Conall and her already agreed upon how they would do it. All the way from the battle with the queen, she would be alone in the fights since the opponents were far too strong for Conall to even stand around and watch.

While she went and finished off the final boss, he would only start moving once she came back and they would enter the portal back to Hestrea together.

However, before she actually finished the dungeon, the witch first sat on the king-sized bed before connecting all of the main points in her mana veins and moving her mana core to refill her supply before the fight.

As much as she was confident, there was no room for mistakes against the infamous boss.

Thirty minutes later, she began moving through the corridor, arriving before a long stairway.

Looking at the imposing flight of stairs, she let out a heavy breath for the last time before beginning her ascent.

Step by step, the lavish, golden doors made with the famous red wood from the empire appeared larger and larger, all the way until she was just before them.

Without being able to wait for even a second, once she neared the enormous doors, they opened automatically.

A throne fit for an emperor rather than a king, yet the man sitting on didn’t feel like he led a simple Kingdom. Rather, it felt as though she stood before the world’s conqueror.

Taller than the throne itself, a skeleton sat on it, his head lowered towards the map of the continent carved into the marble floor.

The dark robes, accentuated with gems embedded in the king’s skull, had a bluish tint to them, made from the finest of fabrics the world had to offer.

On each of his fingers, there was a metallic ring with a vivid gemstone while a golden amulet with a ruby pear hung from his neck.

However, the most imposing piece of his attire was the crown made from a radiating, fully black metal, ingrained with shiny, white diamonds.

Slowly, Lorine saw as the head raised itself. Staring at those empty sockets, she witnessed dark, blue fires lighting up before filling them out.

An evil feeling spread through the witch’s insides when the gaze scoured through her body. The enemy before her was at the very top of Grade B, and she feared that was before it could even warm up.

Suddenly, the old jaws of the king creaked as he spoke to her, all in old calypian.

“Who art thou?”

A deep voice spread through the throne room, its foreboding presence reaching every corner and being.

Lorine clenched her jaw, an innate fear starting to disturb her clarity. She knew what was making this happen. A certain energy was being emanated from the crown, worn directly by the lich king.

“I don’t think witches were around at that time. You wouldn’t understand, anyway.”

“Then, you shall die by my hands.”

Translating the calpyian into a more modern one, Lorine quickly moved the mana around her body and poised herself.

Raising himself up from the throne, the king standing at four meters tall slowly lifted himself up while a blue barrier enacted itself, defending the incoming magic spells from the witch girl.

Seemingly indestructible, the barrier slowly turned back into thin air while the king raised his skeletal arm. Near his head, a dark book revealed itself before opening on a certain page.

As if staring into the face of death, the black fire on his right hand quickly made its way towards Lorine, who was seemingly stuck in place.

A dangerous feeling lit up inside the witch, staring at that ominous, black flame melting the air around it while flying straight at her.

Instantly, she covered herself with a bountiful layer of mana, shaking off any dreadful feelings the lich was providing her about.

Or, at least protecting her from most of it.

Once again, she was able to move properly, perfectly dodging the black fire that seemed to eat away at all matter. When it hit and spread around the doors behind her, the parts covered momentarily disappeared from existence before the dungeon repaired itself instantly.

Her eyes twitched slightly the moment she saw the destruction, but at the same, she felt determined not to be hit with the skill coming straight from the black grimoire.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t really able to think around, as the king’s vestige started to gather up his famous skill. A black mana gathered around the lich’s hands. Raising them, tens of black circles appeared on the marble floor, and Lorine prepared her magic circle.

From the ground, hardened skeletons raised themselves, all of them at the very least Grade B. The only disadvantage held by the enemies was their lack of proper defense, though it was made up with something else.

A missile of mana whistled through the crowd of monsters, quickly exploding once it broke down a skeleton. Taking a ten or so skeletons, broken bones loitered around the floor, sliding through the marble.

Yet, before the broken-off bones could stop, something invisible pulled onto them, going back to where all the other skeletons were.

Staring at the second grimoire that floated around the lich, Lorine’s eyes changed while she created a few more circles to strengthen her body.

The destroyed skeletons were already back to life, even though all of the bones in their bodies were either crushed to dust or cracked.

Like a plague, the hundred-or-so skeletons quickly scattered around Lorine, trying to encircle her and deprive any control of the battle’s flow.

At the same time, she could see the lich casting yet another skill, already aware of what it might be.

Lorine quickly changed her circle inside the mana veins. With a new design, purely destructive and corrosive in nature, she sent them out without waiting any longer.

Once a circle was placed on the incoming skeleton, it turned to bone powder, swiftly scattered away by their own companions.

On a few tens more of skeletons, she threw the circle, so long before the lich finished chanting the skill.

