Chapter 423: Clones versus Mirror Images

Lei En was stunned; Ha Erken had not escaped the temple after all, no wonder he couldn't bait him—turns out it was all wasted effort.

The Soul Eye showed that this "Yi Erna" was not a phantom clone but Ha Erken himself.

The Trickster's "Mimicry" Element can not only disguise as the target's appearance but also randomly copy half of the soul Elements, making the deception perfect inside and out; it is the finest shapeshifting ability, impossible for ordinary means to see through.

The "Yi Erna" before them was fake, so the real Yi Erna must have met with misfortune.

Lei En's face remained impassive.

There were too many people here; if a fight broke out, it would inevitably affect the Demon Extermination Squad and the Secret Fire Guard, causing unnecessary casualties, so a safe solution was needed.

Ha Erken was accompanied by two Secret Fire Guard units, ten people in total, all appearing normal and unaware of "Yi Erna"'s anomaly; Ha Erken hadn't attacked them, likely using them as cover, so as long as he wasn't exposed, there would be no problem for now.

"Miss Yi Erna."

Fei Lian turned and saluted, appearing very respectful.

A Wizard's status was already higher than other transcendental professions, and Yi Erna was the Silver Star Duke's student, with a bright future, far more important than Fei Lian.

Lei En also gave her a slight nod of greeting.

At that moment a Demon Extermination Squad member noticed something missing from Ma Zhuosi's distant view and shouted, "Where is the Wizard Tower? Why has the Solar Eclipse Tower disappeared?"

They felt tremors in the underground temple but could not see what was happening.

"Yi Erna" also reacted, her expression frozen.

Lei En had been watching her from the shadows and said with a smile, "The Solar Eclipse Tower has already been destroyed by the lady."

"Great!"

"Lord Duke truly lives up to being a Holy Soul Wizard…"

The Demon Extermination Squad members and the Secret Fire Guard all beamed with joy, praising the Silver Star Duke's great power; Fei Lian was also very pleased, for the Solar Eclipse Tower had been the biggest threat in Ma Zhuosi City, and its destruction meant the raid plan had succeeded.

"I knew that with the Lord Duke intervening there would be no problem," Fei Lian said, smiling broadly.

Everyone who heard the good news relaxed a little.

"Yi Erna" could not hide the shock in her eyes; she inhaled deeply, led the Secret Fire Guard forward, and converged with the Demon Extermination Squad at a spot.

Fei Lian was about to introduce Lei En when he suddenly saw "Yi Erna"'s expression turn fierce.

"You…"

He opened his mouth to say a word, then his whole body stiffened like a puppet, his movements slowed, even his thoughts lagged, and he lost control of himself.

Fei Lian strained to look around and found that he was not alone; everyone present was in the same state, both Demon Extermination Squad members and Secret Fire Guard had been stripped of mind and motion, like puppets for others to manipulate.

"Trick—ster—!"

The thought slowly flashed in Fei Lian's mind, and they were horrified: she was Ha Erken's disguise…

He was only a Legendary early-stage Demon Swordmaster, his strength and Willpower far inferior to Ha Erken's, and Ha Erken would certainly have marked him as a primary target; once caught, it would be hard to break free of control.

"It's… over…"

In Fei Lian's despair, a figure flashed at the corner of his eye, a red cloak draped over the back, "It's Lei En!"

"Yi Erna" also noticed immediately, staring at Lei En with extreme wariness in her eyes.

A Mid-stage Legendary Trickster was far stronger than an early-stage one, thanks to the fused "Phantom Spirit Worm" demon soul, gaining the "Phantom Spirit Clone" and "Living Thread" as two supreme Elements.

The former could create at least four clones, the latter was an extremely terrifying control ability.

Living Thread could silently infiltrate a target with life and soul, seize the opponent's mind and body; the longer the control, the deeper it became, like prey caught in a spider's web—struggling only tightens the strands, eventually turning the victim into one's own puppet.

However, Living Thread's control consumes a lot of soul energy; the more threads, the harder to maintain, and it is not permanent—once a thread breaks, freedom returns.

This move is virtually unstoppable; using it against foes weaker than oneself has always been advantageous.

Even against opponents of the same tier, it can slow their actions, creating perfect ambush opportunities.

But today an unexpected event occurred.

The Living Thread, visible only to the Trickster himself, Ha Erken knew Lei En was a Legend and deliberately added two extra threads, three in total, landing on Lei En's head; it bounced off like hitting a steel plate, having no effect at all.

Ha Erken was even more shocked that Lei En looked up and seemed able to see the Living Thread's presence.

Who is this person?

While Ha Erken felt surprised inside, his movements did not cease.

He suddenly acted to control everyone because, knowing the tide had turned, he intended to kill all the Demon Extermination Squad members and Wizards present, both to vent his anger and make the Silver Star Duke pay.

Who Lei En is doesn't matter; what's important is killing everyone around!

Ha Erken's eyes flickered as four Phantom Spirit Clones materialized from void around him, landing nearby and immediately beginning to slaughter the enemies controlled by Living Thread.

Two years ago in Longshande's underground fortress, his Legendary clones had all been destroyed; it was hard-won to replenish them fully.

