The Villain's Story

Chapter 934: Loved Ones.(2).

A mirror is the only thing that shows you yourself and the only thing that has never shown you yourself accurately, simultaneously the most honest object in the room and the most quietly deceptive.

It shows you what you wish to see, whenever you doll yourself up, and at the same time, shows a version of you can never wish to comprehend.

“It’s never going to work out. The man has you in his grasp… tsk tsk.”

One must ask, what is the thing you see in the mirror? Your own reflection? Or a monster you can’t begin to understand? A complicated web of thoughts hidden behind skin and flesh. A desire concealed by physical constructs.

“You know it was going to turn out this way, and yet you still chose to love her.”

It talks back to you, it whispers in your mind. The reflection is you, and at the same time, it is the most wrong version of you. The complete opposite, which appears to be so similar from the outside.

Ezra lay on his bed, appearing to be in deep sleep, but in reality, he was awake. Who could sleep when confronted with such whispers? His eyes were closed, desperately wishing for his brain to fall asleep.

But his ears, his ears were subjected to those whispers, keeping him awake. Keeping him aware of what had occurred, the nightmare that they would always keep repeating. However, Ezra ignored it.

However, it appeared as if fate had other plans. A vibration coming from above his chest rang out throughout his body, announcing itself clearly. His prison was calling him. Ezra opened his eyes, revealed two… blank slates.

Two blank slates, like a mirror without anything to reflect. Ezra was stirred awake, he stood up, clutching his head with one hand, and with the other, ripping the golden necklace he wore from his neck.

For a fleeting moment, he wished to crush that gold… but refrained himself. Ezra stood up from his bed and began to get dressed.

His room was strange, there were mirrors everywhere.

Everywhere. There were some scattered on the floor, a lot on the walls, some even on his bed, and one large mirror that covered the ceiling of his rooms. However, these mirrors were all empty.

They reflected nothing, not a single thing. Not a single speck of their surroundings, not a single thing. The only mirror that actually worked as intended, was the one at the very top, the one which reflected his entire room, everything… as normal.

But without all the mirrors that were piled up in his room. The mirror in the ceiling reflected Ezra’s room as a normal room, without any oddities, except for the existence within it. An identical copy of Ezra Fornum.

This was his reflection, but at the same time, something else entirely. While Ezra looked at the ground as he put on his clothes, the thing in the mirror, already clothed, looked up, or rather, down at him from the ‘ceiling’.

“He calls your name, and like a dog, you wag your tail and go over to him.”

For a split second, the real… Ezra stopped. He remained silent, and went back to buttoning his shirt. The man in the mirror smiled, and laughed.

“Ha, the so called genius… now a slave. What a fitting, fitting fate…”

The man in the mirror could choose any mirror to occupy, but he chose the one in the ceiling, just so he could look at his reflection, and laugh at him. It was all he wanted to do, to look down at the greatest genius of the world.

All to look down at him, considering him to be a dog groveling at his feet. It was all to laugh at him, at the real Ezra Miller, who had fallen so low.

The man in the mirror, or the reflection, perhaps the truth, was a being that existed solely in Ezra’s demented mind, a demon he had conjured up to… keep him in touch with his reality. But this demon… this Mirror Demon was not given birth just by Ezra’s fallen mind, it had received some help.

[Speculum Infinitum], A Unique Skill Ezra had awakened three months after his duel with Alan Peccator, a Unique Skill he had awakened as he progressed further with his Unique Element.

Alan Peccator was not the only one who was the first to awaken a Unique Element, Ezra too, had an affinity never seen before in the world. In fact, his was even rarer than Alan Peccator’s Spatial Affinity.

As far as he knew, nobody in the entire Alliance or the Abyss had awakened an affinity to [Mirrors]. It was truly the most Unique one. Ezra suspected his other unique skill, [Copycat], was involved in awakening [Speculum Infinitum], but he had no concrete evidence.

The Mirror Demon given birth by his demented state of mind was also the ‘consciousness’ of his skill, [Speculum Infinitum]. It represented the Skill related to a mysterious dimension known as the Mirror Dimension. The Mirror Demon was the exact opposite of Ezra, one that always looked down at him, and at the same time, the tool Speculum Infinitum used to view Ezra Fornum.

Ezra finally clothed himself nice, and turned his head up, locking eyes with the Mirror Demon. The Mirror Demon smiled, but lowered his head. Even if his mental state had collapsed, Ezra Fornum was still Ezra Fornum.

The pinnacle of human talent, a pure human blessed by Earth herself, one that didn’t need any bloodline, past memories, or legacy to grow strong at an alarming rate. He was the greatest pure genius Earth had to offer.

One so powerful, that he had risen to the rank of Divine in the previous iterations. He was a man who the Weave actually considered valuable! An existence of note that was capable of divinity. Ezra was, and always will be, the strongest Human Being.

He was the pinnacle of the human race, in all previous iterations… he had ascended to become a God to them. But what about now? What of him now? A person who was supposed to achieve divinity…

Why had he fallen so low? He questioned himself, but was unable to find an answer. Ezra’s mind was in shambles, as he sighed, and floated up.

The mirrors in his room began to dissipate one by one, as he ascended to the one in the ceiling. With a glance, he chased the Mirror Demon away. His reflection could pretend to be his opposite all it could want to be, but it would never compare to the real thing.

A mere reflection, no matter how demented it could be, no matter how it utilized the weakness of Ezra’s mind… would never overcome him.

Ironically enough, Ezra was well aware what had given birth to this Mirror Demon. He knew it was a product of his own insecurities, and weaknesses… the shattering of his pride, and because of that…

He kept it, like a constant reminder of how far he had fallen. He wanted it to laugh at him, until he escaped his predicament. Ezra’s figure slowly disappeared into the mirror, the surface rippled like it was water.

Ezra, using his unique skill, [Speculum Infinitum], Ezra traversed this strange and ‘infinite’ dimension, finding his connection to another mirror somewhere on Earth.

His mirror affinity was… special, to say the very least. Ezra had spent his entire life trying to figure it out, but he was certain he had barely scratched the surface.

Alas, what could he do? He had no help in this regard, he was a lone pioneer venturing into a world that had never been touched ever before. His affinity wasn’t one that was focused purely on combat or medical ability, it was more of a utility based affinity, much like Alan Peccator’s own spatial affinity.

Ezra travelled through the Mirror Dimension, avoiding the ‘horrors’ that stayed there, calling it their home, and appeared back on earth. His figure walked out of a mirror made of gold, and met the man that had a tight leash around his neck.

“Took you long enough.”

He commented, taking his legs off from his golden table and taking a more business appropriate position. Daniel Park stared at Ezra, and inwardly mocked his choice of clothing.

He wore a suit, but the grey color was bland, it was disgusting to Daniel’s eyes. Nevertheless, he ignored it. He didn’t wish to comment on Ezra’s dressing attire, aware he got it from Logan… who also chose to wear a plain grey suit despite his immense pride and ego.

Daniel Park played with a set of golden dice, throwing them up before catching them with his other hand as he said.

“I need you to do something.”

He pointed to the seat in front of his desk. Ezra sighed, and reluctantly took a seat. He struggled to keep his eyes away from all the precious gold in the office, afraid he might see what he was desperately trying to avoid, the cause of his depression.

“What?”

He asked, his voice was coarse, unwilling, and even a bit furious.

Daniel chuckled, and answered.

“I want you to kill Alan Peccator.”