There were too many of them to deal with on such a small scale, but she was still able to render around twenty of the monsters useless, all while dodging their slow strikes and blunt attacks.

And when she threw just one more circle, it was already too late, as letters lit around the lich’s hands, and he had activated the skill through the book.

All of the remaining skeletons began to crack and separate, soon forming a singular, large mass together that was being protected from any attacks during its creation.

A giant skeleton quickly emerged from the ground, its bones much tougher and stronger compared to the smaller versions. While the Grade remained the same, she could tell that the monster delved deeper inside of it.

…

Conall slowly walked through the dark place that almost appeared alive. The floor he was stepping on, no matter how he felt about it, looked like smooth, blue flesh filled with veins.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Still, despite all the rooms inside the cellar, he went through a clear route in his head, not turning back a single instance.

And, after a few minutes of walking, the surroundings briskly took on a change. He instantly knew that he was getting closer to the place wanted to visit from the very beginning.

Shards of crystals stuck in the fleshy walls began to appear more often the longer the passage was, all reflective in their surface, as though pieces of a shattered mirror were stuck in the creature’s body.

Staring at the shards that stared back at him, Conall had no thoughts of going back, even if there was a way through the flesh that closed him wherever he went.

After a while, he saw something ahead of him. A small, glowing entrance appeared through the crystal-filled pathway, and the boy made sure not to lose his sight of it, not even blinking. Though it might have been too much, he didn’t want to risk his chances getting burned.

In less than a minute, he was already there, in a cave filled with mirror-like, metallic crystals. Quite similar to the cave where Harmis resided, it was both completely different and much smaller.

Nonetheless, it was still a few tens of meters far and wide, but Conall didn’t care about that. Splashing his feet in the dark, goopy liquid that flowed through the walls in a few places, he soon reached the rocky land, his eyes stuck to the tall, single, and glowing crystal protruding from the very center of this place.

Perfectly flat in its surface, no one would be able to tell it wasn’t a mirror. Because it was, and Conall stared at the bluish reflection coming off of it. With a calm face, he stared at the grin spreading on his reflection’s face.

“So, you were able to reach this far, huh? I will have to reward your struggles, no?”

Even though he blankly stared, the gaze gave off a gravely presence, taking the man in the mirror aback as he raised hands in a defensive manner.

“Whoa there, did I kill your father in the past or something? I could have, there were many exuberant houses earlier in the lands.”

Stopping the little shock on his face, the blue Conall crossed his arms before twisting the body slightly, troubled about the whole matter surrounding the real deal.

“You aren’t a talkative one. I don’t like that. It almost feels like you know everything about me. Tell me, do you?”

A pair of yellow eyes glowed, reflecting the light emanated off thousands of crystals. Soon, he spread a slight smile, leaving the heavy glare behind.

“I was simply surprised to actually see my reflection moving with free will.”

“So how about you stop lying and answer the question?”

“You really want to know badly, huh? Did my presence already capture your heart?”

The mirror simply chuckled at such questions, Conall continuing.

“Does that matter? I’m sure you sent out countless spies before attacking neighboring Kingdoms.”

The man’s eyes widened slightly as the boy talked. Opening his mouth, resounding claps circled around the cave, along with a heinous, informal laugh.

“Hohoho, I’m liking you already. Nobody ever surprised me like this whenever they met their reflections.”

Though, his glare gave off an opposite reaction. Ready to kill the whole world with them, the eyes on his blue face were entrancing, almost making the real Conall’s head spin.

Then, he squinted them, questioning the red-haired student.

“What is the purpose of your arrival? Do you want to tell the world you killed the previous king?.”

Lingering inside his head, Conall staggered a bit, wondering. What was his purpose here, really?

“To satisfy my curiosity, I guess. And wonder if I could really kill you.”

The reflection stared at him, dead serious. Crumbling apart, he started to cackle with ridicule, quickly turning to laughter while a sneer was plastered across the moving face.

“I’m sorry, really-”

It just didn’t stop, no matter what. The laughter repeated itself, the same image across the thousands, small crystals all over the place.

No matter where the boy put his sight, the same man, Conall, was laughing at him, who dared mutter such words before his presence.

Standing in the middle of the cave, subjected to thousands of sneering gazes, however, his face remained indifferent, even somewhat proud of getting such a reaction out of the mirror.

Only after a few minutes did he finally stop, no, he forced himself to stop, as it was far too much for the ethereal reflection to handle. His stomach just couldn’t muster up any strength.

“No, I’m really, so sorry. I just. I had never met someone so arrogant before, well, except for myself, I could say.”

An Indignant look on his face made him continue.

