Iris reacted immediately.
Black flames erupted around her hand as she grabbed the creature’s wrist, burning through its flesh until it finally released her throat.
She dropped to the floor, coughing violently as she clutched her neck.
Before she could recover, the bathroom mirror shattered, sending fragments of glass flying in every direction.
Iris quickly scrambled to her feet and rushed out of the bathroom.
Whatever that thing was, she had no intention of fighting it in such a cramped space.
Then the screaming began.
The broken shards of glass scattered across the floor started shrieking, their surfaces twisting as something began forcing its way out of them.
Flesh-colored masses pushed through the fragments, looking almost like melted marshmallows as they slowly expanded and crawled toward one another.
Iris watched in disgust as the pieces began merging, rising from the floor until they formed a single enormous body.
Its skin was wet and covered in a thick, sticky mucus, while eight spider-like legs stretched outward from a twisted rib cage.
Each leg ended in a human hand, its fingers twitching against the crimson floor as the creature slowly lifted itself upright.
Then came the neck.
It stretched upward, far longer than any human neck should’ve been, until a familiar face emerged at the top.
Iris froze.
Pink hair.
Broken glasses.
The same facial features she’d spent thirty-six years looking at in the mirror.
It was her.
Or at least, something wearing her face.
Where its eyes should have been were two circular mirrors, their surfaces reflecting Iris’s horrified expression back at her.
The creature’s head tilted slightly before its mouth began to open.
And kept opening.
Iris felt her stomach turn as she watched her own mouth stretch downward, the jaw splitting wider and wider until it nearly touched the floor.
Then the creature screamed.
A deep, guttural roar tore through the house, shaking the crimson walls as the eight-legged monstrosity dragged itself toward her.
Iris stared at it in disbelief.
“…I am never looking in a fucking mirror again.”
Iris laughed weakly to herself, doing everything she could to keep her stomach from emptying at the sight of her own face opening like a Pez dispenser.
“Hey, imaginary friend, you’re really lucky you can’t see this right now. Unfortunately, that also means you’re about to miss my incredible skills in action.” She smiled as the creature charged toward her, its eight limbs dragging its twisted body across the crimson floor.
Iris quickly leaped aside, narrowly avoiding the enormous mouth that snapped shut where she’d been standing.
“Hey! I’m having a touching moment with my imaginary friend, you monstrosity!”
The creature slowly turned its head toward her before speaking.
Its voice was Iris’s own, but every pitch was reversed.
Where Iris’s voice was low, the creature’s was high, and where hers rose, the imitation dropped into an unnatural growl.
“You can’t save anyone. Charles will die to the twins again. Alice will be executed. Your mother will drown and be devoured. Everyone you love will die a painful death, and you’ll be forced to outlive every last one of them.” Its enormous mouth stretched into a grin.
“You survived the first time through a miracle and the sacrifices of others. How many times do you think you’ll die in your pathetic attempts to save them?” Follow the newest chapters on novelping(.)com.
Iris stared at the creature, her expression slowly hardening.
“I don’t want to die ever again,” she admitted.
“But losing the people I care about hurts a hell of a lot more.” Black flames began spreading from her Sigil, gathering around her hands as several magic circles took shape in the air.
“So I’ll save them. Charles, Alice, Mom, all of them. I don’t care how many times I have to try. Mark my words.”
She raised her burning hand, watching as the circles formed from the black flames.
“You know, these flames are pretty special. They’re saturated with concentrated Miasma, so I realized something rather fun.” Iris smiled.
“I can use them as conduits for magic. Much easier than cutting myself open every time I want to cast a spell, and with far less Miasma poisoning to worry about.”
The magic circles spread out, surrounding the creature as it rushed toward her again.
Thick mucus dripped from its body, leaving wet trails across the floor as its many hands dragged it forward.
It was reasonably fast, but compared to the wendigo Iris had fought earlier, its movements were much easier to follow.
