“How long are you going to stay hidden there? Or do you really think you can quietly let this situation pass by?”
Yuria continued with a cold voice, staring directly at the mirror covered in a hazy dust.
However, as expected, no response came.
In the chilling silence, only a deep stillness filled the small room.
It wouldn’t have been hard to destroy the flimsy mirror and drag out whatever was hiding inside.
But she didn’t hastily take action.
As always, her cautious nature showed; she wore a faint, taunting smile and slowly continued provoking whatever was in there.
Like the saying goes, “Even when crossing a stone bridge, you must tap it first,” she couldn’t afford to be careless against an opponent like this.
Even if it was nothing more than a faint remnant, a dying ember barely holding on.
“Heh… Isn’t it a pathetic thing to say? You, who struck fear and reverence into all the demons on the surface, who was once called the worst nightmare, have fallen to this state.”
“Well, I suppose it’s a fitting end for a loser. After all, no matter how great you were, the fact that you were brought to your knees before the great Demon Empress will never change.”
***
For the being once known as invincible, this was probably the only flaw, a sort of Achilles’ heel, an undeniable and fatal point.
It was directly related to her mother, the final battle with the Demon Empress.
The worst warrior, recorded in the nearly extinct forbidden texts, had a highly arrogant and cruel nature.
The most representative word that showed his way of thinking: the survival of the fittest.
In his cruel ideology, where only the strong can take everything and rule over the weak, the hatred toward the Demon Empress, who was the only one to defeat him, must have been beyond imagination.
Whether the remnant before her was still fully aware of its identity was unclear, but the mark of defeat etched deep within would never be erased.
As proof of that, the entire space, which had been quiet until then, began to tremble, and soon, intense heat and power spread around the mirror.
And that could only mean one thing.
Her provocation had worked, and something that had remained motionless until now had finally started to move.
Up to this point, it was within expectations.
The true flames of hell now hanging before her were so intense that they could take her breath away, but Yuria, with her natural mental strength, endured and kept her eyes fixed on it.
Even though it was only a small ember for now, if she left it unchecked, it would eventually become an uncontrollable inferno.
It had been a stroke of luck to have found it at this moment, so she was determined to eradicate any future repercussions right here and now, staying firmly in place.
At that moment, a bright flash of light burst from the mirror, where the furious flames were swirling and violently shaking.
At the same time, a strange red glow flashed in her eyes, and Yuria activated her power.
Unlike the real world, this was the inner world of the mind, where completely different laws applied.
This meant that her power, which had no real form, could be used in a different way.
Creeeek…!!
Thin, red threads appeared all over the room without warning.
When only a single thread was observed, it seemed harmless, a weak thing not worth paying attention to.
But when that single thread multiplied into hundreds, thousands, and formed an intricate, dense web, the situation changed completely.
Most crucially, as the flash of light slowly faded, the true nature of the power began to show.
Countless red threads now filled every inch of the room.
The previously threatening momentum was nowhere to be found, and the mirror was tightly bound by the intricate threads, its flickering flames trapped within as if confined inside.
With that, the situation was effectively over.
It was an anticlimactic conclusion, but that was to be expected.
If they were outside, the situation might have been different, but in the realm of the mind, with her dominant power added to the fact that this space belonged to her, there was no way that the intruder—who was nothing more than foreign matter—could escape from her restraints.
Moreover, unlike when she fought the strange monster in the sewer, there was no vessel to contain the full power of this entity.
Now, with no means of escape, the thing was just like a trapped rat.
All that was left was to extinguish that tiny spark and remove any remaining minor threats.
Whether it instinctively sensed its future, the flame in the mirror showed no sign of resistance.
Instead, it appeared to observe her.
Like it was trying to gauge its opponent, the mad flame emitted a chilling and eerie energy as it stared at her.
Instinctively, Yuria felt a sense of unease that was almost impossible to articulate and hastily reached out.
But it was already too late.
Her sharp instincts were rendered useless as the secret flames of the rising fire had already drawn close.
Whoooosh-!!!!
In an instant, without warning, a fierce storm of flames began to whip through right in front of Yuria.
The first thing she felt was the change in the air.
The burning heat and intense temperature, far beyond what it had been moments before, quickly filled the small room.
The entire colorless space was engulfed by scorching flames, and in the blink of an eye, it was consumed by the fierce blaze.
As a natural consequence, her red thread, tightly bound, found itself right in the heart of the heat and soon melted away without resistance.
At the same time, the mirror that had been firmly bound was completely freed, but her attention was entirely focused on something else.
Yuria, who had fallen into extreme confusion due to the sudden, unexpected turn of events, soon regained her composure.
Quickly, she began to analyze the current situation, and soon arrived at one chilling conclusion.
***
That from the beginning, this entire scenario had been part of its meticulous plan, and she had unknowingly walked right into the trap.
Looking back, it all started when Kaya was in danger, and Yuria, against all odds, revealed herself and helped by lending her power.
She thought she had acted instinctively to save Kaya, to save the host, but in the end, that guess was only half right.
That presence had already anticipated the situation long ago.
It had sensed some kind of anomaly and had known she would come to this mental world, and even that she would come here, driven by her will, to deal with it herself…
Everything seemed to be under the control of that presence.
But at the same time, Yuria couldn’t make sense of the situation.
‘How had it managed to deceive her until now and build up such an extraordinary amount of power?’
‘With all this immense strength, why hadn’t it moved until now?’
The magnitude of the situation unfolding in front of her was so far beyond comprehension that it was impossible to grasp with common sense.
Despite maintaining vigilance and never letting her guard down, the reality she faced now mocked all her expectations.
The situation was so overwhelming that, if things continued like this, her safety could no longer be guaranteed.
Its power had far exceeded anything she could have predicted, and recklessly confronting it would be tantamount to suicide.
Even though this was a mental world, there was no physical damage, but the mental damage could easily be fatal.
Ultimately, she tried to force an escape for temporary retreat, but even that failed soon after.
As expected, like a fish caught, it would never let go.
Before long, a thick, impenetrable barrier had appeared over the entire mental realm.
And taking advantage of the confusion, the one responsible for all of this did not stay idle.
Yuria continued to search for an escape route.
In a bizarre reversal of roles, the chains closing in on the trapped rat began to make their presence known.
After the anomaly occurred, the mirror, now covered in a deep, unfathomable abyss, revealed its terrifying presence.
From beyond it, strange hands slowly stretched out, impossible to identify.
What was left behind, only a charred skeleton burned by fire, seemed ready to crumble at any moment.
Yet, the intense venom and terrifying malice within it quickly filled the room.
It was the very essence of hatred and resentment, accumulated over time, more cruel than death itself.
Confronted by such an overwhelming madness, Yuria, whose mind was strong, could only grit her teeth.
At the same time, a primal fear that paralyzed her body caused her legs to stiffen, allowing the strange hands from beyond the mirror to close in.
With no escape in sight, just when the moment of life and death was upon her—
Something completely unexpected blocked the path.
In the midst of the burning chaos in the small room, the owner of the room, who had been sitting unmoved amidst the confusion, had stepped forward.
This time, unlike before, she stood in front of Yuria, her sharp, clear eyes blocking the blackened, reaching hand.