Chapter 424: Mirror Image

In the cabin of the Niuins, countless silver‑white electric sparks tangled around the golden figure, spreading along her hair to the invisible transparent threads around her, constantly leaping outward and weaving into a silver spiderweb that covered the entire ship.

The silver‑white electric sparks persisted for a while before extinguishing all the invisible threads on the ship.

The prophet's avatar's gaze fell on the figure wrapped in silver‑white sparks; his eyes were covered with a faint silver‑white hue, and he said calmly:

"She seems to have only instinct left; even you can't recognize her."

Xi Ya's tone was flat, with no emotional fluctuation, and she said:

"It's normal that she can't recognize me; after all, that was decades ago."

"For her, the experiences with the Soren family must have been the most humiliating stage of her life, ha, how could a witch ever be happy like that~"

The prophet's avatar gave no reply; his eyes were completely covered by silver‑white.

His vision suddenly changed; every mirror around became a "door", interweaving with each other to form a marvelous whole.

Behind these "doors" lay a dim, illusory world.

Boom! Boom! Boom! A phantom sound like a beating heart echoed in his ears.

It seemed that deep within this dark, illusory world separated by mirrors, a crimson heart kept beating, faintly accompanied by the sound of flesh writhing. These mirrors concealed a magical item; the path of the door is incompatible with the witch. Normally she could, relying on her demigod stature, easily suppress this magical item, but now it became the last straw that broke the camel.

As thoughts drifted, the surrounding silver‑white sparks continuously gathered in his hand, forming a silver‑white spear that hummed.

In the next instant, he thrust the silver‑white spear forward; a blazing white trail cut across, piercing a mirror hanging on the wall and disappearing into the mirrored world.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Zzz~ The sound of illusory things shattering rang in his ears, like someone repeatedly smashing glass.

The mirrors on the surrounding walls instantly filled with cracks, shattering everywhere.

The golden figure entwined by lightning showed a painful expression; the golden hue on her body cracked, turning to ash and falling, revealing the pale, bloodless flesh beneath.

"Xi Ya, you're looking for me? To kill me?"

Ya Lina's voice was hoarse and low, gradually becoming clear from its brokenness, as if adapting to a new body.

Xi Ya ignored the complex stare of Ya Lina, turned her head toward the prophet's avatar and asked:

"Did she revive successfully?"

The silver‑white in the prophet's avatar's eyes slowly faded; he shook his head and answered confidently: "No, this is merely a mirror image created by that magical item, temporarily seized by her will."

"My earlier attack affected that magical item a bit, allowing the suppressed consciousness to recover some."

"He is right; I am now just a monster on the brink of losing control."

Ya Lina's figure seemed like an illusion, easily slipping free of the lightning's grasp, and walked to Xi Ya.

The golden hue on her had completely faded; she stood there naked, her fiery red hair loosely draped, barely covering the crucial parts of her body.

A faint blue radiance swirled in Xi Ya's eyes, and instantly golden illusory flames ignited around her.

These flames exuded a majestic solar aura, sweeping toward Ya Lina's figure, yet they had no effect on her, as if she did not exist.

"This is only a false mirror image; relying on her demigod stature it possesses some ability to interfere with reality, can communicate with us normally, but fundamentally it remains just a mirror image."

The prophet's avatar added a reminder.

While speaking, he walked toward the oval mirror forged of gold, reached out and took it down from the wall.

He turned the mirror toward himself, but no reflection of his own form appeared, only a distorted image showing a dense web of threads forming a spiderweb and a crimson heart.

He floated his hand over the golden surface, a flash of silver‑white passing his eyes, then turned his head to Xi Ya and said: "The effect of this mirror should be to record the reflected figure and, within a certain range, restore it as this false mirror image, perhaps also granting some extraordinary abilities."

"Ya Lina must have previously let this mirror record herself, attempting to use this mirror image as a means of resurrecting herself."

"But something went wrong: the Storm Lord's strike, the Primordial Witch's will pressing on her spirit, and the mirror's own negative effects directly drove her will into madness."

Xi Ya nodded lightly, then added:

"From its recent behavior, it should also be able to connect surrounding mirrors into a maze."

Ya Lina's mirror image, left aside by the two, burst into a self‑indulgent laugh, as if unable to control her emotions, and said:

"Impressive, learned readers, you quickly deduced the effect of this magical item."

"Everything you said is correct; I'm already mad, perhaps in the next second I'll become a monster, crawling out of this mirror." "Ha ha. Hahaha~"

Xi Ya calmly glanced at Ya Lina's mirror image, then turned her head to the prophet's avatar and asked:

"Do you believe her words?"

