Fairy Tale Survival with Ability Copying

"An illusion?" Levi froze for a moment.

Barbara quickly explained, "That's right! An illusion spell! It's the Mermaid Prince's greatest ability—one that makes it impossible to tell what's real from what's fake."

"Back then, that's exactly how the Mermaid Prince granted every wish of that fisherman and his wife!" Barbara said.

Barbara knew far more about the matter than Serena's mother, Queen Moya.

Which wasn't surprising. She had spent years researching it.

And she had paid an enormous price in the process.

Seeing Levi remain silent, Barbara hurriedly continued, "Back then, the fisherman and his wife asked the Mermaid Prince for villas, food, castles, guards, bishops... and he granted every one of those wishes. But they were all fake people created through illusion magic... There's even a rumor that the fisherman's wife slept with a handsome knight... yet neither of them ever realized it..." She looked at Levi seriously. "So be careful!"

"Within the Mermaid Prince's illusions, the real can become fake... and the fake can become real."

The moment her words fell, everything before them changed completely.

The gloomy darkness vanished. Though such darkness meant little to two Fourth-Ring Wizards, the seawater suddenly became crystal clear. Gentle golden rays filtered down through the layers of the sea, bathing the entire underwater world in warm light.

One magnificent mermaid palace after another rose from the seabed, built from deep-sea crystal, flawless pearls, and royal coral. Towering structures stretched skyward, their eaves adorned with exquisitely carved mermaid totems and sea-beast motifs. The palaces stood in orderly rows, grand, majestic, and sacred, radiating the dignity of royalty.

Barbara had already warned Levi that this was an illusion.

A fabricated world.

Yet as he looked upon it, he was still deeply shaken.

This was nothing like watching a 3D movie in his previous life.

No matter how lifelike the monsters in those films appeared, you could always tell they were fake.

But the scene before him...

He couldn't detect the slightest flaw.

He couldn't cast Detection here. Otherwise, perhaps using Detection might have revealed something amiss.

Perhaps.

If this was the very illusion the Mermaid Prince had once used to deceive the fisherman and his wife, then Levi could no longer blame them for being fooled.

Because it was simply too real.

Looking around, Levi saw broad streets crisscrossing the underwater city. Countless merfolk with human torsos and fish tails swam through them. Their graceful figures and strikingly beautiful features were matched by brilliantly colored tails that swayed elegantly through the water.

Merfolk merchants lined both sides of the streets, selling deep-sea rarities, water-aspected treasures, and countless precious marine relics.

On raised coral platforms, merfolk musicians plucked shimmering sea-harps, their ethereal melodies drifting throughout the entire kingdom.

Royal merfolk warriors clad in shell-forged armor patrolled the city in disciplined formations atop sharks, each carrying a trident and radiating a chilling killing intent.

Above the city, enormous deep-sea phantom beasts glided through the water with merfolk nobles riding upon their backs. Brilliant spiritual light surrounded the creatures, resonating perfectly with the royal bloodline as they emitted overwhelming power.

At the very center stood the royal palace of the merfolk, towering so high it seemed to pierce the heavens. Set atop its highest spire was a colossal Heart of Ocean Origin, whose dazzling golden radiance illuminated the entire realm.

The city's light came from there.

Even knowing it was fake, both Levi and Barbara nearly lost themselves in its beauty.

Some unseen force seemed to be pulling at their minds.

The Mermaid Bloodline Sigil on the back of Barbara's hand suddenly trembled, snapping her back to her senses. She called out in a low voice, snapping Levi back to his senses, "Leave this place! Once we're outside this area, the illusion will disappear. But if we stay here any longer... there's no telling what might happen."

The instant she finished speaking, the entire illusion changed.

Every merfolk citizen...

Every royal warrior...

Every high-ranking merfolk wizard...

All turned simultaneously to stare at the two intruders.

The ethereal music stopped abruptly.

The peaceful atmosphere shattered in an instant.

A shrill merfolk warning horn echoed throughout the entire illusory world.

They had discovered Levi and Barbara.

"Foreign invaders. You have trespassed upon the sacred domain of the Merfolk Royal Family and defiled the Merfolk Kingdom. Exterminate them all. Leave no survivors."

A cold, majestic voice descended from above, carrying an overwhelming mental shock that slammed violently into their minds.

The next moment, countless royal merfolk warriors charged forward with tridents in hand. Their mastery over water erupted in full force as endless water blades, high-pressure water arrows, and imprisoning water cages rained down upon the pair.

Behind them, high-ranking merfolk wizards raised their hands, summoning gigantic deep-sea whirlpools, illusionary tsunamis, water-element sealing spells, and layer upon layer of devastating attacks that converged upon the two of them.

Even though they knew it was all an illusion, the terrifying pressure still made both Levi and Barbara's expressions change.

Barbara's spells were heavily restricted underwater, so she activated the power of the Mermaid Bloodline Sigil on the back of her hand. An oval-shaped barrier immediately enveloped both herself and Levi.

At the same time, Levi activated one of Vortex Lord's abilities. One deadly whirlpool after another materialized in front of them, devouring the attacks launched by the merfolk warriors and wizards.

But it was only a temporary solution.

The relentless barrage of attacks continued without end.

Levi's Magic Power was being drained at an alarming rate.

