Axel
patreon
Chapter 447: The Shadow of the Mirror and the Demon of the Mirror
🕑 Added 2025-05-17 15:07:00 +0000 UTCAs soon as the labyrinth formed by the ancient scroll appeared above the skies of the Black Phoenix Dynasty, it was shattered by a single shot from Yannis Hadrian. He remarked coldly, “A trivial trick to summon an evil god!”
“What use is it anyway?”
Charlot Mecklenburg gazed at the Agmirlas Labyrinth scroll. This ancient artwork added twenty-three pages to his labyrinth, filling his heart with joy. He infused all these labyrinth pages into his eyes. Originally, there were only four silver mirrors. Under the influence of more than ten pages from the Agmirlas Labyrinth, a fifth quietly condensed.
Charlot immediately sensed a new extraordinary ability awakening within him—Shadow of the Mirror!
Shadow of the Mirror could reflect any enemy, or even himself, creating illusory figures that briefly matched the strength of their originals, though it could not surpass Charlot’s own limits.
Without hesitation, Charlot continued channeling the Agmirlas Labyrinth. This time, he poured all but the last cover page into the mirrors. Yet, even after exhausting the pages, the bloody rune for the fifth level of the Infinite Mirror World failed to materialize.
Casting another glance at the sky, Charlot ripped apart another ancient scroll.
Yannis Hadrian didn’t even bother to look this time. With a casual shot, he shattered the newly emerged labyrinth in the sky.
At the end of the labyrinth, the enraged cries of the evil god Agmirlas echoed. Never before had this god been so humiliated.
Charlot, undeterred, tore apart over a dozen scrolls obtained from Leopardman Tumisan, summoning labyrinth after labyrinth in the sky. Each time, the shadow of Agmirlas appeared. And each time, it was obliterated by a single shot from Yannis Hadrian.
Each time, Charlot could feel Agmirlas’s growing fury! The evil god seemed to be nearing madness.
Agmirlas, the labyrinth god, had never imagined being summoned repeatedly, only for the essence of its labyrinth to be destroyed over and over again. It had tried transferring evil power directly into the summoning. But no matter how much power it sent, it was effortlessly crushed each time.
When the last summoning faded, Agmirlas was left bewildered. Its roars of frustration reverberated, unable to comprehend the mortals’ motives. Were they playing games with it?
Toying with an evil god?
Impossible!
Agmirlas racked its divine mind, unable to fathom what was happening on the distant Old Continent.
Yannis Hadrian, after shattering over ten labyrinths, remained unimpressed. To a pinnacle Saint rank like him, the aura of an evil god was utterly insignificant. With Charlot out of scrolls, the labyrinth summoning ceased. Yannis Hadrian returned to the battlefield with heightened fervor. The repeated interruptions from the labyrinth had only stoked his battle spirit further.
Despite the aid of the Radiant Holy Kingdom, Cresto found himself continuously forced back, struggling to hold his ground.
The performance of Charlot Mecklenburg, a previously unremarkable count, had surpassed even the so-called strongest champions of the Five Great Empires.
Charlot continued feeding Agmirlas Labyrinth pages into the Infinite Mirror World. When it reached ×5, the ability seemed to transform into an infinite abyss. Despite pouring in over a hundred pages, the five silver bloody runes remained unresponsive.
Finally, after what felt like an endless sacrifice of labyrinth pages, sharp pain erupted in Charlot’s eyes. He faintly heard the sound of shattering glass. A sixth silver mirror rune appeared within his gaze.
Infinite Mirror World ×6!
Charlot unlocked a sixth extraordinary ability—Demon of the Mirror!
Demon of the Mirror allowed him to transform any living being into a Mirror Spirit, a servant-like existence often referred to as a "steward of the Infinite Mirror World." Similar to magical contracts, this ability was bound by a lifetime limitation: only one Mirror Spirit could exist at a time. A new one could only be created after the current spirit perished.
Charlot poured every remaining page of the Agmirlas Labyrinth into the Infinite Mirror World, but the seventh bloody rune failed to materialize. The seventh silver mirror did not form in his eyes either.
Closing his diary, Charlot looked up at the sky, eager to join the battle. Yet his relentless efforts still couldn’t break through the limits of the Saint rank.
A deep frustration rose within him. He growled lowly, a fierce anger brewing, but his rationality urged him to remain calm and patient.
At that moment, a light darker than the night itself streaked down from the heavens—a black knight’s lance hurtling toward Yannis Hadrian!
Charlot’s gloom instantly lifted as he roared, “Antonio!”
Antonio entered the fray, exuding calm even after being forced back by a single strike from Yannis Hadrian. Smirking, he raised his lance, Dark Spearmanship in hand, and gave Charlot a casual salute before diving into the battle.
The difference between a 23rd and 24th rank was vast, almost insurmountable.
Though Cresto had the support of the Radiant Holy Kingdom, he continued to struggle. Antonio’s arrival shifted the balance. Together, he and Cresto reversed the tide of battle.
