Then another flash.

[New Skill Acquired: Swamp Embrace]

You can summon swamp creatures, insects, or create quicksand to restrain enemies.

The ground under his feet pulsed faintly, as though something beneath the frozen staircase was responding to his mana.

Raito slowed his steps, looking at his hand as a green black mist curled around his fingers. "Swamp Embrace… bugs or quicksand, huh? That could be fun."

The cold wind howled around him. His heartbeat echoed in the silence.

Then the final notification appeared, bold, bright, and impossible to miss.

[LEVEL UP]

[User has reached Level 20.]

A surge of mana burst from his core. The staircase trembled. Ice cracked under his feet as an invisible force wave pulsed outward.

[All stats increased by +15.]

[Skill Limit Unlocked: Tier 2 Abilities Accessible.]

Raito exhaled slowly, a faint smirk forming on his lips.

"Level twenty, huh…?" he muttered. "Guess it's time for the real game to begin."

He clenched his fist, mana radiating from his palm in a faint crimson hue as he ascended the last few steps toward the unseen boss chamber waiting above.

Raito exhaled, his breath still misting in the cold air.

"I just reached level twenty… that's good," he muttered, flexing his hands. A faint shimmer of mana rippled through his arms. "I can feel my body… lighter. My energy—overflowing."

The lingering glow of the last notification faded away in front of him.

He clenched his fist. "I only gained skills for defeating that monster, but I didn't unlock any new ones. Level twenty, huh? Is the system trying to kill me or what?"

His voice echoed faintly across the ice coated stairway. He tilted his head, recalling the last battle. "Not only that… I hope that with the Lich, we'll actually be able to defeat that Mireborn Knight General Elite, the second generation one down there." He glanced back for a moment, the dim blue light below flickering. "I defeated one already. But still… I only got fourteen thousand LP for it. The Death Knight was stronger, that's why I got thirty thousand LP that time."

He sighed, shaking his head. "But I don't have time to think about that. I have to keep going."

The climb grew more tedious with each step, his boots crunching over thin layers of frost. The air gradually began to change, it was no longer biting cold. Instead, a strange warmth started to radiate through the corridor.

"…Huh?" Raito whispered, slowing down. His breath no longer turned white. The walls gleamed faintly with condensation instead of ice. Then he realized something else, the silence. No dripping water. No echo of wind. Nothing.

Just… stillness.

He stepped forward. The staircase opened into a wide circular hall. The warmth here was unnatural, almost alive. There were multiple doors surrounding the room, carved with strange, ancient runes. And directly ahead stood one larger door, taller, darker, pulsing faintly as if something behind it was breathing.

Raito walked to his left first, brushing his fingers against the first smaller door. It creaked when he pushed it open.

"Empty," he muttered, peering inside.

He moved to the next. Same result. Empty.

He kept checking each one in silence, tension building in his chest with every step. The air felt heavier the closer he got to the front.

Finally, he stood before the main door, the massive one. The faint glow coming from its cracks painted his face in shifting shades of blue and crimson.

"Alright," he said quietly, bracing himself. "Let's see what's waiting this time."

He lifted his right leg and kicked.

BOOM!

But before his foot could connect, the door creaked open on its own. A slow, deep groan echoed through the chamber as the air shifted.

Raito froze. The warmth disappeared instantly, replaced by a suffocating chill that crept down his spine.

"…You've got to be kidding me," he whispered, lowering his leg as a new line of glowing text materialized before his eyes.

[Warning: Boss Chamber Detected]

[Phase II — The Hall of Reflection]

The faint echo of something moving beyond the doorway made his heart pound.

He took a slow breath. "Guess it's showtime."

Raito stepped inside.

The moment he entered, light exploded across the chamber.

Everything, the walls, the floor, the ceiling, was made of mirror like crystal. Some panels gleamed perfectly, others were fractured and blackened like scorched glass. Reflections danced across the room, multiplying endlessly.

He stopped, scanning the space.

"The boss is supposed to be here…" he muttered. "But this doesn't feel right."

Something was off.

He knew the ancient records, Mireborn could be defeated if they saw their own reflection. Their cursed forms couldn't withstand the truth of what they were.

But here, every surface reflected.

If the boss really was inside this place, then… why was it still alive?

"That means the boss is different," Raito realized quietly. His breath misted against the cold mirror air. "He's not like the others. He can withstand this."

He walked forward, his reflection following him in a dozen directions. Then he froze.

In one of the mirrors… he saw something else.

Not himself.

A faint, ghostly figure, its shape flickering between light and shadow.

Raito stepped closer, eyes narrowing. As he looked deeper, the mirror began to shift. He saw faces trapped within it, people, hundreds of them, their souls sealed behind the glass, their eyes wide in silent screams.

He gritted his teeth, pressing a hand to his temple.

"What the hell is this place…? They're dead, all of them. So why can I see them?"

Then

A voice echoed from nowhere, reverberating through every mirror at once.

"You dare cross this chamber… human."

The voice was cold, heavy, ancient.

"I didn't expect you to actually defeat my Mireborn Generals. One still fights above, against someone of your blood."

Raito's expression sharpened.

"So you're the boss, huh? Stop hiding like a coward and come out!"

His voice bounced through the mirrored halls, swallowed by a thousand reflections of himself.

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