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Chapter 98: Reunion, Reflection of the Mirror

“This place is…”

The mirror image of the estate, an inverted “tower.”

It also has a tiered circular structure, but it completely defies physical principles—a six-tier hollow tower, standing like a pointed cone shoved into the ground.

And where Vilyric was located was directly beneath this “tower,” in the only room at the very bottom.

In fact, here, even the concept of a “room” doesn’t quite apply; it’s just a rectangular depression a few meters long, wide, and deep, dug directly into the ground.

The world of reflections was eerily silent, seemingly devoid of any vampires lingering within.

The invisibility effect of the “Chameleon Cloak” had vanished—seemed like it had suffered an attack from some defensive mechanism while traversing space.

The intensity was decent, at least on par with legendary grade, but it still couldn’t surpass the passive defense of the “Feathered Garadia.”

On the other hand, the reaction of “Blood’s Dawn” became unprecedentedly intense, almost giving Vilyric the illusion that it wanted to burst from her grasp.

Following the guidance of the brooch, Vilyric turned around and spotted the only object in this underground depression.

A coffin.

A crystal-crafted coffin.

She casually pushed the lid open, and to her astonishment, there lay a face she was quite familiar with.

“Liliya?!”

She instinctively gasped, but immediately realized something was off.

There was no reason for the princess to be here.

Let alone the knightly guardians, just the fact that there were three legendary knights residing in the Minuang Palace meant the vampires couldn’t have stealthily abducted the well-guarded Liliya.

Not to mention, Liliya herself possessed several trump cards and was no weakling.

So what exactly is this…

Vilyric reached out and pinched the cheek of the blue-haired girl lying in the crystal coffin, testing the plumpness in a certain area. She had to admit, the soft and bouncy texture felt exactly like the real thing—if she only relied on her eyes, she might not truly distinguish the difference.

But, it didn’t stump Vilyric.

“Information detection.”

Familiar light flowed through, bringing countless messages to the black-haired girl.

Ah…

This elegantly dressed girl, lying like a sleeping beauty in the coffin, is a mirror image of “Liliya.”

Ingenious craftsmanship; a perfect replica that bore nearly no difference from the original.

However, this mirror image was incomplete, just like the shadow left by Duchess Afra Constans in the Forgotten Land—it lacked any autonomous action capability and was merely a shadow.

How did the vampires create Liliya’s mirror image? Such things surely can’t be fabricated out of thin air. They must rely on some medium that’s closely connected to Her Highness, the princess, to accomplish this.

It wouldn’t be possible for Liliya to willingly cooperate, so…

Among the close associates of the princess, is there a mole?

And why would the vampires create something like this anyway?

Wait.

The earlier conversation I overheard on the second floor of the estate…

That Julius, it seems he did indeed mention “assisting Liliya and replacing her.”

Although I don’t know when this bunch of guys supported the princess, if “replace” happens to be taken literally…

Could they be planning to use this mirror image to covertly swap out the real Liliya?

Wow… what a bizarre idea!

But in this magical world, it might actually be possible.

Maybe the vampires really have grasped some forbidden magic that allows a mirror image to obey commands while completely acquiring the memories and surface personality of the copied subject. Then…

That’s it! That’s why Julius wanted to ask Lucini Constans for help.

If the supreme prince Lucini takes action without considering Vilyric, there’s indeed a possibility to pull off the switcheroo with Liliya when the time is right.

I see now.

This is most likely the final plot of the fourth prince Devitt Meikailande allied with the vampires.

In other words, no matter which prince wins in the end, Devitt, who has allied with the vampires, can use this method to seize the throne for himself, making him the ultimate beneficiary, which explains why he appears indifferent about everything.

As for why he wouldn’t directly replace the old king and instead aimed for the not-yet-crowned new king, perhaps there’s some hidden reason behind it.

But there’s one question that really bothers Vilyric.

That “Wishing Spirit Treasure” Julius used to sway the little loli prince was clearly something the “Throne of Immortality” was searching for. Why did it suddenly end up in the hands of the vampires?

Was it a theft, or were they cooperating?

But this suggests a collaboration between two different princes’ factions during such a time—could that really be possible?

Or is there more than one “Wishing Spirit Treasure”?

Ah, it’s so frustrating! What in the world is happening?!

The more Vilyric learned, the more she felt that all the events surrounding the prince succession struggle in the United Kingdom had some hidden hand behind the scenes, orchestrating everything and connecting seemingly unbelievable things one by one.

She hadn’t even completely figured out the other party’s objectives.

So, this leads to the most critical question.

Who is the one who led her here with a hidden arrow?

That person is likely the real mastermind, but how could they be so certain that Vilyric would discover the secrets hidden here? Or could it be pure coincidence?

…

Forget it, let’s deal with the immediate problem.

After pondering for a moment, Vilyric placed the restless “Blood’s Dawn” on the chest of the Liliya mirror image.

She could feel that the brooch which had been resonating and calling out was this body.

As soon as it made contact, the bat-shaped brooch erupted with intense blood light, enveloping the entire mirror image of the princess.

Wow… that definitely evokes some unsettling associations.

Quickly using a barrier to cover the dazzling blood light, Vilyric raised her head to survey the peculiar mirror space around, silently waiting for the result.

It felt like “Blood’s Dawn” was absorbing some core strength that formed this mirror image to achieve its own evolution.

Speaking of which, “Blood’s Dawn” was once the core of that mirrored Forgotten Land, which means these two were derived from the same source.

What would it evolve into in the end?

After a few minutes, the blood light gradually faded.

When revealed again, the mirror image had completely vanished, leaving only the bat-shaped brooch dropping with a soft thud inside the crystal coffin, emitting a significantly stronger aura than before.

More interestingly, this brooch had undergone subtle changes; not only had the bat wings lifted slightly upward, but the overall design also appeared more refined and agile, resembling a real little bat increasingly.

Vilyric investigated it with her skill.

It remained a holy relic-grade item, but the attached attributes had indeed increased, while the usage restrictions had become even stricter, jumping from a lower limit of lv50 to lv60.

Of course, it was still usable only by vampires.

This indicated that “Blood’s Dawn” had definitely leveled up; after all, in “Illusory World,” semi-divine items require at least lv80 to use, some even higher.

The lower limit of the equipment’s usage level, in a way, proves its strength.

Aside from “Blood’s Dawn,” there was also another item within the crystal coffin, probably originally from that mirror image.

A palm-sized, handwoven doll based on Liliya, its craftsmanship not particularly exquisite.

“This is…”

Vilyric picked it up, examined it briefly, and discovered it was indeed just an ordinary doll. Could it be the medium that makes up the mirror image?

But…

Just then, a message suddenly came through the contract connection from Xiao Guang.

“Master, how’s the situation on your end? It seems something’s happened outside; many human soldiers are fighting each other, and some places have even caught fire. What should I do?”