Fate To Fake: Loved by the Fallen; Fated to Kill the Divine

The cloaked figure's thoughts spun in chaos.

'Three-layered magic… cast instantly?' Her breath caught as her eyes narrowed. 'That's only possible for a Fourth Stage Mage. But no… I can't feel that level of power from him. His aura is no stronger than Stage Three. Then how… what is going on?'

Her lips pressed tight.

She initially thought he was bluffing about his stage, but when she saw him using the three-layered magic... that's only possible for those who reached the fourth stage.

Could Dracula not be bluffing?

But still, she couldn't sense any kind of difference from him.

Was he pretending to be stronger than he was?

Then, another voice echoed inside her mind,

'Pseudo Stage Four?'

The words made her flinch. She raised her head and found Dracula staring directly at her. His crimson eyes glowed with dreadful intensity, as if he stopped whatever thing that tried to enter his mind.

Dracula's lips moved slowly, deliberately. "What a troublesome ability you have."

His eyes burned brighter, glowing red like twin fires. Yet instead of rushing her again, his tone shifted into something darker, colder, far more certain. "Cursed people like you… there is only one way to deal with them."

Her chest tightened.

How? How could he speak like that?

How could he act as though he knew her? She had hidden everything... her power, her curse. She had buried it so deep that not even her Master could see through it.

Yet here he stood, speaking like he already understood everything about her.

"No!" she screamed in her mind. She stomped the ground hard enough for cracks to spread beneath her boot, then launched forward in a burst of speed.

If he knew... then he needed to die!!

Her hand shot out, taking another blade that had fallen near the rubble. Crossing both curved blades in her hands, she slashed at his throat, the movement sharp and merciless... like scissors cutting through fragile paper.

The twin blades closed around his neck and cut him down.

Crack!

A weird cracking sound?

The blade had not cut flesh.... It had cut glass?

Dracula's neck fractured like a mirror, breaking into a thousand spiderweb cracks.

Her eyes went wide.

She hadn't struck Dracula at all.

She spun instantly, but behind her stood the true figure... Dracula, grinning with an amused expression.

She leapt towards him, "You cannot escape from me!"

However,

Thud!

Another mirror dropped into place before her, sealing her path. She turned to the side, only to find another.... Then another.

Before she could even breathe, she was trapped.

Dozens of mirrors closed around her, forming walls on every side.

And in each reflection, she saw herself... Her hooded figure, her trembling hands, her golden eyes staring back at her from every direction.

Her body stiffened, and her fist that was holding weapons trembled.

"No… N-No, NO!!" The scream tore from her as she dropped to her knees, clutching her head. It was as though her own reflection was clawing into her skull, shredding her mind apart.

Above her, Dracula hovered in the air, his wings fluttering, his face twisted into a wicked grin as he watched her crumble.

His hand lifted slightly, fingers twitching. At his will, the mirrors pulsed with power.

Her vision blurred. Her heart pounded like a drum in her chest.

"Stop it!!!" She screamed.

What's happening to her?

Only Dracula knew.

In his other hand was a book... dark, bound in leather blacker than night. Its pages flipped on their own, glowing gently with blue mist.... The answers were inside.

She screamed and swung her blade at one of the mirrors.

Crash!

The glass shattered into shards that scattered around her feet. But as quickly as it broke, another mirror formed in its place.

Again, she struck... Again, it broke.... Again, it returned.

Dracula's smile widened. With a snap of his fingers, the book vanished into smoke. His fist clenched, and the mirrors began to move inward, closing in on her like a cage of glass.

Her body trembled as their glow washed over her. Grey spread across her skin like a disease, crawling upward from her hands. Her body shook violently as if she were being turned into stone.

"A cursed monster," Dracula said, his voice filled with venom, "cannot even endure the sight of her own face. How utterly pathetic."

The mirrors pressed tighter, almost touching her body.

She screamed, "N-No!! NOOOO!!"

But no blood poured out. No wounds marked her flesh.... just her skin turning grey and dark.

And then—

'Detonate yourself.'

The command struck through her mind.

Her breath caught in her throat. 'M-Master?' she whispered inwardly, though her body shook under the pain.

'Either detonate yourself… or remain forever trapped in this shell.' Her Master's voice was indifferent and cold.

The cloaked figure trembled for a moment, her body hunched. Then she lowered her head and whispered inwardly. 'As you wish… Master.'

Dracula froze as glowing symbols began to appear, wrapping around her body. A magic circle blazed beneath her feet.

His lips curled into a smirk. "Oh? Ending yourself? Hahaha… pathetic."

But then his eyes snapped wide.

The circle wasn't just under her feet.

It stretched outward... across the underground walls, through the floor, into the cracks and scars carved by their battle.

His grin fell away.

His face turned to shock.

"No…"

The figure coughed, dark blood spilling from her lips, but a grin crept beneath her hood. Her voice trembled but carried strength.

"Did you think I was only fighting you?"

She laughed, "Every strike, every clash… I was carving. Preparing. From the very beginning, this was never about winning."

Her golden eyes flared as the circle blazed brighter, shaking the cavern.

"I know I will die when I face... so, it's either mine… or both of ours."

Dracula's eyes went wide. His wings spread in panic, ready to flee.

But it was too late.

The cloaked figure raised her bloodied hand, her voice steady for the first time.

The figure smirked under the hood. "Well then… let's go to the afterlife together~" She snapped her fin—

BOOM!!!!!