Chapter 40 – The Dance of Mirrors.

The cold fog of the Valley of Mirrors Dungeon (Level 20-22) drifted over massive halls covered in reflective crystals.

Lord Malakor strode through the center of the grand mirror dome accompanied by his two Level 20 elite mercenaries, wielding his double-headed black iron axe.

"Show yourself, human!" Malakor bellowed, his voice echoing distorted off the crystal walls. "You said you wanted a neutral duel with no guards! Where the fuck are you hiding, you shitty little rat?!"

The answer didn't come as a shout.

The answer came in a pulse of silver-blue light that enveloped the entire circular hall that very second.

AURA OF ARCANE DOMAIN!

Diana's class skill activated. The aura's 15-meter radius expanded, boosting Aurelia-Elysia's Magic Damage and granting additional movement speed to Rhea and Kael.

Diana's voice echoed from all the mirror walls simultaneously, calm, clear, and charged with invincible authority:

"I'm not hiding, Malakor. I was merely waiting for you to step into my trap."

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The Slaughter of the Vanguard

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The two Level 20 mercenaries charged with swords drawn.

Kael took two steps forward, driving his Volcanic Steel Shield into the stone floor.

IRON TAUNT + UNSHAKEABLE STANCE!

The two mercenaries' blades slammed with brutal force against Kael's shield. The volcanic steel's passive reflected 15% of the direct physical damage back to the attackers, while Kael absorbed the impact on his 300 HP without moving a single inch.

Aurelia-Elysia raised her Mana Crystal Staff.

BLINDING LIGHT ORB!

A beam of blazing lilac light exploded from the top of the staff, temporarily blinding the two mercenaries.

Rhea didn't waste a millisecond of advantage.

PHANTOM STEP!

With Agility 49, Rhea turned into a silver shadow streak that emerged directly from one of the mirrors behind the enemies. Her Corrosive Crystal Daggers tore through the throats of the two Level 20 mercenaries before they could even regain their sight.

CRUNCH! CRITICAL DAMAGE: 280!

Malakor's two companions dropped dead onto the valley floor in less than a minute of combat.

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Diana vs. Lord Malakor

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Malakor roared in fury seeing his two mercenaries dead, raising his double axe and activating his class skill: [Massacre Blade].

He charged like an out-of-control bull toward Kael.

Diana stepped out from the shadows of one of the mirror pillars. She extended her open right hand.

MANA PRISON!

Beams of transparent arcane chains emerged from the air and wrapped around Malakor's body. The [Massacre Blade] skill on Malakor's axe failed instantly, and his mana channels were sealed for 4 full seconds.

"WHAT?! MY MANA?!" Malakor yelled in shock.

Diana gave her rival no breathing room.

ARCANE TELEPORTATION!

With a crackle of bluish energy, Diana blinked 8 meters forward, appearing a meter away from Malakor's chest.

She activated [Greed's Flame] in her left hand and [Arcane Storm Orb] in her right hand.

BOOM!

The electric sphere and black flames exploded point-blank on Malakor's chestplate. The shock stunned the giant for 3 seconds while the black flames devoured his remaining MP.

With Intelligence 60, Diana's magic destruction power was equivalent to that of a Level 30 mage.

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The Execution and Soul Absorption

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Malakor dropped to his knees on the hall's stone floor, his heavy iron armor and gold chains shattered, burning in black flames, completely out of MP and unable to move.

He looked up, trembling with pain and dread, staring at Diana.

Diana walked slowly toward him, holding a double-charged Arcane Arrow in her right hand, her dark eyes glowing with a shade of absolute black gold.

"HOW…?!" Malakor stammered, blood dripping from his mouth. "YOU'RE ONLY LEVEL 20… HOW ARE YOU THIS STRONG?!"

Diana stopped before him, tilting her head with a look of cold contempt.

"You relied solely on your brute force and the terror of hunting isolated rookies." Diana said, her calm voice echoing off the mirror walls. "I built a faction."

Diana drove the charged Arcane Arrow straight into the center of Malakor's chest.

BOOM!

The final magic explosion obliterated the remainder of Lord Malakor's HP.

The instant Malakor's body crumbled to ash on the valley floor, an extraordinary phenomenon occurred.

A colossal blaze of black-gold fire emerged from the remains of Malakor's body. It was the pure essence of his Fragment of the Soul of Greed. The ancient flame floated through the air and shot straight into Diana's chest, sinking into her spiritual structure.

