The Phantom Nitocris had no awareness of doing anything particularly shocking. Her expression remained impassive, golden pupils burning even hotter than the gray flames of destruction in the distance.
Then, several black shadows surged forth from the sea-burning gray flames. They tore through the mist and fire; even heavily wounded, with their bodies torn apart, they still obeyed Agris's orders, launching an assault toward the phantom Nitocris and Shana.
They were Phantom Sydonay, Phantom Margery, and Phantom Wilhelmina.
Apart from these three, all other phantoms had been annihilated in that previous devastating strike. Even these three were in terrible shape, missing chunks of their bodies, something unavoidable given their circumstances.
Because they were mindless phantoms, they felt no pain from their wounds.
Because they were mindless phantoms, they felt no despair before their overwhelmingly powerful enemy.
"ROOOOAAAR—!!"
Phantom Sydonay, leading the charge, let out a sudden roar. His severely battered body began swelling rapidly, transforming into a monstrous chimera with a tiger's body, eagle claws, a serpent's tail, and bat wings.
Once transformed, all of Sydonay's injuries disappeared—an ability inherited directly from his true self.
Earlier, Nitocris had only glanced at him from afar. Now, observing closely this chimera form of Sydonay, she discovered something new.
"Sydonay, Sydonay… I see. So 'Sydonay' is an alias of Asmodeus. You correspond in mythology to Asmodeus, the thirty-second Demon Pillar of Solomon, one of Angra Mainyu's six disciples in Zoroastrianism."
If Sydonay could wield the spear granted to him by the Snake of the Festival, the resemblance would be even stronger, for Asmodeus, King of Hell, was also depicted carrying a lance with a banner.
This, however, was not Sydonay himself, merely his phantom. Therefore, it couldn't respond to Nitocris—but that didn't matter. She'd only been murmuring to herself anyway.
Its massive jaws, carrying a gust of bloody wind, looked capable of swallowing the phantom Nitocris whole. The sharp fangs glinted coldly, unquestionably capable of shredding steel with ease.
The phantom Nitocris lowered her eyelids slightly. As Phantom Sydonay lunged at her, she clenched her right fist and swung it heavily forward.
BOOM!
Like muffled thunder, a crushing force smashed down on everyone's hearts.
Nitocris's seemingly casual punch obliterated the upper half of Phantom Sydonay's body in an instant, the roaring fist-wind churning up waves high enough that even a gigantic cruise ship could be ripped in half just by the wind alone.
The remaining lower half burned with oily-purple flames. Even as a phantom, Sydonay was still Sydonay—his vitality remained frighteningly tenacious.
Phantom Margery arrived slightly behind Sydonay. Deep-blue flames erupted across her body, forming her fur. What appeared before Nitocris's eyes was another beast, somewhat smaller but still enormous.
Its body was bulky and tall like a bear, yet its head resembled a wolf. Covered in deep-blue fur, it looked like a stuffed animal designed to delight children, yet the fierce aura radiating from it was unmistakable.
Margery's contracted Crimson Lord, "Claws and Fangs of Violation" Marchosias, had to respectfully call Sydonay "teacher." Thus, their signature Unrestricted Spells were quite similar: transformation into chimeric beasts.
Phantom Margery hurled out nine deep-blue fireballs—but instead of striking directly at Nitocris, the fireballs formed a circle around her and Shana.
These fireballs transformed rapidly, becoming identical to Phantom Margery's chimeric form. Visually, distinguishing the real one from the fakes was impossible—at least, it was impossible for Shana.
All the Phantom Margerys simultaneously raised their arms, summoning huge fireballs overhead and launching them toward Nitocris.
At that moment, a mirror suddenly appeared above Nitocris's head. The fireballs flying toward her seemed drawn in, vanishing quietly into the mirror as if it led to a different world. Not even a whisper of explosion or sound emerged from within.
As if politely waiting for Margery's turn to end, Nitocris raised her hand calmly only after all fireballs had been consumed.
