Chapter 233
Chapter 233: I Changed It All, I Changed It All
White flowers and lush green grass were set ablaze by black flames conjured from gathered Magic Power.
The surrounding space was torn open in crack after crack by those flames.
Jet-black nothingness swirled within each fissure, poised to swallow everything within that space whole.
A single glance was enough to send a chill through one's entire body.
Leah stood above a massive fissure. Half the space had already shattered completely.
The silhouettes of the noble guests had long since been reduced to scraps of paper, ignited by the black flames.
Viktor and Gwen were no exception.
The 2 of them stood there, their faces written with disbelief.
Amid the sea of fire, a strange light moved through "Viktor's" eyes—shock, panic, bewilderment.....
A swirl of complex emotions gathered within those obsidian-like eyes.
"Leah..."
"Why?"
Gwen stared back at Leah as well, her face stricken with horror:
"Aren't we the very best of friends?"
Leah's eyes were lowered, looking at the 2 of them standing together in the sea of flames, her expression utterly devoid of feeling.
"Are we?"
One hand on her hip, she slowly raised her other arm:
"I don't recall when Gwen ever became a little girl who needed someone else to protect her."
Leah had harbored doubts for a long time.
The first time Gwen had come to the house with Uncle Angus, she had already begun to suspect.
How could Gwen possibly be that close with Uncle Angus?
Gwen got along poorly with the people of the Delin Family—everyone except her sister.
But that wasn't what had made her suspicious.
Leah then turned her gaze to Viktor, continuing:
"And you—something is even more wrong with you."
"Viktor would never apologize to me. At least, the Viktor from before wouldn't."
She tilted her head slightly, watching the look of surprise on "Viktor's" face.
"Likewise—his expressions were never this expressive."
"No matter how much you imitate him, you will never become him."
When her words fell, "Viktor" went silent for a good while.
After a long pause, he looked at Leah and spoke:
"You surprise me, Leah Clavena."
"Surrounded by the world I constructed for you, you still managed to retain your own consciousness."
"Viktor" stretched out his hand, his finger pointing at Leah's glove.
"Is it because of—that?"
The Mirror World was an independent realm. Everything within it was supposed to be an illusion.
Any Magic tool brought inside would be suppressed and rendered completely unusable.
All except Leah's strange glove.
The moment the Magic erupted, she had shattered the Mirror World entirely.
"You mean this? Maybe."
"But the true source of my sense of wrongness wasn't just Viktor's attitude toward me."
Leah raised her left hand and clenched it tightly.
After the Mirror World began to break apart, Leah finally became aware of it—an unnatural feeling coming from her left arm.
And yet, in this world, in Leah's memories, whether eating or reaching for things, Leah had always been more comfortable using her left hand.
But she was clearly right-handed.
Not just herself—Viktor, and everyone else, had all defaulted to using their left hand.
"The vast majority of people in this world used their left hand as their dominant hand. When I noticed that wrongness, I knew something was off."
"Viktor" went silent, unable to say a single word.
Leah continued:
"So there is only 1 possibility."
"The left hand everyone was using was, in fact, their normal dominant hand."
"It's just that I was inside a mirror—which caused every action to appear reversed."
Because a person standing outside a mirror, when looking at their reflection, sees their movements inverted.
Raise the right hand outside the mirror, and the mirror shows the left hand.
Perhaps this also explained why "Viktor" and "Gwen's" personalities had become what they were.
Because everything seen in a mirror is a reversal of reality.
"You thought that by showing me inverted memories, you could make me lose myself in them."
Leah raised her head, her sharp gaze like the edge of a blade—cold and piercing as it cut toward "Viktor."
"Unfortunately, I'm not falling for that."
The "Viktor" caught in Leah's stare made no move, but from within his body came a shrill, piercing laugh.
The next instant, his body shattered like a mirror—violently, utterly.
Countless fine fractures burst from his body and began spreading across the remaining half of the space.
Even Gwen's form twisted and warped, pulled and swallowed into the void.
Until the very last trace of color was consumed entirely by the black.
"Viktor" stood alone in place. Only a distant, lingering laugh continued to echo without end.
Crack!
The mirror-like illusion shattered completely into a thousand pieces.
The entire world seemed to plunge into a boundless, absolute silence.
