Magister Insanity

Staring at the absurd sight, I couldn't decide whether to laugh or cry. The training dummy, supposedly durable enough to endure the blows of an Enlightened Blasphemer, now lay in seven cleanly severed pieces, scattered lifelessly across the floor.

Naturally, there was no sense to be found in the scene. Any attempt to reason it out only slammed headfirst into a single, unyielding wall: Impossible!

"He actually... destroyed the... training dummy..."

The strength drained from my knees, and I collapsed to the ground.

This was an outcome I could never have predicted.

How was I supposed to expect the Mirror Bond to slice through the dummy as if it were tofu?!

Honestly, it should have been impossible no matter how you looked at it. Not even the Enlightened could destroy those things. Even the demonic species had only ever managed to bend them slightly with their strikes. And yet, my Mirror Bond had cut it apart so effortlessly it seemed he hadn't even tried.

Which begged the question: had he actually tried?

"The Mirror Bond inherits all the attributes of its Creator, my ass! At this rate, isn't he already stronger than me?!"

I could no longer lie to myself.

The Mirror Bond was, by all appearances, stronger. He had sliced the training dummy into seven perfect pieces, which was something I couldn't do even with my body reinforced by shadow.

He was simply that strong.

…Or was he?

Suspicion crept in as I narrowed my eyes. If he truly shared my rank, then even with a Sequence Ability, Unique or not, he shouldn't have been able to one-shot that dummy.

Thinking back, he hadn't cleaved it apart with a single blow… but with seven.

Most wouldn't have even noticed. I only caught it because of my shadow perception; without it, I would have been fooled like anyone else. At first, I too believed it was just one blow until suspicion emerged and the truth came into focus.

The first stance targeted the neck, severing it cleanly as though the blade passed through mist.

The second carved across the chest, parting the torso in a flawless diagonal line.

The third and fourth strikes followed in tandem, cleaving through both arms at the shoulder joints.

The fifth sliced across the waist, dividing the upper body from the lower.

The sixth severed the right leg, and the seventh completed the form by cutting through the left.

A total of seven motions executed so fluidly they overlapped, leaving the illusion of a single devastating strike.

Those heavenly strikes had been executed with near-surgical accuracy.

But could I replicate them?

Memory alone was not enough. There was a vast gulf between recalling a technique with great clarity and possessing the talent to wield it. Even with Starfallen's memories etched into my mind, mastery would not come so easily.

In the end, the flaw lay in my body. Or perhaps… it was not my body at all. Perhaps the Mirror Bond simply possessed a talent that surpassed mine.

"So he has all my attributes yet greater talent with the sword? Then… isn't it possible for him to develop an individuality of his own?"

Driven by curiosity, I summoned the runes once more.

Mirror Bond Name: Starfallen

Bond Rank: Dormant

Bond Class: Fiend

Bond Attributes: [Photographic Memory], [Spark of Divinity], [Starless]

Bond Ability: [Song of Requiem]

As my eyes traced the glowing script, a detail seized my attention. It was his rank and class.

Bond Rank: Dormant

Bond Class: Fiend

If he truly mirrored me, his rank should have been Dreamless. Instead, it was Dormant. And stranger still, he had a class.

Classes were not for mortals. They were the parameters used to classify Eldritch Creatures.

Realization struck, and my eyes widened.

"He's… a monster."

But if that were true then...

I dismissed his runes and hastily summoned my own.

Name: Sonny Crow

Mythic Code (真名): Black Solace

Rank: Dreamless

Origin Sea: —

Echoes: [Survivors' Shroud], [Silver Casull], [Jingle Bell]

Traits: [Photographic Memory], [Spark of Divinity], [Starless].

My brows knitted together.

This complicated everything. My rank was Dreamless, yet the Mirror Bond bore the rank Dormant and carried the Class of Fiend.

Why had the Spire classified him this way? In Kael's case, nothing of the sort had happened, so why was mine different? The Mirror Bond was marked as a monster, yet I was not.

Was there some fundamental difference between the two of us?

"...?!"

Suddenly, a memory surfaced.

「 Eldritch Creatures were a peculiar bunch. They do not possess Souls in the conventional sense, yet they maintain the anatomy and behavior of biological beings. 」

Was that what I was seeing now?

Monsters could function without a soul, sustained only by a physical body and an Essence Core. The Mirror Bond, being nothing more than my reflection, possessed no Origin Sea, the wellspring that defined all true life.

Unlike me, who had the Soul Devouring Shadow as an anchor, the Mirror Bond had none. In that sense, it was no different from an Eldritch Creature.

That said, I too was an abnormal entity. Without an Origin Sea, I could not be defined as truly living, nor even as a standard biological creature, because of the strange properties weaven into my inhuman body.

I could exist without the fundamental source.

I was human, yet I was not.

I was monster, yet I was not.

I slipped past the five senses, unnoticed unless someone's eyes fell directly upon me.

The Mirror Bond was branded a monster, while I bore the title of Blasphemer.

What did all of these mean? Does this mean I have become an unholy entity beyond the boundaries of man and creature?

No answer rose to meet my questions, and perhaps none ever would. Yet all of them traced back to a single root — the Forbidden Isle, the ruined temple, and that unknown ritual.

The enigmatic Dream God.

The more I thought on it, the clearer it became: tragedy had been orchestrated. It was no coincidence that I set foot on the Forbidden Isle. No coincidence that Soulverse vanished the moment I entered the Soul Realm. No coincidence that I arrived in Niflheim, of all places within the vast Silver Void.

They were all threads of the same web. All deeply connected.

However, research wasn't possible right now.

For some reason, whenever I tried to uncover more about this god, or the Great Ones in general, I found nothing. No matter how far I dug, not a single trace surfaced. Perhaps some hidden hand was restricting the flow of information available to the public. Most likely.

My, my. People like that truly were everywhere. And here I thought the Government was bad enough.

Wait… could they already know of the Soul Realm? What am I saying? Of course they do! Secrets upon secrets. Everything revolves around secrecy!

I'm surrounded by nothing but mysteries and unanswered questions!

Satisfied with my little "discovery," I made a decision:

I would simply continue my daily life.

What else could I do? Challenge a hidden organization with my pitiful strength?

Ha! Not a chance in hell.

Sure, I might not die in the conventional sense, but that didn't mean I was eager to throw my existence away. If there was ever a way to escape this life, I'd gladly take it by any means necessary.

Still, the mystery of the Dream God was quite intriguing. A few theories had already been formed but there was nothing concrete for now.

Could I live both lives at once?

Actually, yes. With the Mirror Bond, it was totally possible. That meant I could juggle both worlds without fear of complications.

All that remained was to clear the next Phrase and complete my descent.

Shaking off such thoughts, I strode toward one of the weapon scrolls lining the training hall and selected a dormant Echo from the display.

A simple longsword.

I didn't bother examining its runes. Instead, I tightened my grip on the hilt, steeling myself to confront Starfallen and the overwhelming force he carried. Of course, I didn't forget to reinforce my body with the shadow as a precaution.

Drawing a deep breath, I fixed my gaze on the Mirror Bond and issued a command:

"Come at me."