The trail grew darker. The air thicker. Every step forward was a gamble against sanity.
The deeper they moved into the Hollows, the more reality bent. Trees stretched into grotesque shapes, their bark like writhing flesh. Reflections shimmered in the mist—distorted versions of themselves, whispering profanities, offers, promises.
Renji's sword stayed low. Mira, now wrapped in a cloak, clung close to him. Velahza moved like a wraith, graceful and untouchable.
At the heart of the clearing ahead, a vast lake of mercury spread out like a giant mirror. No ripples, no wind—only perfect, haunting stillness.
Across the lake stood a woman.
Tall. Raven-haired. She wore a translucent black gown that barely concealed her lethal beauty. A velvet smile graced her blood-red lips as she beckoned with a single, elegant finger.
Zach's face tightened. "A Mirror Siren. Damn it. They prey on the Exile-blooded."
Renji's mouth went dry.
The woman's eyes were hypnotic, shimmering like twin abysses.
Velahza stepped back with a smirk. "This one's for you, boy. Let's see if you're worthy."
The Mirror Siren moved across the water without disturbing it, her hips swaying in a rhythm meant to lure warriors to their doom.
Her voice slipped through the air like honeyed poison:
"Come to me, darling... Just one kiss, and I'll give you everything you ever wanted... love... power... vengeance..."
Mira clutched Renji tighter. "Don't listen..."
But it was too late.
Renji stepped onto the lake.
The mercury solidified beneath his boots, forming a shimmering bridge straight toward the temptress.
Each step forward, his body screamed at him to run.
Each heartbeat, the Mirror Siren's allure grew stronger, tugging at his deepest needs—the hunger for love, for strength, for belonging.
When they were inches apart, she touched his chin with cold, elegant fingers and pulled him into a kiss.
The world exploded.
Inside the Kiss:
Renji was thrown into an alternate reality—a world where he was crowned King, Velahza kneeling at his side in chains, Zach dead at his feet, and Mira—pregnant with his child—begging for his affection.
It felt perfect.
It felt right.
And it was all fake.
"NO!", Renji's true self roared inside the illusion.
The Exile System flared to life, shattering the false world like glass.
Back in reality, the Mirror Siren gasped as Renji gripped her wrist with divine strength.
"Your tricks don't work on me." he whispered into her ear.
The Siren's mask of seduction melted into a snarl of rage. Her body warped, her flesh peeling back to reveal the true monstrous entity beneath—a serpentine horror, all fangs and tentacles.
Without hesitation, Renji plunged his sword straight through her heart.
The mercury lake shuddered, and the illusion of peace finally died.
Velahza clapped slowly, her golden eyes gleaming, "Well done, darling. Perhaps you are more than a pretty face."
Renji's breath was heavy. His soul was buzzing with adrenaline.
And yet, as he turned back toward Velahza… the way she licked her lips made him realize—
Tonight, another more dangerous seduction might await him.
The mercury lake behind them dissolved into mist as the group pressed forward.
The ruins awaited — ancient, crumbling stones jutting from the ground like the broken teeth of a dying god.
Velahza led the way, her golden robes whispering across the dead soil. Mira clutched Renji's hand tightly, her small body shivering despite the stale, still air.
Something was wrong.
The ruins pulsed with a heartbeat of their own, deep and slow, like the breathing of some slumbering beast. Every shadow moved when no one was looking. Every whisper sounded like someone saying their names.
Renji slowed his pace.
There was... a smell.
Rot. Blood. Burnt hair.
He scanned the courtyard. Statues stood everywhere—men, women, children—faces frozen in agony.
At first, he thought they were carved from stone.
Then he saw it.
Flesh.
Real, dead flesh turned gray and stiff, as if their souls had been ripped away and their bodies turned to living statues.
Mira whimpered beside him.
Zach cursed under his breath.
Velahza? She just smirked, clearly enjoying the others' growing horror.
Suddenly, one of the statues moved.
A child's body. Head lolling on a broken neck.
It stumbled forward, mouth stretched open in a silent, endless scream.
Renji raised his blade.
"Don't move," Zach snapped.
The child was... crying blood.
From the shadow of the largest ruin, a figure emerged — tall, wrapped in black funeral linens, a twisted crown of bone resting atop its head.
Its voice was like a blade scraping across iron:
"You took the offering."
"Now you will take its curse."
Renji gritted his teeth, "What offering?"
The crowned figure raised a skeletal hand.
The mercury lake behind them boiled.
Hundreds of drowned bodies—warriors, scholars, nobles—dragged themselves free from the silver depths, their hollow eyes locked onto Renji.
A cold whisper filled his mind.
"We see you."
"We remember you."
"You wore the mask."
The shadows surged forward.
Renji swung his sword. Zach unleashed a roar of fire. Mira chanted spells between gasps of fear.
But it was Velahza who laughed—a high, cold sound that chilled Renji's blood.
She stepped back, away from the fight, her robes gleaming in the dark.
Her voice echoed, beautiful and cruel:
"Welcome to the Heart of the Blood Moon, my darling Renji. Your nightmare has only just begun."
Before Renji could react, something sharp bit into his ankle.
He looked down—
—one of the gray, stone-flesh children had sunk its fangs into his leg.
Pain shot up his body like wildfire.
His vision blurred.
The last thing he saw before darkness swallowed him was Velahza's mocking, perfect smile…
...and the crowned figure approaching him, lifting a twisted, blood-soaked mirror in its skeletal hands.