Chapter 58 — Mirror in Motion
In the long history of existence, countless beings had stretched their hands toward the heavens.
Some sought strength.
Some sought dominion.
Some chased immortality like thirsty men chasing water across a desert.
Many climbed.
Many fell.
And the few who reached the summit always discovered the same quiet truth waiting for them at the top—
another mountain.
Leylin had never cared much for mountains.
What he wanted was simpler.
Understanding.
Not the kind philosophers debated in warm halls while wine cooled beside them.
The kind earned with broken bones and cold nights.
The kind that came after betrayal.
The kind that came after you had watched the world show its teeth enough times that you stopped asking it to be kind.
He stood within the trembling formation now, his eyes drifting across the battlefield.
Nine demigods hovered above him.
Beyond the barrier, Crimson Six watched with her hands folded loosely behind her back, that faint knowing smile resting on her lips like she already understood the end of the story.
Maybe she thought she did.
Leylin exhaled slowly.
The air tasted faintly metallic.
Blood.
Not fresh.
Old blood. Dried into the stones from battles that had come long before this one.
He wondered, not for the first time, what exactly he was doing here.
A soldier once.
A tool once.
A corpse once.
But now… something else.
Not chosen.
Not destined.
Just still here.
"What am I supposed to be in all this?" he murmured quietly.
No one answered.
Above him, the nine demigods remained still.
They weren't restless.
They weren't impatient.
They simply waited.
Like puppets that had been given breath but not curiosity.
Leylin tilted his head slightly, studying them.
"Interesting."
Powerful beings usually carried something with them.
Pride.
Arrogance.
Fear.
These nine carried nothing.
Just purpose.
Crimson Six had made sure of that.
Leylin rubbed the back of his neck once.
Then he lowered his hands and closed his eyes.
For a moment, the battlefield seemed to pause with him.
When he opened them again—
the aura around him had changed.
He said nothing.
He simply took a step forward.
Not quickly.
Not dramatically.
Just a step.
The formation beneath his feet shivered faintly.
Above him, four of the demigods reacted instantly.
Instinct screamed through their bodies before thought could catch up.
Run.
And they did.
They scattered in different directions, streaks of divine power tearing across the sky.
Leylin smiled faintly.
Not wide.
Just enough to show he had expected that.
Then he disappeared.
No flash.
No thunder.
Just absence.
The slowest of the fleeing demigods felt something close around his throat.
By the time his mind caught up..
Leylin was already behind him.
A hand around his neck.
Grip tightening.
The demigod tried to turn.
Tried to summon his authority.
Tried to..
Crunch.
The sound was quiet.
Wet.
The neck collapsed in Leylin's grasp like brittle wood.
For a moment the body remained upright.
Then it fell.
The other demigods stopped mid-flight.
They turned slowly.
Not shocked.
But something close to it.
Leylin stood where the corpse had fallen, flexing his fingers once as if testing them.
Four authorities pulsed quietly inside him.
Four different powers layered together.
Strength.
Speed.
Weight.
Force.
Four demigods' worth of existence condensed into one body... mirrored,and reflected back at them through the envy core
He glanced up at the remaining eight.
"Gentlemen," he said mildly.
"Shall we begin?"
Boom.
Bang.
Boom.
The battlefield erupted.
What sounded like minutes of violence passed in only a few seconds.
One of the demigods moved.
A spear of condensed starlight erupted from his hand, screaming across the air toward Leylin's spine.
Leylin didn't even look.
His arm lifted behind him.
The spear struck his palm.
Stopped.
For a heartbeat it trembled there.
Then it shattered into glittering fragments.
Leylin turned slightly.
"Too loud," he muttered.
Another demigod lunged from above.
A blade carved from condensed gravity descended toward Leylin's skull.
Leylin stepped aside.
The blade missed him by a breath and slammed into the ground hard enough to split the stone.
Before the demigod could recover..
Leylin's elbow drove upward.
The sound it made was ugly.
Bone collapsing.
The demigod flew backward like a broken doll, smashing against the barrier of the formation so hard the entire dome trembled.
Leylin watched him slide slowly down the surface.
The demigod twitched once.
Then went still.
Two.
The others finally moved together.
Energy erupted across the battlefield.
Lightning.
Wind.
Gravity bending space.
Real power now.
Leylin stepped forward into it.
One demigod rushed him from the left.
Another from the right.
A third dropped from above.
Leylin ducked beneath the first strike, caught the second by the wrist, and twisted.
Rip.
The arm tore free.
Not cleanly.
A moment later blood erupted outward in a violent spray.
The demigod screamed.
A raw, human sound.
Leylin paused slightly.
Ah.
There it was.
Pain.
The first real emotion any of them had shown since the battle began.
"Interesting."
Before the others could react, Leylin swung the severed limb like a club.
The impact smashed into another demigod's face, spinning him violently through the air before he crashed deep into the battlefield below.
Leylin was already gone.
"Hehe… stay still, little thing."
He appeared beside another.
His hand plunged forward.
Through chest.
Through divine armor.
Through ribs.
When he pulled it back, something important came with it.
The body dropped immediately.
Four.
Leylin wiped his fingers once against his coat.
The remaining demigods circled now.
Careful.
Measuring.
One of them moved differently.
Leylin noticed immediately.
Lightning authority.
"Interesting," he said softly.
The demigod hesitated when he saw Leylin looking at him.
A strange unease crawled up his spine.
Leylin tilted his head.
Then he smiled.
"I envy you."
The demigod stiffened.
Leylin's eyes glowed faintly.
Nine colors swirling quietly within his pupils.
"Truly," he continued.
"I envy the power you have."
The battlefield fell silent.
Leylin lifted his hand slightly.
"Can I have it?"
For a fraction of a second something moved through the air.
Too fast.
Too subtle.
Even the demigod wasn't sure he had felt it.
Leylin's smile widened.
He extended his palm outward.
Lightning flickered between his fingers.
The demigod's lightning.
Then Leylin vanished.
He appeared directly in front of him.
Close enough to smell the fear finally leaking from the demigod's breath.
Leylin leaned forward slightly.
"Boo."
His hand moved.
Not a punch.
Not a strike.
Just a slap.
The sound echoed sharply across the formation.
The demigod disappeared.
He crossed the entire battlefield in a blink and smashed into the barrier with a thunderous crack.
The dome shook violently.
His body struck the barrier, slid downward, and collapsed onto the cracked earth below.
Dust rose slowly.
Everyone waited.
Demigods were resilient.
Even wounded ones stood again.
Seconds passed.
Then more seconds.
The body didn't move.
Leylin scratched his cheek awkwardly when the others stared at him.
"…uh."
He shrugged lightly.
"I didn't mean to hit that hard."
He glanced toward the corpse.
"He was supposed to dodge."
No one laughed.
The remaining demigods stepped backward without meaning to.
Leylin looked at them curiously.
Then at the demigod lying motionless beneath the rubble.
Only one thought crossed his mind.
Why is everyone looking at me like that?