Chapter 234
Chapter 234: What Are You Doing?
The mirror's eyes stared in shock at Viktor, who had appeared without warning in the void.
His black Coat swayed through the air without ceasing. A cold gleam leaped instantly from his eyes.
Black columns of fire rose up from the earth, their scorching light casting itself across his cheeks.
"How... how is this possible?"
"Everyone has forgotten her—so why... why do you still remember?"
The mirror's voice trembled slightly. The purple light in its eyes flickered in and out.
It could not comprehend.
But soon, it no longer needed to.
Within Viktor's eyes, an extraordinarily dense flame ignited.
The next instant, the fire columns erupted and a terrifying presence detonated outward.
A storm—drawn from nowhere—merged entirely with the fire columns, swirling wildly around the mirror.
Like a piercing lance, it drove straight through the mirror's surface in an instant!
Crack—
The mirror suffered a devastating blow and began to shatter apart.
The void surrounding it began to peel away as well, like a broken mirror shedding its pieces.
The world began to warp. Boundless nothingness swirled. Space itself crumbled to dust.
Bang!
A clear, sharp shattering sound rang out beside Leah's ear. A blinding white light flashed before her eyes.
Her consciousness plummeted all at once.
It felt as though her body were falling from the sky. Her awareness returned, flooding back into herself.
In that moment, Leah opened her eyes.
A natural, clean freshness entered her nostrils.
It was the scent of green grass and earth mingled together.
The grass swayed gently in the breeze, rustling like small waves.
Dense branches stirred at the same time. Sunlight filtered through the shade and fell across half of Leah's face.
The quiet Clavena Manor stood before her, solid and unmoving.
Leah looked down at the grass beneath her and slowly came back to herself.
She rose to her feet gradually, brushed the dirt from her clothes, and looked at the familiar Manor.
"I'm... home?"
The sound of Viktor's footsteps reached her ears, accompanied by the crisp snap of grass stalks breaking underfoot.
He stood with both hands in his pockets, gazing ahead with calm composure.
"Yes. We're back."
Leah blinked, taking in the familiarity of her surroundings.
She squeezed her palm shut—she could clearly feel how natural it felt.
She had truly come back.
But Leah still couldn't quite make sense of it all. She raised her head and stared at Viktor:
"But... what about that mirror?"
"I destroyed it."
Viktor's voice was level. Leah couldn't detect so much as a ripple of emotion in it.
"Don't worry. This kind of thing won't happen to you again."
Leah turned back toward him, looking at him with puzzlement.
"Can I really... stop worrying?"
Suddenly, Viktor reached out one hand.
He placed it gently on top of Leah's head and stroked it back and forth.
"From now on, I'll live with you here in Blairstone."
"I'll resign from my Professor position."
Leah looked at Viktor, something in her eyes shifting—a flicker of being moved.
"Viktor, you..."
Viktor lowered his head to look at her.
Leah looked up at him in a daze and asked:
"Can you... hold me for a moment?"
Viktor gave a calm nod.
"If it's your request—yes."
Then he opened his arms.
Leah's cheeks flushed slightly, but she stepped into Viktor's embrace all the same, burying her face in his chest.
Her hands wrapped around his back.
And then...
Pfft...
A large mouthful of blood spilled from Viktor's lips.
His eyes were filled with absolute shock. He lowered his head and looked at Leah.
But he couldn't see her expression.
Leah had buried her face in his chest. At some point, a dagger had appeared in her right hand.
Its cold gleam drove straight through Viktor's back with brute force.
Then Leah withdrew the dagger. Cold gleam—now stained with blood.
Pfft!
Another vicious slash!
A stunning surge of blood burst from Viktor's chest, and under the pull of gravity, it poured out in a torrent.
The scalding blood hit the ground and soaked the entire stretch of grass.
Viktor couldn't believe it. He stared at Leah, his mouth open—but not a single word came out.
Only his lips moved, but Leah read them clearly:
'Why...'
Thud!
Leah watched with cold indifference as Viktor collapsed to the ground.
Her cheeks were splattered with blood. Her arms and clothes had been stained crimson as well.
But she did not flinch. She crouched down, placed the dagger on the ground in front of Viktor.
She looked at the "Viktor" who had died with eyes still wide open. Leah's voice rang out, flat and unhurried:
"There is one thing you should never, ever have done."
"Made 'Viktor' treat me so well."
The scene around her shattered once again, peeling away piece by piece.
And this time, the surroundings shifted anew.
Leah stood outside the Study door.
In her hand was the Contract she was meant to hand to Viktor—the appointment contract for a Professor position at the Royal Magic Academy, drafted by her and Gwen together after calling in countless favors.
Its purpose had been to have the Academy shield Viktor, suppressing the fallout from his taunting of the Duke's daughter to the lowest possible heat.
Leah drew a long, deep breath, then shoved the Study door open.
Viktor was seated quietly at his writing desk, holding a book in both hands and reading.
He didn't raise his head. Sensing someone enter, he asked:
"What is it?"
"Something very important."
Leah tore the Contract in her hands to pieces.
From her sleeve, she shook out a dagger.
She gripped it and smiled, eyes crinkling, as she looked at the "Viktor" before her.
"I'm here to take your life."
***
Within the jet-black void.
Countless smooth mirrors surrounded Viktor on all sides, enclosing him completely.
The mirror surfaces around him reflected Viktor's form in full.
In the back-and-forth reflections, it was as though tens of millions of versions of him all turned to look at himself at once.
Viktor stood there, both hands in his pockets, as though standing at the center of a labyrinth of mirrors.
