They stepped into Floor 10 and immediately saw themselves.
Not in mirrors. Not in illusions.
In perfect duplicates, suspended in glass walls that stretched for miles in every direction—forming a labyrinth of shifting light and shattered truth. Ayato's breath hitched. 'This isn't just reflection. It's dissection.' The air hummed with psychic pressure, each pane vibrating with trapped memories.
Ayato tightened his coat as the hallway before him fractured like a prism. "The walls aren't just mirrors. They're observation nodes. Every step will reflect something."
Mio walked beside him, eyes scanning the infinite reflections. 'I know this place. I've dreamed it.' Ren moved ahead alone, sword drawn, shoulders rigid. Yui hesitated behind the group, holding her own arm like a shield.
The labyrinth didn't just separate bodies. It peeled identities.
Ayato's mirror-self materialized instantly—golden-eyed, scar over the heart, dripping contempt. "You abandoned the others in Cycle 4."
Ayato stood firm. "I rewrote the script. I made a new one."
''I had no choice. They were already dead.''
"And who gave you that right?" the reflection sneered.
The mirror broke—revealing a sealed script floating mid-air. [Divine Script Fragment Acquired – 'The Wound That Loops']
'This changes everything. If I can loop wounds...'
Mio's footsteps echoed in her fractured corridor. Dozens of reflections stared back—until one stepped forward. Identical, except for a blood-red dress. "You don't remember me."
"There was no twin," Mio whispered, clutching her book. "It was a dream."
''Liar. You hear her singing sometimes.''
"No. I died on Floor 1 in Cycle 1. You let them forget me."
Glass exploded as the reflection lunged. Mio screamed, unleashing a memory-burn rune—blue fire engulfing the doppelgänger. [Memory Lock Broken: Mio now remembers "Minako," her twin.]
She collapsed, sobbing into her hands. 'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry, Minako.'
Ren's path was a gallery of violence—Kazuki's memories projected on glass: students choked by invisible strings, battles won through manipulation. "He wore my hands like gloves," Ren whispered, trembling.
His reflection appeared—mouth sewn shut, eyes weeping blood, a glowing thread connecting its chest to Ren's. "You still let him in."
With a roar, Ren slashed the thread. It snapped, spraying light like blood. [Thread Severed – Partial freedom from Proxy Influence]
His arm still trembled. Kazuki's whisper curled in his ear: "Not all strings are visible."
'Damn it. I thought I was free.'
Yui faced a hall of horrors:
Coward Yui hiding behind corpses
Tyrant Yui commanding executions
Betrayer Yui stabbing Mio
Dead Yui on Floor 2
"I don't want to be any of you," she breathed.
One reflection stepped forward—gentle, clear-eyed. "Then become something new."
Yui shattered the glass with her bare fist. Light seared her pupils. [Locked Role Potential – "Glassheart Oracle"]
'What am I now?'
The four regrouped in a diamond chamber where mirrors bent light into future shadows. At its center spun the Mirror Heart—a disk pulsing with every truth they'd surrendered.
"This is the real test," Mio said, wiping tear tracks. "One lie remains in each of us. Hide it, and the Heart shatters us with it."
Ren flexed his unshackled hand. "And if we reveal it?"
Ayato met the Heart's light. "We change forever."
Yui stepped forward. "I hated everyone in this class… until we started dying."
The Heart flared silver. Accepted. Her eyes flashed mercury, then cooled.
Ren swallowed hard. "I sometimes wish Kazuki had killed me on Floor 3."
The thread in his chest dissolved. Accepted. His trembling ceased.
Mio took a deep breath. "I never wanted to leave the Tower." Ayato stiffened. She continued, "I belong in this madness. In this story."
The Heart absorbed her words, glowing brighter.
Ayato hesitated. 'After all I've done… what am I?'
"I don't know if I'm the hero or the villain anymore."
The Heart paused… then erupted in white light. Accepted.
The labyrinth dissolved like smoke. They stood in the hub, drenched in silence and the Mirror Heart's afterglow.
[Floor 10: The Mirror Labyrinth – Cleared]
All truths accepted. Final karma tally recorded.
Next Floor: Crimson Judgment (Floor 11 – Boss Room Initiated)
Ayato exhaled. "It's time."
Mio smiled faintly, her eyes haunted but clear. "Arc 2 ends with blood."
Ren cracked his knuckles. "I hope it's theirs."
Yui stepped forward, shoulders squared. "No more pretending."
Before them, the gate burned crimson—the color of endings.
(Chapter 17 End)