Wind whistled across the barren metallic plain.
The horizon shimmered like a living dream — jagged towers of glass rising high, bending the light into endless prisms of silver and blue.
Toshio Shinji walked forward slowly, his boots crunching against the reflective sand. Every step echoed a dozen times over, bouncing back at him from the mirrored world like faint whispers.
He didn't need anyone to tell him.
He was no longer in his world.
System Spirit… "You still there?" he asked quietly.
The air above him shimmered. A small wisp of blue light flickered into form — a glowing, half-transparent figure no larger than his palm.
Two tiny wings of data code fluttered from its back, leaving a trail of light. Its voice was soft and feminine, but with a touch of mischief.
"You're surprisingly calm for someone who just got erased and reborn," it teased. "Most hosts scream, cry, or throw up."
Toshio raised an eyebrow. "I'm trying to process the part where I died a minute ago."
"Ah. That explains the blank stare."
He sighed. "And what are you exactly? My… fairy godmother?"
The spirit puffed up indignantly, tiny sparks flicking from her wings. "Excuse you! I am the System Spirit of Resonance, codename Iris-09. You can call me Iris."
"Alright, Iris." He cracked a faint grin. "Do you come with a manual?"
"Do you come with a brain?" she shot back. "Because you're standing on a Reflection Rift. One wrong move and it'll tear your consciousness into fifteen slightly more stupid versions of yourself."
Toshio quickly stepped back, eyes widening. "You could've started with that!"
Iris giggled, spinning in the air. "I wanted to see your reaction. You humans are more fun when panicking."
"I can already tell you're going to be the death of me," he muttered.
"Unlikely. Statistically speaking, your death probability is currently at—"
"Don't. Finish. That. Sentence."
She tilted her head, amused. "Touchy."
The light tone didn't hide the strangeness of the place. The "City of Mirrors" stretched endlessly in every direction — towers and roads made of reflective crystal. Every few seconds, he caught glimpses of himself in the mirrored walls — except each reflection was different.
One was older. Another younger. One had a scar across his chest. One's eyes were hollow, empty.
"Why do I look like this?" he murmured, brushing his hand against the cool glass.
"Those are fragments," Iris said quietly. "Pieces of the worlds you've looped through. Every reflection is a life you lived — or could have lived."
Toshio's throat tightened. "You mean… all these versions of me are real?"
"Were real," she corrected. "Until you destroyed the bridge."
He turned away sharply. "Don't remind me."
"You'll have to face it sooner or later," Iris said, her voice softer now. "The Keeper feeds on guilt. The more you run from it, the stronger his influence grows."
He stayed silent.
Even the wind seemed to pause.
Then, a faint clink echoed from deeper within the mirrored spires — metal against glass.
Toshio turned instantly. His hand hovered near the hilt of his sword.
"We're not alone," he said.
"Correction," Iris said, scanning the air with a wave of light. "We're surrounded."
From the mirrors, the reflections began to move — not copying him, but acting on their own. One smirked; another drew a blade. A third cracked its neck, grinning with unhinged malice.
Each reflection shimmered, then stepped out of the glass — fully solid, their bodies gleaming faintly like crystal.
"Reflection Wraiths," Iris warned. "They're fragments of your former selves — corrupted by residual loop energy."
"In short," Toshio said, cracking his knuckles, "they're me, but worse."
"That's one way to put it."
The nearest wraith lunged forward, blade flashing in an arc of blue fire. Toshio met it with a swift parry, sparks scattering across the mirrored ground.
The impact rattled the air. The reflection's voice was identical to his — mocking, dark.
"You still think you can save them?" it sneered. "You couldn't even save yourself."
Toshio gritted his teeth and pushed back, slashing through the wraith in one clean motion. It shattered into shards of light that melted into the sand.
But three more emerged from behind, their blades glowing.
"Iris!"
"Working on it! Just buy me a few seconds!"
"That's easy for you to say — you don't have five of me trying to stab you!"
"Technically, it's four and a half. One of them has no legs."
"Not helping!"
He dodged another strike, sweeping low to slice through a wraith's knees. The creature fell, dissolving into mist — but another replaced it instantly.
"They're regenerating," he realized.
"Because you keep killing them the normal way!" Iris snapped. "They're reflections, not bodies. You need to disrupt their core resonance!"
"Which is where exactly?!"
"In your chest!"
Toshio blinked. "Their chest or mine?"
"Theirs!"
"You really need to work on your timing!"
"I'll put that in the feedback report!"
She flashed forward, projecting a circle of glowing runes around him. Toshio felt the ground vibrate as the system interface expanded.
[Skill Unlocked: Resonant Disruption]
[Type: Core Sync]
[Usage: Channel energy through your heartbeat to destabilize reflection cores]
[Warning: Excessive use may damage host vessel]
Toshio exhaled. "Guess it's time to test it."
The next wraith lunged — and he met it head-on.
This time, when his blade connected, blue lightning shot through both of them, pulsing in rhythm with his heart. The wraith froze, light cracking through its chest before it exploded in a burst of static energy.
The others hesitated — just long enough for Toshio to move. He darted through them, every strike perfectly timed with the throb of his Core. The mirrored desert filled with light, shards, and echoes of his own battle cry.
