CHAPTER 41: CHAPTER 41 – “THE PHANTOM’S SMILE”

The battlefield was no longer recognizable.

Shards of mirrored ground floated like fractured islands, suspended in the crimson glow of the fractured moon. The vow-thread between Ren and the silver-haired girl burned bright, but around them the four avatars rose from the chaos like titans sculpted from memory and chain.

The first towered over them, a knight of twisted links with no face beneath its helm, carrying a blade wider than Ren’s entire body. The second coiled through the air—a serpent made of nothing but barbed shackles, its scales rattling as it writhed. The third unfolded metallic wings, a beast-like figure screeching with a sound like grinding glass. And the last—perhaps the most haunting—took the form of a child-shaped phantom, its hollow sockets filled with chain fragments, whispering words too faint to catch.

Ren swallowed hard, his blade trembling in his hand. His instincts screamed to move, but his vow-thread pulsed with a strange steadiness. The girl floated just above him, her shard-wings scattering silver sparks into the storm.

"The Keeper’s not fighting us directly," she murmured, her tone cold but sharp. "These avatars... they’re burdens. Fragments of what it’s guarding. Each one is a piece of what someone—maybe even you—once tried to forget."

Ren’s chest tightened. "So we’re fighting memories that don’t want to be remembered?"

Her eyes flicked to him, a shard of pain in their silver glow. "Not memories. Weights. Chains that drag the soul into silence. Break them—or we’ll never leave this place alive."

The ground beneath them cracked as the faceless knight advanced. Its colossal blade slammed down, shattering an entire shard-island into glittering dust. The shockwave flung Ren backward, only for the vow-thread to snap him upright again, pulling him in rhythm with the girl’s stabilizing shards.

"Focus on its gaps!" she cried. Her wings fired a volley of silver blades, piercing between the knight’s chains. Sparks flew as several links broke, but the knight didn’t slow. It lifted its sword for another crushing strike.

Ren dashed in, his ember-lit blade dragging sparks across the mirror ground. He slid beneath the descending blade and slashed upward, his strike carrying her resonance with it. The silver-ember arc split a swath through the knight’s torso, breaking entire sections of chain into fragments that evaporated into the air.

The knight staggered, but it didn’t fall. Chains slithered across its form, repairing its wounds, reforging its missing links.

"Tch—figures it wouldn’t go down easy."

Before they could regroup, the serpent struck. Its coiled body lashed across the battlefield, shattering floating shards into dust. Its jaws opened, fangs formed of hooked links descending toward Ren.

The girl raised her hands, shards orbiting faster until they formed a shield of silver light. The serpent’s jaws clamped down, sparks exploding as its chains ground against her barrier. The sound was deafening, like steel shrieking against steel.

Ren surged upward with a roar, his blade burning hotter, infused with the vow-thread’s energy. He swung into the serpent’s coils, cleaving through several links. The serpent howled, its body convulsing—but instead of collapsing, its severed links rained down, transforming into dozens of writhing, smaller serpents.

Each one hissed, snapping its chain-maws, swarming toward Ren and the girl.

"They multiply?!" Ren shouted, cutting one apart only for two more to coil out of the fragments.

The girl’s voice was calm despite the chaos. "It’s because serpents are cycles. A burden that devours itself, only to be reborn. If we don’t strike the core link—we’ll be overwhelmed."

The winged beast above screamed and dove, talons made of jagged chains aiming straight for Ren’s back.

At the same time, the child phantom simply... stood. Watching. Whispering. Its voice was faint, but it reached Ren’s ears:

"...you’ll fail again... just like before..."

The words slid into his chest like ice. His swing faltered. For a moment, the vow-thread dimmed.

But then—he felt her hand. Not physically, but through the resonance. A surge of warmth steadied him. Her voice cut through the phantom’s whisper.

"No, Ren. That’s not your voice. That’s the burden’s voice."

Ren clenched his teeth, shaking the doubt away. He steadied his grip on his blade, ember fire flaring brighter. "Then I’ll silence it."

