Blaze grumbled as he slowly picked himself up. "You reigning is a bad choice for everyone. That would add one more unneeded despot." He clenched his fist, letting mana envelop his body. "We will not allow that."

"Again, child. Back up your boast. None of you can break the armor." Smirking at the fire warrior. "You don't have the power of the dimension like I have. I am the master of this world and England, Earth if I choose to."

"Armor breaks," The spiky warrior declared. "Which means I will hit it harder."

"Don't be a fool; know you have been bested."

Kali smacked the pale man's hand off of her and rolled away. "I'm not giving up, not while you still believe you can use Selen-ja." She leaped further from the fiend to join Blaze. "And I won't join you."

"Then I will find something to amplify my power to force you and Selen-ja under my will. Something like that glass I found. Fate has given me an opportunity."

"The Piper gave you the opportunity." Geo walked around the room to join Blaze and Kali. "Without him, you would still hide from us."

"It does not matter how the opportunity presented itself. Fate sent it to me. It saw me as the one person to benefit from all this."

"Fate."

Upon hearing the voice, their attention shifted to the hole in the wall through which the replicas had entered. They silently observed the scene, briefly gazing at their counterparts before focusing on the Count. The Count was upset about only three mirror entities appearing before him. Selen-ja's replica was absent.

"You failed again, even though there were four of you? You are truly worthless. So worthless you lost the fourth duplicate."

"Fate is not strength." said the rock duplicate. "Fate is not Speculum's belief."

"Speculum?" He scowled. "Is that what you call yourselves now?"

"Lady Selen-ja's designated label for us." responded the fire speculum. "Her strength, greater."

"You deluded yourself into believing she is stronger? She has not harnessed the power of this dimension as I have. I was granted it when I opened the gate and bestowed class upon this dimension. Each citizen you captured has supplied me with enough power to be stronger than any of you. My doppelganger and I are more attuned to this dimension than you, thanks to the energy of each person here. I gave it purpose, and you should be thankful."

"You are feeding off these people?" growled Blaze.

"Half of their lifeforce was fed into his speculum after they were brought here." informed the fire speculum. "The small mirror grafted to them not only allows our brethren to remain outside but it also harnesses their lifeforce."

"Breaking the mirrors won't return their mana. It has already been assimilated and increased his power," said the shadow speculum.

"Combined with the reflective ability, you can't stop him." said the rock speculum. It crossed its arms. "Lady Selen-ja ordered us to assist the Radiant after we told her everything we knew. She trusts you will handle him. You can use us to defeat him."

The Count growled. "Are you betraying me?"

"You belittle us. You believe your strength is worthy, but your strength is borrowed."

"Borrowed? Indeed, but it will be used for the right reason."

Kali scoffed. "Creating a kingdom hidden in another world to usurp a country is not the right reason."

"It does not matter what you think." He clenched his fist. "Fate has decreed it my right. That tablet that gave me the power a long time ago, and this dimension added to my belief I have the right to rule over the masses."

Tired of hearing this man talk, Kali moved toward her doppelganger with resolve. Her mind was already set on the dangerous decision she was about to make. "You acknowledge Selen-ja through her strength, and she asked you to help us." She was hesitant as she raised her hand, hoping her decision would not cause strife to the others. However, she trusted the elegant warrior and hoped the decision was correct. "Please."

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Acknowledged." replied the replica before melting into a puddle.

Geo growled. "This is reckless, Kali."

"No!" roared the Count. "I demand you to stop! Obey me!" He moved to stop the creature.

The terra and fire warriors immediately intercepted him. Geo evaded a punch from the pale man, then quickly grabbed the fiend and flipped him over. Before the Count could get up, Blaze seized the despot by the legs, spun him twice, and tossed him across the room and into the wall. The duo raced at him to maintain the momentum. The fire and rock speculums spread their arms to shield Kali and her doppelganger. With the commotion occurring, the shadow speculum melded to the girl into the form of a silver cuirass. She looked down at the armor, softly stroking it as if it were fragile. The armor shimmered, sending a message through to her mind, speaking telepathically.

The speculum informed her that by bonding with her, it would respond in tandem with her actions, creating synchronization between them. If she activated her adroit, the speculum would supplement it with its reflective power.

"Oh? We work as a team. Brilliant! Thank you." The armor shimmered. "Okay, we will all work together to stop him."

