Libra's gentle yet resolute voice echoed throughout the Colosseum floating among the clouds. The golden scales in her hand slowly rotated, reflecting sunlight piercing through the sacred mist.
"The first match…"
Her voice seemed capable of reaching the hearts of every being present.
"Between Huli Jing, the Deceptive Fox, and Dr. Elaina Voss, the Weaver of Minds. With this… the judgment of the heavens begins."
The soft chime of her golden scales marked the beginning of the battle.
Applause erupted.
Huli Jing took the first step forward.
A faint smile curved upon her ruby-red lips, and in an instant, illusionary mist surged from beneath her feet.
Her body shimmered.
Then transformed into the figure of a young girl with a warm face and gentle eyes filled with affection as she looked toward Elaina.
Elaina froze.
Her lips nearly parted before she reflexively stopped herself. Yet sorrow quietly slipped behind her composed expression.
"You do not create fear."
Her voice was calm.
"You merely take trauma that already exists… and give it a face."
Her gray eyes narrowed.
"Taking the form of my daughter… who died when she was only ten years old?"
Her tone turned sharp like a surgical blade.
"You know something?"
Elaina slowly inhaled.
"You never truly create terror."
"You simply exploit unfinished grief and buried desires inside the human heart."
The once roaring arena suddenly fell silent.
Even the whispering wind seemed to stop.
Huli Jing, still wearing the appearance of Elaina's deceased daughter, slowly reverted back into her true form. Nine massive tails swayed behind her elegant body.
Libra stared at them with widened eyes.
She could feel the immense emotional resonance spreading through the arena.
"The illusion… was directed only at that woman," Libra said to The Ancient One in astonishment. "But how is that possible? Why is she the only one who can see that form?"
The Ancient One nodded slowly, his golden wings trembling faintly.
"True illusion, dear Libra, is not about what the eyes perceive…"
His gaze remained fixed on Huli Jing.
"It is about what touches the deepest memories."
At that very moment, the floor beneath them trembled violently.
The walls of air shattered into fragments of luminous glass.
The vast arena transformed into an endless labyrinth of mirrors. Every reflection displayed the blue sky and fractured sunlight split into thousands of pieces, creating the illusion that the two women now stood upon a celestial stage between reality and reflection.
Huli Jing chuckled softly as the stage groaned and shifted around them.
Her laughter sounded like poison hidden beneath silk.
As though she were preparing something far crueler.
Elaina slowly observed her surroundings.
Above.
Below.
To her sides.
In front.
Behind.
Every mirror reflected her image.
And each reflection stared back the moment she turned toward it.
Her breathing remained uneven.
The sharpness in her eyes dimmed slightly.
The previous illusion had reopened wounds buried deep within her soul. It had awakened memories that should have remained sealed forever.
Yet Huli Jing had forced them back into existence with a form so painfully real… as though Elaina could simply reach out and embrace her daughter once more.
But Elaina refused to yield.
She forced her mind back toward logic.
"My daughter is dead," she whispered, her voice trembling faintly.
"She cannot possibly stand before me again… not like that."
Huli Jing raised an eyebrow as she noticed Elaina's slightly trembling shoulders.
Foxfire flickered within her golden eyes.
"Quite resilient," she murmured softly.
"In that case… what kind of illusion would truly suit a woman who hides her soul behind a stern face and rational thought?"
She straightened her posture.
Her nine tails spread behind her like living curtains of silk, reflecting pale light descending from the heavens above.
Her soft laughter suddenly exploded into rolling echoes that slammed against the mirrored walls and reverberated through the highest tribunes.
The vibrations became so intense that illusionary dust drifted through the air like a rain of shattered glass.
Elaina studied the mirrors carefully.
Some reflections no longer matched her own movements.
One reflection beside her lowered its head.
Another behind her smiled the instant she turned around.
"Simultaneous psychological attacks through visual and auditory distortion…" Elaina murmured quietly.
"Remarkably similar to schizophrenia."
Before she could fully process what was happening—
The entire arena plunged into darkness.
Sunlight vanished as though devoured by some colossal creature.
No shadows.
No direction.
Only endless blackness that seemed almost alive.
Elaina flinched faintly.
For a brief second, she thought she might lose consciousness from the emotional shock Huli Jing's previous illusion had caused.
Her hand reached toward the mirror before her.
Its reflection copied the movement perfectly.
The glass felt cold.
And unmistakably real.
So she knew she was still conscious.
Her head slowly turned as Huli Jing's horrifying laughter echoed throughout the darkness.
The movement was deliberate.
As though she were trying to conceal the frantic pounding of her own heart.
The laughter bounced from every direction.
Several spectators in the tribunes shuddered violently. Some instinctively covered their ears.
Within that suffocating darkness, Elaina finally spoke.
Her voice remained calm.
Almost philosophical.
"You are using darkness and extreme heights to pressure human instinct?"
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"Nyctophobia. Acrophobia."
Her index and middle fingers slowly rose into the air.
"We studied fears like these long before you became a legend."
Silence.
Huli Jing's laughter abruptly stopped.
Moments later, her chuckling returned.
Softer now.
Far more piercing.
"Oh, human…"
Her voice echoed from every direction.
"You believe logic can protect you from what you are about to witness next?"
Elaina's gaze immediately sharpened.
Her eyes rapidly scanned the mirrors, observing the distortions rippling across their surfaces like reflections disturbed by stones cast into water.
Then her eyes stopped.
One mirror stood roughly five meters away, estimated from the fractured glass tiles beneath her feet.
Within it appeared another version of herself.
A four-year-old Elaina.
The child sat alone within the darkness while staring at a candle whose flame was slowly dying.
Her eyes were empty.
Tears stained her cheeks.
And her trembling lips softly called out a name no one had spoken in years.
Silence hung in the air.
Darkness crawled endlessly around her.
Only the faint candlelight reflected upon the stern face of the adult Elaina, whose eyes now glistened with tears.
Not from fear.
But because an old wound had once again knocked upon the door of her soul.