Kaios was now royally screwed; there was not any path to delay the maximum synchrony of the reflection, nor could he physically intercept it.
The only thing he could do was watch as the reflection closed in on him, each step increasing the synchrony between them.
And when it reached the maximum, Kaios would lose his individuality and fail once more.
But Kaios wasn't the kind of person who could see inevitability and do nothing about it. The gears in his mind were spinning rapidly, trying to come up with something—just something that he could use.
Come on, Kaios, remember—remember something, there has to be anything that can save me from it. It wouldn't be a trial if it were unsolvable.
Whereas Kaios was thinking about the solution, the reflection got even closer within that frame of time.
"Aha…" suddenly, Kaios's face brightened as he finally found the solution.
He stretched his hand towards the reflection that was approaching him, before doing a swiping motion to the right with it.
"Fall."
As the word uttered from his mouth, the reflection, which was closing in on him, suddenly fell to the right.
There was nothing—no movement, no sound. The reflection just fell by itself.
"I should have done this sooner," Kaios said as he turned around and saw the path to the tunnel already appeared.
"I have to now make a habit of reading terms and conditions before signing anything."
Yeah, what he had done was written in the rule sections of that screen, and the funny thing was, it was just under the rule that mentioned about Temporal Echo. It was the rule number 7.
[ Strategic actions, like projecting intention or adjusting motion, can solidify safe paths temporarily. ]
In this situation, the safe path for Kaios was simple— remove the reflection from the metal bridge. So that's what Kaios intended.
And as if obeying that, an invisible wall made of intent materialised temporarily at the side of the reflection, then pushed it off the bridge.
After that, he simply resumed his stride toward the tunnel at the end of the bridge, without any pause or glancing back.
After walking for some time, Kaios finally crossed that bridge, arriving in front of the entrance of the tunnel.
Now that he looked closely, the tunnel wasn't a tunnel per se, but a giant mirror, gleaming with silvery light, while a soft yellowish glow seeped from the glass itself.
Kaios scanned it carefully, his purple eyes glinting with the soft yellow light, reflecting the glow coming from the glass.
After scanning it several times, Kaios found nothing amiss, though he couldn't sense anything hidden behind this mirror.
Thus, he stepped forward, approaching carefully. His senses remained alert, ready to react instantly if there was a sudden emergence of another Temporal Echo.
He didn't want to get caught off guard again. As he reached out to the mirror, he stretched his right hand to touch it.
The moment his palm touched the mirror, it sank inside, sending ripples across the surface as if someone had thrown a stone into a still pond.
The waves spread all over the mirror, distorting the soft yellowish light emanating from it, before its brightness surged.
Kaios, suddenly feeling a sense of foreboding, was about to withdraw his hand when a sudden force grabbed it and pulled his entire body into the mirror.
"Every f**king time something like this happens." He muttered, gritting his teeth "And why the hell do I always want to touch every curious thing?"
As he found himself standing surrounded by a bizzare tapestry of lights, after the force dragged completely him inside the mirror.
"Yo me, how have you been?"
A voice, eerily identical to his own, echoed through the air around him.
Kaios froze as he heard this. He stopped his scanning, and slowly turned. His eyes narrowed— he want to see who called him, and that with his own voice.
As he turned, there he saw— his reflection, few paces away. But that didn't surprise him, as he was seeing this each time, he stepped into a new place within this trial.
What surprised him, that it was his first time to see a reflection talking back to him.
"You can talk?", Kaios asked in astonishment.
"Yeah, I can talk." The reflection replied back.
"But the previous reflections—" before Kaios could complete the sentence, the reflection of him interjected.
"Don't compare me with those faulties, I am the perfect one." The reflection said, with the clear arrogance laced in his voice.
"Perfect one?" Kaios asked in confusion.
When the reflection heard the question from Kaios, spread the both of his hands wide, then said flamboyantly.
"Yes, yes, I am the perfected one. Far perfected than even from you— the real me." As he pointed at the Kaios.
"And— I will bring the salvation for this fake world. I will be its saviour." The reflection announced in theatrical manner.
Another wierdo, but why was he dragging my image to the soil.
Kaios though in his mind, as sighed mentally before speaking to the reflection again.
"Relax, relax man, why are you being so dramatic? Also how will bring you this so called salvation of yours."
The reflection, who was drowned in his own monologue, halted and turned at him.
"Simple once I stop you, I'll take your place, and then—" the reflection said, its voice low and calm. "This false world that exists because of you, will cease, and I— I will be its salvation."
Kaios who heard that, suddenly felt the first hand embarrassment, when he saw his own reflection doing this crungy act in front of him.
"Okay, okay I understand. So, how will you take my place?" Suddenly a crazed smile formed in the face of Kaios, even he didn't notice it."Do we fight? Duel? Tell me how will you do it?"
The reflection heard Kaios, and shook his head. "Something, even more exciting than that."
"Ohh..what is it then, tell me." Kaios replied.
"A simple Game Of Tag." The reflection said.
A flicker of confusion appeared on the face of Kaios, as the previously crazed expression dimmed slowly.
"Ehh... a Game of Tag." Kaios said, there was slight disappointment in his voice.
"Hmm... The rules were simple, it was the same as rule 4, if I touch or collide with you, you will lost. If it took me more than 10 minutes you win."
"Though there were some slight additon to it. First, I can use the things you have, and we both will not use our Special Ability."
He then extended two finger of his.
"Second, all other trial rules still remain active, so you'll have to pass those as well."
"So, you can use the same alloys and artifacts as me. No special abilities, and every rules of trial will be activated, so you can take the advantage of the rules like 2, 3 and 6?" Kaios asked to confirm certain things.
To this the reflection only nodded, confirming that Kaios was indeed right.
When Kaios saw this, He knew he was done for.
Damn my fortune again? A battle would have been easy than this shit of a game.
Kaios masked his internal frustration, "That was cheating" he complained, expecting to get some leeway from it. But alas—
"It is, what it is. Its your trial not mine." The reflection rejected sharply.
"Okay, now that all sorted let the game began." It said as he clapped.
Claaap....
The moment it echoed in the surroundings, it started to change.