Lian looked at the rewards. They were so insane that even he couldn’t take his eyes off them.
"Are these real?" The rewards were so crazy that he doubted a dungeon could give even one of them.
But the way to obtain them was equally insane. He would have to kill all his friends!
"You were made to be alone from the beginning." A voice said from behind.
The mature Reflection of Lian appeared in the hall.
"Allies only slow you down." The trial had no way to challenge his trust.
So they decided to tempt him instead!
Images of Seraphina, Seris, and Liana formed around the insignia.
Each one was like a source of power.
Skill.
Bloodline.
Spiritual structure and physical structure!
"By eliminating three people, you can become something no awakened one has ever been."
"We finally became strong?" The teenage version of Lian looked at him.
Lian was silent for a few moments. He looked at the heir’s insignia. Once, it was everything he wanted.
Not necessarily the position itself, but the meaning behind it.
Acceptance, proving his worth, and the clan’s admission that he was not a mistake.
"We became strong." Lian answered the teenage version.
"Then why don’t you take it?" The boy turned his gaze back to the insignia.
"Because we don’t need it anymore."
The space trembled for a moment.
"You’re lying." The mature Reflection said.
Lian fixed his gaze on the clan members.
"Acceptance that only comes after power is worthless." Then he looked at the images of his three companions.
"And three powerful allies are more useful than a bloodline and these things." At least he hoped so.
The fake version began to crack, but the illusion had not completely collapsed yet.
Mirror Anchor activated in the depth of Lian’s mind. He felt the fixed point of his identity.
Behind the hall’s sound, he heard other sounds. Real breaths, Mana flow, the vibration of chains.
Seris.
Seraphina.
Liana.
All were still present in the second hall.
Lian understood the Trial’s structure.
If he attacked the illusion’s center with Cataclysm Pulse, the pressure might be transferred to the other chains.
Instead, he sent his Mana into the chain, synchronizing its rhythm with the other three flows.
Then he called their names, just to create a real sound among the lies.
"Seris."
His voice passed through the other illusions.
"Seraphina."
The second chain trembled.
"Liana."
Three breaths synchronized for a moment.
The Vorhelm hall collapsed. The heir’s insignia turned to ash.
Lian’s chain also turned white.
And suddenly, the world around him disappeared... All four opened their eyes almost simultaneously.
The circular hall had returned. All the chains were white, but the trial was not over.
The central mirror rippled more intensely. Four hands came out from its liquid-like surface.
Then bodies.
Complete Reflections of Lian, Seris, Seraphina, and Liana entered the hall.
Each moved toward their original owner. Seris’s version made a sword of black glass.
Liana’s version spread fake shadows on the ground.
Lian’s Reflection gathered Mana in its hand.
And Seraphina’s version formed two Magic Circles behind it.
The Curator’s voice was heard from the walls.
"The lie has been rejected."
"Now the substitutes will be eliminated."
Seris’s Reflection made the first attack.
The real Seris drew her sword. The two blades collided.
But Unclouded Edge did not allow the Trial’s disturbance to affect her Sword Intent.
Her movement was simple and direct. The real blade passed through the fake version’s defense path and split it from shoulder to side.
The Reflection turned into pieces of glass.
The fake shadows moved toward Liana.
Shadow Wolf entered the ground and moved among them.
Familiar Soul Anchor kept their bond stable.
Liana felt the real Mana path.
"Left side."
Shadow Wolf came out of the Reflection’s shadow and closed its jaws around its neck.
The fake version collapsed in the darkness.
Lian lazily looked at them. The four Reflections seemed independent, but very thin threads from behind their bodies connected to the mirror’s center.
"What’s controlling them is in the mirror’s center."
Seraphina fixed her gaze on the center. Her fake version and Lian’s Reflection attacked at the same time.
Lian activated Thunder Step and blocked his own version’s path.
The two strikes collided, and Mana pressure spread through the hall.
Seris also moved toward Seraphina’s Reflection and deflected its magical strike.
Seraphina placed both her hands on the hilt.
Twin-Core Resonance activated, and the sword and magic flows moved simultaneously in her body.
[Arcane Edge]
But the Skill was not like before this time. Both elements entered the sword’s structure.
The metal turned transparent white. Cold vapor and intense heat, instead of destroying each other, stood together in a precise balance.
The Curator turned its faceless head toward Seraphina.
Seraphina took a step.
Lian’s Reflection tried to block her path, and the real Lian pushed it aside with Iron Fortress Charge.
Seraphina’s fake version released a large Spell.
Seris split the strike with King’s Edge.
The path opened.
Seraphina sank her sword into the mirror’s center, and at that same moment, the physical strike and the Spell reached the core.
Not one before the other, exactly simultaneously, and the entire mirror surface turned white.
A massive crack spread from its center.
The remaining Reflections stopped, then collapsed into thousands of pieces along with the mirror.
None of the pieces hit the four. Before reaching them, they turned into light.
System panels appeared.
[Second Trial Cleared.]
[All Bonds Preserved.]
[An Heir-Compatible Soul has been detected.]
[Final Compatibility Evaluation Pending.]
Seraphina stared at the notification. The white light on her blade slowly faded.
"Which one does it mean?" Liana looked around.
No answer came. The Mirror Curator stood completely still toward Seraphina for a few seconds.
Despite having no eyes or face, everyone felt its gaze on her.
But then it turned its head. The wall behind it began to split open, and this time, behind the wall, there was no dark hall or stone corridor.
An endless space was revealed.
Thousands of crystals were suspended in the darkness. Some the size of a fist, some larger than a human.
Inside each one, images, faces, and unknown scenes moved.
Memories.
Not illusions made to test them, but real memories of the civilization that had built the Mirror Vault.
Those crystals were memory crystals, a special magical artifact that could record memories.
In the center of the space, the image of a massive tree could be seen. Its trunk was so large that cities were built on its roots.
Its branches covered the entire sky.
Lian understood with one look. These images must show this world, and also the civilization that built this dungeon and the trials.
But something was strange. In the images, the three forests did not exist.
The entire world was unified.
The Mirror Curator turned toward the memory space.
"The first trial asked what made you."
Its voice this time was less like a system, slightly more human, and slightly more tired.
"The second trial asked who you would betray to save yourself."
"The third trial will not test your power." The memory crystals lit up one after another.
"It will show a truth buried deep within this world."
A panel appeared before them.
[Third Trial: The Forgotten World]
[This trial contains True Memories.]
"Only the chosen one can go to the third trial... but all three of you have been successful so far."
Mirror Anchor reacted in the depth of Lian’s mind. The fixed point of his identity became brighter.
At the same time, Seraphina felt warmth on her palm.
A white mark had formed on her skin, the same closed eye and broken star symbol.
Its light was synchronized with her pulse.
The four looked at each other, thinking about what to do. They had come this far, so they would continue too... They stepped into the memory space.
All the crystals activated at the same time... White light covered the world.
The last image they saw before the hall collapsed was the sitting giant of the Giants’ Graveyard.
But this time, it was not a skeleton, it was alive.
It had gray skin and armor of ancient metal. Its height seemed taller than mountains, and its golden eyes were full of awareness.
The giant was kneeling before the first tree. Its head was lowered, and its massive hands were placed on the ground.
And an ancient voice echoed through the entire memory space.
"Before the world was broken into three forests, one root ruled over everything."