The world twisted violently as he plunged through the surface. The cold enveloped him entirely, not like water but something far more alien - a liquid stillness that seemed to devour sound, light, and time. For a fleeting moment, there was absolute silence, a void so profound it felt as though even his thoughts had been swallowed.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfifkmVZ4uW
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNqjqY1zhG
Suddenly, it felt as if he broke through a wall, and then he was falling through empty air until he slammed into a hard, smooth surface. The impact drove the breath from his lungs, leaving him gasping for air.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vYg5GOanc
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeEPBXZ79Yh
For several heartbeats, he lay still, his mind struggling to process what had happened. Then he pushed himself up on his elbows and looked around. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDepKbFr3uR
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4Yzqj4Mdf
Gone were the violet crystals that had nearly killed him. In their place stretched corridors of black glass, their surfaces so perfectly reflective they seemed to hold depths that extended forever. The walls pulsed with a sickly phosphorescent glow that seemed to breathe beneath the surface, casting everything in an otherworldly pallor.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyEnKMndckJ
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCF5sz61cgw
Cel pushed himself to his knees, wincing at the cold that radiated up through his palms. His reflection stared back at him from every surface - but not just one reflection. Dozens of them filled the black mirrors, and none moved when he did.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrKvPOmqEd
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBJp2eplGEP
One reflection tilted its head. Another pressed its palm against the glass from the inside, fingers splayed. A third simply smiled with too many teeth.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGxMCnK4Neu
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVVkReQ5aTj
"What in..." The word died in his throat as every reflection turned toward him in perfect unison, their movements creating a ripple effect through the mirrored halls.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7mpB9fbnO
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRigeicy6Ku
He scrambled to his feet, backing away from the nearest wall. But there was nowhere to go - reflections surrounded him on all sides, each one wearing his face but moving independently. Some wept tears that left dark streaks down their cheeks. Others snarled with animal fury. One stood perfectly still, its eyes tracking his every movement like a predator sizing up prey.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQYu5ciNon
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9eGlQA8OtZ
The silence that had plagued him since the crystal maze was gone. Here, sound returned with vengeful intensity. Every breath he took echoed from a hundred mirrored throats. His heartbeat thundered back at him, amplified until it felt like war drums pounding in his skull.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBdzJAgd5F
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcO7JmQlkys
He took a step forward, and the obsidian floor rippled beneath his feet like the lake's surface. The motion sent fresh waves of nausea through his stomach, but he forced himself to keep moving. Standing still felt like surrender.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0WPYfy4v9
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOSXRplE8E
As he walked deeper into the mirrored world, the reflections began to change. They no longer wore his current face - scarred, hardened by suffering. Instead, they showed him as he had been. The boy who had cowered before his father's fists. The son who had disappointed everyone who ever looked at him.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTjZpDScE7K
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjkeXU0unM
In one mirror, Lord Aldric's face materialized behind his younger self. His father's mouth moved in familiar patterns of rage, though no sound escaped the glass. But Cel didn't need to hear the words - he knew them by heart.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbkyxtN9aj
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr26W2IYtsT
The reflection of his younger self flinched with each silent blow, shoulders hunching in the defensive posture Cel had perfected through years of beatings. Blood welled from the boy's split lip, and his eyes - Cel's own eyes - burned with helpless rage that had nowhere to go. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCg58Ze5GIk
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdcmrrR0eVh
"Stop," Cel whispered, but the scene continued to play out behind the glass. His father's hands closed around the boy's throat, shaking him like a broken doll.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnnFXvQoyk
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVBKbNQfqM
More mirrors awakened around him. His mother appeared in one, her face a mask of cold indifference as she turned her back on her bleeding son. ’He brought this on himself,’ her lips seemed to say.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmVDCtdo68g
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5BUnOoSL3
Darian filled another mirror, standing in the doorway with his fists clenched and his feet rooted to the floor. The older brother who had never lifted a finger to help, who had watched every beating with the detached interest of someone observing the weather. His reflection mouthed words that cut deeper than any blade. ‘Not worth it.’109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaC2srPD5u8
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtVqzvUJPLC
The mirrors multiplied as Cel stumbled forward. Faces from his past filled every reflective surface - clan members who had sneered at the failure of House Solmar, servants who had whispered about the family's shame, lords and ladies who had looked through him as if he didn't exist.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPhgdifMdJm
