Dense blue-gray bumps rapidly spread across the entire face; the eyeballs whitened, bulging out far beyond the limits of a normal person; the nose rotted away, chunks of pale gray flesh falling off to reveal dark, gaping holes and stark white bone underneath.
When his own familiar face—one he saw every single day while shaving and washing—underwent such horrifying, grotesque changes while wearing a sinister smile, Lucian was struck by an overwhelming visual shock. He could be so ugly! So hideous!
A bone-piercing chill seemed to rise from his tailbone and rapidly spread throughout Lucian's body. Although his mechanized mind produced no fear or panic, his elevated soul was gripped by an inexplicable terror. He wanted to cast magic, but both body and soul seemed paralyzed, utterly unable to function.
At that moment, the Lucian in the mirror squeezed out a clown-like grin with his rotting, bump-covered face.
BOOM—the instant he saw that smile, Lucian's vision went black for no apparent reason, and his heart suddenly stopped. A full three seconds later, it resumed beating violently as if revived. Thump-thump-thump, thump-thump-thump—the sound so loud it seemed to ring right beside his ears, beating so hard it felt as though it would leap out of his chest.
Blood surged from the heart in violent bursts, veins expanding one after another. Lucian had just recovered from that paralysis when he felt blood rushing straight to his brain. Everything he saw turned blood-red, a blurry, grotesque haze.
The veins on his hands bulged outward, blood visibly flowing as though about to burst through the skin. This made Lucian's body go weak, as though a tremendous amount of his life force had already drained away.
At this critical moment, Lucian—whose willpower was inherently strong, whose self-control formidable, and whose emotions remained relatively stable thanks to the mechanized mind effect—calmly suppressed the instinctive urge to collapse sideways and roll away. A faint layer of radiance illuminated his body.
This radiance was holy and pure. Within it seemed to reside countless runes, appearing ceaselessly, flowing and shifting, then vanishing again and again.
At that moment, the Lucian in the mirror—whose entire body was beginning to rot—took a step forward and actually passed straight through the glass.
The red tongue in its gaping mouth suddenly elongated, turned black, and became ethereal, striking Lucian's body like a javelin.
The fifth-circle spell "Greater Fire Shield" had absolutely no defensive capability against this ethereal black tongue. It passed through as though the shield weren't there at all, and dense death energy coalesced in the air around him.
Fortunately, Lucian had another layer of protection. The holy radiance and runes indestructibly blocked the ethereal black tongue, and from its tip came a sizzling, burning sound as wisps of black smoke rose into the air.
Fourth-rank Divine Art—"Death Ward"!
After Lucian advanced to the mid-tier, he had unlocked the second seal of the "Sun's Crown," gaining three additional Divine Arts that could each be cast once per day: Scorching Radiance (third-rank), Death Ward (fourth-rank), and Flame Strike (fifth-rank). Among these, Death Ward could resist instant-kill effects related to death energy and possessed extremely strong protective capabilities against damage from death, nightmares, and similar forces.
At this point, Charlotte and Sandra also noticed the strangeness on this side. Lucian was staring blankly at the mirror, the telltale aura of a divine artifact emanating from his body, while the mirror's surface was distorted and blurry—nothing could be seen!
Sandra pointed her purple magic wand at the mirror's surface, and it immediately burst into dazzling radiance like the sun. Within twenty meters, the light was more brilliant than direct sunlight; beyond twenty meters, it was pitch-black, as if all light had been devoured.
The Light-and-Dark fourth-circle spell, "Solar Scorch." It targeted only undead creatures or evil extra-dimensional beings such as devils and demons, though it lacked the sacred, solemn quality of Divine Arts.
In the pure light, the distorted mirror surface emitted wisps of black energy. They rose and turned to mist, then finally floated upward, coalescing into a terrifying monster.
Its hood was half-open, failing to conceal its appearance. Its eyes were crimson red, its face skull-shaped yet covered with a layer of rotting flesh clinging tightly to the bone. Two rows of stark white teeth were directly exposed for lack of lips. But upon closely examining its features, one would find them blurry and indistinct, rapidly shifting between different hideous visages.
This tall figure wore an exquisitely ornate black robe, adorned with countless mysterious patterns. Every detail was meticulously crafted, suffused with an aura of pure evil.
Countless streams of black energy swirled around the monster, blocking out the radiance of "Solar Scorch." Then it let out a cackling laugh, causing gray, decaying shadows to materialize one after another around Sandra and Charlotte.
The "Spell Absorption Wall"—a layer flowing with runes on the exterior of Charlotte's magic robe—manifested prominently. Each gray shadow that lunged at it was swiftly decomposed and absorbed. However, as the shadows grew more numerous, a faint gray tinge began to appear within the Spell Absorption Wall.
At the same time, Charlotte eerily shot straight sideways through the air, falling freely as though the bookshelf over there were the ground beneath her!
Fourth-circle force spell—"Pseudo Gravity"!
The five colorful energy spheres orbiting above Sandra and and Susan's heads spun rapidly. Every gray shadow that lunged at them was absorbed by these energy spheres.
As more and more gray shadows were consumed, the energy spheres swelled in size. Sandra pointed her wand, and a predominantly red, yellow, and gray colorful sphere shot toward the hideous monster in its magnificent robe.
Two consecutive "Parmella's Energy Spheres" struck the black energy surrounding the monster, shattering it to pieces.
The light of "Solar Scorch" seized the opportunity to pierce through, drawing a pained shriek from the monster.
On the other side, Charlotte did not attack. Instead, she raised her gloved right hand, and a phantom giant hand appeared around the monster, grasping it firmly and making it difficult to break free.
Fourth-circle force spell—"Douglas's Giant Hand," said to have been developed from a series of hand-shaped force spells by an ancient legendary mage.
The "Elemental" ring on Lucian's right index finger continuously provided him with accelerated life force recovery. After blocking one attack, he had regained the ability to move. But Lucian did not flee, remaining standing in place as his left hand drew a crystal-clear orb from his storage bag.
The crystal ball abruptly darkened, like a pitch-black night sky. Then stars began to twinkle one by one, emitting pure, pristine light.
The crystal ball then floated upward on its own, hovering twenty centimeters above Lucian's head. Around it, specks of starlight coalesced into twelve brilliant orbs of light, corresponding one-to-one with the stars inside the crystal ball and revolving around it in orbital motion, constructing a miniature star system.