“The sharpest blade is the one you turn inward.”
The path beyond Apostasy twisted into an obsidian bridge, spiraling toward a colossal structure made of mirrored glass and veiled screams.
Each step reflected Kai’s image—not as he was, but as he could have been.
Kai the coward.
Kai the conqueror.
Kai the murderer.
Kai who never saved anyone.
“Node 29: Mirror Cathedral – Alignment Required.”
The doors opened not with hinges, but with accusation.
Inside—an infinite hall of reflections, each pane vibrating with suppressed memory and unreleased trauma.
They came first:
Hollow versions of Kai.
They had no faces—only masks etched with one word each:
Guilt
Doubt
Pride
Fear
Each one mirrored a combat style he had used before—but distorted.
Imperfect clones using his own past against him.
“You are the sum of everything you suppress,” whispered one.
He fought like a storm—null thread binding, echo fire rebounding, silhouette absorption in play.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
But for every kill, another mask broke—and the emotion underneath flooded him.
Fighting Fear Kai filled his vision with hallucinations.
Fighting Guilt Kai made him relive every time he didn’t act.
Each victory made him weaker, not stronger.
“You’re bleeding out from the inside,” said Doubt Kai, dissolving into mist.
Kai dropped to a knee.
He was unraveling.
A new mirror ignited at the altar.
Not just another Kai.
This one was perfect.
The Ideal Kai.
He wore white. He smiled. He glowed.
“I am what you think you could be if the world hadn’t broken you.”
He stepped forward.
“But let me be honest:
You like being broken.
You think pain makes you deep.
You think anger makes you right.
You are in love with your own misery.”
Kai stood up, slow and shaky.
“And you… are the lie I tell myself when I want to sleep at night.”
This wasn’t physical.
This was ideological warfare.
Every punch was a rejection.
Every dodge was a suppressed truth.
“I am the Kai who could have saved his mother!”
— Ideal Kai
“She was dead before I had the chance.”
— Kai
“I am the Kai who never begged for death in silence!”
— Ideal Kai
“I still hear that silence. Every night.”
— Kai
They clashed—blow for blow, memory for memory.
But Kai did something the reflection couldn’t:
He forgave himself.
Just enough to stand taller.
Just enough to break the mirror.
New Passive Unlocked:
[Reflected Will] – “You can weaponize suppressed emotions for short bursts of narrative immunity.”
Kai exited the cathedral.
The reflection shattered behind him, and he didn’t look back.
Chapter 109 – “The Mirror Cathedral”
Node 29: Where Self-Reflection Becomes Warfare