If they couldn't find a way to break the situation, they would eventually be worn down and die here.

Levi shouted to Barbara, "Do you have any ideas?"

"I don't know! The last time I came here, I had to expend every last bit of power in the Mermaid Bloodline Sigil just to barely escape the illusion. This illusion is even more dangerous than the one I encountered before," Barbara replied urgently. "In the end... I still didn't prepare enough."

She let out a sigh.

"Now's not the time for that!" Levi snapped, his face darkening—at least, as much as anyone could tell with his current frog face.

His eyes widened as he roared, "Use the Bloodline Sigil! Get us out of this illusion first!"

"But if I do that, the Bloodline Sigil's power might be completely exhausted. We won't be able to enter the Mermaid Prince's tomb afterward," Barbara protested.

Levi couldn't believe her.

She usually seemed perfectly reliable, yet when it truly mattered, she completely lost her judgment.

"Then why don't you try tanking all this with your own body?" Levi said coldly as he watched the protective barrier grow thinner under the endless assault while one deadly whirlpool after another was destroyed.

Barbara gritted her teeth.

Without another moment's hesitation, she activated the Mermaid Bloodline Sigil on the back of her hand.

The sigil burst into dazzling brilliance, radiating a blinding golden-blue Origin Light.

The golden-blue aura instantly swept across the entire underwater royal city.

The charging merfolk warriors and the merfolk wizards casting water spells all froze where they stood. The murderous intent and obsessive hostility in their eyes rapidly faded away.

Every water-based attack collapsed instantly.

The warning horn echoing through the sky fell silent.

The magnificent merfolk palaces...

The bustling underwater streets...

The countless merfolk moving through the city...

Everything cracked apart like a shattered mirror, fragment by fragment, before collapsing into nothingness.

In the blink of an eye, the once-glorious underwater city crumbled and vanished without a trace.

The illusion was broken.

The surroundings reverted to the dark, deathly stillness of the ten-thousand-meter-deep seafloor plain. The stagnant ocean currents began flowing once more, and every trace of that illusory killing intent disappeared.

Levi and Barbara both let out a long sigh of relief.

Barbara examined the Mermaid Bloodline Sigil on the back of her hand, her expression turning grim.

"The sigil has less than one-third of its energy left."

Even so, this outcome was already far better than the last time.

When she had activated the Mermaid Bloodline Sigil she had refined herself on her previous expedition, all of its energy had been exhausted after helping her escape the illusion.

This time, however, thanks to the Mermaid Bloodline Sigil Levi had helped refine, nearly one-third of its power remained even after destroying the illusion.

That was already an excellent result.

She even found herself secretly grateful that making this deal with Levi had been well worth it.

Levi had no idea what Barbara was thinking.

After hearing her report, he merely fell silent for a moment before saying, "Then let's keep moving."

Barbara nodded.

Following the guidance of the Bloodline Sigil, the two discovered a hidden passage along the seafloor.

The tunnel stretched into unfathomable darkness, like the gaping maw of an abyss waiting to devour anyone who entered.

Of course, neither Levi nor Barbara was someone who could be frightened so easily.

After composing themselves and calming their minds, they exchanged a nod before walking slowly into the hidden passage.

The Mermaid Bloodline Sigil on the back of Barbara's hand continued to emit a faint glow.

With its guidance, they encountered no further danger as they made their way to the end of the passage.

Passing through a thin blue membrane, the two entered a new space.

To their surprise...

There wasn't a single drop of water inside.

It was a completely dry chamber.

Standing before them was a solemn, majestic tomb.

The entire mausoleum had been constructed from massive blocks of ten-thousand-year deep-sea black jade. The stone was dark and lustrous, remaining perfectly intact despite countless ages beneath the ocean. Its surface was engraved with countless ancient runes that shimmered with a faint, ghostly light, carrying the deathly stillness accumulated over endless ages.

The main gate stood several dozen meters tall.

Carved across its surface was the life story of a crowned merfolk king—his conquests across the seas, his leadership of his people, his subjugation of deep-sea behemoths, and his defense of the kingdom. Every scene was so lifelike that it seemed ready to spring to life.

Encircling the tomb stood countless stone statues of merfolk warriors.

Each held a trident, standing perfectly upright with solemn expressions, as though they had guarded this place since time immemorial, eternally protecting the tomb's master from all who would dare profane it.

As if sensing the arrival of Levi and Barbara, the statues' eyes suddenly glowed crimson.

"Damn it—they're puppets!" Barbara exclaimed. Her vast experience immediately told her what they were, and her expression changed drastically. "These merfolk puppets are real."

"Even the weakest among them possesses Third-Order strength. And there are several that have reached Fourth-Order."

Barbara had already judged the puppets' strength.

There were more than thirty of them in total.

Levi and Barbara stood absolutely no chance against such a force.

Levi immediately canceled his Vortex Lord transformation, returning to his strongest form—the Human-Faced Demon Owl.

Then he activated Detection, searching for the puppets' weaknesses.

A flood of information appeared before his eyes.

The merfolk puppets had fully regained their mobility.

Like living beings awakening from slumber, they all fixed their gaze upon Levi and Barbara, preparing to launch their attack.

This was no illusion.

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I will post some extra Chapters in Patreon, you can check it out. >> /TitoVillar

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