Diana closed her eyes, letting out a gasp of hot air as the energy of her rival's devoured soul expanded her mana vessel in an overwhelming fashion.

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[SYSTEM: SOUL ABSORPTION COMPLETED!]

[Malakor's Fragment of the Soul of Greed Successfully Devoured!]

- Absorption Effect: +1 Permanent Luck Point Absorbed! (Luck: 2 -> 3 LUCK!)

- New Passive Skill Unlocked:

 - [Vision of Hidden Treasure - Level 1]: Detects secret chests, hidden rooms, and rare items within a 30-meter radius.

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The flood of experience from victory against the Candidate and his two Level 20 companions inundated the squad:

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[MONUMENTAL LEVEL EVOLUTION!]

- DIANA REACHED LEVEL 22! (2 Levels Gained!)

- RHEA REACHED LEVEL 20! (2 Levels Gained!)

- KAEL REACHED LEVEL 19! (2 Levels Gained!)

- AURELIA-ELYSIA REACHED LEVEL 19! (2 Levels Gained!)

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[COMPLETE ATTRIBUTE DISTRIBUTION]

- KAEL (Level 19): 10 Free Points -> +5 Vitality (27 -> 32 VIT -> HP reaches 350 POINTS!), +3 Strength (19 -> 22 STR), +2 Willpower (12 -> 14 WIL).

- AURELIA-ELYSIA (Level 19): 10 Free Points -> +5 Intelligence (29 -> 34 INT), +3 Wisdom (20 -> 23 WIS), +2 Perception (12 -> 14 PER). (MP reaches 270 POINTS!)

- RHEA (Level 20): 10 Free Points -> +5 Agility (46 -> 51 AGI +3 Gear = 54 AGI!), +3 Strength (22 -> 25 STR), +2 Vitality (18 -> 18 VIT).

- DIANA (Level 22 - Commander of Greed): 10 Free Points + Class Passives (+6 INT, +4 PER, +2 WIS) + 1 Absorbed Luck -> +4 Free Intelligence (60 + 6 + 4 = 70 INT!), +3 Vitality (24 -> 27 VIT -> HP reaches 270 POINTS!), +3 Perception (28 + 4 + 3 = 35 PER!). (MP reaches an incredible 350 POINTS!)

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Rhea gathered the heavy dragon leather pouch from Malakor's belt and handed it to Diana.

The pouch contained twenty gleaming silver coins and two more coins from the mercenaries.

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[FULL FINANCIAL AUDIT]

Previous Balance: 78 Silver Coins.

Malakor Squad Complete Loot: +22 Silver Coins!

[NEW ABSOLUTE NET WORTH: 100 SILVER COINS (10,000 Bronze! / EXACTLY 10 PURE GOLD COINS!)]

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One hundred silver coins in the vault. Exactly Ten Pure Gold Coins.

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—Not bad, my dear Candidate.

The System's voice echoed in Diana's mind, not as an automated notification, but with the guide's ancestral voice floating in black-gold text before her face.

—You devoured your first rival of soul richness, reached Level 22, have a team with five hundred HP and a fortune of ten gold coins. I suppose I can stop calling you a rookie now.

Diana looked at her reflection in the dungeon's crystal mirrors.

She saw her reflected image: wearing Asmodeus's Crystal and Magic Silver Chestplate, with a black-gold aura glowing subtly above her head, surrounded by Rhea at Agility 54, Kael at 350 HP, and Aurelia-Elysia at 270 MP.

Diana smiled. A calm, supreme, ravenous smile.

She was no longer the human girl who had fallen into the filthy alley of the First Circle. The Commander of Arcane Greed was ready to cross the border and march toward the deeper Circles of Hell.

Final Notes:

Everything's going great for Diana, clearly nothing will go wrong later... :D (Irony detected)

I'm thinking about trying out some new formatting... what do you think about changing that sequence of dots to [***]? Someone mentioned it in a comment, and I thought it was a good idea. Any other formatting tips are welcome!

Oh, and we got our first paying member! Five members in total already, and one paying! Seriously, THANK YOU SO MUCH! When we reach a certain number of paying members, we'll have some great news :D. Seriously, thank you so much to whoever is reading this far, I love you all so much, thank you for all the support <3