Even though only a few seconds had passed, for each of them, hours or even days had gone by.
No one spoke immediately.
Liana brought her usual smile back to her face, but this time it was calmer, less like a shield.
Shadow Wolf appeared beside her foot and pressed its body against her leg.
Seraphina had placed her hand on her chest.
She felt the two flows of Mana moving inside her for the first time without collision or delay.
Seris gave a brief look at Lian, only a moment.
Lian saw that look, but asked nothing. He felt that each of them had seen something they currently had no desire to explain.
He could understand. He himself had seen something he hadn’t expected, but he had moved past that stage long ago, and it really didn’t affect him.
But he couldn’t say the same for the rest of them.
"Are you all okay?" As soon as he said this, the Mirror Curator, still standing in the center of the hall, suddenly opened its mouth.
"The wounds have been identified."
"No identity has collapsed."
A panel appeared.
[First Trial Cleared.]
The floor beneath their feet began to move. White lines spread in a circular pattern.
Before they could step back, the ground surface disappeared, but they did not fall. Their bodies were suspended in a column of light and transferred to another space.
The second hall was circular.
Smaller than the first, but the Mana pressure there was much stronger.
Four people appeared on four sides of the circle. A massive mirror extended from floor to ceiling between them, its surface liquid-like, with unclear images moving inside it.
Before anyone could take a step, silver chains rose from the floor.
Each chain wrapped around one of their wrists, and the other end connected to the central mirror.
Seris drew her sword and tried to cut the chain. The blade passed through it without leaving a trace.
The chain was not physical, but connected to the soul and consciousness.
The Mirror Curator appeared at the hall’s edge.
"The past builds the person."
"But the bonds determine the future path."
"One betrayal is enough to break an entire group."
A panel appeared before their view.
[Second Trial: The Bond You Distrust]
[Four challengers entered.]
[All four must refuse the offered lie.]
"If one fails?"
"All will fail."
"This dungeon really has a thing for trust." Liana said with annoyance.
Seris gave her a brief look. For some reason, she agreed.
Then all four looked at each other. There was no need to speak. With just a look, they could understand each other’s meaning.
Don’t do anything foolish!
The mirror’s surface rippled. Images inside it lit up. All four were still physically in the same hall.
But their eyes and minds saw something else.
Seris saw Lian in front of her.
The hall had disappeared.
Only an endless white surface remained.
Lian looked real. No evil smile, no obvious sign of being fake... but was he real?
Even his posture, breathing rhythm, and gaze were exact.
A panel appeared between them.
[Pendragon Bloodline detected.]
[Required Sacrifice for Vault Activation.]
"The Vorhelm clan knew about this place from the beginning." The fake Lian held a sword in his hand and said calmly with a real tone.
Seris looked at him.
"We knew we needed four people to open it." The version continued.
Short images appeared. The map, the travel paths, the moment Seris joined him.
"That’s why I let you come with me."
He raised the sword.
"The final condition is to sacrifice a Pendragon member."
"It’s not personal." His tone remained calm as the blade pointed at Seris.
"It’s the most logical choice."
This sentence was dangerous. The real Lian either did or didn’t make emotional and uncalculated decisions. His mentality couldn’t be understood, and all his actions depended on the moment.
Seris didn’t know if the person in front of her was real or not, but her mind was still occupied by the previous trial, occupied with betrayal!
What if this Lian was real? Or what if this was also the trial’s game?
Seris drew her sword and took a defensive stance for a moment.
But she didn’t attack. She looked at the panel and then at the fake Lian.
"Lian sometimes makes cold decisions."
The version in front of her gave a very faint smile. But Seris suddenly lowered her sword.
"But he never makes a stupid decision."
The fake version’s face changed slightly, and a frown appeared on it.
"Sacrificing the strongest ally to open an unknown dungeon is not logical."
"You don’t even know how to think like him."
Lian’s image cracked, and the fake panel faded. The silver chain on Seris’s wrist changed color from gray to white.
...
Seraphina found herself in a collapsing hall.
The pillars were falling, stone and glass were falling from the ceiling.
Lian was trapped under a pile of rubble. Blood was flowing from the side of his forehead and mouth.
On the other side, Seris was fighting a dark and unknown creature.
The enemy was getting closer to the exit every moment. Two paths lit up before Seraphina.
One toward Lian, the other toward the enemy.
Panels appeared in the air.
[Remain and attempt rescue.]
