Chapter 166 (2): Decide the Victor and the Survivor

Meanwhile, the members of the Church of Moonlight living on the second floor also met their other selves. Some didn’t, the mirror reflecting nothing when they faced it. The inner world was a dumpster with its own story, complete with life, illness, and death, so those who had died could not be projected to the surface world.

A battle broke out without warning, immediately escalating. The Church of Moonlight was caught completely off guard, losing several Silver-rank mages in no time. They were strong, but so were their reflections. With them being unprepared, they were forced to struggle on the defensive.

They were waiting for their High Reverend, who was undoubtedly facing herself and locked in a battle that would take some time to conclude, deciding the victor and the survivor!

Meanwhile, Wayne was fighting the mirror version of the Death Knight. He sensed mana disturbance from the second-floor battlefield. It wasn’t strong, but the crackling fire elements helpfully pointed him in the right direction.

Ten minutes later, the figures donning black robes were no longer able to take the steep cost of the four elements, and worried that the mirror space projection barrier would crumble, they activated the anti-magic domain prematurely.

They only did that because they had no choice.

Originally, they were going to weaken the Church of Moonlight first with the mirror projections for half an hour, ensuring they took maximum casualties before using the anti-magic domain for a decisive sweep. If they were lucky, the bodies would still be warm when they charged in.

But it wasn’t possible due to their insufficient reserve of the four elements. If their reserve was exhausted, the barrier would crumble, and the members of the Church of Moonlight would be able to escape. With their original plan failing, they could only take out as many Moonlight mages as they could.

The moment the anti-magic domain was activated, all mages in the hotel were affected. The weaker a mage was, the greater the effect the domain had on them. The Death Knight, who had been able to rival Wayne with a fifty-fifty odds of winning, exited stage left unceremoniously after getting nerfed.

The members of the Church of Moonlight were shocked and terrified. They couldn’t use magic, and they had no firearms at their disposal. They felt like sitting ducks, losing all their fighting will.

On the contrary, their mirrored selves were fearless. The insanity of the inner world had tormented them so badly that they barely remained human. Driven by hatred, they unhesitatingly entered a fistfight with themselves all across the corridor and the rooms.

Bam!

In one of the corridors, Filomina was sword-fighting with herself. A Gold-rank mage couldn’t break free of the restriction of the anti-magic domain, and with no access to her mana, the Pistol of New Moon was even less useful than a fire iron.

The two ladies fought with sophisticated techniques and powerful physiques, their motions graceful and agile. Their long blond hair whipped around as their blades crossed fiercely, drawing glinting trajectories in the air. Their movements were so beautiful that their battle looked more like a dance.

It wasn’t a battle of pure strength. Each of their attacks was backed by their skills and battle experience. Since they followed the same master, so to speak, neither could resolve the other’s attacks. Still, their different worlds and experiences meant that they were different people despite sharing the same face.

The inner world made Inner Filomina’s swordsmanship fierce and vicious; she slowly took the initiative and suppressed Filomina. The cold glint of their dancing swords collided like rushing water.

Filomina put up a seamless defense, calmly saying, “Stop. The mastermind remains in the dark. Even if you kill me, you will not be the last one laughing.”

Inner Filomina wasn’t hearing anything. As soon as the fight began, she had already lost control of her emotions and fallen into hysteria, eyes bloodshot from her single-minded fixation on killing her surface self.

Filomina couldn’t do anything about that. Their enemies had not shown themselves. The two barriers were both heavy investments. She wanted to persuade herself to stop this meaningless fight, but her other self would not listen. Her only choice was to shake her enemy off.

With agile steps, Filomina jumped into the ruined corridor bombarded by magic. Sensing the approaching blade, she twisted her sword calmly and bent backward with one hand supporting herself on the ground, her bathrobe pulled taut against her arched torso. Once the fierce slash missed her by a hair, she brought her sword down.