“There were many that came here in the past, you know? Let me indoctrinate you about something. out of one hundred thousand warriors countless times stronger than you, how many do you think left this place in one piece?”

Before he could even guess, a wide grin spread on his face, and sharp teeth intertwined with black blood revealed themselves. Only for him to turn disappointed a second later, looking at the unimpressed face Conall had.

“A round zero. But, you don’t believe me, do you? Then, let me help you.”

A black light quickly made his way towards Conall’s head all of a sudden, before he could react in any way, and immediately, countless images played out at the same time, thousands of them seemingly overlapping. With his eyes turning cloudy, the boy watched, no, he experienced death a hundred thousand times, all in different, yet similar bodies.

All against the same, mirrored monster ahead of him. As though dying to your closest twin, he felt his heart be stabbed an uncountable amount of times. He experienced being exploded in thin air. His head cut off before he could move. The limbs around him cut away, the torso sprawling on floor and losing blood.

Screams reverberated inside his head as the thousands of images died, not wanting to die by such a thing before them, their party members led to the same fate as them, only for Conall to experience it the next moment.

Only after a few minutes did light finally come back in his eyes, but by then, he was already curled up while kneeling, pulling onto his nape as his teeth clenched themselves, his body shaking in fright as he stared at the laughing monster.

Desperately grabbing onto the red strands of his hair, Conall made quite the entertainment for the mirror staring at him.

“Now, that’s a good reaction, especially for that rowdy attitude of yours.”

“Get me out. I don’t want to die. Get me out, get me out, get me out. I don’t want to die.”

Constantly muttering under his breath like a maniac, the boy stared into the abyss ahead of him, only to barely hear the disappointed voice of the reflection.

“What?! No, no! You were the one that wanted to kill me!”

“I’m sorry. Please, don’t kill me, I beg you. I will leave, I will leave and never come back here.”

By the end, his voice began to shake, threatening to break under the pressure, but it only fueled the proudly standing mirror.

“Do you think my enemies would stop attacking when I lost a war and apologized?”

With a solemn stare, Conall heard the question, but he couldn’t answer it. He had no idea in his current state. It was far too much for his already brittle mind. Though, his eyes only shook as the grin on his face widened further.

“Well, they couldn’t, because I never lost.”

“Ah. Ah!”

Conall struggled to catch a breath under the high pressure, releasing squirmish sounds.

“You’re only Grade C, yet you dared come here. Stand up.”

Almost instantly, uncontrollably, his body stood up on its own to his command.

“You’re so pitiful, human. But, you still left an impression on me. You even came here on your own, not in a party of five. Inside this mirror, I am you, a perfect reflection of you and every part of you. Then, I will give you a chance. A reward for your struggles. You suffered so much in this life, in this world, it’s only fair the stronger should help the feeble.”

From the mirror, a blue, crystal arm stretched out, waiting for the boy in front.

“Tell me, what do you want to change about you? Do you want a stronger mana core? Or a pristine aura? Do you want to be stronger than you are currently? I can change everything, you just have to say what, and your whole world will be changed, all for the better. Don’t you want to show all the people around you how much better you are than them?”

Conall’s eyes changed, a gleam appearing in them as he heard the man speak in a clean and calm voice. Unbound from derision, it was tantalizing, exactly why he came here in the first place. Listening with hazy eyes to the calming voice, it lured him deeper inside the abyss he was standing in.

Biting on his lip, the boy voiced out the deepest desire he held. One that held him for nearly two decades.

“I want to… get rid of a curse.”

“Tell me, which one?”

Stretching out his hand, Conall said the name, firmly grabbed the arm coming out of the mirror, the hard crystals quickly spreading onto his body.

“Fate’s Ploy.”

As he heard the name, an amicable smile spread on the reflection’s face, his mouth moving, though it was too fast for Conall to decipher. The connection was already made, and their spirit intertwined, mixing while fighting at the same time.

“I will make good use of you.”

Plunging himself out of the mirror into Conall’s body, the boy immediately felt every part of his being erupt as the reflection poured out his own body and spirit inside him.

Realizing the fearful sensations only now, the boy started to move. No, he only wanted to quickly move away, however, something stunned him. He drifted apart in the air, slowly losing proper sight. Below him, where some of the soul was still connected, he saw it.

The derisive look on his own body. Proud and ridiculous, it stared at the disappearing soul as though he was the most stupid person in the whole world. At the same time, though, there was a look of gratitude, for granting him a body he could finally use in the world beyond the restrictive dungeon.

Not as he was promised, no golden window, nor text appeared. Conall was scammed, and his spirit started vanishing. Like some smoke or steam, his existence began to evaporate into nothingness, yet he felt nothing at this time.

…