When the last one fell, the silence that followed was deafening.
Toshio dropped to one knee, breathing heavily. The glow on his hand flickered.
"You good?" Iris asked, hovering near his shoulder.
"Define 'good'."
"Alive, semi-coherent, and only mildly traumatized."
He chuckled weakly. "Then yeah, I'm good."
She smiled faintly, wings dimming. "You handled that better than most hosts."
"You've had others?"
"Too many." Her expression darkened for a moment. "Most don't last beyond the first reflection phase. Their minds… fracture."
He looked at her, curious. "But you remember them?"
"Every one of them," she said softly. "Even the ones who begged to forget."
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
The mirrored sky rippled above — and for just a heartbeat, he thought he saw Lyra's reflection watching him from the glass tower, her wings of light folded close.
"Lyra…" he whispered.
"Don't," Iris said quietly. "The city shows what your heart longs for. She's not here — not yet."
Toshio clenched his fist. "Then I'll make sure she will be."
The Spirit smiled faintly. "You sound like her."
"What?"
"Stubborn," Iris said. "And a little reckless."
He smirked. "Guess I'm in good company, then."
She giggled — a genuine, warm sound that broke the tension. "You know, you're not so bad for a resurrected cosmic anomaly."
"And you're not so bad for a sarcastic holographic bug."
"Holographic— I'll have you know I was coded by the Architect herself!"
"Sure you were."
"I was!"
They laughed — really laughed — for the first time since the nightmare began.
For a brief moment, it felt almost normal.
Then the ground trembled.
The mirrored spires shuddered, ripples spreading across their surfaces like waves on water. A red light began pulsing deep below, rhythmically — slow, ominous.
"Uh-oh," Iris said, scanning the air. "That's… not good."
"Define 'not good.'"
"Remember the Keeper's influence? Yeah. He found you."
The temperature dropped instantly. Frost formed on the mirrored walls. A low hum filled the air — a resonance deeper than anything Toshio had felt before.
From the nearest tower, a shadow began to crawl out — stretching impossibly tall, twisting into shape.
"What is that?" Toshio whispered.
"A Reflection Sentinel," Iris said grimly. "An extension of the Keeper's will. And judging by the energy level…"
"Let me guess."
"S-Rank."
The Sentinel's head rose — a featureless mask with dozens of shifting eyes. Its voice was a chorus of echoes, all speaking in his tone.
"You cannot rebuild what you destroyed."
Toshio gripped his blade. "Watch me."
He charged.
The Sentinel's arm morphed into a massive blade of glass, swinging down. Toshio barely dodged, the shockwave hurling him across the sand. He rolled, came up, and countered with a surge of resonant energy — slamming his sword into the ground.
Blue lightning burst outward in a circular wave, shattering several smaller wraiths that had begun to form nearby.
"Iris!"
"Already syncing!"
[Skill Fusion Initiated]
[Combining: Resonant Disruption + Energy Pulse]
[New Ability Unlocked: Heartstrike]
"Sounds fancy."
"It's not. You get one shot before it overloads your core."
"Then one's all I need."
He sprinted forward, every muscle screaming. The Sentinel raised its blade again — but Toshio was faster. He leapt, light gathering around his sword until it burned white-hot.
"This is for every life you took from me!"
He drove the blade straight into the Sentinel's chest.
A blinding pulse exploded outward — the shockwave tearing through the mirrored field, cracking towers, splitting the sky itself.
The Sentinel screamed — a sound like breaking glass and dying stars — before it shattered into nothing.
Toshio fell to one knee again, gasping. His vision blurred. Iris darted frantically around him.
"Hey—hey! Stay with me!"
He smirked faintly. "Still… alive… told you."
"Idiot," she muttered, voice trembling. "You could've burned out your entire core!"
"But I didn't."
She crossed her tiny arms. "Next time you pull a stunt like that, I'm cutting your oxygen."
"You don't even breathe."
"I'll learn, just to spite you."
They both laughed weakly.
As the energy faded, the sky above began to clear. The mirrors stopped shaking — and for the first time, the City of Mirrors was silent again.
A notification flickered faintly before Toshio's eyes.
[Quest Progress: 32%]
[Resonance Level Increased]
[Ability Unlocked: Heartstrike (Beta)]
[Warning: Core Stability Low – 43%]
[Next Objective: Locate the Second Core Signal]
Toshio stood, sheathing his sword slowly. "Guess that means we're not done yet."
"You never are," Iris said softly. "But… you did good, Toshio."
He smiled. "You almost sound like you care."
"Almost."
As they started walking toward the faint glow on the horizon, the reflection of Lyra appeared once more in the nearest shard — smiling faintly, as if watching.
He didn't say anything this time. He just smiled back.
The path ahead was long, broken, and uncertain — but he wasn't walking it alone anymore.
[Quest Updated]
Main Quest: Rebuild the Broken Bridge
Sub Quest: Seek the Second Core — Signal Detected (West Quadrant)
System Companion: Iris-09 (Synced 87%)
Core Stability: 43% (Warning: Overload Risk)
Next Chapter: The Echo of Her Wings