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Arcane Drifters – Chapter 107: "Seal 3 – The Mirror Labyrinth"
Somewhere between reality and madness lies a broken dimension.
A place of infinite reflections.
Where each mirror holds a lie, or a memory, or a trap.
This is the Mirror Labyrinth.
Created during the First Arcane War to imprison the third soul fragment of the Arcane King.
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Now, a violet portal opens in the sky of the Labyrinth.
Through it steps Lady Xerna, floating sideways, her body made of glowing crystals, bones, and phantom light.
She speaks calmly to the void.
> "This place was once my prison."
"Now, it shall give me what is mine."
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She walks through the maze.
But every mirror shows something different.
One shows her past self — a human girl before she became Arcane.
One shows her defeat in a future timeline.
One shows Shen killing her in a single move.
She frowns.
> "Foolish tricks. I have no fear of fate."
She shatters each mirror with a finger snap.
But with every step, the Labyrinth adapts.
Her path begins to loop.
She appears behind herself.
She forgets her direction.
She speaks… and hears her voice lie back.
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Suddenly…
The Labyrinth Guardian awakens.
A massive mirror creature — with a thousand eyes and no face.
It speaks in reversed words:
> "uoy era tnahw ton si ytirohtua"
("Authority is not what you are.")
It swings a glass sword that reflects pure mind attacks.
Xerna is struck.
She freezes.
A piece of her soul memory is torn — her first time losing a loved one.
Tears fall.
> "This… is not allowed…"
But she smiles.
> "That pain… is why I became what I am."
She steps forward and shatters the mirror blade with her hand.
> "I am Xerna, Queen of Hollow Light!"
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The Labyrinth screams. The walls ripple.
All mirrors explode — leaving only one, deep in the center.
Inside that mirror, floating in golden mist…
Is the Third Seal.
Xerna walks forward, but her reflection stays still.
It smiles… differently.
> "You are not worthy," it says.
> "Your mind is split."
> "Your loyalty… is fading."
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Xerna hesitates.
A thought inside her:
> "What if… I don't want the Arcane King to return?"
But she suppresses it.
> "Even if I hate him, I serve the Arcane."
She rips the seal from the mirror.
The reflection vanishes in silence.
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Back in the Arcane Throne Realm—
She returns. Face calm. Eyes cold.
She drops the third glowing seal into the Black Coffin.
Three Seals placed.
The heartbeat now shakes the throne world.
> THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
And for the first time…
The coffin breathes.
A mist escapes.
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In the Drifter base, Shen drops to one knee, sweating.
> "They placed another one," he says.
"The King… he's almost here."
Kenya grips his fist.
> "Then we need to find the last four before they do."
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Chapter End