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25ly35LAeo
But it was the cult members who made him stop breathing.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZQi5348WRf
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgCagdiGzjW
They emerged from the deepest mirrors like nightmares given form. Purple robes that seemed to devour light, hoods that cast shadows too deep for natural darkness. Their faces remained hidden, but their presence filled the mirrored halls with the memory of pain so intense it had carved channels in his soul.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2r7FyOr3OA
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKHPStVQPYv
One stepped closer to the glass, and Cel saw the glint of the blade that had opened his veins countless times. Another held a vial of his own blood, dark and congealed. They had fed on his suffering for an entire year, growing strong on his weakness while his father counted the gold they'd paid for his torment.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJT9wR8ix83
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvLGQ2YDK8u
The reflections of his younger self began to speak then, their voices overlapping in a chorus of self-hatred that made his knees buckle.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT0HKqRx5yW
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”You'll never be enough.”109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVbYOyJYgX
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6gNPaGisAb
”You should have died in that cell.”109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16PalfUexP
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9H5ZOQ4EMx
”They saw you for what you are - weak and pathetic.”109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxDHOQmSL0n
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKZPM9Au9U
”Do you really think the gods care about your suffering?”109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhbofb4Twz
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”You've always been a failure.”109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhM2zmwh7rT
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJll5u8rIjQ
”No one is coming to save you. No one ever will.”109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2aZmdlZ7NT
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgE5ncIkyxM
”They were relieved to be rid of you.”109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE31JXNUjFC
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62l9iLQFcd
Cel's ears remained useless, yet he heard everything. Each word finding the spaces between his ribs where doubt had always lived. Cel's breath came in ragged gasps, his chest rising and falling like a bellows worked by desperate hands. The silence that had plagued him since yesterday was a distant memory now - here, every cruel whisper thundered with the force of absolute truth.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6sdfutHPs
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6umwB9Hed
He pressed his palms against his skull, fingers digging into his scalp until he felt the sharp bite of his own nails.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ67wYl5MQ1S
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWRc9tgeVSI
”You know we're right.”109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBtUiybgSJ0
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWK3gM2CJpO
”You've always known.”109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ZoTcudvGg
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gpTqmpb4k
”Stop fighting what you are.”109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcQ9mmhGie8
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzD5zptOmKm
Tears burned behind his eyes, but Cel bit down on his tongue until he tasted blood. He wouldn't break. Not for them. Not after everything he had endured.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLrJ7UcdTs
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAdQuzdvTf
But even as he stood defiant, the mirrors began to change. The black glass surfaces rippled like water disturbed by stones. Hairline cracks appeared, spreading outward in spider web patterns that caught the sickly light and threw it back in fractured rays.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRIWaKLRtYu
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx34uFXskja
The first reflection pressed its palm against the glass from inside, and where flesh met mirror, the barrier began to soften. Like wax held too close to flame, the obsidian surface warped and stretched.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD86uufD5d6
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrKeUrVdQVk
Lord Aldric's face emerged first, pushing through the yielding mirror as if surfacing from deep water. But this was not the man Cel remembered - this version gleamed with an inner light that made his skin appear translucent, veins of silver running beneath the surface like captured starlight. When his boots touched the obsidian floor, they rang out like hammer strikes on an anvil.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnOq6IP8sE8
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡotC7z5D14m
"Look at you," he said, his voice carrying the weight of mountains. Each word fell like a physical blow, driving Cel back a step. "Still cowering. Still weak."109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqntbmc51mW
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTYFu0C1O4K
The mirror behind him continued to ripple, and more figures began to emerge. Cel's mother stepped through with ethereal grace, her form wavering like heat shimmer. His sister clung to her skirts, eyes wide with the same terror Cel had seen on that terrible day. But there was something else in her gaze now - disappointment, so profound it made his stomach clench.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdfgbLlTP3m