This creature had been made to deceive its victims and drag them into the mirror.
Once forced into a direct fight, its physical abilities were nothing particularly impressive.
“Fulgar-Sagita-Du!”
Eight Roman numeral II markings appeared across Iris’s arm, one for each magic circle.
Lightning crackled within them, gathering into the shapes of eight arrows aimed directly at the approaching monster.
Fire magic had always been Iris’s specialty, but she wasn’t foolish enough to rely on it for every opponent.
One glance at the mucus covering the creature’s body had been enough to tell her that burning it would be more trouble than it was worth.
Iris smiled as the lightning arrows finished forming.
“Let’s see how well you handle this instead.”
All eight arrows launched at once, striking the creature before its enormous body could move out of the way.
Lightning surged through its flesh, the thick mucus covering its body only helping the electricity spread.
The monster screamed as its limbs twisted violently, its hands clawing against the crimson floor while the lightning continued tearing through it.
By the time the spell ended, much of its body had been charred black, smoke rising from its ruined flesh as it desperately tried to crawl toward Iris.
Iris watched it struggle before raising her hand once more.
A magic circle appeared in front of her as she extended her arm and began to chant.
“Ignis-Gar-Tri.”
Flames gathered within the circle, slowly condensing into a long lance of fire.
Iris reached forward and grasped the weapon, smiling as its familiar weight settled into her hand.
Her own flames couldn’t burn her, but anyone unfortunate enough to touch even the handle would quickly discover that the same protection didn’t extend to them.
“Ah, I missed having a proper spear.” Iris casually spun the flaming lance before pointing it toward the creature.
“Speaking of which, I really miss my Grade 0 Artifact. My beloved Pallas…” A small smile crossed her face.
“I can’t wait to get you back in this life.”
She approached the monster and pressed the lance against its elongated neck.
With most of the mucus burned away, the flames immediately began eating into its exposed flesh.
Iris looked down at the creature wearing her face, her golden eyes narrowing in disgust.
“Any last words, you disgusting freak?”
Then it laughed.
“Alexi will kill you. You can’t win. Not when that man is his master.” Its ruined mouth stretched into another enormous grin.
“A being so terrifying that even the Seven Sins wouldn’t dare take him lightly. Your death won’t be painless, Iris Blackwell. Your body will be torn apart, and what’s left of you will be displayed for everyone you love to see. We’ll keep you alive just long enough for them to watch you suffer.”
Iris’s expression changed.
“Who?”
The creature continued laughing.
Iris pressed the burning lance harder against its throat.
“Who is his master? Tell me!”
The monster stared at her through its shattered mirror eyes.
“Kill me if you wish.”
Its smile widened one final time.
“But remember me when you suffer.”
Iris sighed.
“Fine.”
She swept the flaming lance across its neck, severing its head in a single motion.
The creature’s body collapsed, its remaining limbs twitching briefly before finally going still.
Iris watched it for a moment before allowing the lance to dissolve into black flames.
Her eye twitched.
Alexi’s master…
She had a terrible feeling she already knew who it was.
‘If it’s the bastard I’m thinking of, then I have another reason to kill him.’
That man had taken people from her in the previous timeline.
Friends she had fought beside, people she had trusted, people whose deaths she still remembered far too clearly.
Iris hadn’t known he possessed subordinates like Alexi, but that hardly changed anything.
“I’ll crush him.”
She looked down at the monster’s corpse.
“And every bastard working under him.”
Iris let out a quiet laugh before turning toward the hallway.
She’d wasted enough time in this horrible house, and her mother was still somewhere within the Black Ocean.
There were monsters to kill, people to find, and far too many mysteries surrounding the Nine Miracles for her liking.
She stepped outside, looking up toward the Blood Moon hanging above the crimson maze.
‘Just you wait.’
A small black flame appeared above her palm.
‘I’ll make sure this time ends differently.’
Iris smiled and began walking.
‘Even if I have to burn everything standing in my way.’