Huli Jing fell silent.
A dangerous silence.
Not because she had run out of strength, but because of the rage twisting within her chest—boiling, yet carefully hidden behind a faint smile.
Every illusion she had created seemed incapable of piercing the wall of logic standing before her.
She stared at Elaina with dimly glowing eyes. From time to time, she quietly slipped her thoughts into the gaps within the woman's consciousness, like cold mist sneaking through the spaces between breaths unnoticed.
Meanwhile, Elaina stood tall.
Her gaze was sharp, filled with conviction, piercing straight through the fox spirit before her. Not a single word escaped her lips.
Yet her mind was deafening. Crowded with prayers whispered silently within her heart, begging for the strength to endure the next attack.
She knew this battle was not merely physical combat.
It was a war of the soul, capable of shaking anyone unprepared for it.
Fifteen seconds.
Twenty-five seconds.
Until thirty seconds passed in suffocating silence.
The wind stopped. The cheers of the audience vanished alongside it.
The only sound remaining was the ticking of the watch on her left wrist—a rhythm that felt like the tolling of a war bell.
The corner of Elaina's lips curled slightly upward, forming a cynical smile.
"Thirty seconds have passed," she said calmly, yet sharply. "Unlike before... have you already run out of ideas, Fox?"
Her tone was light, yet enough to pull Huli Jing's focus violently back to the surface.
Elaina raised one brow. Her smile was challenging, provoking her opponent with the confidence born from years spent reading human deception.
A low growl escaped Huli Jing's throat. Her eyes glimmered with faint red light, a sign that anger was beginning to seize control.
Huli Jing blinked rapidly, searching for any medium—from Elaina's body or even the surrounding arena—to launch another attack.
Her gaze shifted.
Until it landed upon something hidden beneath the collar of Elaina's shirt.
A small silver cross necklace rested there, reflecting a faint ray of sunlight from above the arena.
Huli Jing's eyes widened.
A crooked smile spread across the spirit's face, as though she had finally found the ace hidden within the deck.
Elaina noticed the direction of that stare. She glanced down at her chest, and her pupils narrowed instantly.
"Don't you—" she began quickly.
But the words died immediately as the world around her trembled once more.
The air suddenly turned scorching hot. The sky burned crimson.
The magnificent arena slowly crumbled away, replaced by a sea of blazing fire beneath her feet. Faces of people she once knew writhed below, reaching desperately into empty air from the depths of the abyss.
The smell of sulfur and blood rushed into her senses, forcing her to cough, even though the horrifying scene existed only before her eyes.
Elaina's eyes widened. Her jaw tightened. Her hand clenched the edge of her suit jacket as though it could stop her legs from running.
She closed her eyes briefly, trying to convince herself that all of this was merely another illusion.
"This... feels like wearing Virtual Reality," she murmured softly.
Yet even as she said it, she realized her body was still trembling like someone truly standing above hellfire.
Her eyes slowly opened again, struggling to focus amid the heat haze and suffocating screams.
Then—
A streak of white light appeared above, painfully contrasting against the crimson flames.
Elaina immediately looked upward. Her lips parted instinctively as a robed figure slowly descended from the red sky.
Its face could not be seen clearly.
But Elaina recognized those gentle eyes.
The same gaze she had prayed to for decades.
"I do not accept a servant who so easily condemns another... without undeniable proof."
The disappointment within that gaze pierced deep into Elaina's soul.
Then the figure turned away, walking toward the white light, disappearing behind its radiance while the inferno beneath her still roared.
Elaina stood frozen.
Accompanied only by the frantic pounding of her own heartbeat amidst the whispers of flames and spirits.
From within the darkness, Huli Jing smiled in satisfaction and whispered softly,
"Let us see, Human... how long your faith can survive when your own God rejects you."
Huli Jing did not understand the concepts of prayer, redemption, or love as humans did.
But she understood one thing.
Guilt was always the easiest doorway into the human heart.
There, Elaina unconsciously took a small step forward.
Her lips trembled. The voice within her pleaded desperately.
Until the words escaped her mouth.
"Please! Don't—"
But in the next second, she immediately covered her mouth with trembling hands. Her breathing became ragged, her eyes widening with horrified realization that she had nearly surrendered to something unreal.
From the shadows of the false hellscape, Huli Jing smiled with satisfaction.
She understood perfectly that the spontaneous reaction was the first sign—
The first crack in the fortress of human rationality.
"At last..." Huli Jing whispered in a tone like a mother lulling a child to sleep. "At last, you are beginning to believe in what is not real."
Thin mist drifted once more through the returning black smoke.
Then a weak, hoarse little voice emerged amidst the screams of wandering souls.
"Mom! Why am I here? Please help me!"
Elaina froze completely.
Her entire body stiffened like stone.
That voice.
Its softness, its crying, the way it called her "Mom"—
There was no possibility of mistake.
It was the voice of her child, long gone. Buried together with half of her heart.
Her gaze was forced downward toward the source beneath her feet.
Her pupils slowly shifted.
Then widened in horror as she saw the small figure struggling among charred spirits writhing beneath the heat of the flames.
She immediately covered her ears tightly.
But the voice pierced through everything.
The screams now came from every direction.
From beneath the earth. From the crimson sky. From inside her own chest.
"Mom! Please! Why did it have to be me?!"
Elaina trembled violently.
Her knees shook uncontrollably.
She collapsed onto them and buried her head between her legs, pressing both hands over her ears as though trying to silence the entire world.
From the upper stands, Libra stared in stunned silence.
The aura around her trembled faintly. Concern shone within her eyes—a rare emotion for an immortal being like herself.
"Can an illusion truly reach this level...?" she whispered softly, caught between awe and horror.
On the opposite side, the mythological spectators erupted into cheers.
Victory cries echoed loudly, filled with mockery and delight at human suffering.
"Feel that, weak human!"
"Look at her! Your logic collapses before our eternity!"
Meanwhile, the human stands shook with desperate cries of encouragement.
They shouted Elaina's name, pleading for her to rise.
But their voices were meaningless, drowned beneath the screams of the little child that only Elaina could hear.
"Enough..." she whispered weakly.
"Enough..."
The flames grew larger, despite never truly burning her flesh.
Her shoulders felt heavier. Her thoughts began splitting apart.
She no longer knew which voice to listen to.
The false cries of her child. The mocking cheers of the mythological races. Or her own voice demanding she endure for humanity's sake.
Her shoulders trembled softly.
A faint sound escaped her lips.
No one knew whether it was sobbing.
Or laughter.
Libra looked downward with widened eyes.
Meanwhile, the President—who knew Elaina better than anyone—immediately rose from his throne.
"Elaina!" he shouted, his voice carrying command rather than concern.
He understood instantly.
That was not the real Elaina anymore.
It was the sign of a mind being invaded. A heart being torn apart from within.
Upon the highest throne, The Ancient One let out a low chuckle, his heavy voice rumbling like thunder.
"This," he said while raising his eagle-clawed arms, "is the true art of a legendary deceiver."
Within the shadows of the mirrors, Huli Jing smiled with satisfaction.
Her eyes glowed softly, as though gazing upon a tiny bird trapped within the palm of her hand.
Elaina stared at her own reflection between her knees. Her palms pressed tightly against the voices still echoing violently within her ears.
The elegant knot of her hair slowly loosened, strands falling one by one across her face.
A slow smile spread across Elaina's lips.
Yet the reflection beneath her feet...
Was crying.
And several seconds later—
That reflection slowly shook its head at her.