Eldritch Assassin: Reincarnated With An SSS-Rank Devouring System
Chapter 80: Trial Of Illusion

Chapter 80: Trial Of Illusion

Kael stood silent.

His illusion laughed. "You think you’re doing this for them? For your past? For Mira? For your pride? No. You’re chasing ghosts. And this path..."

A single step forward from the double cracked the ground.

"...leads to nothing."

Kael’s fingers curled into fists. "I’m not you," he said.

The illusion tilted its head. "You will be."

Kael didn’t wait. He stepped forward, blade drawn. This wasn’t a trial of strength, but he was done standing still.

Kael surged forward.

He didn’t charge recklessly like a fool by making battle cries or displaying an unnecessary burst of power. He just did a clean, swift dash, feet sweeping across cracked tiles as if his weight barely existed. His blade gleamed coldly in the fog.

The illusion—his double—moved in sync.

Clang!

Blades met. Steel rang.

Kael spun low, aiming for the legs. The double mirrored the move, catching the strike with a backhanded parry. Their auras crackled in unison, identical in weight and tempo.

’Same timing. Same instincts. Same weaknesses,’ he thought.

That was the catch. He wasn’t fighting Dorian or Mira or some half-formed fear anymore. He was fighting himself.

The illusion didn’t slow. It pressed forward with brutal clarity—no flourish, no waste. Every swing, every block, every pivot was a move Kael knew. Had trained. Had perfected. Fighting it was like fighting his own reflection in motion.

A blade nicked his shoulder.

Kael hissed and rolled away, skidding across the tiles.

Blood tickled out.

He touched the wound—real.

The illusion grinned. "Hesitate again, and it’s over."

Kael stood, heart pounding. "You bleed me, I bleed you."

This wasn’t a test of resolve anymore. This was an execution of knowledge—technique versus technique. The trial wanted to know how well Kael knew himself.

So he changed the flow.

Instead of defending, he surged again—but with erratic steps this time. His rhythm broke. Left, then a sudden stop. A wild feint, followed by a misstep—it was all intentional. He fought wrong.

The illusion faltered, just for a second.

That was all he needed.

Kael pivoted behind, dragging his blade across the double’s ribs in a wide arc. A solid strike. Light spilled from the wound like glowing ash.

His illusion staggered, eyes wide.

"You’re cheating," it spat.

Kael smirked. "No. I’m growing."

He pressed the assault, this time mixing his steps with borrowed patterns—Dorian’s explosive advance, Lysara’s sharp shoulder feint, even Mira’s arcing staff patterns adapted to a blade.

The illusion couldn’t match it anymore. Because Kael wasn’t just Kael now. He was pieces of everyone he fought, had seen fight, learned from, and buried.

His blade plunged deep into the illusion’s chest. The double grinned, then cracked.

Dark tendrils unraveled, curling skyward before dissolving into mist. The fog around him thinned. The pressure lifted.

A prompt rang silently.

——— [Adaptive Shadow Construct Defeated.] [Mental Cognition: Perceptive Insight+3, Willpower +2] ———

Kael panted, resting both hands on his knees.

"No essence... no healing... just a boost in Mental Cognition," he muttered.

He straightened, slowly. But the trial wasn’t done.

The ground pulsed once. Then again. The fog parted—not forward, but behind him.

Kael turned sharply with his blade raised—

And stopped.

A little boy stood there.

He had brown hair, pale skin. He stood barefoot, shivering slightly in the cold.

His own eyes stared back at him.

Kael’s breath hitched.

No wounds. No aura. Just a normal child.

"...me," he whispered.

The boy didn’t speak. He just watched, silently waiting.

Kael knelt, slowly.

He didn’t touch the boy. Just looked at him—closer.

Same scar on the brow. Same mark on the right palm from the time he’d burned himself in the forge. The same eyes.

But full of fear.

"You don’t belong here," Kael said quietly. "You’re not a threat. You’re a memory."

Still, the boy didn’t move.

Kael stood again, his voice low. "This trial... it shows illusions. Enemies. Guilt. Doubt. But you?"

He turned away, beginning to walk past.

"You’re the part of me that wants to stay small, a seed unwilling to break the earth, unaware of the boundless sky above."

The boy vanished like smoke caught in the wind. No system prompt this time.

Only silence.

Kael walked on.

His steps were firmer now. He wasn’t rushing. But he wasn’t hesitating either. The path narrowed once more as twisted pillars rose on either side. The fog had thinned just enough to reveal the horizon.

There was a closed gate ahead, made of Black Iron.

A heartbeat later, the final message appeared.

——— [End of Trial of Illusion: 97% Completion.] [Bonus Phase Triggered: "The Mirror Path."] ———

Kael stared, jaw tight.

"Always one more thing," he muttered.

The gate creaked open. Light spilled through, silver and sharp.

He stepped forward, not knowing what waited, but he was ready. Not because he had conquered his fears. But because he finally knew what they were.

Kael stepped through the gate.

There was no fanfare. No roar of triumph. Just silence. Stillness. The cold echo of his boots against polished stone.

This new space was... clean.

The mist was gone.

The walls shimmered like mirror glass, reflecting his form from every angle. The floor was a long corridor, stretching endlessly forward, though he knew it wouldn’t be endless.

Not in this trial.

Kael walked slowly.

Each step echoed back a second later, delayed just enough to make him pause. He glanced at one of the mirrors beside him.

His reflection didn’t move.

Kael stopped. So did the sound.

Then the reflection grinned.

Kael’s eyes narrowed. He reached for his blade, but his reflection had already drawn.

Clang!

The mirrored version lunged from the glass, blade aimed for his ribs. Kael twisted, barely dodging the strike, and slid back.

This version... wasn’t just a copy.

It was cleaner. Smoother. No wasted breath. No signs of fatigue. It felt... perfect.

Kael backed away slowly as the mirrored Kael paced around him.

The system’s message echoed in his head:

——— [Bonus Phase: The Mirror Path]

[Face your perfected self. Only one may walk forward.] ———

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