"Of course not. Whether she's truly mad or feigning madness, we are enemies, a life‑or‑death kind of rivalry!"

The prophet's avatar said calmly.

Xi Ya smiled lightly and nodded, her words tinged with praise: "Not bad, not fooled by that old woman."

"This mirror is her backup for resurrection, but that doesn't mean it contains her traits and flesh; the mirror is clearly an apprentice‑level item, and putting her traits into it would only pollute it."

"Although she isn't stupid, she hasn't become that foolish yet; her traits are probably still hidden in the nearby mirrored world."

Ya Lina's scene seemed truly insane, showing no change in expression despite Xi Ya's words; she kept laughing uncontrollably, as if she could never stop.

"Ha ha~ Old woman? I am the ageless witch, this is the most perfect, most beautiful stage. I will be forever young and beautiful. Ha ha ha."

"Madman." Xi Ya spat disdainfully.

"Madman? Am I a madman? I indeed am a madman, but as my daughter, aren't you also a madman?"

"You watched me kill your mother, and the brother in her womb, yet you made not a sound; don't you think you're as cold‑blooded as I am?"

"You don't think I didn't notice you, do you? An assassin's evasion can't hide from a witch, especially since that magical item was personally given to you by me."

Ya Lina grew increasingly mad; her hoarse voice sounded as if she hadn't drunk water for days, as if she would cough up blood next.

She hunched her back, swaying madly forward and back, her chest rising and falling, the hair draped before her no longer able to conceal the alluring spring.

Her face twisted in a smile, tears welled at the corners of her eyes, unclear whether from pain or memories.

Xi Ya's complexion stiffened; restrained emotions threatened to erupt. In front of her, the seemingly mad witch Ya Lina showed no sign of stopping her speech, her hoarse voice harsh: "At that moment I told myself in my heart, whether you shouted out of fear or chose to charge bravely, I would kill you both."

"Because that's not the choice I would make in such a situation, Xi Ya; you are the child most like me, and you ultimately made the same choice as I did."

The prophet's avatar sighed silently in his mind, turned his head toward the now fully restrained Xi Ya; even as a prophet he could not discern her current state.

If it were me, I would already have rushed into the mirrored world to tear this blabbermouth apart. In a sense, she is also a qualified provocateur. Indeed, provocateurs deserve death! "Let's leave first; Fei Nikesi holding back so many pirates alone isn't easy."

Xiya turned her head to glance at the mirror in the Prophet's avatar's hand, and said calmly, as if she was not at all affected by Yalina's words just now.

The Prophet's avatar lightly nodded, then extended his right hand, his palm gently gripping while rotating his wrist clockwise.

A faint blue ripple like water waves spread outward, and layers of illusory doors instantly materialized; as a ghostly blue light floated by, a vague, insubstantial great door appeared.

As soon as the "door" opened, Xiya stepped right in, seeming not to want to stay here any longer.

The Prophet's avatar glanced at the golden‑cast mirror in his hand, raised his hand and drew a symbol of the All‑Seeing Eye upon it.

His spirit turned into specks of brass‑colored glimmer, swiftly sketching the All‑Seeing Eye with his hand's motion before fading away, and at the same time the mirror's spirit receded, looking no different from an ordinary mirror.

After completing this, he stepped forward to pass through the "door" on the deck.

The surrounding environment changed rapidly; before he could discern the situation, a pungent smell of sulfur and a raging wind assaulted his nostrils.

The Prophet's avatar watched the pale‑blue fireball and the wind blades sweeping toward him, and a faint blue radiance flared in his eyes as he whispered an ancient Hermes word:

"Exile!"

An invisible, overwhelming force suddenly erupted in mid‑air, pushing all the incoming attacks aside; a pale‑blue blaze burst in the sky, still tinged with the sharp scent of sulfur.

Having dealt with the assault, his gaze swept the surroundings, spotting a massive demon silhouette suspended in the air by the gale, wreathed in pale‑blue and crimson flames, as well as a bronze gate on the deck adorned with mysterious patterns, and beside the gate stood Fei Ni Ke Si, whose eyes were deep and dark.

There were not many pirates left on the deck who could continue fighting; the weaker ones had already fallen unconscious in earlier battles, or were dead.

The undead summoned by Fei Ni Ke Si were also few; most had been completely annihilated by the lightning strikes.

Before the Prophet's avatar could speak, he felt a gaze full of anger land upon him.

(End of chapter)