Chương 196: The End and the Declaration

Outside, under Jingjue's slightly impatient gaze, the aura surrounding the previously silent, heavily armored knight in black seemed to undergo some inexplicable change.

Jingjue was unaware of the profound realization about the essence of soul and power that Jiying was experiencing, but with the keen intuition of a Void Realm Apostle, he clearly sensed that the other party seemed to have become somewhat different from before.

Although the amount of ethereal energy emanating from him did not increase, its "quality" underwent a fundamental change, becoming more restrained, pure, and—more—frightening.

It's like a once-sharp blade that has been sheathed. Although it's no longer dazzling, the sharpness hidden beneath the sheath is even more threatening.

The shadows surrounding the Silent Shadow seemed to come alive, becoming deeper and exuding a terrifying aura that was chilling and seemed capable of devouring everything.

A strong sense of unease instantly surged into Jingjue's heart. He subconsciously took a half step back and at the same time controlled the mirror images of the four magical girls to block in front of him, assuming a defensive posture.

At that moment, Jiying slowly raised his head, and the red light shining through the gaps in the ferocious helmet suddenly lit up.

At this moment, he had shed all his struggles and confusion, leaving only a calm that saw through everything, and—absolute confidence.

Jiying's gaze calmly swept over the four motionless "magical girls" in front of him. Both the bizarre space and the girls themselves now presented a completely different image to him.

He could clearly "see" that everything had its own "shadow," whether it was the broken mirrors, the distant mirror, or even himself, all of which cast unique reflections on the ground or in the void.

The broken mirrors and twisted steel bars cast cold, lifeless shadows, like cold dust in the universe.

In contrast to the reflections of these inanimate objects, the "shadows" of living beings were extremely conspicuous in his field of vision.

These "shadows" are reflections of the soul projected into the real world, the truest reflection of the essence of life, which cannot be imitated or forged.

but---- The four "magical girls" before them, whose appearance, body structure, and magical energy fluctuations were all perfectly imitated, stood with nothing beneath their feet.

No trace of their own unique "soul shadow" was projected onto them.

The answer is self-evident.

They were merely false illusions created by Mirror Lord using his power; they were empty shells without souls.

It is a counterfeit that can be ruthlessly crushed.

"hehe----" A low, mocking laugh slowly emanated from beneath Jiying's helmet.

Upon hearing this, Jingjue's ominous premonition grew even stronger: "What are you laughing at?"

Jiying did not answer him, but slowly raised his right hand covered by a black arm guard.

The next moment, under Jingjue's incredulous gaze, Jiying moved.

Without warning, without any extra movements, and without even a burst of powerful virtual energy fluctuations.

His figure transformed into a blurry black afterimage in an instant, traversing a distance of tens of meters with a speed completely beyond Jingjue's comprehension.

Too fast! Extremely fast!

Mirror Lord's pupils contracted sharply. He didn't even have time to make any effective reaction. He could only rely on instinct to desperately activate the four magical girl mirror images, trying to use their bodies and the magic formula that had begun to condense to block Silent Shadow's earth-shattering advance.

However, all this is in vain.

The hesitation that had been present when facing his "companion" was gone from Ji Ying's eyes.

Since it's just a fake, then there's no need for it to be kept any longer!

The figure of Jiying vanished from its original spot in an instant, and at the same time, it appeared in the center of the four magical girl mirror images. The black blades on both sides of the arm armor popped out with a soft "whoosh".

"Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!"

He seemed to be just casually waving his arm, but that ordinary movement instantly brought forth four dark arcs of light that tore through space.

With four neat, uniform, light sounds like tearing cloth, the four mirror images that had previously left Ji Ying helpless and in a sorry state were cut in half at the same time, without even being able to put up a decent resistance.

Their bodies broke in half, their upper and lower bodies slipping out of place, but not a drop of blood flowed. They simply dissipated into countless points of light as they fell, eventually returning to nothingness.

All of this happened far too fast.

Before Jingjue's smug expression could even turn into shock, he froze completely.

He couldn't understand it, he just couldn't understand it!

Why? Why did Jiying, who was just moments ago timid and hesitant, afraid to act for fear of hurting his companions, suddenly become so decisive and ruthless?!

He actually—actually attacked those magical girls?! And in such a ruthless and deadly way?!

