Legend of the Embroiderer

Chapter 468 The Mystery of the Mirror Abyss

The cold light refracted by the mirror was like countless poisoned daggers, precisely piercing the pupils of the fused body, forcing her to squint her eyes.

In each mirror, the masked "she" slowly approaches in different poses, some dragging burning chains, the chains scraping against the mirror surface with a piercing "sizzle" sound, sparks flying, and the air filled with the smell of burnt metal.

Some fingertips dripped black venom, corroding the ground and creating bubbling pits. The venom made a hissing sound when it came into contact with the ground, and emitted puffs of pungent smoke.

The mirror suddenly rippled, like a boulder thrown into a calm lake. The figure in the mirror reached through the surface, and cold, flesh-covered fingertips gripped her neck. The stench of rotting flesh mixed with an indescribable putrid smell assaulted her senses, making her want to vomit.

"This is what you desire deep down."

The voice of the Chaos Infant came from all the mirrors at the same time, carrying the unique innocence and cruelty of a child. The voice echoed continuously in the small space, as if countless Chaos Infants were whispering in one's ear.

The fused creature struggled fiercely, its neck aching from being choked, and its breathing becoming increasingly difficult.

To her horror, she discovered that the black worms planted by the man in black robes were awakening in her meridians, each dragging a thin chain of runes, like evil parasites, directing her power toward the unknown.

As the insects wriggled, her body gradually lost strength, and her limbs became limp and powerless.

She looked around, trying to find traces of the Guardians and Xiaoying, but all she saw were countless reflections of herself trapped in the mirror array. The reflections had empty eyes, as if they were silently telling of despair.

Just as the feeling of suffocation was about to engulf consciousness, a

A beam of silver-black light, like lightning slicing through the night, suddenly cleaved the mirror's surface. The guardian emerged from the mirror, his armor riddled with cracks, each crack seemingly telling a story of the battle's ferocity.

His left eye gleamed with the same scarlet light as the gatekeeper, exuding an aura of evil and madness. The halberd he gripped tightly in his right hand had turned completely black, its surface covered with strange patterns, as if countless mysterious symbols were constantly moving about.

"Don't come close!"

His voice was hoarse and unfamiliar, as if forced out from the depths of his throat, but when he met the fused body's terrified eyes, his voice trembled slightly, revealing a barely perceptible struggle, "I can't hold back anymore..."

Before the words were even finished, the halberd, carrying an aura of destruction, slashed down, instantly cracking the ground with spiderweb-like fissures. Black mist continuously poured out from the fissures, and the entire space was filled with a suffocating and dangerous atmosphere.

At the critical moment, the remaining starlight of Xiaoying suddenly lit up in the mirror array, like a ray of hope in the darkness.

The floating specks of light formed runes, radiating a soft yet resolute glow, which transformed into golden chains that bound the guardian's wrists. Taking advantage of the moment, the fused entity infused the chains with the power of the Starry Eyes. The instant the tri-colored light collided with the silver-black power, space trembled violently, as if the entire world was teetering on the brink of collapse under the impact of this force.

Half of the mirrors shattered with a deafening roar, and fragments rained down like a storm. The broken mirror surfaces reflected all sorts of eerie lights, creating a bizarre and surreal scene.

Amidst the swirling fragments of the mirrors, she saw the man in black robes standing in the center of the mirror array. A pale blue sphere in his hand held the fragmented stone tablet of the first observer, and a triumphant smile played on his lips, a smile that seemed to mock their futile struggle.

"You think finding a loom will change your destiny?"

The man in black robes waved his arm, his tone filled with mockery and disdain. Instantly, countless phantoms resembling the gatekeeper surged forth from the mirror array. The weapons in these phantoms gleamed with a dark purple light, and each attack carried a power that corroded spacetime.

The phantoms let out strange cries and pounced on the fused entity and the others. The fused entity felt the silver patterns inside its body begin to heat up, and the resonance with the stone slab became increasingly intense, as if a ball of fire was burning inside its body.

Meanwhile, the black insects were relentlessly devouring her power, the pain like a thousand steel needles piercing her very marrow, causing her to groan in agony. She gritted her teeth, enduring the excruciating pain, and struggled to muster her strength to resist.

The guardian's mutation continued to intensify; sharp bone spurs began to grow from his wings, each dripping with black venom. The venom dripped onto the ground, instantly corroding deep pits.

