It had the sa height, the sa build, and the sa posture.
Even the subtle way his shoulder settled was accurately similar to how Aster’s shoulders were.
Then its eyes opened, and they were the sa color as his.
The sa calmness and the sa focus.
The golem moved its fingers once, slowly as if testing out its sensations, but Aster understood instantly that this wasn’t an illusion.
It wasn’t a reflection but a construct.
A perfect one at that.
But at the center of its chest, there was a faint but visible crystalline core that pulsed with steady light.
Also, across dozens of identical chambers, the sa realization struck and shock rippled through the fifth trial as contestants stared at copies of themselves with disbelief etched across their faces.
So stepped back instinctively, while so laughed once before stopping.
Others reached out to the lifelike golems only to recoil when their mirrored golden did the sa.
But a simple thought crossed through everyone’s mind.
How do you fight yourself?
anwhile, Lilith’s voice filled every chamber at once as she spoke.
"Welco to the Fifth Trial."
"Each of you is facing an advanced construct modeled after your own body, abilities, and combat patterns," she explained.
"They will mirror your power output, your techniques, and your instincts to the best of their designs, and they will not hesitate to attack when it’s ti to do so, so don’t waver on what to do."
"Your objective is simple." She continued calmly.
"Each successful strike earns points, but strikes that damage vital structures earn more."
"Destroying the core ends the trial imdiately, and the trial ends when ti expires or when the construct is destroyed."
"But just so you know, no outside interference is allowed."
"And no assistance will be permitted as well."
Hearing this, the chamber grew quieter still, and the golems moved once again.
But this ti, they stepped forward, all at once.
Aster didn’t move, and neither did his golem.
They stood facing each other while having identical stances and breathing.
Across the field of vision, the golem’s aura ignited at the sa mont his own did, and Aster noticed how their aura capacity seed really similar.
In other words, they weren’t just similar physically, but also magically.
Realizing this, Aster sighed softly.
All around the tournant grounds, combat erupted, and so contestants rushed forward.
Driven by instinct or fear, while others hesitated and paid for it, many were able to charge forward, imdiately sending their counterparts crashing across the floor.
But another golem clashed against its opponent at the sa ti, with their blades eting in perfect symtry, forcing sparks to be scattered across the stone.
Cries echoed, and roars followed, forcing so fights to end almost instantly.
A panicked conjurer overcast his own power and collapsed as his armor calmly shattered his defenses.
A reckless enhancer charged without control and was countered by a perfect replication of his own mistake.
Projection crystals across the continent lit up in rapid succession as viewers leaned forward.
anwhile, back in her own chamber, Astrid stared at her mirror.
The construct’s frost aura blood outward the mont hers did, coating the floor in crystalline ice.
The temperature dropped instantly.
But neither moved.
For several heartbeats, it was impossible to tell which one would strike first.
Astrid raised her hand.
And the golem raised its hand.
A spear of ice began to form in both palms at the sa ti.
Astrid’s eyes sharpened as she muttered to herself.
’So this is how it will be.’
Across the arena of mirrors, points began to accumulate.
Nas flickered on unseen tallies.
So rose quickly.
So stalled.
So flatlined.
And among all of them, two battles stood completely still.
Aster and his golem doppelganger
.
Astrid and hers.
Neither had attacked yet.
Because both understood sothing the others did not.
This was not about speed or power or dominance.
It was about who understood themselves better.
And the Fifth Trial had only just begun.
The fifth trial exploded into motion everywhere except where it mattered most.
Across the mirror chambers, combat began brutally and without ceremony.
A noble enhancer charged first in his arena, roaring as he poured everything into a single reckless rush.
His opponent t him head-on, matching the timing perfectly, then pivoted at the last instant and drove a copied strike into his ribs.
"Oohhh!!"
Bone cracked, and the noble skidded across the floor, gasping, and before he could recover, his mirror struck again.
Points flickered briefly.
Then red light swallowed the chamber as the noble collapsed unconscious.
Elsewhere, a conjurer tried to be clever.