She glanced up quickly as the Count pushed the boys away before centering on her. She squeaked when the villain barreled toward her. The black-clothed warrior dove just before he struck, nearly hitting her. The warrior rose up and jumped away as the villain swiped at her. Kali quickly glanced at the others, noticing them picking themselves up as their mirror duplicates glanced between them and the Count. The reaction the fiend made earlier proved the speculums were supposed to obey and not bond to anyone. So, she needed to distract him before the others could bond with the speculums. Kali turned and ran to the hole. She shouted at the Count as she leaped through the hole.

"A peasant has more dignity than a noble."

Hearing a roar of indignation from the vampire, he chased after. She felt no satisfaction in damaging his ego, only to lure him away from the others so they could bond with the speculum. Racing across the foyer, she leaped onto one of the staircases. After landing, she sprinted up the stairs. Turning her head, she leaped in the air, avoiding the enraged Count flying toward her. As the Count flew through the wall, she landed on the second-floor balcony. She turned around as the fiend burst through the west door while holding a bookcase. Hovering in the air, he launched the bookshelf at her. She pressed against the wall as the furniture flew by, then gathered energy to prepare an adroit. Her speculum gathered power to mix with her Shadow Palm. However, the Count stopped her by ramming into, making her lose concentration. Falling to the floor, she rolled over as fiend tried to stomp on her. She jumped forward and kicked him in the side of the face, making the Count feel pain for the first time since being here. That angered him. He thrust his arm forward just as the girl brought up her arms to block, her speculum radiating with power. The fist connected, sending them staggering away.

"No." growled the fiend. "Being disobeyed by that replica is a stain that I will remove. You, I don't need anymore. I don't need Selen-ja either. If she is on par with me, she will be too difficult to control."

"You're not as strong as her." growled the shadow warrior. "You stole mana from everyone."

"I don't need to hear you speak, girl. I have long since lost my tolerance for your BEHAVIOR!"

The warrior of shadow breathed in and out softly as she reeled back her palm, hearing the Speculum speak, resonating with her. It calmly wrapped its silver aura with her shadow mana. The Count scowled, letting silver mana envelop his body. His form started expanding to appear more muscular. His face morphed to show the features of a bat. Ears protruded to look more like a bat's ears. The girl grimaced at his change, feeling nervous facing this vampire alone. She thought her mentor would aid her, but the mentor was not here. Her speculum briefly mentioned the canokian aiding the civilians to leave this world through outside help. The others must've found out how to safely access the dimension. That was good, but as long this man was here, then things could be complicated.

"Why do you feel you have the right to use people like this?" she firmly asked. "Your status should be used to help people?"

"My status is not for benefiting others, only myself. A girl from a broken family does not need to lecture me."

Kali exhaled softly. A chuckle escaped her lips. "Perhaps the manga I read are filled with lies since I can't talk you out of it."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" The Count stepped forward to her, his eyes narrowing. "What are you up to?" A shocked look was displayed as a thought clicked in his head. "You... I should have known you would lure me away from them."

He turned around, only to see Terra Radiant leap in from below. Surprise rose on his face at the teen wearing the speculum chest armor, something he figured only he could wear and command. He could not utter another word before the brown-clothed teen slugged his face. The power of both Radiant's and Speculum's mana mixed and pushed the Count away. As he stepped back, the warrior of rock delivered two more punches before unleashing his adroit, 'Quake Fist.' The technique sent the Count staggering away a few feet, feeling pain as his body vibrated. He heard movement, then looked to the left to see the red-clothed warrior launching a fireball at him. He moved before it could hit.

"Kali!" shouted Blaze. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she replied, thankful they arrived. "I'm fine."

"Eat the Ivy Seed if you need to replenish your mana," said Geo.

She nodded, then took on the seed from her pocket and consumed it. While it did not make her less tired, it helped replenish a small portion of her mana.

Meanwhile, the villain felt more annoyed at the children and speculum who betrayed him. The perpetrator responsible was not present, letting the children fight her battle while she was elsewhere. What has occupied her? The pale man chuckled as he figured out her idea.

"Is she trying to find an exit?" smirked the villain. "There isn't."

"Does not matter." Blaze clenched his fist. "We trust her to find an exit. She will trust us to defeat you! We will ride this storm until we get out of here!"