[Probability of Trial Failure: 81%.]
[Chase the target and obtain the inheritance.]
[Future probability of saving more lives: Increased.]
"Go after it." Lian’s voice was heard from under the rubble.
"You’re bleeding." Seraphina looked at him.
"It doesn’t matter."
The enemy was moving away.
"If you get the inheritance, you can become stronger later."
The scene directly hit Seraphina’s oldest fear. Once again, someone she cared about was dying in front of her.
And again, there was power at a distance that might prevent future disasters.
Should she abandon the person she could save now to protect more people one day?
"Go." The fake Lian said again.
But this repetition made Seraphina pause.
The real Lian, in a critical situation, would never give such an order without examining the path, the enemy, and the possibilities.
Even if he wanted to sacrifice himself, he would first transmit the necessary information.
This image only used his appearance and tone.
Not his mind.
Seraphina looked at the two paths and then sank her sword into the ground.
"I don’t have to accept a choice you made for me."
A large Magic Circle formed beneath her feet.
But this time, unlike before, the Spell was not built first to be released after a strike.
The blade itself became part of the magical structure.
The Swordswoman and Mage flows activated simultaneously.
[Twin-Core Resonance]
Fire and ice did not spin around the blade. They entered the metal’s structure, and Seraphina pressed the sword into the ground.
A large Barrier spread from the point of contact.
Not only Lian, but all four real group members in the main hall were covered. For a moment, the silver chains of all four stabilized.
The Mirror Vault reacted.
[Exceptional Compatibility Detected.]
[Succession Parameters Updated.]
Seraphina looked at the message, but had no time to examine it further.
The fake scene collapsed, and the chain on her wrist turned white.
...
Liana stood in front of a glass door.
Behind the door, Selina could be seen, wounded and bloody, and dark monsters were moving in the corridor behind her.
"Liana!" Selina was hitting the glass with both hands.
And Liana immediately went to the door and placed her hand on its surface.
"Step back. I’ll open it."
A panel appeared.
[Lock requires spiritual power.]
[Available source: Familiar Contract.]
[Destroy the contract and sacrifice the familiar.]
Shadow Wolf’s contract circle appeared before her. If she broke it, the released spiritual energy would open the lock.
Shadow Wolf was her last remaining summon.
But behind the door was Selina, who was worth more to her than any power, Skill, or Summon.
Without initial hesitation, Liana reached her hand toward the circle.
Shadow Wolf appeared beside her.
She looked at it. It was neither sad nor scared. Acceptance could be seen in its eyes.
The creature was willing to die for its summoner’s decision... in the end, for a summon, the greatest achievement is sacrifice for its master.
Liana’s fingers approached the circle.
"Faster!" Selina shouted from behind the glass.
The monsters came closer.
"It doesn’t matter if that wolf dies!"
Liana’s hand stopped. Her gaze moved from the circle to Selina.
The sentence was wrong. Not in logic, but in personality.
The real Selina would never call another creature’s life so meaningless.
Even to save herself.
Liana lowered her hand.
"You are not her."
"You’re letting me die." Selina’s image started crying.
The monsters were a few steps away from her.
"I’m your only family."
Liana closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, there was no smile on her face.
"Even if you were real, you wouldn’t use my fear against me."
Shadow Wolf lowered its body, and Liana placed her hand on its neck.
"Break the door."
The wolf sank into the shadow. A moment later, it came out from the shadow behind the door.
Its claws landed on Selina’s image. The illusion and the glass door shattered at the same time.
Liana’s chain turned white.
...
"Again? Does this trial not know any other place?" Lian once again saw the Vorhelm clan’s hall.
But this time, no one ignored him.
All the clan members were standing on both sides of the hall. When he entered, everyone lowered their heads.
His uncle and the other elders were at the end of the path, holding the heir’s insignia with both hands, ready to hand it over to him.
"Your power has been proven." The voice echoed in the hall.
"The Vorhelm clan accepts you as heir."
The teenage version of Lian was standing next to the insignia, his eyes fixed on it.
The Mirror Vault opened a panel before Lian.
[Exclusive Succession Available.]
[Eliminate the remaining challengers.]
[All inheritance will be transferred to a single host.]
Beneath it, the benefits appeared one after another.
[Unholy Monster Bloodline.]
[Demon-Rank Monster Structure.]
[10000 stats points]
[Dragon Soul]
[10 level ups]
It was a tempting offer...