Chapter 54: Mirror Queen (3)

I thought it would be a short battle.

But unexpectedly, future Elian was strong.

No—she wasn’t just strong.

Up until now, Irene hadn’t had a single proper opponent.

But future Elian pushed her back from time to time.

It was a critical moment, with the fate of the world on the line.

But Irene only frowned slightly, not really thinking too hard about it.

“This is cheating, you know.”

Even as massive shockwaves erupted from their clashing swords and the castle shook,
Irene didn’t stop talking.

Caught off guard by Irene’s sudden declaration, Elian asked in confusion:

“How exactly is it cheating?”

That usual stubborn personality.

Even if she had gone mad, future Elian was still Elian in that regard.

“You’re using your mana, my mana, and all the mana you’ve been collecting up until now to fight.”

In other words, Irene was at a significant disadvantage.

Because the future Irene had handed over all of her mana to Elian before she died,

Irene couldn’t rely on overwhelming her with raw magical power anymore.

Before Irene could even finish her sentence, Elian swung her sword at Irene’s neck.

It was fast—so fast that even Irene nearly lost sight of it.

But she instinctively blocked it, knowing Elian’s habits by heart.

“If you think about it, you’re cheating too.”

“I don’t think so, not at all.”

“Nope. Definitely cheating.”

This time, Irene looked genuinely dumbfounded.

She immediately lunged, trying to stab Elian in the heart the moment she saw an opening.

But Elian defended in exactly the same way as Irene had earlier.

Irene had analyzed Elian’s moves countless times in the game.

And future Elian had spent an incredibly long time watching Irene’s swordplay—until she had made it her own.

Because of that, their battle showed no signs of ending.

Still, with the mana difference, Irene should’ve been the one to lose.

But there was a simple reason she was holding on:

“You’re using mana in a way even I don’t understand to close the gap, right?”

If Elian was using 10 units of mana to produce 10 units of power, then Irene was squeezing out 100 units of power from the same amount of mana.

It wasn’t because Irene was special.

It was because all of the mana she had was truly her own.

Whereas for future Elian, most of her mana wasn’t hers— so it felt unfamiliar and inefficient.

“Hmmm…”

As their deadlock continued endlessly,

Irene eventually decided to consider another option.

First, she glanced over at Elian’s party fighting El Lagar.

But seeing Elian alone barely holding her own against El, she shook her head.

“…That only leaves one option.”

Irene turned her gaze toward the camera.

She had already experienced how powerful collective intelligence could be in real life.

As expected, the chat window was flooded with backseat strategists.

– There are three different types of mana, so you probably need to separate them first

– No need, just destroy that mana orb above and it’s over

– The Mirror Queen always defends by moving right first—try stabbing from the left?

– I’m a mana researcher, focus on dispersing the orb’s mana first

– Everyone’s throwing out every bit of knowledge they’ve got to stop the apocalypse lol

– Break the orb and set up a barrier? No Luminyl, no magic field though

Most of it was useless garbage.

But one comment stood out.

Come to think of it—the real root of all this wasn’t future Elian herself.

It was that orb!

If she destroyed the orb, Elian’s plan would fail, and she’d lose her power too.

The downside was dealing with the enormous mana explosion that would follow…

But it was better than fighting a battle with no end in sight.

Besides, whatever that future Elian had become,

Irene was still a normal human.

Which meant the longer this dragged out, the worse it was for her.

“What the—where are you going?!”

Irene leapt with explosive force.

Elian chased after her with the same leap.

Realizing Irene’s intention, future Elian tried to stop her at all costs.

But there was one thing even future Elian didn’t know:

Irene had a bizarre weapon specialized in killing magic.

[Trainee’s Sword]

[A sword ideal for absolute beginners.]

[Sharpness: 8112 STR / Durability: 2291 STR]

“This sword doesn’t react to my mana, so I can’t use it to attack you, Elian…”

Irene raised the sword, preparing to swing it with all her might.

Future Elian swung her sword to intercept—

But Irene no longer intended to defend herself.

“…But I can use it to obliterate all your hard work in a single blow.”

And then—

Irene’s Trainee’s Sword cleaved through the giant mana orb.