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tlRCptKYA
"We tried to love you," his mother whispered, her voice barely audible yet somehow cutting through every other sound. "But you made it so hard."109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA67dUoqPJ6
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXTceOOqT56
Darian came next, his crystalline form catching the phosphorescent light as he moved. He met Cel's eyes for only a moment before looking away, his fists clenched so tightly that light leaked between his fingers. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡug0Zz7EfdK
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9h9ATYidjL
"I wanted to help you." His crystalline form shifted slightly. "But you never made it worth the risk."109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0GUFbsT8o5
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wkQ8lOAYZ
The clan members followed in a cascade of silver and shadow, their sneers frozen on faces that gleamed like marble. They moved in perfect synchronization, pointing at Cel with fingers that extended like accusatory daggers109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrV8SsXaQGR
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtt09iMb2Up
"Disgrace."109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFHRqq9J72t
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSSu6S7gc7
"Failure."109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQc7YRqKs5U
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfES3njz8bm
"Mistake."109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4r01doP1OW
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Their voices overlapped, creating a harmony of condemnation that made the air itself seem to thicken.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgo0lEDay8X
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiOQkYaNsij
Behind them, the cultists stepped through their mirrors with barely a whisper, purple robes settling around them like shadows. They took their places among the gathering without fanfare, silent reminders of past torment.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNrzOEu9JBb
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIM9KQlzF9x
But it was the mirrors cracking wider still that made Cel's breath catch in his throat.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpT7WTIU8FW
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His own reflections began to emerge.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcGazgic1K
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDkvGjfDKLc
They came slowly and deliberately, like hunters who knew their prey had nowhere to run. The first was himself at seven years old - small, bruised, with eyes that had already learned to expect pain. Its mirror-born body moved with the jerky, uncertain gait of a child who had been struck too many times to trust his own balance.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohGbWmZNgv
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Another followed: the prisoner, gaunt and hollow-eyed, his ribs clearly visible beneath gaunt skin. This version of himself moved with the careful, measured steps of someone who had learned that sudden movements brought punishment.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP12DyRKA63
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A third reflection stepped through - older, harder, with Cel's current face but twisted by something that looked like madness. This version smiled with too many teeth, and when it spoke, its voice carried the rasp of someone who had screamed until his throat bled.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4A8ZRyD6Q
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"Nothing changed," the child-reflection whispered, its voice high and broken.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPlZbFjQ5j
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iifQt3swF
The prisoner-reflection tilted its head, studying Cel with the detached interest of a scholar examining an insect. "You think escape means freedom? We know better, don't we?"109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP2ItACPXpQ
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvopR7MDzN6
The mad-reflection threw back its head and laughed, the sound like glass grinding against stone. "Freedom? There is no freedom. There's only what they made us."109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDc12QDHNof
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnnZcB4ElEv
More emerged - dozens of versions of himself, each one representing a different moment of breaking, a different surrender to despair. They formed circles around him, creating a forest of accusation and self-hatred.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡANqpkPX2TY
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"You should have died in that cell," hissed a reflection with lips cracked and bleeding from dehydration. 109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoQnZXhwKca
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"Death would have been kinder," agreed another, this one bearing scars the cultists had carved into his flesh.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBzDoypREI
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"But you were too weak even for that," sneered a third, its throat raw and damaged from screaming.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLKKEEzB2sA
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTJSwdROBzt
Cel's legs gave out. He crashed to his knees on the reflective floor, the impact sending ripples across the surface. His breath came in sharp, desperate gasps, each inhalation feeling like it might be his last. The weight of their collective judgment pressed down on him, heavier than chains, more suffocating than the cultists' dungeon walls.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwW44XrV0fG
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigewkVpgvg
"Weak."109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDQ7J14L92i