A Werewolf Berserker and a Troll Hunter, both at Legendary rank.

The remaining two were High-level Gunner and High-level Warlock.

Legendary clones are hard to find; currently his strongest clone is the Werewolf Berserker, already at level twelve, which upon summoning immediately enters a berserk state, lets out a long howl, its body swelling to two and a half meters, sharp giant claws springing from its hands to block Ha Erken.

The other three clones also began to act.

With the strength of these clones, just a few seconds would be enough to cause massive casualties.

Lei En had intended to charge forward and take down Ha Erken directly, but could only halt his steps and open his mouth to roar.

"Roar!"

A dragon's roar exploded beside his ear, its draconic might spreading over the sky, plunging everyone into boundless terror; only Bo Erqi, being a dragon himself, was completely unaffected.

Ha Erken shivered lightly and recovered, but his clones lacked such resistance Willpower, and their attacks and spells stalled.

The worst part was that his Living Thread was broken by the roar.

The Demon Extermination Squad and Secret Fire Guard broke free of control; except for Fei Lian, everyone else was terrified by the draconic might and collapsed to the ground.

"Dragon Rider…"

Ha Erken snorted coldly, then saw a flash on Lei En's shoulder as five identical figures appeared beside him.

He recognized it as Mirror Image, yet was somewhat baffled.

How can a dragon knight have Mirror Image?

Moreover, the opponent's Mirror Images outnumber his own cunning spirit duplicates by one.

In the next instant, five Mirror Images and the Lei En true form mixed among them suddenly vanished; they all flashed, and behind each cunning spirit duplicate appeared a Mirror Image, while the remaining two teamed up to assault Ha Erken himself.

Six war hammers were swung.

Bang bang a few times, the cunning spirit duplicates, stunned by the dragon's roar, couldn't dodge; the weakest high-level sorcerer and high-level lancer were instantly blown apart by the hammers.

The legendary troll hunter reacted fastest, deftly leapt back and avoided the first hammer.

However, the pursuing Mirror Image immediately hurled a war hammer, striking the troll in midair, then charged forward, caught the hammer and smashed the troll's head.

The werewolf berserker met an even worse fate.

He relied on his raw strength to clash with a Mirror Image, slashing with double claws, snapping his jaws to tear, trying to trade damage for damage, but only left shallow scratches on the Mirror Image; he himself took two hammer blows, his tall body split into three pieces and died on the spot.

All this occurred within two or three seconds.

Lei En's true form attacked Ha Erken, a double‑sided strike with a Mirror Image, hammering down; Ha Erken's body dissipated like foam.

"Phantom substitute?"

Lei En had long used his Soul Eye to see Ha Erken's details clearly.

This legendary Mid-stage trickster is level 15, with Swiftness at level 9, and possesses many displacement abilities and illusions, including "Damage Transfer", "Level 7 Self‑Heal", "Shadow Slip", "Limb Regeneration", "Mind Twist", "Transposition", "Qi Explosion Technique", "Smoke Technique", "Silent Phantom", "Illusion Technique", "Substitute Technique", "Phantom Step", "Tear", "Backstab", and so on.

The most powerful are "Mimicry", "Cunning Spirit Duplicate", and "Living Thread Pull", all supreme Elements.

This is absolutely a very hard‑to‑deal opponent.

Lei En turned his head to scan; Truth Will saw through all illusion and immediately located Ha Erken, who was lurking in a shadow beneath the villa wall.

Several Mirror Images each employed their methods.

Two Mirror Images transformed into lightning to chase, one raised a hand to release the Thunderclap Technique, blasting Ha Erken out of the shadow; two Mirror Images flanked and charged from the side.

Boorqi and Feiliang also reacted, following the Mirror Images' guidance straight toward Ha Erken.

Lei En's true form then produced an Arcane Torrent Staff.

Boom!

A thunderclap forced Ha Erken to appear; the half‑power Thunderclap Technique could not threaten him, and with a turn of foot his figure flashed like lightning, easily escaping the encirclement.

Level 9 Swiftness made Ha Erken's speed comparable to a flash.

An afterimage trailed behind him.

Boorqi and Feiliang could not even trace Ha Erken's movement trail; they only felt the view go empty and Ha Erken vanished.

Only Lei En, who was farther away, had his Soul Eye keep up with Ha Erken.

"What a fast speed!"

Lei En was astonished; Swiftness is the hardest Element to improve, conflicting with Strength; after reaching Level 7 his Swiftness never advanced despite pouring soul power, still Level 7, almost impossible to reach Level 8.

Now he comprehends the terror of Level 9 Swiftness.

No wonder Ha Erken escaped twice from Flink's subordinates; at such speed, most spells cannot lock onto the target, and once cast, the spell cannot catch up.

Because Lei En brandished the staff, his true form was exposed.

At this moment, Ha Erken, like a flash, leapt behind Lei En's true form, grasping a black short sword and stabbing at his back heart.

Through the Mirror Image's perspective, Lei En saw all this.

He ignored Ha Erken's backstab, turned without looking back, swung his hammer and smashed; the war hammer flashed with blinding lightning, and with a boom it struck Ha Erken hard.

(End of chapter)