In single combat, neither Cresto nor Antonio could defeat Yannis Hadrian. But as a pair, they pushed even the newly crowned First Military God of the Continent to his limits.
Realizing that killing Charlot was now impossible, Yannis Hadrian let out a thunderous roar, sending Antonio flying with a powerful strike before retreating slowly from the battlefield.
As Charlot Mecklenburg withdrew from the battlefield, the Radiant Holy Kingdom had become immobile, leaving Cresto unable to pursue. This left Antonio as the lone defender, who wisely refrained from chasing and instead stood guard near the outskirts of Black Phoenix City.
Following Antonio’s intervention, both sides tacitly agreed to retreat. They mutually assisted their Saint-rank allies in exiting the battle. Once all the Saint-rank combatants had withdrawn, Georgia Hadrian led the final elite forces of Black Phoenix Dynasty toward the sea.
Before leaving, Georgia Hadrian raised his Knight’s Lance and pointed it at Charlot. With his other hand, he drew a harsh line across his neck, mimicking a throat-slitting gesture.
Charlot was momentarily taken aback. Such a gesture didn’t exist in the Old Continent. It was, however, a signature motion from the novels he had written—simple yet exuding an aura of defiance. Occasionally, Charlot himself would use it in jest.
But never did he imagine he would one day be on the receiving end of such a fierce gesture from someone else!
Charlot’s response was straightforward: he raised his middle finger in reply.
Georgia Hadrian casually gave a thumbs-down before departing with his forces.
Antonio landed beside Charlot and whispered, “Those gestures? They’re straight out of your novels. That guy’s probably one of your biggest fans!”
Charlot had a fleeting thought. Could it be that Georgia Hadrian’s strategy of defeating the Four-Nation Alliance was also inspired by his novels? He quickly dismissed the idea as ludicrous. After all, the original author of those stories likely had no real military expertise. Most were probably amateurs with no knowledge of warfare.
“How could anyone possibly learn military tactics from a novel?” Charlot muttered.
He then turned to Antonio and said, “You arrived just in time!”
“If you’d been any later, my... my Saint-rank warriors might have been completely wiped out.”
Charlot glanced at the seven fallen Saint-rank combatants on the ground. His heart ached beyond words.
Among the four noble Saint-rank warriors who had pledged allegiance to him, two had perished. Of the six who had surrendered to his side, four lay dead. One of the fallen belonged to the retinue of Duchess Mesu.
On Georgia Hadrian’s side, the number of fallen Saint-rank fighters matched Charlot’s losses. However, the deceased from Hadrian’s forces had been “fed” to the Radiant Holy Kingdom, leaving little behind in terms of bodies.
Remarkably, none of Charlot’s original ten Saint-rank subordinates had perished, although Viggo had been severely injured due to his weakness. Even Andreas remained active on the battlefield.
In fact, the youngest Saint-rank of Black Phoenix, Andreas, had visibly advanced in power, ascending to the twentieth tier of Transcendence during the battle.
Antonio, surveying the twenty-plus Saint-rank warriors gathered around Charlot, couldn’t help but exclaim, “How did you manage to assemble so many Saint-rank fighters?”
Charlot replied nonchalantly, “This is what we call ‘righteousness prevails.’”
“Our cause is just. We fight for the future of all, not for power or personal gain. Naturally, more and more comrades are willing to join us in upholding these ideals.”
Antonio thought to himself, “I’m such a fool! I already know he’s prone to boasting—why did I even ask? I just set myself up for embarrassment.”
Regardless, Antonio’s timely arrival had been pivotal. Without him, Georgia Hadrian would have relentlessly pursued Charlot, leading to a devastating conclusion where Charlot’s forces might have been annihilated.
Of course, Georgia Hadrian would have paid a significant price for such a battle.
But to Hadrian, whose country had fallen, homeland destroyed, and emperor slain, life and death seemed meaningless. Even his will to live appeared tenuous.
In this, Charlot could somewhat empathize.
Antonio quickly changed the subject, saying, “My father sent me to ensure your safety. For now, you must not take any more risks. We’ve secured Black Phoenix City, which is the most valuable asset and the key to dividing the spoils of the Black Phoenix Dynasty.”
Charlot’s expression turned guarded. “His Majesty Emperor Bretagne explicitly promised me that all the territory I capture will belong to me. No one else is allowed to contest it.”
Antonio couldn’t help but chuckle. “My father won’t go back on his word, but the other three nations may not agree so easily. We’ll need to guard against ‘allied’ forces too.”
Charlot nodded, then turned to his Saint-rank allies and commanded, “If any Byron riders, Ingrima soldiers, or Lionheart forces attempt to enter Black Phoenix City, kill them on sight. Don’t listen to a single word they have to say.”
Antonio interjected, “Isn’t that a bit too extreme?”
Please take a moment to rate this novel at Novelupdate.