When he raised his halberd again, the fusion entity could clearly see that the skin beneath his armor was covered with chaotic patterns, which spread across his skin like an evil curse.

"Come on!"

He suddenly plunged his halberd into the ground, and silver-black power exploded within the mirror array, forming a brief escape tunnel. The tunnel was surrounded by dazzling light. "I am the Key of Chaos... destined to be devoured!"

His voice was filled with despair and tragedy, yet his eyes remained fixed firmly on the merged entity, as if urging her to leave quickly.

The fused entity gritted its teeth and charged toward the man in black robes, its heart filled with anger and resentment.

Just as she was about to touch the other person, the mirror beneath her feet suddenly turned into liquid, and as if she were sinking into a quagmire, her feet sank rapidly.

She struggled desperately, but to no avail, and could only watch helplessly as she fell into a dark space. Above her, there was the deafening roar of a shattering mirror, and the Guardian's final roar, a roar filled with reluctance and determination that lingered in her ears for a long time.

When she landed again, she found herself in a suspended bronze altar, ancient and mysterious, exuding a sense of the vicissitudes of time.

In the center of the altar stood a stone pillar half-engraved with star maps, and at the top of the pillar was the silver-black halberd that should have belonged to the guardian, its cold light gleaming in the dim light.

"Welcome to the wreckage of the Loom of Destiny."

The voice of the man in black robes came from deep within the stone pillar, a deep and sinister voice, as if it were a call from hell.

The entire altar began to rotate, and crimson characters appeared on the bronze surface. The characters seemed to have a life of their own, constantly moving across the altar.

"Balance requires sacrifice, and you are the sacrifice that connects the past and the future."

Before the words were finished, countless chains rose up around the altar, each one wrapped with fragments of the Chaos Core, and the chains shimmered with an eerie light.

At the end of the chains, Xiaoying's figure gradually became transparent. Xiaoying's eyes were filled with fear and helplessness, but she still managed to force a smile at the fused entity. That smile made the fused entity's heart ache.

The fusion entity was horrified to discover that the light from the blue crystal was being absorbed by the chains, and Xiaoying's body was gradually becoming illusory.

The guardian's halberd slowly flew towards the top of the stone pillar, perfectly aligning with the star map, and a powerful and evil force began to permeate the altar.

The silver patterns on his chest suddenly burst forth with dazzling light, which, like a powerful force, pulled the consciousness of the fused entity into an unfamiliar memory.

In that memory, she saw that at the beginning of the universe, the first observers and gatekeepers were one, only splitting into light and darkness to maintain balance. And the so-called Loom of Destiny was actually the ultimate weapon used to reset the universe.

When she awoke from her memories, the man in black had already removed his hood—and his face was exactly the same as the guardian's!

Her eyes widened in shock and disbelief, her mind blank, completely unable to accept the reality before her.

"Surprise?"

The woman in black robes raised the azure sphere, within which countless scenes from parallel universes appeared. In each universe, the fused entity turned to ashes after activating the loom. These scenes flashed before her eyes like a nightmare.

"I am both the future of the guardians and the past of the gatekeepers."

"Now, it is your turn to perform this sacrifice that transcends time and space."

His tone was filled with smugness and cruelty. Before he finished speaking, the altar suddenly trembled violently, and the halberd at the top of the stone pillar burst forth with a light that devoured everything. Wherever the light touched, space began to distort and deform.

Xiaoying's figure was gradually fading away in the light, and her smile was becoming increasingly blurred.

The fusion entity tried to rush forward, only to find that its feet had been pierced by chains, and blood flowed down the stone pillar, activating the last rune on the star map.

The excruciating pain nearly made her faint, but she endured it, her mind focused on only one thought: to rescue Xiaoying and break free from this damned fate.

"No—!" Her roar echoed through the space, filled with despair and rage.

All the mirrors shattered simultaneously, and countless masked "her" figures crawled out from the shards, their light blades slowly pointing towards the center of the altar.

Those blades of light gleamed with a cold light, like the scythe of death.

Deep within the rift in spacetime, amidst the laughter of the Chaos Infant, came the roar of gears meshing completely. The entire space began to crack like glass, the cracks widening as if it would collapse completely at any moment. An unprecedented crisis was about to descend. How would the fused beings survive in this desperate situation? What would their fate be? Everything was shrouded in uncertainty.