Lord of the Karmic Fate

What was the best way to make one's reflection completely vanish?

When one heard such a question one would either start to scowl deeply as they would fail to come up with a proper answer or would immidieatly reply that there was no way a reflection could possibly vanish.

However, in truth, there was an answer, and in fact, not one but many!

For instance, the most basic answer was to exterminate the very reason that formed reflections which were...

Light.

As it was common knowledge, reflections could only form because light falls on surfaces that do not absorb energy and instead force them to bounce away.

Knowing something like that, one would immidieatly understand that one should first attempt to stop light from falling on the surface where reflections could appear, or better, completely make light itself vanish!

And what was the best way to do such a thing?

Of course, it was to use darkness!

After all, in complete darkness, no light existed and without any light, there was no possible way a reflection could materialize and form.

Exactly because of knowing this reason why Raven decided to manipulate his Artifact to summon an item that could annihilate the reason why reflections could exist at all; the Twilight Seed that could summon darkness and annihilate light itself!

However, as it was a Relic that could have been used only once so now he had to find another way to make his reflection vanish to avoid killing himself.

Currently, Raven could only think about one way through which he could make his reflection vanish temporarily, which was to move so fast that his reflection had no time to materialize on the creature's mirror-like skin.

Naturally, saying such a thing would be akin to saying Raven should move faster than light itself, however, that was not the case. While it was true he couldn't move faster than light, in reality, he didn't have to.

He just simply had to run so fast that his reflection became nothing but a complete blur that if shattered would not cause his physical body to sustain any damage.

'Though, it is easier said than done...' Raven sighed as he ordered his Heavenly Cloak to wrap itself around his whole body as much as it could, which at the moment wore the set of armor he had bought from the Backrooms, further increasing his defense in case a direct attack happened to land on him.

'Damn... There is even more than before!' Raven's face changed scarcely when he saw how several tens of those mirror creatures stood around him.

'Let's do this...'

With such words in mind and with his Emperor's Will already activated, swapping his Constitution points with his Mystique to keep his Heavenly Cloak functioning, Raven leaned scarcely forward, and the next second...

BAM!

With a great momentum that sent ripples through the air but luckily was not strong enough to shatter the mirror-like ground, Raven began to dash into the distance while he continuously increased his speed.

At the start, he ran as fast as a Ranker with 500 points of Speed, however, after 5 seconds his movements became so fast that he easily surpassed 600 points, reaching a level that only those above Rank 64 could achieve!

Hell, with his Title's passive blessing and the small amount of refinement he has gained after practicing with Kayn in the past, his speed could easily rival anyone close to Rank 70 which was ridiculous!

And he has not even considered his Death Defier Title, which if happened to get triggered would definitely cause his body to break down in seconds and send him right into his death!

After all, even now he could feel how the sudden jump in Speed took a heavy toll on his body. It felt like his muscles and tendons were stretched and torn apart mercilessly one by one, almost as if someone or something wished to shred him into pieces from the inside!

The feeling was close to hellish torture, however...

'It is nothing compared to tha pain I have felt before my seal had been broken. Also, it seems with this speed I have achieved what I have wanted.' Raven thought with clenched teeth as he zigzagged between the creatures, his Celeste Blade severing their head one by one without him sustaining any damage.

It seemed that because now his speed was akin to a Ranker who had his Speed Trait almost above 700 points, he was able to move just fast enough to avoid his reflection from completely forming.

And as there was no entirely formed reflection, the curse-type ability couldn't affect him at all. However, in exchange to achive something as ridiculous as that he had no other choice but to pay with his own body!

"Cough!"

Coughing up large amounts of blood despite just running for less than 20 seconds, Raven clenched his teeth and kept going, ignoring the pain in his body as much as he could.

'Only 20 more!'

Whoosh!

Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!...

Like a phantom that claimed the lives of its prey from the shadows, Raven slew all the creatures without holding back anything.

[Congratulations! You have slain Rank 57 Reflector!]

[Your Vitality has increased by +2!]

[Congratulations! You have slain Rank 57 Reflector!]

[Your Vitality has increased by +2!]

[Congratulations! You have slain Rank 57 Reflector!]

[Your Vitality has increased by +2!]

...

Swish!

Crack!

With a powerful swing of his blade, Raven sliced the last Reflector alive in two which once it fell on the ground shattered like glass, allowing him to finally stop running.

"Bleargh!"

Throwing out a massive amount of blood once he was on his knees, Raven felt his mind becoming dizzy while his sight began to spin around.

"F...Uck..." cursing out through his clenched teeth as he felt he was on the verge of fainting, Raven quickly took out a Healing Pill from his Void Ring and threw it into his mouth.

Whoosh!

"Urgh..."

Feeling as if every muscle within his body was set on fire while being pierced by thousands of needles, Raven showed a deep scowl and let out a pained groan.

However, after 5 full minutes his frown gradually began to vanish and what replaced it was a surge of warmness that caused him to subconsciously let out a sigh of relief.

[Congratulations! You have successfully completed Realm Game [World of Reflections], Main Quest [Defeat all Enemies!], Hidden Quest 1/2 [Formless Reflection!]]

[Recive rewards now or later?]

[The Backroom has been charged by 20%! Current state: 40%]

Upon seeing the floating panels in his line of sight while also watching how everything around him shifted back to being the Empty World, Raven let out another sigh of relief and decided to collect the rewards later.

However, just out of curiosity, he took a quick glance at the list of rewards he will be able to collect in the not-so-distant future.

------------

[All Rewards]

/Challenge Rewards/

- 5 Random Avatar Flasks

- 1 Middle Piece Artifact Crystal

- 1,000 Astral Cores

- 1 Random Blueprint Scroll

- 1 Rune Pill

/Hidden Quest Rewards/

- 2 Random Avatar Flasks

- 1 Arcane Grade Relic

/Special Reward/

- Realm Shop Ticket

------------

'An Arcane Grade Relic?' Raven's eyes lit up scarcely when he noticed the Hidden Quest Reward before his expression turned into confusion.

'Realm Shop Ticket? What the hell is that?'

Raven knew what a Realm Shop was as he was 'lucky' enough to be among the first to enter the first floor of the Realm Shop in the past, however, he had never heard about such a reward as a Realm Shop Ticket.

Was it a like the Backroom Key that allowed one to enter the Realm Shop if used?

Well, whatever it was Raven will find out once he leaves the Empty World and will have time to check it out.

'I should leave.'

Raven looked around himself as he was ready to leave the Empty World and the Crimson Gate, however, a few seconds later he realized a problem.

He couldn't leave.

'I don't like this...'

Raven raised his guard when he felt something was amiss, however, not even a second later as he did something he didn't expect would happen happened.

BAM!

With a force that was enough to crush boulders into debris, Raven felt as if some sort of invisible power fell on his body from above, compelling him to fall on his knee and struggle not to be mashed into meat paste!

[Only if you were able to see yourself... Even such a tiny amount of pressure was enough to push you down on your knees.]

As the cold and indifferent voice thundered through the air from all directions, the pressure on Raven's body only grew denser and heavier, earning a deep groan to escape through his clenched teeth.

Even the cracking sound of his bones from within his body was heard from time to time, sending cold chills down anyone's spine who would hear it.

[Hmph... I feel sick just by looking at you and knowing that you and I have the same celestial blood running through our veins.]

[You are nothing but a disgrace to us, Gods!]