In the middle of the standoff with the mermen blocking the way.
Suddenly, Ian walked forward.
'Ah... it's dangerous!'
Lia and Rin hurriedly followed on both sides of Ian.
Panicked by Ian's sudden impulsive action, the two prepared to fight the mermen who seemed ready to pounce, but the mermen did not attack.
The mermen, who had been threatening as if they would attack at any moment, actually retreated backward to avoid the three approaching them.
'...?'
Lia and Rin looked at the mermen with somewhat confused faces, then glanced back at Ian.
Ian pointed at the mermen in front of them—the phantoms—and spoke.
'Don't worry. These aren't real; they're hallucinations.'
'What? You mean... they're fakes?'
Ian nodded at Rin's question.
In the thick fog, the figures of the mermen pointing their weapons looked real no matter how one looked at them.
When Rin quietly asked Lia what she saw, Lia was seeing the exact same monsters as Rin.