Leah stood within the void. A mirror slowly materialized before her, standing upright.
The mirror was enormous. Its surface shimmered with silver light.
At its top sat 2 purple eyes, like the gaze of some slumbering evil.
The mirror slowly lifted its eyelids. The frozen stone cracked and crumbled away.
Those demonic eyes immediately shot 2 beams of purple light, and a deep, eerie malice blazed forth from within them simultaneously.
Like 2 cold silver serpents, they coiled up Leah's neck.
"Worthy of a descendant of the Clavena Family. I chose the right one to capture."
Leah raised her head and looked into its eyes, asking with curiosity:
"So? What is your grievance with us?"
"Hahahaha!"
The mirror burst into uncontrollable laughter upon hearing Leah's words.
The light from its 2 eyes flickered in and out, the mirror's surface becoming its face, stretching into an extraordinarily sinister grin.
"Grievance? There's no end to that story."
Leah received this answer without much surprise showing on her face.
She should have guessed it sooner.
It was their own Family's mine—how could a mirror simply appear out of nowhere in the ground?
Either someone had placed it there deliberately, or something must have happened in the past that led to this strange mirror being buried within the mountain.
But clearly, the mirror had no desire to say more.
The vast mirror surface beneath its 2 eyes showed a new scene.
Within the mirror, Leah could see: the reflection of herself had become an adorable, delicately carved little girl.
Leah recognized her. It was her own childhood self.
"Stop struggling, little girl. You have already been forgotten by everyone."
"So why—why not continue sinking into the world you truly desire?"
The mirror's voice rose slowly, rich with temptation.
"Come. This world belongs to you and you alone."
"Here, you can do whatever you wish. Anything at all."
"Let go of those useless distractions, and simply immerse yourself in this world."
It continued, weaving its words in an attempt to bewitch Leah.
Leah raised her head and looked into its eyes, asking with calm detachment:
"Can you truly give me what I want?"
"Let me—do whatever I wish?"
The mirror's laughter grew several degrees more brazen.
If one could make out its expression clearly, its grin would likely have stretched all the way to its ears.
"Of course."
"I have read your memories. I know every connection you have. Naturally I know what you need!"
The mirror grew more and more arrogant, the 2 beams of purple light in its eyes flickering wildly.
"Come. Touch me."
"I will build you the most perfect Mirror World—exactly the one you desire."
The corner of Leah's mouth curled up faintly. She let out a quiet laugh.
"Is that so?"
She extended her hand, reaching toward the mirror's surface.
The mirror watched the arm drawing closer and closer, growing more and more excited.
It had already begun to anticipate—what kind of reaction Leah would have once she fell into the illusion.
But the instant she touched the mirror, the mirror froze on the spot.
"Uh... what?"
"I cannot understand..."
It had not grasped what Leah was asking for.
But by then, Leah had already withdrawn her hand and let out a helpless sigh:
"As I thought—no matter what, you are only a mirror."
"How could a mere mirror dare to claim it understands human nature?"
The mirror's 2 eyes showed a flicker of confusion and bewilderment.
It stared at Leah and quickly said:
"No, please wait, little girl."
"I will create the world you want..."
Leah crossed her arms, fingers tapping steadily against her forearm, a teasing expression on her face.
"I'm sorry."
"Too late."
She raised her right hand once more. The Mage's Hand emitted a soft, brimming white light that blazed to life before the mirror.
"Care to guess—why I spent so long talking with you?"
The mirror was puzzled and couldn't make sense of Leah's meaning.
But then Leah's voice rang out, calm and unhurried:
"A certain bastard once told me—if I ever needed him, to use the Magic in my glove."
"He's here now."
The instant those words fell, the entire void was set alight—completely—by a surge of black flame.
Countless columns of black fire erupted skyward, sweeping and spreading, climbing endlessly toward the heights above, as though intent on burning everything to nothing.
Carrying scorching heat, a terrifying wave of pressure bore down upon the mirror.
Those 2 beams of purple light actually began to tremble.
The black light of the fire columns surrounded the mirror completely. The firelight reflected off the mirror's surface and cast its glow across Leah's face.
From within the columns of flame, a silhouette clad in a black Coat emerged—like the very embodiment of fire given form.
Amid the roaring blaze, a cold and familiar voice rang out.
"Sorry."
"I'm late."