Everyone had already returned to the castle, including Sakolomé and Kai. Salomé had told everything in detail.
Sakolomé frowned:
"A person who looks like me?"
Lingyin nodded slowly:
"Yes, it's unsettling, but that's exactly it, Sakolomé…"
Shushu, perched on Sakolomé's head, intervened calmly:
"Mirror beings are reflections of your own image in combat. As long as they choose not to become autonomous, they can copy you perfectly. However, this copy is never a true replica."
Ysolongue took over:
"Exactly. The reproduction by mirror beings is a simple reflection of your attacks and combinations. If they produce nothing new by themselves, even if they have copied you once, they won't be able to do it again."
Kai frowned, trying to understand:
"If I understand correctly, if I use fire attacks, the mirror being can reproduce them. But if it becomes autonomous, it will no longer be able to use these attacks, because it's beyond its abilities?"
Ysolongue nodded seriously:
"That's right. They can imitate aspects close to them, but never be exactly identical."
Then she turned to Salomé:
"The mirror being you faced was at Deviant level, Salomé. If one of them has a set of masks able to create copies of this caliber, it's not reassuring. Usually, these beings use their mirror faculty to defend themselves, not to kill."
She continued:
"A non-Deviant mirror being couldn't reproduce a Deviant. It's like trying to reflect the entire ocean in a simple fragment of mirror — impossible, unless that mirror is as vast as the ocean itself. That's why the one you fought is at that level."
Zelongue, observing Salomé, added in a grave tone:
"A Deviant-level mirror being… it's terrifying to imagine what that represents. Luckily you won that fight."
Salomé gave a relieved smile.
At the same time, Rivhiamë whispered to Sakolomé in his mind:
"Mirror beings cannot copy the gods nor the demons of the Hells."
Sakolomé, surprised, thought inwardly:
"What? Really?"
Rivhiamë calmly confirmed:
"Yes."
Rivhiamë spoke within Sakolomé's mind, her voice calm but serious:
"Copying the demons of the Hells is a deadly mistake. These entities are not mere creatures: they were shaped to challenge the gods themselves. Their essence is imbued with a power and nature only a true demon or god can comprehend."
She continued, revealing a dark truth:
"If anything can truly frighten them, it is their own reflection… or another demon of equal nature. Mirror beings, though gifted with extraordinary powers, cannot faithfully reproduce them. Attempting to copy a demon of the Hells causes a dangerous fascination, a form of psychic manipulation — a deep fear that can plunge one into madness, absolute insanity."
Sakolomé shivered at these words, as Rivhiamë exposed an even more terrible warning:
"Worse yet, the attempt to copy provokes a brutal and painful mutation. The mirror being ceases to be itself; it becomes a slave demon, a weak and servile entity. Its will is erased, its reason lost, and its appearance corrupted. At this stage, the defilement is irreversible. Even the gods can no longer intervene to save such a being. It is condemned to eternal servitude, trapped by its own weakness."
She concluded:
"That is why no mirror being, no matter how powerful, ventures to reproduce a demon of the Hells. It is a path of certain destruction, a fatal trap that must never be attempted."
Sakolomé gave a slight smile.
— Well, that's good news… With your mana, Rivhiamë, I could prevent a mirror being from reflecting me, if I ever face one.
In his mind, Rivhiamë responded with an amused tone:
— Not a bad idea…
Yet Sakolomé knew theory was not everything. As a pseudo-Deviant, facing a true Deviant was already a colossal challenge. But if that opponent could reflect each of his attacks, the situation would become catastrophic: he might be dominated almost instantly.
Now, he could manipulate the mana of the Great Mythical Beings with much more stability than before. Formerly, his being — already on the verge of fading — could tolerate only small doses of power compared to theirs. Now, he could channel much more… as long as it was not in excessive form. In this, Rivhiamë was an ideal ally.
Still, a shadow lingered: the true intentions of the mirror beings remained a mystery.
Sakolomé approached Salomé, Shushu still perched on his head. Then, unexpectedly, he grabbed the little creature and held it out to her.
Salomé blinked, puzzled.
— Uh… big brother? Why are you giving me Shushu?
Shushu looked up at Sakolomé, as perplexed as his new target.
— Yes, I'd like to know too!
Sakolomé answered in a calm but firm tone:
— From now on, Salomé will be your new owner.
Salomé and Shushu exclaimed in unison, eyes wide:
— What?!
Shushu protested at once:
— But Father! Why entrust me to her?
— Because she will perfect you, Sakolomé replied bluntly. I want you to merge your attributes: her draconic powers combined with your infernal attributes…
Ysolongue, observing the scene, straightened up, surprised.