This extremely rapid transformation even gave Jingjue an absurd feeling—as if the kind, hesitant guy from before and the cold-blooded, decisive killer in front of him were not the same person at all!

"You—what did you do?!" He instinctively took a half step back, his voice shrill with shock.

"Why?! How could you tell—those were all mirror images I created?!"

"Oh? You mean those things?"

Ji Ying reappeared before Jing Jue. He tilted his head and replied casually in an extremely innocent tone, "Because your artworks—are just so poorly made. Anyone who isn't blind can see that, right?"

"you--!"

Before Jingjue could let out an angry roar, Jiying's figure transformed into a streak of black lightning once again, launching another fierce attack on him like a storm.

"Your tricks are no longer effective against me." A cold voice, like the whisper of death, rang in Jing Jue's ears.

"I'd like to see what new methods you can come up with now."

This time, Jingjue was unable to dodge as easily as before.

Without the restraint of the mirror image, his proud "mirror jump" appeared so laughable and powerless in the face of Ji Ying's extreme speed and accurate prediction.

He had barely emerged from another mirror when Ji Ying's attack came like a shadow.

"laugh--!"

Although Jingjue managed to turn sideways at the last moment and avoid a fatal blow, his left arm was still hit by the aftershock of Jiying's attack. His entire arm, along with that part of his gorgeous trench coat, was instantly annihilated by the terrifying void energy, leaving not even a trace of debris, only a faint smell of burning in the air.

"Aaaaaah!!!"

Jingjue let out a piercing scream and staggered backward. He looked at his empty left shoulder, his eyes filled with disbelief and terror.

Without pausing for a moment, Ji Ying swiftly turned halfway around after landing a successful blow and delivered another powerful whip kick, striking Jing Jue squarely in the chest.

"boom!!!"

With a dull thud, Jingjue's body was sent flying backward as if he had been hit head-on by a speeding train.

He traced a parabola in mid-air and finally crashed heavily into a huge, remaining mirror in the distance, shattering the already cracked mirror into pieces.

"puff!"

A mouthful of dark purple liquid spurted from his mouth, and the pure white smiling mask on his face shattered, revealing a pale and distorted face beneath it.

"Very good—very good! Silent Shadow!" He struggled to his feet, his voice filled with barely suppressed madness and resentment.

"You truly—time and time again, have given me unexpected 'surprises'!"

"But—do you really think the game is over just like that?!"

He suddenly raised his only remaining right hand and slammed it hard against another huge mirror beside him.

The mirror surface rippled violently like water, and the next moment, a pale purple figure, bound by invisible energy shackles and with its eyes closed, was roughly "pushed" out of the mirror.

It was none other than the patrolman who had been ambushed and fell into a coma by him—Hoshino!

Jingjue grabbed Xingxian's slender neck, using her as a shield in front of him, while simultaneously conjuring a dark blade that exuded an ominous aura, pressing it firmly against her fair neck.

"The game of counterfeits ends here—" His voice became unusually sharp with anger and excitement, filled with morbid madness.

"Now, let's play something with the 'real stuff'!"

Mirror Lord stared intently at the black-clad knight who had stopped abruptly due to the sudden turn of events, and let out a maniacal laugh: "Hahahaha! Tell me, Shadowless!"

"Now, do you still dare to attack me without any restraint, just like before?!"'

Now! Do you still dare to attack me without any restraint, just like before?!

Jiying's fierce offensive came to an abrupt halt the moment he saw Xingxian's figure.

He stood silently in place, his dark red eyes, which had just been filled with cold killing intent, now filled with uncontrollable anger and restraint. His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles made a "crackling" sound.

The thing I feared most — has finally happened.

Through her newly awakened "Shadow Authority," she could clearly perceive that the girl before her, being held hostage by Mirror Lord, was no longer the soulless, empty shell she had been before, nor a false mirror image that she could destroy without a second thought.

In her "shadow vision," the kidnapped girl projects a clear and real shadow of her own soul.

Without a doubt, that is the real Xingxian, and her current appearance is exactly the same as the mirror image that Jingjue showed her as a "trophy" before.

No—perhaps it should be said that the mirror image used to deceive oneself was a complete imitation of Xingxian's current miserable and wretched appearance, deliberately created by that perverse bastard Jingjue.

