"Hmm?" Theo gradually opened his eyes and stared at the white ceiling. "That's right. I fell unconscious after that fight…"
Theo tried to move his hands and body. "It seems there is nothing wrong with my body."
Theo then glanced at left and right, trying to find someone who was waiting for him. However, he got the shock of his life because what he saw was not the typical hospital room filled with only a chair, a bed, and a small table on the corner.
The room was filled with a drawer, a closet, a few doors, and all his spears. "Huh? Isn't this my room? Did I sleep for that long?"
When he was about to rise from the bed, someone opened the door as Alea came to the room and dropped her jaw.
"You have woken up!" Alea suddenly kneeled in front of his bed and grabbed his hand, crying. "I'm glad. I'm glad."
"Ehm, what?" Theo tilted his head in confusion. "First of all, can you tell me what happens?"
"Y-yes." Alea nodded carefully.
It seemed the doctor was confused with his condition. Even though his body had recovered, he didn't wake up even after a few days. Nella had gone crazy and returned to her country, asking for help to wake him up.
They also had lost the competition without a commander like him.
Filled with guilt, Alea seemed to be taking care of him, hoping that someday he would wake up.
"I see." Theo closed his eyes with a remorseful expression.
"Right… Since you have woken up, you must be hungry. Let me make you something." Alea smiled.
When she was about to leave, Theo continued, "So, when are you going to reveal yourself?"
"Eh?!" Alea stopped and turned around, looking at him with a dumbfounded expression.
"Come on, I don't have time for this sh*t." Theo let out a long sigh. "First of all, if you were Alea, she would have gotten me the best hospital. After that, there are a few lies I picked up from the explanations. Come on, I just want to return."
"Wh-what do you mean? That's right. Since you have just woken up, you must still feel weird. I will let you eat something first." Alea was extremely worried.
"How much longer do you want to pretend…" Theo pinched the bridge of his nose. "Should I call you Dear God, God of Mischief or something else?"
"Theo?" Alea's body was shaking. She approached him carefully.
"I know that you are here for a reason. This place feels like the same place I have gone every time I am receiving something from your kids." Theo shook his head. "And since you're not in your former form, I don't need to be polite, don't I? There's no guarantee that you're him."
"Well, I don't want to waste my power as well." Alea suddenly created a chair out of nothing next to the bed and sat, crossing her legs. Her tone completely changed despite her voice sounding the same. "I guess this is our first meeting."
"Yes." Theo nodded politely. "It's my honor to meet you."
"Nah, no need to be polite. As long as you respect me, it's fine to be casual." Alea or Loki waved her hand casually. "I have three reasons for meeting you this way."
Theo remained silent, but his expression turned serious.
She smiled. "First, I want to teach you something. It's about your skill, Illusion Manipulation. All I can say, you're only utilizing five percent of its power."
"Five percent?"
"Yes. You don't understand the art of illusion."
"I don't understand what you're talking about."
"It's fine. I will show you an example instead." Alea smiled and summoned a clone to her left. "This is your usual clone. Now, which one is the real one?"
"Normally, I will say the left one, but since you're trying to make an example, then the one on my right." Theo looked at the clone that had just been summoned.
"You're not supposed to say the latter but whatever." Alea shook her head as what Theo said was right. "Do you know the reason why I've exchanged places?"
"I don't know. Seeing that the skill can be upgraded, that's the reason?"
"Nope. I'm only using the illusion of your Illusion Manipulation skill." He smiled. "To be honest, I want to send my kids again to teach you since they're more trustworthy than me, but this is something I excel in.
"In any case, this is the biggest clue I can give you. What that geezer said about incorporating illusion into reality is right. You can become a great master in doing that. However, that doesn't touch the true Illusion.
"Say… What if Illusion has a will of its own? What do you think it wishes for?" Alea stopped with a smile.
"Wish…" Theo looked down for a moment before coming to a realization. "If I am an illusion, I want to be real."
"Exactly. The true illusion is the reality itself." Alea smiled and waved her hand, slicing the neck of her clone.
Surprisingly, the clone spurted out blood like a human and dropped as if a human just died. Alea pointed to the headless corpse on the ground. "If you don't talk with me this whole time, do you think this is real or fake?"
"…" Theo frowned, knowing the answer.
Alea continued, "Have you ever been wondering where Heaven and Hell are? What if I told you Heaven and Hell are on Earth? What if I told you all the Gods in the past actually hailed from Earth and were also a human?
"What if I told you that those people had been watching you and will continue from now? What if I told you that this reality that everyone believes in is only a mere illusion?"
Theo was taken aback by his statements. That last metaphor was the one that stuck in his mind the most.
"What if I told you that you have been dreaming this whole time and I can free you from this illusion with a snap of my finger?"
Theo gulped down and calmed his heart down.
"I am happy that you're calm and collected. It makes this conversation easier."
"True Illusion… Reality…" Theo closed his eyes, feeling some sort of understanding in that sentence.
Alea nodded with a smile, thinking, 'That's right. No one can tell whether the world you have been living in is an illusion or not. You only know and believe that this world is real. And I may also be another illusion of yours…'