In the next instant, countless grotesque flaming skulls poured forth from the dark mirror above Nitocris's head. Streaming blood-red flames and emitting metallic, grating laughter, they swept forward. Before the phantom Margerys could react, these flaming skulls ripped them into scattered fragments of light.
Swirling in front of the mirror, the skulls hungrily devoured even the last sparks of deep-blue flame, whispering with eerie satisfaction. Then, like reversed meteors, they returned one by one into the mirror. The dark mirror closed, its final traces of ghostly light fading silently back into nothingness.
Everything happened so swiftly. By the time Phantom Wilhelmina's ribbons shot forward, her two comrades were already dead or severely injured.
Faced with white ribbons slicing through the air from unexpected angles, Nitocris remained expressionless. The black cloth wrapping around her arm abruptly surged forward like snakes, meeting Wilhelmina's ribbons head-on.
The clash between black cloth and white ribbons wasn't the fierce battle one might've imagined—Wilhelmina's ribbons shattered instantly on contact. The black cloth continued unhindered, shooting toward the stunned Phantom Wilhelmina, tearing her to pieces in the blink of an eye.
Facing Phantom Sydonay, Nitocris had displayed physical prowess rivaling a dragon.
Facing Phantom Margery, she had exhibited mysterious, profound magic.
Who would have guessed—she was actually an all-rounder.
Suddenly, Nitocris paused, glancing over at Shana.
"Are you alright?"
Shana had been deeply shocked by Nitocris's display of power. When she heard this sudden question, she blurted out:
"Huh?"
"I mean... that woman in the maid outfit earlier seemed important to you, right? I just eliminated her right in front of you—does that trouble you emotionally?"
Shana's fiery-red eyes widened. Then her cheeks slowly turned red.
"That was just a phantom created by the enemy! She wasn't Wilhelmina at all!"
I'm a Flame Haze! How could I possibly be troubled by something like that? What does she think I am—a naive child?!
This irritating woman…so irritating, so irritating, so irritating!
Glaring angrily at Nitocris, Shana's eyes suddenly widened further.
"Watch out!"
Faster than her words was the hand gripping her sword.
The thrown greatsword flashed past Nitocris like lightning, plunging deeply into Phantom Sydonay's forehead.
Almost simultaneously, Shana tapped the ground with her toes, closing the distance in a blur. Flames coiled around her katana as it sliced through the air like a crimson crescent moon.
With a slicing sound, the monstrous tiger head flew away, instantly reduced to ashes by the howling flames.
Nitocris's gaze briefly met Shana's—but Shana quickly looked away, dodging eye contact.
Pretty cute, isn't she?
"Thanks," Nitocris said.
"Hmph! I was only returning the favor—you've already saved me several times anyway..."
Shana turned sharply away, muttering hesitantly while giving Nitocris only the view of her retreating head.
In truth, even without Shana's assistance, Phantom Sydonay couldn't have hurt the phantom Nitocris; she'd already sensed his sneak attack earlier but simply couldn't muster interest due to the gap in their power. But… this fact should probably stay a secret from Shana.
She seemed to be in a pretty good mood now, after all.
Phantom Nitocris raised her hand, throwing Phantom Sydonay's remains into the gray flames.
"This alone won't kill them," Alastor said to Phantom Nitocris through Shana's pendant. "They're only phantoms created by Agris. As long as Agris himself remains alive, he can recreate them again and again, no matter how many times you eliminate them."
Shana scanned their surroundings. Thick fog had enveloped everything, and there was no trace of Agris, the "Mirage of a Thousand Phantasms," nor were there any other phantoms.
"But no other phantoms have appeared," Shana said, confused.
"That's because Agris saw things weren't going his way and fled early. Even after all this time, he still hasn't changed his cowardly and cautious personality. But considering this time he's up against a Pillar of Humanity, decisively fleeing was undoubtedly the wisest choice."
Indeed, just as Alastor said, the moment Agris—the "Mirage of a Thousand Phantasms"—saw Phantom Nitocris casually redirect his attacks back at him with a single move resembling the "Universe Reversal", he very decisively ran for his life.
