Bro, I'm not an Undead!-Chapter 1615: Reflection (2)

Kintar was looking at herself – a version of herself in her Limited Mythos form where she looked like a squashed pumpkin. She was floating in the air, her stubby legs and arms restlessly fidgeting. Her dark blue hair made into bowl cut was rippling in the cold winds coming from behind them, hiding the chilling mischievous look in her eyes at intervals.

The contrast between the two Kintars couldn't have been clearer without accounting for their sizes. The real Kintar was close to a breakdown while the other looked like she was the incarnation of fire – lively, greedy, insane.

"What's gotten into you all of a sudden?" the small Kintar said, giving a chittering annoying laugh. "Look at who're losing to?" She pointed at Nigerra.

Nigerra narrowed her eyes. Instead of being offended by the remark, she found herself smirking.

Reflections of the Soul were different depending on the individual. On the whole, they reflected the true essence of a living being. In a sense, they were the purest form of expression for a living organism, even surpassing the Broader Existence when defining identity. That was why those who could peer into others, searching for answers, often targeted the Reflection of the Soul.

Most combatants couldn't defend their Reflection of their Soul, as it were. The task was different from defending the soul as a whole. Only those with the strongest of wills often developed independent defence mechanisms within their Reflections; creatures that resembled them in one way or another, capable of growth and independent thought. Funny enough, those guardians were also called the Reflections of the Soul.

Nigerra was thoroughly fascinated by the spunk of Kintar's guardian. Because of her Eyes of Moving, she could move into other people's Reflection of the Soul and interact with them without needing something like a Class. That was how she had brought herself and Kintar's consciousness here. If she killed Kintar here, Kintar would die on the outside. Better yet, she could take as long as she wanted, after all, time often moved differently within the Reflections of others, especially while she was using her eyes to interact with them.

"To think you need an inner psyche to save you," she said and began marching towards the Kintars.

The Reflection snorted and kicked the real Kintar in the shoulder.

"She's going to kill us, you know? What are you going to do? I wouldn't say no to a chance at meeting Allora again, but dying by the hands of this horse-faced whore just isn't doing it for me. Besides, what would master think? Imagine him hearing you died fighting someone of this calibre? Didn't you challenge that Lich earlier? Did you talk all that smack just to die to a scrub like this?"

Kintar's face twitched. It morphed into a series of shapes as she drew in breath after breath. Nigerra's approaching steps made her heart race, but so did the crackling of the great flames in the distance, as well as the whooshing of cold winds behind her. It was all… overwhelming. Kintar's spirits plummeted, and she turned white as a sheet. She felt as though she was going insane.

Her Reflection's grin vanished the more it saw from her. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"Hey. Hey! Are you losing your damn mind because you had a close brush with death?" she said only to correct herself. "Oh no. No. It's because you were saved from death by the Stark Troops, right? You didn't think such a thing could happen, did you? Pherdanta is one thing, but those weak, scrawny plebs that are beneath you… they proved you wrong, didn't they?"

The Reflection laughed. "Colour me enlightened, Kintarrrr! You didn't realise that weaker souls could be so beautiful after Allora, did you? That they could be so… valuable. That's right, you wretch! There are other beautiful people out there besides Allora! They have souls as wide as yours, richer, bigger, and bolder! In a blink, they can decide your fate! They can make your title as Deputy to master look like a fucking joke! Oh, this is precious! Imagine what will happen if you die here! Master could just appoint Gerriey as his new Deputy! Why not, right? He didn't put you in that position because you were stronger than everyone else! You were valuable in another aspect! But the others have value too!"

Kintar pulled her hair.

She didn't process things as a normal person would.

Indeed, suddenly being brought to death's edge by Rias earlier, whittled her resolve.

Indeed, suddenly losing all her clones and her carefully curated strategy to fight opponents as strong as the masked man, did a number on her.

Indeed, when she was almost crushed by Godspeed Highway earlier only to be saved by the efforts of Gerriey and everyone else… broke her pride.

Suddenly, the Stark Troops were proving to be every bit as sacred as Allora was in her head.

Kintar… couldn't handle that.

"The other Unlimited Stars have better roles than you! You have already served your purpose with master. You helped him see the bigger picture earlier, but what happens now? What good are you? What happens when Pherdanta, Yuyui, Grim, Kenno, Baddan and Savast catch up and surpass you in strength? What will be special about you then? What happens when the Stark Troops become your rivals? How will we be valuable then, you stupid brat?" the Reflection screamed while grinning like a devil. "Don't you dare break down now! This is not the time!"

And indeed, it wasn't the time.

Kintar rose to her feet just as Nigerra decided to lunge for an attack.

The mini Kintar snatched her counterpart away just in time, flitting into the sky faster than a flash.

…But that would be the last time the real Realm Source Mage would need saving.

"Fuck. I get it already!" she hissed venomously as her Reflection placed her down on the ground some distance behind Nigerra. She took a breath, her eyes regaining vigour little by little. She considered Nigerra, who turned, scoffed and made to lunge again. "Am I supposed to become a discount Pherdanta then?"

There was spite in that sentence, but Kintar knew she was above that monster. Not anymore.

Maybe that was why Pherdanta was strong.

Maybe having the lives of others behind her was a source of strength.

Indeed. Indeed.

…But was that how Kintar's role was defined?

The Mage sucked her teeth as though they had suddenly turned sweet, and then cursed.

"Damn it all." In a blink, she mobilised her Genuine Divine energy and began furiously forming many gestures with her hands.

"What does it matter? I'll remain valuable no matter what! But first…!" She was storming ahead at impossible speed to meet Nigerra right in the middle.

The two women's fists met with a thunderous impact. The blaze and chill within Kintar's Reflection of the Soul whipped back violently, appalled by the raw, even force.

"Oh?" said Nigerra, intrigued. "What did you just do?"

Kintar's lip curled upwards, but she wasn't smiling or smirking. "I turned desperate. Apparently, turning into a feeble little bitch has its merits."