The entire process was relaxed and swift, like a stroll after a meal.
Different from the empty white wall in reality, a door appeared at the same location in the dream.
Looking closely, its number plate was exactly 408.
"What could it be? I find myself somewhat looking forward to it."
Fran grasped the doorknob, trying to see if she could twist it open. But the handle didn't budge at all, showing no sign of opening whatsoever, as if the lock core had been filled with molten iron.
"Rejected me? How cold."
Currently being in a dream, the spiritual consumption of using [Crown-Thief] would become more intense. Since Fran had no intention of stubbornly forcing a door open in the first place, she let go and looked back at Luyala.
"Luyala, can you open it?"
Luyala nodded, seeming eager to try.
She walked up to the door, extending her branch-like crystalline antlers towards the door. Afterwards, pure and dazzling white light surged from the door crack and the lock core.
Click.
The sound of the lock disengaging rang out.
Almost at the same moment, the door of Room 408 swung open on its own.
Before the door opened, Vivian had imagined all possible scenarios.
A living room completely indistinguishable from an ordinary room, or a breeding ground teeming with rot and filth.
An ancient relic with strange powers, or a mythical creature with peculiar spirituality.
But what met her eyes was a room filled with countless blades as reflective as mirror shards. Even without bloodstains, it still diffused a strong, metallic scent of iron.
They interlaced and stood densely, crowding around a full-length silver mirror.
And that mirror emitted a coldness so intense it was terrifying.
"Hoo..."
An almost ethereal sigh echoed softly, like the chilling breath of a winter wind.
Following this, a slender girl dressed in pale gauze slowly manifested her figure within the reflection of the silver mirror.
"Leave..."
The voice of the girl in the mirror echoed softly.
Her voice was detached and indifferent. Although it sounded no different from a normal person's, it carried a strange sharpness. It was like cold blades scraping past one's ears; even just listening gave a feeling of being cut.
"Although there are no walls here, the door is also not here. Whether you seek Ascension or secrets, there is nothing you desire here."
"Oh... can communicate."
Fran lightly touched her cheek, quickly assessing this lady in the mirror.
"Your condition seems better than most of your kin who are keen on devouring lives, perhaps because the summoning ritual is still in effect. Surprising, after the Lost Age, there are still arts capable of summoning 'your kind'?"
Faced with the doctor's inquiry, the figure in the mirror remained silent, seemingly unwilling to speak.
Or perhaps... unable to.
Although Haida did not speak, she also took off the power sword "Nirvana" from her hand, guarding against the entity in the mirror.
The general knowledge rules of a Burial Attendant contained some records of mirror maidens. They were true dream creatures and possessed the ability to briefly enter the material world. But... they were very rare.
Most ancient rituals were no longer stable, making it difficult to summon them with corresponding spirituality and offerings. And even if successful by chance, the entities that answered the summoning ritual were mostly in a half-mad, out-of-control state, difficult to restrain.
In such situations, they would arbitrarily strip away life according to their own whims.
"Sigh..."
Seeing that the few people had absolutely no intention of leaving, the mirror maiden sighed and slowly stepped out of the silver mirror.
She raised her arm and pointed at Fran. The blades on the ground spinning as they rose up, rushing towards the latter with howling cold wind. Shattered blade edges mixed with glass-like sharp fragments, glittering like stars.
Vivian was momentarily taken aback. She thought both sides were still in the talking phase; the other party shouldn't attack so abruptly.
The fact was, the mirror maiden's way of driving away outsiders was never through words.
Vivian instinctively wanted to find cover, but clearly, her movements couldn't outpace the howling sudden wind. The knife-like cold wind brushed against her face, evoking a wave of cold, but the pain and the warmth of blood loss did not follow.
Maintaining her posture of protecting her neck, she focused her eyes and saw countless fragment-like sharp objects held in Dr. Fran's palm.