That's a monster! A monster even more unreasonable than "Thousand Changes" Sydonay! It's like a cultivator suddenly barging into a martial artists' tournament—only a madman would fight her!
Forget powerful Treasure Tools that could surpass Sydonay; Agris had completely abandoned all such ideas. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to run as far away from this country as possible—far, far away from that monster!
Who would have thought such a terrifying existence was hiding in this obscure little island country?!
Wait, no—not the island country... That monster comes from the memories of this generation's Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter!
That little brat actually knows someone this ridiculously powerful, besides Alastor?!
Come on, sis, you should've said something earlier! If you'd told me sooner that you had someone so powerful backing you, would I dare to act tough in front of you? Old me would've served you the best meat and finest wine, made sure you were comfortable and happy! You've got such an overpowered backer, but you had the nerve to pretend to be weak, deceive me, and ambush this frail old man who can't even fight back? Young people nowadays really have no shame at all!
Agris accelerated to the extreme limit of his speed, occasionally glancing back nervously as he fled, checking if that terrifying woman had caught up with him.
So far, it seemed she hadn't. Perhaps his phantoms had delayed her, or maybe she just wasn't interested in him at all.
Not interested is good. Not interested is wonderful. Please just treat me as a random stone or a blade of grass by the roadside, and forget me the moment I'm out of your sight.
Simply getting away from this island country wasn't enough, because that person was connected to the current Flame-Haired Burning-Eyed Hunter, and their relationship looked pretty good. Her true self might not even be on this island nation.
Agris already began planning to find the most obscure, remote corner imaginable to hide, just to avoid those two harbingers of disaster—Nitocris and Shana.
"I've already run this far; it seems she really has ignored this old man. She probably won't come chasing after me anymore."
In his rush to escape, Agris had completely disregarded the consumption of his Power of Existence, and now felt severely drained.
He glanced back again. Seeing no sign of that terrifying nightmare figure, Agris released a long sigh of relief—like a crescent of white sand revealed after the tide retreated, all his hidden anxieties swept away with that one sigh.
"But wait, I've run so far already… How come I still don't see land anywhere? Earlier, I fled too hastily and didn't even notice which direction I took…"
No matter which direction Agris looked, all he could see was the endless, unchanged ocean. The mirror-like surface of the sea was unsettlingly calm, without even the faintest ripple.
Through the unnaturally calm ocean beneath his feet, Agris could clearly see his reflection, along with the reflection of two suns hanging in the sky.
…Wait. Two suns?
"!!!"
Agris suddenly raised his head, staring at the two blazing golden suns in the sky.
Though they were dazzling gold, those twin suns offered no warmth to Agris—only a freezing chill that penetrated his very soul.
Those weren't suns at all—they were unmistakably a pair of golden eyes!
The ocean beneath his feet wasn't water either—it was a real, genuine mirror!
"I've already discerned the sins you've accumulated. Now, say farewell to the sun."
The words were heavy enough to crush Agris's soul. At that instant, countless hands burst forth from the mirror beneath his feet, clutching desperately at his body.
In that moment, Agris hallucinated vividly: he saw Flame Hazes and Crimson Denizens he had killed in the past, and more than anything else, countless humans he had devoured. They crawled forth from the world of the dead, determined to drag him down to join them.
"No! No! I don't want to die! I still don't want to die!" In panic, Agris even changed how he addressed himself, desperately shouting towards the sky with all his strength, "I surrender! I surrender! Can we reconcile?!"
"Now? You're joking, surely?" The voice seemed distant yet simultaneously close to Agris's ear. "Besides, it's not me you should be begging forgiveness from, but those beneath you—those who died because of you. See if they're willing to reconcile."
"…..!"
Agris opened his mouth, attempting to say something else—but a hand suddenly reached up, tightly covering his mouth.
What he struggled against now was the weight of his own sins, the hatred of all those he had killed.
No matter how desperately he struggled, he was ultimately overwhelmed by the crushing weight of his crimes and others' hatred, dragged helplessly into the dark mirror by innumerable hands.
---
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