There had been no warning.
One moment, Hanuel Lim and his team were standing in a crumbling plaza bathed in gray mist. The next—they weren't alone.
Four figures emerged across from them, formed from smoke and darkness, but shaped perfectly. Same height. Same builds. Same posture. Even their clothes were mirrored.
Hanuel had seen plenty of tricks since the Collapse. This wasn't a trick.
This was a mirror.
His own doppelgänger stepped forward, dragging a long shadow behind him that curved unnaturally along the stone. It didn't carry a weapon. No staff. Just empty hands and a sharp stillness. And when it moved—it did so like it had never needed one.
Hanuel lunged first.
He spun his staff—a clean spiral forward from the high guard—and dropped low, sweeping the legs.
The shadow blurred.