"Care to make a bet?"
From within the mirrors, "Viktor's" voice rang out.
Viktor narrowed his eyes, watching the several versions of himself in the mirrors making the same motions he did.
"Using my face and voice to imitate me."
"You disgust me."
But Viktor's words did not seem to shame the mirror at all. Instead, the laughter belonging to "Viktor" continued to ring out:
"So what? You can't kill me."
"I am a mirror. As long as light still refracts, I will not die."
"Even your father could not destroy me."
With that, countless "Viktors" stepped out from the mirrors surrounding him.
They all wore identical black Coats. They all had both hands in their pockets. But their expressions were each different.
Mocking, joyful, sorrowful, furious......
"So come. Make a bet with me."
"If you win, I'll release both of you and leave this place."
Viktor's expression was perfectly calm—he didn't so much as stir.
"You mean return to reality."
"Of course."
The "Viktor" who had appeared from the mirror crossed his arms and nodded.
"Though I don't know how you got in here—if you lose, then," the "Viktors" spread their grins, arrogant and brazen.
"I want you both to stay here forever."
"Forgotten by all people—for all eternity."
Viktor let out a quiet laugh and said lightly:
"You think you've already got this won?"
The "Viktors" straightened their expressions and took on the exact same posture and look as Viktor.
"Right now, your sister is inside the world I created for her—killing one version of you after another."
"She believes that everything here is false."
At that, the "Viktors'" gazes drifted toward the space ahead.
Every scene around them shifted completely, transforming once more into the vast Back Garden of the Clavena Manor.
But the difference was—dozens of Viktors now stood in the same place.
Viktor surveyed the surroundings. Then he heard a voice sound:
"Look forward to it—look forward to your sister finding the real you."
"But try not to get actually killed by her."
The mirror's sharp, heh heh heh laughter pealed out and spread.
Then Leah appeared before Viktor.
Her body was drenched head to toe in red blood.
The blood of however many dead Viktors.
She looked at the dozens of Viktors before her and raised her dagger almost by instinct.
Before long, Leah walked up to those Viktors.
They stood as though incapable of resistance, letting Leah drag her blade across their throats one by one.
1, 2, 3....
As the "Viktors" fell one after another, Leah finally arrived before Viktor himself.
Without the slightest hesitation, she aimed the dagger at Viktor's face and brought it down hard.
But Viktor didn't even blink.
In the instant the dagger was about to touch Viktor's body,
Leah's hand came to a stop.
Clang! The dagger dropped to the ground.
Her gaze met Viktor's eyes.
Something a few degrees softer entered her eyes.
"Brother..."
"Found you."
Crack—
Almost the very instant those words fell, Leah's body began to come apart—like a mirror shattering.
The next instant, the entire world broke completely once more.
The surrounding scene plunged back into a pitch-black void.
Viktor turned back around calmly, his gaze settling on the enormous mirror standing before him.
Those 2 eyes brimming with purple light dropped lower, fixing on Viktor.
"Quite a rare sight—how exactly did she recognize you?"
The mirror seemed to speak with the tone of someone who had a grip on everything. Even having lost the bet, it showed not the slightest panic.
"But as per the terms of our bet, I've already sent her back to reality."
"So—am I a mirror that keeps its word?"
Its pair of dark eyes narrowed slightly, light flickering ceaselessly within them.
"However. I've taken back half of my end."
"Because now, you interest me far more."
The mirror looked Viktor up and down, then reflected his image in its surface.
"Did you know—anyone who enters a mirror, unless they leave the mirror and return to reality,"
"every memory of their existence in the real world will be erased."
The mirror stretched its grin wide, laughing without restraint.
"Viktor. Right now, you have been forgotten by everyone."
It erupted into wild, frenzied laughter, as though it had witnessed something endlessly entertaining.
But suddenly, its laughter was cut short—by Viktor's voice.
"Marei Dim. I don't believe I've gotten your name wrong."
The instant the mirror heard that name, it froze in place.
Viktor stood with both hands in his pockets:
"I'm glad you sent only Leah back to reality."
"Because now, there are only the 2 of us left here."
In an instant, the pressure radiating from his entire body surged violently upward.
Like a great beast slowly opening its eyes and turning its gaze upon the fragile prey before it.
A terrifying presence transformed into a tidal wave of immense force and swallowed the void whole.
In that moment, Viktor's Coat became threaded with 3 stripes of differing color.
Red, white, and green—the 3 colors winding together.
A terrifying surge of natural energy erupted outward, as though it would fill the entire world.
As wind flooded throughout the space, the surroundings began to blaze with heat.
From the nothingness of the ground, new shoots burst forth from nothing, inundating the entire world.
At some point, Viktor had come to stand in midair.
Behind him, 3 colossal and terrifying beast-like forms—as though they would pierce the heavens—materialized in the air above.
Their bodies were each wreathed in 3 distinct auras of color.
Their gazes followed Viktor's eyes and locked upon the enormous mirror before them.
The pressure bore down without cease. The mirror's vast surface even began to tremble.
Crack—
Under that suffocating weight, a corner of the mirror's surface shattered.
Viktor stood in midair, one hand reaching forward to close around something.
The Staff: Ulruste appeared in his grip, held firmly.
From the top of the wooden staff, a powerful and overwhelming density of Magic Power was released.
Before Viktor, the mirror's long HP bar and Level surged into view.
LV50—
Viktor's eyes gleamed with a strange light within the dark void—like a god of destruction descended into the world.
"Now then—let's cut loose."
"And have a proper game."