Mirror

Luther hadn't originally planned to come in so directly, but a series of unexpected events forced him to force his way onto the island.

Damn it!

Meow~

As he pondered with a somber expression, a small black cat's head suddenly emerged from his arms, wriggling around. Luna seemed to sense his change in mood and asked a question. In the instant of his conflict with the "King of the Black Throne," he had arranged for a Flesh Puppet to retrieve the black cat from the cabin, and during his escape, he had also absorbed it into his body.

As for Anderson, he can only hope for the best.

The Queen is rapidly approaching, and he is not the King of the Black Throne's primary target. By the time Barros has searched the seabed without finding the key, Beldina will have arrived, and his safety is essentially guaranteed.

Since things have come to this, let's not waste any more time; the right thing to do is to achieve our goals as soon as possible!

So Luther quickly took out the three fingers to guide his direction, while letting the Phantom Tide protect his brain, and thus he moved towards the location of "Saint of Darkness" Leomaster.

"Thump, thump"

The Fog was thick and heavy, and the surroundings were eerily quiet; only the sound of one's own footsteps could be heard.

Luther walked on the muddy ground, occasionally passing by collapsed buildings. Stone bricks were scattered on the ground, long since weathered Corrosion, covered with moss. Perhaps due to the lack of sunlight, there was practically no vegetation here.

As he walked, more and more buildings appeared before him, piling up to form ruins. Judging from the scale of the ruins, one could vaguely see the former glory of this place. Many grand and collapsed buildings were submerged in the Fog, silent and still, like dead, dark behemoths.

A rustling sound came from the depths of the Fog, a sound that seemed to possess a seductive power.

"Whoosh--"

But the sound of Tide echoing in Luther's mind easily drowned them out.

His gaze swept across the ruins, trying to find any recent traces of human activity. Finally, he spotted a long scratch on the cobblestone path, which looked as if someone had dragged a sharp Greatsword and left the mark as they walked.

Is it that Greatsword?

Luther followed the direction of the scratches.

More new marks appeared ahead: buildings were cut in half, cleaved vertically in two, the cuts as smooth as mirrors. It was as if the swordsman had suddenly taken a liking to these dilapidated ruins and wanted to test his skills.

It was most likely the Black Knight who did it.

Luther thought to himself.

The further you go, the worse the condition of the buildings becomes.

If the previous traces could be interpreted as evidence that the swordsman was normal, the person who left behind these ruins was definitely mentally unstable. Before them lay countless fragments of bricks and stones, deep craters embedded in the ground.

It seemed the swordsman was losing control of his emotions and was beginning to wreak havoc!

We're almost there.

Luther took a deep breath, feeling the increasingly distinct feedback in his fingers. He walked past a tower with a large hole cut into it and continued forward.

Then he saw a Mirror.

Mirror?

Smooth, flat, and faithfully reflecting everything it faces.

However, this Mirror was far too enormous, stretching across a Square, extending endlessly upwards and to both sides, with no end in sight.

Luther saw himself in the Mirror: black hair, blue eyes, handsome yet gloomy, his blood-red robe standing out most in this monochromatic environment. His reflection met his gaze; his azure eyes held a deep despair and madness, yet possessed a breathtaking allure.

"Um?"

After a moment of eye contact, he suddenly sensed something was wrong.

This is not Mirror made of ordinary materials at all; it is a water surface formed by condensed Fog!

It was making contact with its own body through the Fog, attempting to permeate its spirit. And its reflection in the Mirror was also strangely beginning to writhe.

"Whoosh!"

The surging seawater dispelled those Concealment influences. Luther saw his reflection in the Mirror flicker for a moment before returning to its Oldest One state.

He continued to gaze at himself with melancholy.

Luther cautiously took a step back.

That's really dangerous.

He thought with lingering fear, "It seems this is the core of the island's strangeness—the Fog, and the Mirror formed by the Fog, can cause mental splits, thus creating new personalities."

This is an effect on the mind and soul, which even Sequence 4 powerhouse like the "Saint of Darkness" finds difficult to resist, gradually driving him insane!

As for Luther, if he hadn't had the protective spirit of that Tide, he probably wouldn't have been able to avoid such Misfortune either.

"The duration of the Tide is limited; we cannot waste it."

After calming down a bit, he looked down at his fingers and discovered that they were pointing directly at the large Mirror.

Behind the Mirror?

Luther hesitated for a moment.

Will it pass?

He created a fireball and maneuvered it towards the giant mirror. The fireball struck the Mirror at incredible speed, making a "whoosh" sound, and ruthlessly passed right through it.

"Call!"

After passing through the mirror, the fireball visibly shrank. The damp, Fog environment also prevented it from burning, and it visibly weakened. But before it went out, it suddenly had a final burst of light, and a large burst of flames rose up in an instant.

In the firelight, Luther's figure appeared.

"Flaming Jump".

Unsure what unknown dangers lurked within that water mirror, he opted for this method to avoid direct contact.

Behind the Mirror is the other half of the Square.

Compared to the damage along the first half of the road, the buildings in front of Luther at this moment at least retained their basic appearance. But this did not mean that their condition was better; on the contrary, these buildings were covered by large areas of black shadows and Corrosion, making their already dilapidated outlines even more eerie.

Thick fog blanketed the dark ruins, making it seem like a scene from a terrible nightmare.

Luther took a deep breath, pinched the three bloody fingers, and continued walking forward.

Thump! Thump!

The three fingers began to throb violently in the palm, as if a powerful heart had been implanted inside. Their appearance was becoming increasingly blood red, eagerly anticipating their reunion with their original owner.

Finally--

"Bang!"

Three fingers exploded simultaneously, turning into blood that fell to the ground. It flowed automatically, converging forward and eventually merging into a strange object. It was a large, writhing shadow, hidden under a building, almost invisible without careful observation.

After merging with the blood, the thing in the shadows wriggled and rose, becoming a tall and imposing black knight. His brows were deeply wrinkled, but his hair was completely Silver Threads, and his pure black eyes instinctively looked at Luther.

"The Saint of Darkness," Leomaster!

After meeting twice in their dreams, they finally met in reality!