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"Pathetic."109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ66IsdmRUL3
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“Failure."109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdP2vOCwD1
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU8nLWjWG81
"Worthless."109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfueEnYI7sB
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"Coward."109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXb7Njl4fB
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuufbuFWRTg
"Nothing."109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡugWQhREkDi
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxsYER1ZcXa
Tears burned at the corners of his eyes, and this time he couldn't stop them. They carved hot tracks down his cheeks, each drop hitting the ground with a sound like a funeral bell. His shoulders shook with the effort of holding himself upright as everything he'd survived, all the pain that had become his foundation, rose up to claim him.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2znRc8PJBY
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHSJODNgfMm
For a moment that stretched like eternity, he felt himself falling into that familiar darkness. The void where nothing mattered because nothing had ever mattered. Where the pain was so complete it became a kind of peace.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd7ws8oPIKm
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIBUYP24Id
Suddenly, he heard laughter - a wild, broken sound that scraped against the obsidian walls like fingernails on glass. It bubbled up from somewhere deep and fractured, edged with hysteria.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDkm9k4nzr1
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It took him a moment to realize it was coming from his own throat.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57Up2IF3QZ
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9c2sH2Dibe
"Ha... haha... HAHAHA!" The sound grew louder, more unhinged with each breath. His shoulders shook violently, not with sobs but with mirth that felt like madness clawing its way out of his chest. Tears streamed down his cheeks, hot and burning, but still the laughter poured out of him.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNie12kAm9T
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAyMPIjTGcE
The reflections paused, their sneers faltering as Cel's hysterical cackling filled the mirrored halls.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu2FvQlwAd8
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQ9C1q1tjt
"You think... haha… you think this hurts?" He gasped between fits of laughter, his voice turning savage, primal - the sound of something fundamental snapping inside him.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM8IaWOHYyZ
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡei6Wcyc2hf
"You want me broken?" he shrieked, the words torn from his throat between bursts of manic laughter. "If that's what this world wants from me - if that's what you ALL want from me - then fine! I'll break!"109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcAHfNhtms
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9NT0bT9Geu
For the first time since he'd entered this trial, a smile crept across Cel's face. It was a wide, happy smile full of pure delight, even though tears still streamed down his cheeks.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENfvNrpeL0
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM58PpdM8nA
The mad-reflection stepped closer, its twisted smile widening. "Oh, what's this? Finally cracking, are we? About time you—"109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBkjXzgeuio
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3j2rsbOqWr
Cel launched himself forward with a burst of euphoric laughter that sounded almost joyful. His hands slammed into the reflection's chest, sending both of them crashing to the ground. The impact rang out like a bell, but Cel barely felt it.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UDnWKzymv
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXeLYrH1VI
His laughter bubbled out of him like a spring, bright and musical as his fists pounded into the reflection's face. Each blow sent spider-web cracks racing across its crystalline features, and each crack made him laugh harder, as if this destruction was the most wonderful thing he'd ever witnessed.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡniZFRQWBCo
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvx1qn3Hqgx
The reflection tried to speak, its mouth opening in protest, but Cel's fist crashed into it again. And again. And again.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Xb9v4rO1S
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHIQhk4zz0
His knuckles split against the crystalline surface, his own blood mixing with the fragments. But the pain only made him laugh harder, as if each strike brought him genuine happiness.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1kWZRuH0BD
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPtKnA9ua6y
With a final, devastating blow, the reflection exploded beneath his fists. Fragments scattered across the floor like fallen stars, each piece reflecting his tear-streaked face - still wearing that beautiful, terrible smile.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3PsbRVtduS
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSFxEtd3m8E
Cel knelt there in the debris, his laughter gradually fading into ragged breathing. The other reflections had gone silent, watching him with something that might have been fear.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlxB7A02QzI
109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICcJYqquqT
He looked up at them with a wide and radiant smile of mad delight.109Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXux5VLpXRh
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“Who’s next?”1234 copyright protection105ＰＥＮＡＮＡiqEbgxR5CM 尼

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