Mirroths were priceless commodities.
They were monopolized by the Harmonic Council and the Choir of Dawn, factions that had spilled rivers of blood over them. Some wars had been fought just to secure a Mirroth of the lowest grade.
And yet…
Here he was.
Standing in the middle of thousands of them.
Some shimmering with grades that went beyond anything ever recorded.
Wasn't this just free farming points?
Wasn't this just straight-up cheating?
Elias didn't see a problem with that.
After all, if anyone deserved to cheat the system, it was him.
"Are you done staring around and giggling like an idiot?" Elyndra snapped, irritation clear in her voice as she flicked her fingers.
The interface in front of Elias flickered.
A new window snapped into place.
[New Mission]
Arvenelle has been infected with corruption.
The fate of the corrupted is death.
Rescue your parents from the Choir Knights before they are executed.
[Time Limit: 10 Minutes]
Elias froze.
A cold, crushing sense of urgency slammed into him so hard it stole the air from his lungs.
Choir Knights only appeared after an invasion — once the real danger had passed. They came to "clean up."
Which meant slaughtering Echolings.
Not without chanting a prayer first, of course.
A neat little act of hypocrisy. A way to soothe their consciences while killing what were, more often than not, still human — just broken and mad.
Rage burned hot in Elias's chest.
Those bastards had vanished when the invasion started.
Gone when people needed saving.
Yet they always showed up right on time for the cleanup.
He hated that.
He hated the way those self-righteous freaks carried themselves — cloaked in holiness, dripping with superiority — as if the rest of the world was nothing but filth beneath their boots.
And now—
Now they were coming for his parents.
Elias turned to Elyndra in silence.
She was watching him now, amusement flickering in her eyes.
"How do I get out of here?" he asked. "I don't feel any control over this place."
For once, she didn't joke.
Even Elyndra could tell he was dead serious.
She floated upward and pointed toward the dark throne looming over the Expanse, its presence pressing down with a suppressed, suffocating weight.
"Sit on the throne," she said. "Once you do, this Realm will recognize you as its Master."
Elias didn't respond.
He stretched out his hand and willed the Lament he had been given to appear.
Golden strings materialized above his palm, chiming softly like distant bells. A spark of light flashed—
And a cloak formed in his grasp.
It was dark.
Not just black, but a depthless darkness, so absolute it looked as though light itself bent away from it. Black scales were woven across its surface, faintly glowing like obsidian soaked in shadows.
Any other time, Elias would have stopped to stare.
Something this breathtaking deserved awe.
But his parents were all he could think about.
That could wait.
The moment he draped the cloak over his bare body, it tightened — not harshly, but deliberately — like something alive adjusting itself to its new master.
Weirdly satisfying.
Strange.
And then he felt it.
His perception sharpened. The world seemed clearer and richer in detail — making him notice stuff way more easily.
As expected of a Divine Lament.
Even worn, it was already passively enhancing his senses.
But time was ticking.
He needed to move.
Elias broke into a half-run up the seven flights of stairs, ignoring the amused expression of the tiny gremlin floating behind him.
That small devil would definitely get disciplined once he was stronger.
But for now he would let her off!
The moment he reached the Dark Throne, he sat without hesitation.
And then it happened.
He felt it.
Control. Euphoria. Power.
A scale so massive it was born dizzying and overwhelming — after all the expanse beneath him was barely a fraction of the Realm in its entirety.
"I'm going to sleep, loser," Elyndra called, yawning lazily. "Bye-bye."
And just like that, she vanished, dissolving into glowing blue moths.
Elias took one last sweeping look: the thousands of Echoforms scattered across the expanse, the multitude of Mirrorths hovering midair, each pulsing in a distinct hue.
"So… all this is mine, huh?" he murmured, voice low, almost rueful. It felt surreal, going from a loser overnight to someone with all of this.
With a satisfied sigh, he tapped the armrest of the throne lightly.
And in an instant… he disappeared.
***
"Dammit," Elias groaned, feeling a little woozy.
He was back in the park.
The same park where that Echoling bastard had shoved him into the Mirrorth like a sack of potatoes.
Of course, the Mirrorth was gone now — it belonged to him.
Thinking about it, he should probably thank that jackass. After all, it was his shove that made all of this possible.
Thankfully, the park was empty. No one to witness his sudden appearance from thin air.
It had been night before, so he hadn't seen the true state of the familiar place.
Now… he could.
Shoes, guitars, broken equipment, scattered belongings — chaos everywhere.
The grass was trampled, thick with dirt from frantic feet, patterns etched into the soil by people running for their lives.
Elias shook his head, forcing those thoughts away.
[Time Limit: 6 Minutes.]
He was running out of time.
Walking out of the park, Elias stepped onto the street and tried not to gag at the mess. Cars were abandoned everywhere, windows smashed withpieces of glass scattered across the tarred road like debris.
He zigzagged between the wrecks, heading down an alley toward the duplexes. Home should be just past them. He hoped, no prayed to whatever was up there that he will make it in time.
Assuming his parents were still there, that is. After all there was no telling where the madness might make them move to in the end.
"Dear gods," he muttered, rubbing his forehead. His head already throbbed from thinking too much.
Voices came rushing from the end of the alley. He froze.
Pressing against the wall, he used the shadows as cover. One step at a time, he edged forward, careful not to make a sound.
"Come on, Luka! Don't tell me you can't hold him!"
"I'm trying!"
Elias peeked around the corner.
And froze.