stepped through and emerged in his bedroom, inside his realm. But he didn’t wait. He opened the door again, stepping back into the mansion.

This time, he found himself back in the corridor with the cells now surrounding him again. Everything back to normal. And so was something else that made his blood run cold.

"You’re a resistant one, I’ll give you that," came Max’s smug voice.

The prince was leaning against the wall, one foot propped lazily behind him as if nothing had happened.

He wasn’t as bloodied as before.

Beside him on the floor lay Asher’s mother—naked and bloodied all over her face, barely conscious.

"No one can use magic in this domain unless given permission by me, Number One, or Numbers Three and Four," Max said, eyes gleaming. "But you? You broke through my illusion. That’s... impressive."

Asher’s heart pounded.

Was that really his mother? Or just another trick?

He ignored Max’s presence and rushed to her side.

The blood felt warm. Real.

"Mom..." he breathed, his voice a whisper, hands trembling.

The woman’s eyes weakly opened, and her lips quivered.

"H-honey... H-h-happy b-birthday..."

His heart shattered.

She was real.

She was his real mother.

"You bastard!! What the hell did you do to her!!?" Asher screamed, turning toward Max.

"Huh?" Max sneered, raising an eyebrow. "The hell are you talking about? You literally beat your own mother a few seconds ago. Even knocked out two of her front teeth."

Asher froze.

His face twisted in horror. His throat ran dry.

What he didn’t know... was that Max had already been warned by Number One through the revolutionary Bible about Asher’s invisibility skills. Knowing Asher was capable of using magic in their domain, Max had gone to the cell earlier, unstrapped Onalenna, and ordered her to push her gorilla-faced cellmate onto the torture bench.

Then—activating his illusion and forbidden mind control magic, Max made it so that Asher saw her as Max, while controlling Onalenna to say whatever he wanted her to say.

In his rage, Asher had unknowingly attacked his own mother. Over and over again.

"I was under your illusion..." he whispered, voice shaking. "You made me... beat my own mother?"

His breathing grew shallow. His chest heaved.

"I should’ve known..." he clenched his fists.

It had all felt too easy.

Defeating Max—a man who’d signed a pact with a demon and yet, the domain hadn’t even cracked? The guards who showed fear and walked away earlier going to call for help, were they also fake?

"Another illusion. All of it."

Max tilted his head, smiling. "Took you long enough."

Asher realized Max wasn’t just some random punk. He was a strategist. Two steps ahead, always.

But first, he had to tend to Onalenna.

He chuckled dryly, then quickly summoned healing potions from his inventory.

"You’re a real monster," he said quietly. "I underestimated you. I won’t make that mistake again."

He gently uncorked the potion and poured it into her mouth.

A soft green shimmer bathed her skin. The bruises faded. Her pale skin returned to a healthier hue.

But her teeth... didn’t grow back.

"You claimed to be the strongest in Eldoria," he mocked. "Confidence is fine, Asher. But blind arrogance? That’s a flaw."

Asher stood, calmer now, his voice ice.

"We’ll see who’s blind after I bury you."

Max let out a low chuckle. Then a louder one. Then he burst into full-on laughter, gripping his sides.

"You still think you can beat me?" he howled. "Look around, boy!"

Before Asher could move, a voice came from behind.

"I... I can hear again! My ears... they’re working!"

It was the gorilla-faced woman touching her ears in disbelief.

The same one he had just healed a second ago.

His eyes widened.

No. That couldn’t be.

Wasn’t it his mother he was just healing? He’d seen his mother. He’d spoken to her.

He rushed back to the torture bench.

There was a woman there, his mother, still bloodied and bound.

[Wa-r-ning---]

[The system has detec.. error... error!!]

[Going Offline!!!]

The system glitched, then shut down completely.

He couldn’t tell what was real anymore. The illusion had burrowed so deep, even his system couldn’t navigate it.

He was beginning to drown in doubt.

He summoned a tiny flame to his hand.

It sparked to life.

He sighed in relief.

At least he could still use magic. The system may be offline, but he still had his power.

All hope wasn’t lost.

Max clapped mockingly. "Nice potions. That deaf girl hasn’t heard a sound since Number One gave her a ’double clap.’ Guess you fixed that."

None of this made sense.

This wasn’t the Max Asher remembered.

The old Max was a spoiled royal brat, a pompous Prince who worshipped his own beauty.

But this one? He was calculative, smart and dangerous.

He wasn’t an A-Rank.

He had to be at least a Double S... maybe even a Triple.

"You know," Asher said slowly, eyes narrowing, "I’ve been wondering something."

Max raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you act like a pitiful mama’s boy out there, but in here? You’re a devil in flesh." Ashee asked.

Max grinned, snapping his black book shut with one hand. "Why not? A coin has two sides. So do I."

Asher studied him, saw the cracks in the performance.

"You’re lying," he said flatly. "You’re mixing truth with fiction. Should I guess?"

Max’s face twitched.

"Suit yourself."

"You’re nothing out there," Asher said coldly. "Just a coward pretending to be some big shot, always depending on your power as a noble and a prince to be relevant. But in here in this demon domain? This is the only place you feel powerful. You’re a small man in a big costume."

Max flinched.

That smile of his stretched unnaturally, his grin turning into something false with teeth bared, and eyes narrowing.

But then, he calmed himself down again.

"Now now," he said smoothly. "Before I get really annoyed... what do you say about joining us?"

"What?" Asher growled.

"The Revolutionaries," Max said, smiling. "Surely you’ve heard. It would be a shame not to bring someone like you into the fold. We’re rewriting the social order. Making women bow. Even the goddess will kneel before us in time."

"Tsk..."

Asher scoffed. "I hate you bastards. I remember when you kidnapped the Priestess of Eldoria, turned her into a sacrificial lamb for the demon lord. She’s only alive because of me. And as for your so-called cause..."

He stepped forward.

"You’re not seeking justice. You’re replacing oppression with more oppression. You’re no different from the ones you claim to fight. Truly breaking the social hierarchy means at least introducing equality, not flipping the tables."

He had been no different from these men. After getting cucked, all he wanted was to prove his superiority to women—make them suffer, make them beg. But with time, he came to see the truth. There were things his women had done for him—acts of trust, care, and loyalty. Throwing all of that away would be a disgrace. A world where one gender ruled over the other wasn’t justice. It was delusion.

TBC