He split his mana flow, casting layered illusions while weaving a binding spell beneath them.
For a mont, it looked impressive, and the mirror golem paused.
Watching this, the audience leaned in.
Then the mirror did the sa thing.
Illusions collided, and Bindings canceled each other out.
Mana backlashed, and the conjurer scread as the mirrored golem’s feedback tore through his nervous system, then he dropped, twitching, before landing a single aningful hit.
Disqualified..
The projection crystals updated rapidly.
Nas dimd, and rankings shifted.
This round was ruthless in a different way.
There was no unfamiliar enemy to bla.
Every mistake belonged entirely to the one who made it.
So contestants adapted.
A horned beastman enhancer abandoned brute force and switched to footwork, earning small points with controlled strikes rather than risking everything.
His mirror mirrored him, but the hesitation on both sides stretched the fight long enough for judges to see consistency.
Points accumulated slowly.
Others did not adapt fast enough.
A noble conjurer tried to overwhelm the field with raw output and burned through his reserves in minutes.
His mirror waited, conserved, then dismantled him piece by piece.
Zero points.
Gone.
Across dozens of chambers, the pattern repeated.
Those who relied on status failed.
Those who relied on a single trick failed.
Those who relied on emotion failed fastest of all.
The mirrors punished excess.
They punished sloppiness.
They punished ego.
By the ti the first ten minutes passed, nearly a third of the remaining contestants were already eliminated.
In one chamber, a Capra demon prince fought with ferocity.
His mirror t him strike for strike, horns clashing, hooves cracking stone as both figures circled.
The prince adapted quickly, switching rhythm, baiting attacks, forcing openings rather than chasing them.
His mirror copied that too.
The battle turned into a war of attrition.
Neither gained a decisive edge, but points climbed steadily for both.
In another chamber, the Pyro demon prince unleashed controlled bursts of fla, precise and asured.
His mirrored golem responded in kind.
It was heat against heat and fire folding over fire.
Their arena glowed red as points ticked upward with every clean exchange.
anwhile, Spectators watching from afar began to murmur.
Astrid’s chamber shifted first.
Ice shattered across the floor as her mirror launched a perfect copy of her frost spear.
Astrid twisted aside, letting it pass close enough to stick close to her sleeve with cold, then countered instantly.
The impact echoed like breaking glass.
Points appeared, and Astrid adjusted.
She did not repeat the sa move, and neither did the mirror golem.
Their fight beca silent, clinical, and terrifying.
Frost spread and receded in controlled waves, causing every strike to feel deliberate.
Every movent beca calculated, and Viewers across the continent stopped cheering.
They were watching sothing colder than violence.
In other words, it was epic.
On the other hand, Aster still had not moved.
His mirror still had not moved.
Both stood facing each other in the center of their chamber,
Around them, countless fights ended.
Points were scored.
Contestants fell one after the other.
But Aster waited.
His mirror golem waited too.
Then Aster took one step forward.
And so did the golem.
Fire blood around both of them at the sa ti, which was identical in shape and intensity.
They struck at the sa ti.
The collision detonated outward, cracking the floor in a perfect circle.
Points flashed.
Aster shifted stance, and the mirror shifted with him.
Both vanished, and the collision ca half a second later.
Fla t fla and steel t steel.
The impact detonated outward, ripping cracks across the stone floor and forcing the projection crystals to zoom outward to contain the blast.
In the stands, demons leaned forward, muttering to themselves.
"The golem is matching him."
"Yeah, you’re right."
"It’s not even a second slower."
anwhile, on the platform, Aster slid back several steps as his boots grounded against scorched stone.
Across from him, the mirror golem slid back the sa distance.
It had the sa recovery and the sa control.
Aster exhaled slowly, and the golem attacked again.
It did not rush.
It did not overextend.
It advanced exactly as Aster would.
Fire condensed around its arm.
It compressed instead of flaring outward, and a blade ford.
It was not wide, and neither was it flashy.
Instead, it was sharp and efficient.
Aster countered, and their swords t.
Once.
Twice.
Three tis.
Each clash rang like an echoing bell.
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