Even while unconscious, Xingxian's delicate eyebrows were tightly furrowed, as if she were enduring immense pain.

The jet-black blade made of ethereal energy was pressed mercilessly against her slender, fair neck, as if a little more force would easily take the girl's life.

Ji Ying desperately suppressed the rage that threatened to consume everything within him. He knew that any impulsive action he took at that moment could lead to irreversible consequences.

After a brief silence, he slowly loosened his clenched fists, and the black blade on the side of his arm armor, which gleamed with a chilling light, was retracted with a "whoosh," showing Mirror Lord in the distance in the most direct way that he did not intend to continue the attack.

"What's wrong? My dear fellow human?" Mirror Lord's pleasure reached its peak as he looked at Silent Shadow's hesitant expression.

"Although I don't know why you can instantly distinguish between real and fake magical girls, since you possess such an ability, you must be able to tell this one is genuine, right?"

"Where did that arrogant air go? Why aren't you attacking anymore? Come on, I'm—"

"I'm really looking forward to your next performance."

"Or is it that—that laughable camaraderie—once again—has bound your hands and feet?"

Ji Ying ignored his mockery and remained silent, seemingly weighing something.

However, Jingjue was unaware that while he was smugly provoking him, behind Jiying's tall figure covered in heavy black armor, a shadow was silently peeling away from the shadow beneath his feet and merging into the shadows cast by the broken mirrors around him.

A stand-in made of pure shadow has replaced the original body of Silent Shadow, remaining in place to continue the standoff with Mirror Lord.

Meanwhile, Ji Ying's true form had already transformed into a void shadow that could not be detected by any senses, and along the veins of shadow, it quietly crept towards Jing Jue's back.

"Tell me, Jiying!" Jingjue's voice grew increasingly frantic, and the black blade in his hand moved even closer to Xingxian's neck, even drawing a shallow line of blood.

"Would you rather watch her die here, or—kneel down and beg for mercy?!"

"I choose—" The "Silent Shadow" who was standing still slowly spoke, attracting all of Mirror's attention.

—Now!

Almost at the same time, the Shadowless Body, which had stealthily moved behind Mirror Lord, moved.

Without the slightest warning or hesitation, the moment Jingjue sensed the true presence of Jiying, Jiying had already arrived within a hair's breadth of his reach.

"What?!"

Mirror Lord's pupils contracted sharply. At that moment, instead of decisively stabbing Xingxian in the neck with the dagger in his hand, he instinctively tried desperately to use the mirror to jump away from here.

But it was too late.

"Pfft—!"

A sharp blade, gleaming with a chilling light, suddenly emerged from the shadows behind him, piercing his heart with unparalleled precision and in a way that was completely impossible to defend against.

"Well----?!"

Jingjue's body stiffened abruptly. He slowly lowered his head in disbelief, looking at the hideous blade stained with dark purple ethereal liquid protruding from his chest, his eyes filled with incomprehensible astonishment and shock.

At the same time, his control over Xingxian also suffered a fatal lapse.

Ji Ying suddenly pulled his arm out, ripping the blade out of Jing Jue's body. At the same time, his left hand shot out like lightning, catching Xing Xian, who had gone limp from being unrestrained, firmly in his arms.

Immediately, he retreated as quickly as possible, creating a completely safe distance between himself and the mirror image that was about to be completely destroyed.

Meanwhile, the shadow clone in the distance, the instant the main body succeeded, curled a mocking smile at the corner of its lips and slowly spoke, uttering the unfinished words: "—I choose to let you die."

The moment the words fell, it ceased to maintain its original form and transformed into several incredibly sharp chains, piercing and tearing apart the severely injured and still bewildered mirror puppet from all directions.

"No—impossible—" Mirror Lord's mirror puppet only had time to let out a final roar filled with resentment and hatred before its body shattered inch by inch under the strangulation of the shadow chains.

In the moments before he completely vanished, he heard the dark knight, who was holding Xingxian and standing silently in the distance, declare to him in a cold and oppressive voice: "I know that this—is still not your true form."

"But it's okay, this round is my—no, our victory."

"The same thing will happen next time, and the time after that."

"I will wait patiently until the day I truly find you, this rat from the gutter, from your filthy lair."

"So—just you wait and see."

"————Mirror Lord".