The banquet hall was no longer a hall but a killing ground.
The chandeliers lay in shattered ruin, the gilded walls carved open by flying glass, and the storm of shards howled through the air like a thousand razors. Nobles who had moments ago sipped wine now cowered beneath overturned tables, their silks torn, their jeweled hands bleeding. The Queen sat unmoving upon her throne, her golden chalice tilted just enough for the spiced wine to ripple, her eyes sharp with interest—as though this was nothing more than another act in a play.
And in the center of it all stood Kai, with Astra, Velis, and Lyra at his side, backs pressed against each other as the glass cyclone closed around them.
"Brace!" Velis barked, her sword flashing in arcs of silver light, cutting a path through the shards before they could pierce Kai’s throat. Each swing rang like steel against steel, sparks flying from the impossible collision of glass and blade.
Astra laughed—reckless, wild, dangerous. Her daggers danced, catching fragments mid-flight and slinging them back at the phantom in the distance, the shadowed figure who controlled the storm. "Come on, is this the best you’ve got? I was promised death at a banquet, not a glitter show!"
Lyra grimaced, blood streaking down her cheek from a grazing cut. She loosed an arrow; it whistled true, splitting through three shards before colliding with the phantom’s shoulder. The figure staggered—but did not fall. Instead, the storm surged harder.
The floor trembled. The shards thickened, spinning faster, weaving into the shape of swords, lances, and jagged spears all at once.
Kai gritted his teeth. His wounds stung, shallow but many. Blood streaked his arms, and every movement felt heavier than the last. Yet in the midst of the storm, his eyes locked onto each of his wives—Velis’s precision, Astra’s recklessness, Lyra’s stubborn defiance—and something inside him flared.
They weren’t fighting as three. They weren’t even fighting as four.
They were fragments themselves, sharp but scattered. And if they didn’t find unity now... the storm would devour them whole.
"Together!" Kai roared above the cyclone. "Not as rivals. Not as enemies. As one!"
For a moment, Astra’s wild grin faltered. Velis’s stoic face cracked with surprise. Lyra’s hand trembled on her bowstring. And then—something clicked.
Velis shifted, stepping into Astra’s reckless movements, turning what would have been chaos into a feint. Astra’s next strike followed Velis’s blade like lightning after thunder, catching the phantom’s guard off balance. Lyra’s arrow sang through the gap they created, a line of fire through shadow.
The phantom reeled. The storm staggered.
For the first time, they had struck as one.
But the reprieve lasted only heartbeats.
The phantom straightened, faceless but smiling in the way shadows could smile. Its cloak spread wide, and the glass storm shrieked, folding inward. From the cyclone, shapes emerged—not random shards, but figures. Reflections of themselves.
Velis froze as her mirror-image stepped forward, blade raised with identical precision. Astra swore, her double grinning with her same wild fire. Lyra’s breath caught as she stared at another archer with her own eyes, her own scars.
His own reflection—bloodied, grim, and hollow-eyed—stepping toward him with a sword raised high.
The banquet hall fell silent except for the hiss of glass. The nobles cowered lower, too afraid to breathe. The Queen’s chalice tipped further, wine spilling like blood across her fingers. Dıscover more novels at novel{f}ire.net
And the phantom’s voice finally echoed, carried by the storm:
"Let’s see if you can kill the parts of yourselves you fear the most."
The doubles attacked.
Velis’s mirror moved with flawless discipline, meeting her blade for blade. Sparks rang louder than thunder, every strike like fighting her own shadow.
Astra’s double laughed louder than her, wilder, sharper—her recklessness without restraint.
Lyra’s mirror loosed arrows with terrifying accuracy, forcing her to dive, roll, and curse through clenched teeth.
And Kai—Kai was slammed backward as his reflection’s strike met his own. The weight was identical, the timing flawless, every move anticipated. It was like fighting his own soul, and his soul wanted him dead.
The hall erupted into chaos again. The wives screamed, clashed, bled. The nobles sobbed. The Queen sipped.
Kai’s reflection pressed close, blade grinding against his, its hollow eyes inches from his own. The glass storm whirled tighter, the shards like a cage around them all.
And just as Kai thought he had matched his double’s strength, the reflection leaned close and whispered—
"I will take them from you."
The words hit harder than any strike. His grip faltered for the first time. His reflection smiled, a crueler version of his own smile, and drove forward with killing intent—
Preview – Chapter 89: Reflections in Blood
The battle against the mirrored selves spirals into madness. Velis faces the flawless version of her discipline, Astra clashes with a version of herself consumed entirely by chaos, and Lyra is hunted by the marksman she could have become. But it is Kai’s reflection that cuts deepest—fighting not just with his strength, but with his doubts, his failures, and his fear of losing the very women he swore to protect. Every strike reveals not only their enemy’s power but the darkness each of them hides within. And as the banquet hall drowns in broken glass and blood, the question rises: will they overcome their reflections... or will their reflections become the truth?
Kai and his wives now stand on the razor’s edge—not just between life and death, but between who they are and who they could become. If you’ve been loving the betrayals, the twists, and the heart-pounding fights, now’s the perfect time to drop a comment with your favorite moment so far! ⭐ Tell me: whose reflection do you think will fall first? Or will one of them fail against themselves?
Your support means everything—it fuels this story’s battles and keeps Kai’s journey alive. So hit that like, add it to your library, and share it with fellow fantasy lovers who crave action, danger, and complicated love. The storm of reflections has only just begun—don’t miss the next strike.