The vow-thread pulsed, brighter than before.

Chains roared. The battlefield shuddered. And the first true clash with the avatars began.

The mirror battlefield screamed as three avatars attacked in unison.

The knight’s colossal blade split the air with a sound like the collapse of stone towers. The serpent’s smaller spawn writhed, snapping their chain-fangs from every direction. Above, the winged beast shrieked and dove, its talons leaving sparks of glass-fire in their wake. And through it all, the child phantom whispered, its voice threading into Ren’s chest like a needle of frost.

"...no matter how hard you fight... you’ll always break..."

Ren gritted his teeth, but the whisper echoed like a truth he couldn’t fully deny. His hands trembled, his grip almost slipping from his blade.

Then the vow-thread pulsed. Silver sparks flickered into his chest, and her voice came clear, cutting like light through fog:

"Ren. Don’t let the phantom shape your thoughts. Its words are nothing but echoes of someone else’s regret. Fight it—or it’ll chain you too."

Her shard-wings flared, scattering silver feathers that sliced into the serpent spawn. Dozens shattered into fragments of dust, but more kept multiplying, lashing around her legs like living shackles.

Ren’s blade ignited with ember-fire as he lunged forward, cleaving the coils binding her. He pulled her free just as the knight’s blade slammed down, shattering an entire island of ground beneath them into a rain of shards.

They landed hard on another fragment, breathing ragged. But their vow-thread held steady, binding them in rhythm.

Ren wiped blood from his lip, his ember-lit eyes narrowing at the avatars. "We’ll never outlast them if we fight like this."

Her gaze didn’t waver. "Then we don’t outlast. We break their roots."

The knight charged again, every step making the shard-island tremble. Ren raised his blade, ember flame weaving into her silver shards. The vow-thread thrummed, and for a moment the world bent around them. Their strikes weren’t just two forces—they were one, spiraling into a blazing arc.

Ren dashed forward, his ember blade burning hotter than ever, while her wings lashed shards into the knight’s joints. The two forces merged, carving a diagonal blaze across its armored body.

Chains screamed as the knight’s entire torso split apart, fragments raining into the void. For a heartbeat, it looked as if the faceless titan would collapse.

But the phantom child’s whisper rolled through the air again.

"...you never finish what you start..."

The knight’s chains reformed with a sickening groan, stitching its body back together. Its faceless helm turned toward Ren, and for a split second, he swore he saw his own reflection flickering across its armor—his failures, mirrored back at him.

Ren’s grip faltered, and in that instant the serpent struck. Its main body lunged from below, jaws yawning wide, fangs of chains ready to crush him whole.

"Ren—!"

Her voice snapped him out of the phantom’s hold. He spun, slashing upward with every ounce of ember fire he could muster. The vow-thread blazed as his blade cleaved into the serpent’s jaw, severing entire lengths of chain.

The serpent convulsed, shrieking as the broken links burst into sparks. Its body writhed, splitting apart into dozens of fragments—then reformed, smaller, faster, more vicious.

The girl’s expression hardened. "It’s not dying—it’s resetting. The serpent’s root is buried deeper."

The winged beast shrieked from above, descending in a storm of chain-feathers. She lifted her wings, her shards weaving a dome of silver light. The feathers struck, each impact echoing like a hammer against glass. Cracks spread across her shield.

Ren pressed his back against hers, both of them breathing hard. The vow-thread glowed brighter between them, trembling but unbroken.

"They’re endless," Ren muttered, glaring up at the descending beast.

Her eyes flicked to his, her voice low but unwavering. "Then we make them break each other."

Ren blinked. "...You mean—"

She nodded, silver hair whipping in the storm. "Redirect the serpent into the knight. Lure the beast into their clash. And leave the phantom for last—because its chains are already inside you."

The vow-thread pulsed, agreeing with her strategy. For the first time, Ren felt it wasn’t just binding them—it was guiding them.

