Chapter 111: The Cruelest Act (5)
[Sync Rate: 11%]
The Black Veil Master moved first.
A black veil appeared beneath her feet, lifting her into the air.
She hovered above them, raising her arms toward Neli as a soft hum left her lips.
One of Neli's mirrors flickered and disappeared.
Ivaim didn't waste a second.
He threw a [Coin of Fortune] straight at Neli, the coin carrying a touch of misfortune.
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The coin struck her shoulder.
Neli tensed, her body reacting to the sudden bad luck.
She quickly raised her hand, summoning even more mirrors to block further attacks.
Ivaim narrowed his eyes.
She wasn't fighting them... she was stalling!
'She just wants more time for the sync rate to finish!'
He turned to Darian.
"Does your mother have the same abilities as you?"
Darian hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"Yeah. I got them from her... since my father wasn't there."
Ivaim's expression hardened.
"She's trying to teleport away! Don't give her the chance!"
Nathan nodded and pressed his hands to the ground.
The metallic spears he had sent earlier suddenly vanished into the earth.
Then, the ground beneath Neli shook.
A large chunk of the floor rose into the air, lifted by the metal Nathan had buried underneath.
Neli lost her balance as she stumbled on the uneven surface, her mirrors cracking against each other.
Ivaim's eyes narrowed as he took in the sight.
'So indirect attacks don't trigger the mirror's reflection effect…'
Without hesitation, he grabbed one of the fallen metallic spears and flicked a coin before pocketing it, activating [Lucky Leap].
Then, he tossed [Coins of Fortune] toward Nathan and the others, granting them a brief moment of enhanced luck.
Darian hesitated.
His hands trembled slightly as he raised them, summoning ghostly chains that slithered through the air toward his mother.
He didn't want to hurt her, but—
Neli was faster.
She conjured her own chains, intercepting his attack before it could reach her.
At the same time, the Black Veil Master's voice rose in a haunting melody, a tune thick with drowsiness.
Neli's movements slowed.
Her body wavered as the song seeped into her mind.
Then, a spear whistled through the air.
With her dulled senses due to the Black Veil Master's music, Neli couldn't react in time.
The spear drove into her shoulder.
"Mother!"
Darian's voice cracked with worry.
[Sync Rate: 23%]
Her form wavered—and disfigured.
The edges of her body blurred, her limbs shifting unnaturally as if her very being was unraveling.
But there was no blood.
Instead, her body shattered into countless glass fragments.
Before anyone could react, the shards near Nathan shook...
Dark spectral chains suddenly sprouted out of the mirrors and striked towards him!
Nathan barely had time to register the attack before his foot slipped on a loose rock.
He stumbled—just enough to avoid the chains as they whipped past him.
The enhanced luck from Ivaim's [Coin of Fortune] had saved him.
Just then, Neli's form reformed from one of the floating shards.
Her arms spread wide in a familiar stance—one Ivaim recognized immediately.
His grip tightened around the spear in his hand. Without thinking, he hurled it at her.
Neli's reaction was instant.
A mirror materialized at her side, ready to reflect the attack.
Ivaim's mind panicked.
'Shit! The damage will bounce back at me!'
But then—
The spear missed.
It neither hit Neli nor her mirror.
For a second, there was only silence.
Ivaim exhaled, a deep, relieved breath.
[Sync Rate: 28%]
As the percentage rose, Neli's body twisted further.
Her legs stretched unnaturally long.
Her fingers lengthened into jagged, claw-like tips.
The light reflecting off her skin wavered, as if she were made of unstable glass.
Her face flickered between familiar and monstrous—her features stretching and warping.
Behind Ivaim, Darian took the same stance as before, his arms spreading as if to embrace someone.
Neli noticed.
Without hesitation, she raised more mirrors around herself—
But this time, a black veil wrapped around them.
And they vanished.
Darian's arms came together—completing the motion.
Neli's body froze.
The binding took hold.
But only for a moment.
Then— boom!
Her form exploded into a storm of mirror fragments.
Nathan's voice rang out.
"We don't have much time—bind her, now!"
He thrust his hands forward.
Metal fragments from the battlefield shot toward Neli's reforming figure.
But this time, Neli did something different.
Instead of defending, she grabbed one of her mirrors—
And threw it at the incoming attack.
The mirror shattered.
And in the next breath—
Nathan crashed backward, his body sent flying as if an invisible spear had pierced his stomach.
He hit the ground hard, coughing sharply.
Ivaim and the others barely had time to react before the broken mirror pieces across the battlefield shook.
[Sync Rate: 35%]
Then—
Chains erupted from every shard.
Dark, writhing, and reaching in all directions.
Ivaim activated [Lucky Leap] just in time, his body flickering away from the entanglement.
The Black Veil Master, however, wasn't as fortunate.
The chains snared her in an instant.
She struggled, but the bindings weren't normal...
They suppressed her abilities, locking her in place.
And then—
Mirrors surrounded Ivaim.
In an instant, he was trapped inside a box of reflective walls.
He exhaled sharply.
"Fuck—"
Just as panic set in, a sudden crash echoed through the air.
A piece of debris, loosened by the ongoing battle, smashed into the mirrors trapping Ivaim.
The reflective walls shattered, and he was free.
He barely had time to breathe before his eyes darted toward Nathan.
Nathan was pinned to the ground, his body wrapped in thick, dark chains.
He struggled, his arms twitching as if trying to summon his power, but the bindings held firm.
Ivaim didn't hesitate.
He activated [Lucky Leap], preparing to dash toward her to help her...
But then—
A voice, cold and merciless, whispered into his ears.
"Don't save her..."
The words slammed into him like a physical force.
Ivaim froze.
For a split second, hesitation gripped him.
That was all it took.
Chains erupted from the ground beneath him.
His arms were bound first, snapping tightly around his wrists.
Then, before he could react, the bindings slithered across his body, wrapping around his torso, his legs— trapping him.