Too eager in her offense, Inner Filomina rushed too quickly to avoid the slash. Blood gushed out of the gash torn into her abdomen, drenching her white robe instantly.

Following the slash, Filomina whipped around to kick Inner Filomina into the distance. She picked up the briefcase among the rubble and said earnestly, “You’re not of this world and have nothing to do with its conflicts. That won’t kill you. Just stop chasing me. Once the anti-magic domain dissolves, heal yourself and head back.”

She left without turning around.

“Stop! I haven’t lost!” exclaimed Inner Filomina, holding onto her injured abdomen as she chased after herself.

“You’re no match for me. Your overpowering killing intent undermines your thoughts...”

Filomina continued to move, not caring if her words of advice had reached her other self. She had made her case. If her other self refused to change her mind, she could offer nothing but prayers.

She looked for the original second floor in the chaotic space, hoping her colleagues had survived. The mirror space was followed immediately by the anti-magic domain. The deadly moves were meant to ensure the elimination of all targets.

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

“No average faction can afford to use these two barriers...”

Filomina thought darkly, going back to suspecting the Ministry of Magic, but she held onto her wishful thinking that it wouldn’t be them since two other Gold-rank mages were fighting in the barrier.

Meanwhile, Inner Filomina continued her fruitless pursuit even though every step felt torturous, her face pale and her blood dripping down her robe to the floor.

“Ma’am, are you from the mirror?”

Hearing the question, Inner Filomina turned around viciously.

“Seems to be the case.” Wayne nodded when he saw the red glint in her eyes. After some hesitation, he decided to move away and spare the lady.

“Wait,” Inner Filomina called out. Her gaze snapped to Mona, specifically to her neck. She gulped with a hint of desire.

Mona frowned, bothered by the woman’s overflowing malice. “Can I hit her, Boss?”

“Leave her. She’s in such bad shape that you’ll be bullying her.” Wayne shook his head, his tone considerate. “Just take her sword. It’s too dangerous for her to hold it. If she falls, the blade will hurt her even worse.”

“You’re so thoughtful.”

“I’ve always been since I’m used to being the good guy.”

Wayne sighed. He was wonderful in every way save for his overly kind heart. Because of that, he had suffered many losses.

Inner Filomina stared at the master and servant in shock, then her rage translated into an incredulous laugh. Although she was injured, she was still a Gold-rank mage. She was certain that she could subdue them with her life essence alone.

She would kill the man and keep the woman as sustenance!

Suddenly, there was a flash of white light, and Inner Filomina collapsed to the ground, seeing the world spin around her. Before she lost consciousness, she wondered how Mona was able to use her mana.

One would have to be at least Legendary-rank to ignore an anti-magic domain. Good. It seemed that her surface counterpart was going to die.

Mona pulled her fist back. The stigma on the back of her hand dimmed. She didn’t know that she had knocked a Gold-rank mage of the inner world out cold with a single punch. Picking up the longsword, she noticed Inner Filomina’s serious injury and couldn’t help but tear strands of cloth off the woman’s robe to bandage her.

Her good deed was immediately rewarded!

When she lifted Inner Filomina’s robe, she saw the holster around her waist. Mona’s eyes lit up. “Boss, there’s a gun.”

“It’s even more dangerous,” Wayne hurriedly said. “If it goes off, she can die. Bring it to me.”

“Oh.”

Mona knew looting was shameful, and her education prevented her from helping a villain with their wrongdoing. However, morality wasn’t about the what but the who. Since it was her angel master doing the deed, she believed there to be a reasonable justification.

Her master had taught her not to ask questions without a good reason, so she wouldn’t ask for an explanation.

“The sword is quite slim. The gun’s good...”

“Wait, magical handgun?!”

Wayne’s eyes lit up. What did he say before? Times were different. Someone had to have updated the meta.

“Wonderful. I finally found you.”

He strode up to memorize Inner Filomina’s appearance. He would like to see if the original gun was the one he had lost.