"This shouldn't be your fight alone," he murmured, lowering his gaze to his palm. The Short Blade was already covered in fine cracks. It had broken back in the banquet hall, when he blocked that bolt of lightning.
But now, it seemed to resonate. The blade trembled slightly, giving off a low hum.
"Do you want me to go in?" he asked quietly.
The blade gave no answer, but it suddenly began to glow. Fractured blue patterns spread along its length, finally leaving a thin sigil on the back of his hand, like a brand, like some ancient summons.
"Are you... part of her, too?" Jiu Jia Yi suddenly realized that this blade was no ordinary object. From the very first day he had acquired it, it had seemed to possess a spirit of its own, even taking the initiative several times at critical moments to help him evade fatal wounds.
Perhaps Yan Zhi had planted something at his side long ago.
"Don't die," he whispered, as though speaking to Yan Zhi, and as though speaking to himself.
Then he raised the blade high.
The glowing patterns burst apart, like ribbons tearing through a mirror, ripping an enormous breach in the entire Mirror Realm. In that instant, countless duplicates froze at once. As though sensing some higher command, they all turned toward the breach.
And in that same moment, Yan Zhi opened her eyes.
"...It's you?" she asked, watching the figure approach through the rift, her voice so soft it was barely audible.
Jiu Jia Yi advanced step by step, wrapped in blue light, shattering the false reality projected by the Mirror Realm beneath his feet. He struggled forward, every step seeming to threaten to tear him apart in this space that did not belong to reality.
"Didn't you say you couldn't come in?" she asked quietly, her gaze too complicated to put into words.
"I don't know whether I can," he answered, breathing hard, "but I know you're in here, so I can't stay outside."
"You're insane." She gave a soft laugh, but a sheen of tears rose in her eyes. "Getting in is easy. What about getting out?"
"You never said we had to get out alone." Jiu Jia Yi moved to her side and stood shoulder to shoulder with her. "I want to take a chance, too."
Yan Zhi watched him for a moment, then slowly reached out and drew the crack-covered Short Blade from his hand. In that instant, every crack in it healed. The entire blade became transparent, like a single, unbroken crystal, giving off an eerie yet familiar blue glow.
"This isn't an ordinary weapon," she said quietly, tightening her grip on the Short Blade. "It's one of the seals on my memories, an anchor of my existence. You've actually... been carrying it with you all this time?"
The corner of Jiu Jia Yi's mouth twitched. "It's pretty handy for killing enemies. I'm not an idiot."
She smiled, a long-absent softness flashing in her eyes, only to be replaced by tension a moment later. The Eye of the Center ahead suddenly began to tremble violently. Rainbow light spilled out once more, and a pillar of light shot straight toward them.
Yan Zhi instinctively shielded Jiu Jia Yi behind her, thrust both hands forward, and drove the Short Blade into the ground.
With a thunderous crash, the pillar of light was severed. The Mirror Realm seemed to take a crushing blow from a heavy hammer, and the entire space abruptly tilted!
As it tilted, countless fragments began to float. Each reflected a "Yan Zhi"—some with gentle faces, some with hollow eyes, and some grinning hideously like demons. The fragments revolved around the two of them, giving off a piercing hum that sounded like both a lament and a lure.
"Don't look at them," Yan Zhi warned quietly. "These are remnants sliced away from me, false and dangerous. They want to replace me."
Before you continue