With a massive explosion, light filled the entire chamber.

Future Eliane—the Mirror Queen—landed on the ground.

An unmistakable look of emptiness washed over her face.

Irene followed shortly, landing softly.

There wasn’t a single scratch on her body—or the room.

The explosion had been completely sealed off.

Thanks to the barrier Irene had cast.

Once the emptiness subsided, suspicion rose to the surface.

Irene was definitely strong.

And the Irene from the future? Even stronger than this one—it spoke volumes.

But no matter how strong Irene was, this didn’t make sense.

How could she have defended against decades’ worth of magic power so stably?

Future Eliane, having lost all reason to keep fighting, set her sword down and asked:

“How did you block it?”

Irene remained still and silent.

Not because she had some secret—she just had no way to explain it.

How do you explain using a bugged skill called “Block” on a trainee’s sword from inside a game, to minimize damage?

To begin with, it was a bug that the “Block” skill could even stop a wide-area ultimate.

So Irene simply gave her a cryptic look.

That way, Eliane would probably imagine some reason on her own.

And the sword had already broken from blocking that last hit—so there was no proof anyway.

“…In the end, I never surpassed you. Not once—not even from the first moment we met.”

Whatever Eliane was saying, Irene herself was weighed down with anxiety.

She had lost the trainee sword.

It was her trump card—she had planned to use it in case her future death event occurred.

Still, she decided not to cling to it.

It was broken. That was that.

It was a bugged sword made through game mechanics.

No way to fix it. No way to recreate it.

But at this rate, she was bound to die again in that event.

So Irene decided to create a new, powerful variable.

She slowly walked toward future Eliane.

Eliane naturally looked up at the ceiling.

She exposed her neck—making it easy to be beheaded—yet kept looking at where the magic orb had been, unable to let go of her regret.

She thought Irene’s blade would soon slash her neck.

But contrary to her expectations, Irene only placed a hand on her shoulder—nothing more.

Then, she turned off the broadcast.

“I was planning to erase Eliane’s soul, you know?”

“That’s something you’ll have to work out with Eliane herself.”

“And the massacres I caused?”

“Well, everyone came back to life anyway, right? Besides, I am a demon castle executive now.”

Demon Castle Executive.

For some reason, hearing that made tears well in future Eliane’s eyes.

“I’m sorry… really… I just… wanted to see you one more time…”

“Do you still think I’m some different Irene?”

Future Eliane shook her head.

She had kept denying it—desperately hoping to see her Irene again.

But there was no doubt anymore. This Irene was also Irene.

“You really are an idiot.”

Irene chuckled, as if baffled.

“She wouldn’t have been happy to come back in this way.”

While Irene was talking with future Eliane—

Someone else was watching.

“…The plan failed completely.”

El looked vaguely disappointed,

But upon seeing future Eliane looking so happy, she lowered her sword.

After all, her goal was Eliane’s happiness.

And that had been fulfilled—no more reason to fight.

Of course, that was just El’s personal stance.

Eliane, on the other hand, attacked her with everything she had.

But surprisingly, the attacks didn’t land.

El opened a portal.

Judging from the context, it led back to her original world.

“Sigh… You’re the one who started the fight, and now you’re the one running away.”

Eliane tried to complain,

But honestly, she was relieved.

Eliane was already out of strength.

If the fight had continued, the outcome was obvious.

“Eliane. I really meant it too, you know. Everything.”

“…Yeah, it shows.”

El took one last glance at Eliane.

“Yep. This one’s much fresher and nicer.”

“Fresher—wait, what?”

“Anyway, once a role on stage is over, the actor has to leave.”

El no longer had any regrets.

Well, maybe just one.

“I did want to talk to Irene a bit more about the Raios Fantasy storyline, though. Bit of a shame.”

Before Eliane could respond,

El left a strange parting line and disappeared into the portal.

“…Ugh. I’m so tired. Next time, I’m just gonna be a normal guild receptionist or something.”

Once El completely vanished—

Eliane also collapsed to the ground, sword clattering beside her.

Future Eliane’s defeat. El’s departure.

Thus ended the Mirror Queen Subjugation.