The avatars roared as if sensing their defiance. The knight raised its blade for another crushing strike, the serpent coiled to lunge, and the beast spread its wings wide. The phantom child tilted its head, whispering softer now—almost pitying.

"...you’ll only hurt her... like you’ve hurt the others..."

Ren’s eyes narrowed. His grip tightened. "Not this time."

He stepped forward, vow-thread burning like wildfire, and the battlefield trembled as their counterattack began.

The shard-world shook as Ren sprinted across the broken platforms, ember flames trailing from his blade. Behind him, the serpent’s massive coils smashed through fragment after fragment, chasing him with rattling fury. Each time its jaw opened, a cavern of chain-fangs gleamed, ready to swallow him whole.

He didn’t slow. He wanted it closer.

Above, the silver-haired girl soared on her shard-wings, weaving arcs of silver light to bait the winged beast. It dove for her again, talons like jagged guillotines. She twisted, letting the razor wind of its dive cut a line across her cheek, but kept pulling it downward—toward the knight.

The battlefield was chaos, but their vow-thread burned like a compass, aligning their movements without words.

"Closer..." Ren muttered under his breath, eyes locked on the knight’s armored bulk as it raised its blade for another earth-shattering strike.

The serpent lunged. Ren waited until the very last second, the chains close enough to scrape sparks against his skin—then he leapt.

The serpent’s momentum carried its entire body forward, slamming into the knight’s raised sword with a detonation of sparks and shattering chains. The knight staggered back, its faceless helm snapping toward the beast with what almost seemed like anger.

Ren landed hard on another fragment just as the girl executed her part of the plan. She folded her wings at the last moment, diving beneath the knight’s chest. The winged beast, too fast to change its course, collided into the knight’s shoulder with a shriek of splintering metal.

For the first time, the three avatars clashed against each other. The entire shard-world quaked as chains screamed, their forms tearing into one another.

Ren grinned despite the blood dripping from his temple. "It’s working—"

Then the whisper slid through his chest.

"...You think this will save her?"

He froze mid-breath. The phantom child stood just behind him, its form untouched by the chaos. Its head tilted, its hollow eyes fixed on him.

"...Every vow you’ve made ends in ruin. Every hand you’ve held—you let go. Why should she be any different?"

Ren staggered, his blade lowering. His lungs felt like they were filling with glass dust. For a heartbeat, the vow-thread dimmed.

The girl noticed immediately. She shot across the battlefield, shards spiraling from her wings to intercept a chain-spike aimed at Ren’s chest. Sparks exploded as she shattered it, but her eyes burned hotter than the silver light around her.

"Ren! Don’t listen!" Her voice cracked, not with fear, but with defiance. "That phantom isn’t truth—it’s a prison. Look at me! Not at it!"

Ren’s gaze flicked between her and the phantom. The child only smiled faintly, as if amused.

"...She’ll leave you. Just like they all do. You’ll watch her back turn, and this vow-thread will snap. That is your nature, Ren."

The vow-thread quivered violently, its fire dimming. Ren’s chest tightened, memories flashing unbidden—faces blurred, hands slipping away, moments of loss that gnawed like open wounds.

The serpent roared, tearing itself free from the knight’s grasp. The winged beast screeched, rebounding for another dive. The avatars were recovering fast, and Ren stood frozen.

The girl’s voice cut through the storm again, sharper than any shard.

"Ren! Even if the whole mirror world says you’ll break—I won’t. Not while we fight together. So don’t you dare give in now."

Her shard-wings flared, light cascading into the vow-thread. It pulsed violently, as if rejecting the phantom’s chains. The silver light reached into Ren’s chest, steadying his breath.

He tightened his grip on his blade, ember fire reigniting. His voice was hoarse but steady.

"...Then let’s break their prison. Together."

The phantom tilted its head further, as if intrigued. Its whisper thinned into silence—but its smile lingered.

Above them, the knight and serpent lunged again, the winged beast circling in fury. And this time, Ren and the girl moved not as bait or prey, but as hunters, their vow-thread burning bright enough to fracture the very air.