Silently and without a sound, [Crown-Thief] had already been activated.
She waved her hand lightly, casting aside those nearly stacked heavy blade fragments.
"Such a rude warning, isn't it a bit impolite?"
A trace of peculiarity flashed in the mirror maiden's pale eyes, then quickly vanished. She took a blade from the countless handleless swords scattered throughout the entire room, leaped forward, her form like prismatic streaming light, slashing towards Fran.
The previous "warning" was dangerous but not fatal. It would probably only damage some spiritual knowledge and sanity by causing one to awaken from excruciating pain.
But this strike was aimed directly at life.
A dream stable enough to be astounding, a door forcibly knocked open, and that unfathomable spirituality... The mirror maiden truly felt the threat posed by the doctor before her. She had to eliminate her first.
And before she could act, Haida had already inverted her sword grip, blocking the mirror maiden's icy blade edge with a standard parry. The heavy power sword seemed weightless in Haida's hands, inexplicably giving one a sense of lightness.
Just like the feathers of a swallow, graceful and agile.
Clang!
The sword in the mirror maiden's hand shattered in response, but simultaneously transformed into countless snowflake-like brilliant fragments, slashing open the front of the robe of Sister Haida's robe.
Strength at the Fourth Rank or above, High Priest level... and possessing some blade-phase characteristics of a mythical creature.
Not minding the small cut on her cheek, Haida quickly assessed the enemy before her. Thoughts surged; she felt an indescribable excitement steadily spreading from her spine to her brain.
The mirror maiden's pale eyes again showed a trace of surprise.
This sword-wielder was clearly just a mortal. How could her body possess this level of strength? And that crafted item... Why could it manifest in the dream dimension and still retain unimaginable toughness?
Before she could reach a conclusion, Haida had already stepped into Room 408 and swung her power sword.
The metallic hum rang out with a clanging sound, carrying unmasked excitement and fervor.
"Nirvana" craved powerful opponents, searing hot blood, and qualified heads.
Yes, the power sword "Nirvana" had also entered the dream with Haida. After feasting on a large number of spirits, it now possessed the most basic self-awareness and enjoyed the spirituality of a crafted item.
Caught off guard, the mirror maiden summoned the surrounding interlaced and densely standing broken blades, wanting to block this strike head-on.
Violently scattering sword blade fragments rose like dust for a moment, the sound of metallic shattering unceasing.
Haida focused her grey hazel-colored eyes, not minding her already heavily damaged robes, pressing down with all her strength on the sword edge.
Having lost the material advantage of adamantium in the material world, "Nirvana" also found it difficult to cut as effortlessly and smoothly as in the past. But as a crafted item, its spiritual form still possessed an unwavering sharp determination.
Finally, the blades summoned by the mirror maiden completely shattered. Her body was exposed under the edge of the power sword, within close reach.
Screech!
The blade landed on her chest and abdomen, leaving an extremely deep gash. Her body also began to become increasingly unstable, like afterimages after a silver mirror shatters.
In this close-quarters instant, the mirror maiden did not pay attention to her cracking body. She lightly raised her wrist, seemingly to caress the face of the nun before her.
Haida suddenly threw her head back, avoiding her touch by a hair's breadth.
At the same time, a crimson flower of blood bloomed on the nun's neck, then slowly coagulated in the increasingly piercingly cold wind.
The mirror maiden attained Ascension from the crowd of blades and sharp objects. Therefore, her touch also carried lethal sharpness.
This one can still move after taking that strike... troublesome.
Haida quickly adjusted her breathing, wisps of warm white mist emanating from her breath.
It was getting colder and colder inside the room. Her fingers and body were also beginning to gradually feel stiff under the erosion of the cold. And as the winter spirituality gradually activated, the mirror maiden became increasingly agile.
I need to end the fight quickly.
As her heart began a powerful pulsation in her chest, heat flowed back into Haida's limbs with her blood. She once again assumed a two-handed sword stance, preparing to end this dangerous contact with one devastating blow.
