Melanie runs , keeping her hand gliding across an invisible wall. She comes across a piece of cloth she had previously left and picks it up.

She stops and takes a look around, obviously fatigued.

Melanie: What’s the trick here? I kept along the outer edge the entire time. There’s got to be some exit to this illusion, after all, I had to enter somewhere.

Lars appears in front of her, smiling.

Melanie glares at him, clutching at her dagger.

Melanie: He hasn’t attacked me yet. That must mean he has very little fighting strength. He must wait for his opponent to be to fatigued to defend themselves and then come in for the kill. It is important for me to conserve energy in this situation until I can figure a way out of here.

She looks at her cloth and drops it back on the ground.

Iricryo is dashing like a madman, bursting at full speed, heavily sweating. He stops and looks around.

Iricryo: For the love of god! All these walls look exactly the fucking same! I have no idea where the hell I am! And none of them go anywhere! You’d think there would be an entrance to a building somewhere! Damn! Who designed this place?

Lars laughs at him from a few feet in front of him. Iricryo points his rapier at him.

He launches at Lars with his rapier, but as the rapier hit Lars he completely vanishes.

He pants heavily, looking in all directions in a panic.  Lars watches him from a safe distance.

He holds a hand-scythe in front of him, eagerly.

Melanie stares intently at the invisible wall, tracing it slowly with her hand as she paces the perimeter.

She thinks staring upwards.

Melanie: Without knowing it we walked through a gate of some kind. The gate was covered by an illusion, so we would never have known. Then it was closed behind us. In that case…

She sighs, kicking the wall in frustration.

Melanie: I might never find the gate. The only way to break the illusion would be to kill the one creating the illusion. But someone who can disappear and reappear at will…

She twirls her dagger around, stepping away from the wall and going deeper into the illusion.

Iricryo almost smacks into another invisible wall, stopping barely in time. He hunched over, exhausted.

He stomps around, pounds on the wall, and lets out a loud yell of frustration.

Melanie hears the yell, and turns in its direction.

She pauses, and smiles.

Melanie: That’s it! I know exactly how to break this illusion. But I have to hurry!

She dashes at full speed towards where she heard Iricryo.

Lars moves in on Iricryo. Iricryo is hunched over, panting.

He raises his hand scythe above Iricryo.

He slashes forward with his rapier, but it just goes straight through an illusion of Lars.

He collapses forward on one leg. Lars stands over him from behind, his hand scythe raised. He smiles wickedly as he brings the scythe down.

Melanie bursts from around the corner, sprinting hastily and cutting straight through Lars’s back with her dagger.

He drops down on the floor, face first. The illusions around them to blur, the entire area becomes like a hazy mist. Lars picks himself up on his hands.

Melanie: The only time you make yourself vulnerable is when you’re moving in for the kill. Illusions can’t physically hurt other players, so you have to show your real self when you go to finish off a player. That is the perfect time to strike you.

He vanishes from his position on the floor. Melanie simply turns around and stabs directly in front of her, catching Lars in the chest.

A trail of blood leads from where Lars was on the ground to where he currently stands.

Lars drops his hand scythe, and falls weakly against the blade.

Melanie: Just out of curiosity, how many players lost in your little trap begged for mercy? In all of Drywood? The time has come to put an end to your sick little strategy.

Lars: You can’t beat all us, mon…keep me alive…then at least you’d have a bargaining tool…you might have some chance of getting out of here alive…

She slices upward with her dagger, still in Lars, leaving a long trail of blood streaking across the air as Lars falls over, dead. His illusion completely fades around them.

Iricryo looks up at Melanie.

Melanie: Don’t look so hurt. I jumped in before he got you. I could have waited till after he struck to take him out, just to make sure it was him and not just another illusion. Attacking when I did left me open if it did turn out to just be another illusion.

Melanie: Well, come on, we don’t have time to mess around, we still have a job to do here.

She starts walking away.

Iricryo: Hey! Wait a second! Can I at least have a moment to catch my breath.

Rook: The entrance is sealed and there’s all the signs of a battle taking place inside. I have to hurry if I’m going to rescue whoever’s in there before it’s too late.

He approaches the gate to the town, and here’s a voice calling down to him.

Rook looks up and sees a young woman, with short, military cut, blond hair and piercing blue eyes. She is dressed in a full army combat uniform, with a dagger holster on her left arm and right leg. A Spidersilk Emblem hangs around her neck. She stands at the top of the gate.

Woman: I’m afraid the town is closed at the moment. Please come back at another time.

Rook: I’m with the Militia. I’m here to put a stop to the activities of the Spidersilks!

Woman: You’re Rook, aren’t you! You have quite the reputation!

Rook: You know me, so who exactly are you?

Dylan: I’m Dylan, Gate Guard for the Spidersilks. I got to say, I’m happy to see you here. I thought since no one entered through the gate this time around, I would be bored.

Dylan: Forget it. Maybe I’ll be convinced to tell you more if you can beat me.

She pulls out the dagger from her holster on her arm and holds it in front of her, cockily smiling.