— Wow… Sakolomé, what you're suggesting is huge. Fusing draconic power and demonic essence… that's exactly what the Black Dragon Arlongue did with the demon Erasa.
Shushu and Salomé exchanged a glance, then, as if they understood one another, shared the same smile.
— Not a bad idea, declared Shushu, and besides… Salomé is sexy!
Salomé blushed immediately, eyes wide.
— Sakolomé… did you teach her to think like that?
Sakolomé raised his hands in innocence, visibly embarrassed.
— Never! That's probably Bakuran's influence…
The remark triggered general laughter… except from Zelongue and Kai, who remained impassive, each locked in their own indifference.
Orlongue took advantage of the moment to approach Ysolongue and whisper in her ear:
— Look at that boy…
He discreetly indicated Kai with a gesture.
— Do you notice anything… different?
Intrigued, Ysolongue observed Kai: arms crossed, gaze evasive. He seemed strangely relaxed… as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
— Is that… really Kai? she murmured.
She had spoken louder than she thought, immediately drawing everyone's attention… including Kai's.
— What did you say? he asked, one eyebrow raised.
— Nothing… she replied, shaking her head. But I want to ask you a question.
Kai held her gaze.
— I'm listening.
— How do you feel, right now?
Kai frowned lightly, looking up at the ceiling as if searching for words.
— What kind of question is that? I feel great.
— And your plan to become a Deviant?
He gave a brief smile.
— I still intend to. But if I don't make it… I'm counting on Salomé and Sakolomé to help me reach my goal.
The two concerned exchanged a look and nodded with the same smile.
— Very good resolution, approved Ysolongue. You don't seem as stubborn as before.
Kai lowered his head for a moment.
— Let's say… now that I have support, I don't have to stubbornly push forward alone.
He then turned his eyes to Sakolomé.
— And since you're Black Grief's brother, you and Salomé… to get revenge, I fully intend to beat you up one day.
Sakolomé smiled challengingly.
— We'll see who beats whom… the day you finally become a Deviant.
— Yeah… but first, our priority is to massacre the mirror beings and that guy who looks like you, Kai added, clenching his fists, a predatory smile on his lips.
Then he said, with a tone almost too satisfied:
— Hitting someone who looks like you… you can't imagine the pleasure that's going to give me.
Between Kai and Sakolomé, there was a strange mixture of antagonism and camaraderie. A rivalry bordering on friendship… which, apparently, had transformed Kai into someone new, thanks to this unexpected bond with the twins.
Ysolongue couldn't contain her joy seeing Kai like this; she had transformed him into a Deviant. The change was spectacular, almost unreal. But she wasn't the only one acting: in the same momentum, Zelongue had operated a similar transformation on Lingyin and Jin Muleo.
Sakolomé watched the scene, fascinated and slightly worried. Transforming a creature into a Deviant was no small feat. It was like breaking its form tied to causality to create an even vaster one, a form beyond the causal framework itself. At that precise moment, those elevated to Deviant rank faced their own interior. An experience close to death, but not quite. More like a sleep state, a collective dream where each perceived their own reality in a shared universe.
What mattered most, however, was not this dream but the form itself. Becoming Deviant meant acquiring immortality and freeing oneself from dependence on the fundamental states of existence. One then entered an unprecedented state, capable of reaching the equivalent of a god: a fragment of the Madhurya, a true Chōshinku.
In this state, all attributes and individual consciousness disappeared. One was no longer an existence as it was known. One became a fragment of the void, perhaps even of the primordial void itself or its derived layers. Too heavy for ordinary existence, too "other" to be called a being, one could nevertheless dream of a self capable of existing with a body, fundamental states, and everything that defines life.
Thus, becoming Deviant was not just a change in power: it was a leap into a higher reality, where the old self vanished to let emerge a vaster, deeper form… a fragment of the cosmos itself.
Would that mean we cannot be the fragment of the void we have become? Of course we can… but only on the plane of our state. No pure Chōshinku, in its entirety, can remain inside the causal framework without destroying it; it is too overwhelming a weight for it. You can exist as a pure Chōshinku, but only beyond the causal framework; inside, you must conceptualize yourself to remain.
Orlongue explained: either you use a system of existential regulation — a mode serving to branch out. Thus, in each state of existence, you have the necessary level to subsist without destroying anything. But beware: even branched, if you choose to manifest fully, an accident can occur.
The other option is to dream your own reality… but it all depends on how you conceive the ideal of Being in each of these states.