And the mirror maiden, due to the strike that had split open her body, also became increasingly unstable. The indifferent expression on her face also showed some distortion.
At some point, the pale pupil in her left eye turned into a bright crimson red. A trickle of blood plasma slowly welled up accordingly.
"Dr. Fran, something has changed about this mirror maiden... Does Sister Haida need a little help?"
Vivian acutely noticed a trace of anomaly, then looked somewhat flustered at Fran beside her.
Can't blame her for spectating. At the moment, the [Calling Bird] wasn't on her, firearms weren't either... she truly couldn't do anything right now.
If she accidentally attracted the mirror maiden's attention, Haida would have to divert her attention to protect her.
"Of course."
Fran nodded lightly and cleverly.
"Although I believe in Sister Haida's strength, we must also appropriately consider combat losses... This mirror maiden is particularly unique. If not careful enough, perhaps no small price would have to be paid."
Saying this, Fran stepped into the floor covered with blades of Room 408. Luyala followed behind her, hooves clopping.
After a brief internal struggle, Vivian bit her silvery teeth lightly and followed as well.
The confrontation between Haida and the mirror maiden had reached a fever pitch. It seemed only each other remained in their eyes.
Light and shadow interwove. In an instant, the sound of a blade penetrating flesh rang out.
Haida lowered her sword, covering the cutting wound left on her arm. One could see bright red plasma converging into a thin stream, flowing from between her fingers.
As for that mirror maiden, she gained another enormous fissure on the wound that already pierced through her chest and abdomen. She was on the verge of dissipating, but from that crimson eye spread out countless branch-like veins, forcibly stabilizing her half-shattered body.
"Qualified sword-wielder, you have won... But you cannot leave with victory. You have stepped into taboo."
Saying this, she sighed once more.
"After becoming one of the dead, try to ascend blades like a hedge of blades. Perhaps, you will become 'us'."
Right at this moment, Fran's voice quietly sounded beside the mirror maiden.
"I originally thought that the thing in the room should be 'pure'. But this guess clearly contains some errors... Something has infiltrated your body, forcibly supporting your spirituality."
"..."
The mirror maiden maintained her silence again, as if speaking would allow this doctor before her to glimpse secrets.
Suddenly, her crimson eye slightly focused, noticing something odd.
Why does this doctor keep her left hand behind her back all the time?
Not going to execute the already injured Haida, the mirror maiden again picked up a blade from the densely standing broken blades, intending to eliminate this strange doctor first. She gave her an indescribable, intangible threat, like a thorn in one's back.
"Realizing something is wrong only now is a bit late, no?"
Looking at the approaching girl with a sword, Fran maintained her kind smile, demonstratively raising her left arm.
... There was only the white sleeve of the physician's coat, otherwise, empty and bare.
Her arm was gone. But what did that mean?
The mirror maiden clearly showed confusion. And right at that moment, a cluster of translucent, bubble-like phantom color suddenly shattered beside her, revealing the forms of Luyala and Vivian.
When did—
Caught completely off guard, Vivian nimbly darted to her front, her movements deft and vigorous, like a black crow dancing in the night.
The next moment, she had already pressed Fran's left arm, complete with sutures, against the mirror maiden's cheek.
Almost the instant contact was made, the latter's blood-red eyeball, along with a clump of nerve-like web, was taken. Losing the spiritual support of this strange eyeball, the mirror maiden's shattered body began to rapidly dissolve and collapse.
"So persistent..."
She murmured to herself, seemingly without too strong an emotion.
"The era without walls is hard to let go of, but returning to the history of old days is already a vain hope. The Pure White Gate is broken and damaged, no more revelations... Why are you all still so eager for the dwelling?"
A few moments later, her spirituality vanished, leaving only the piercing cold lingering throughout Room 408.
Hoo…
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