The ninth floor materialized around Jack as he landed in a crouch, his awareness immediately cataloging the new environment despite disorientation from the forced ejection through silver light.

The chamber was circular, fifty meters across, with walls constructed from polished black stone that reflected ambient light from no visible source.

The ceiling curved overhead in a dome that altered the acoustics, making every sound echo with a strange resonance.

At the chamber’s center stood the altar.

A massive obsidian mirror, easily twenty feet tall and half as wide, its surface cracked with fractures that spiderwebbed across the reflective plane.

The cracks glowed faintly with silver light, pulsing with a rhythm that matched something Jack couldn’t quite identify but felt disturbingly familiar.

Jack approached slowly, scanning for threats while his eyes tracked the mirror’s surface for signs of magical contamination or hidden mechanisms. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The reflection showed him clearly.

White hair, yellow and orange eyes, the silver veins on his right arm pulsing with a steady rhythm.

Then the reflection moved.

It wasn’t mirroring his cautious advance but shifting independently, the figure in the glass straightening from a crouch into a standing position while Jack remained lowered.

The reflection’s posture was different: shoulders back, spine rigid, chin raised, in an expression that bordered on arrogance.

Jack froze, his hand instinctively reaching for magic as he watched his reflection grin.

The silhouette wore a malevolent grin, a characteristic of adversaries who have severed ties with rationality and embraced violence as an intrinsic reward.

The reflection’s silver veins were blazing, glowing so brightly they consumed significant portions of visible skin, spreading across his neck and creeping toward his face.

The reflection stepped forward.

Not deeper into the mirror but toward the surface, one foot crossing the boundary between reflection and reality as if the glass were simply a doorway.

The obsidian rippled like water, silver light bleeding from the point of contact as the figure emerged fully into the chamber.

Jack’s double stood before him, identical in every physical detail except for the blazing silver veins and the expression that carried no restraint.

The shadow tilted its head, studying Jack with red eyes that should have been yellow and orange, its grin widening to reveal teeth far sharper than anything Jack had ever produced.

"At last," the shadow declared, its voice precisely mirroring Jack’s.

It had anticipated this confrontation since Jack had entered the dungeon.

"I was wondering when you’d stop hiding behind the leash and face me."

Jack didn’t respond verbally.

The shadow was him.

The same height, build, and physical capabilities.

It would know his techniques, tactics, and preferred combat strategies.

Fighting it would be like fighting himself, which meant conventional approaches would create a stalemate at best.

The shadow lunged without allowing Jack to think anymore, closing the distance between them with Lightning Steps in an explosive burst of speed.

Its right hand was already gathering purple-and-black lightning, the elemental energy manifesting in colors that inverted Jack’s normal golden discharge.

Jack activated his own Lightning Steps, the technique carrying him sideways five meters as the shadow’s corrupted electricity scorched stone where he’d been standing moments before.

He countered immediately, gathering fire in his left hand as he summoned his fire hand and launched a fireball toward the shadow’s center mass.

The shadow didn’t dodge. He raised his right hand, purple-and-black lightning forming a barrier that intercepted the flames, dispersing them into harmless sparks.

Then it grinned wider, its free hand making a gesture Jack recognized immediately.

"Branded," the shadow stated, purple-and-black lightning streaking from its fingertips to strike Jack’s left shoulder.

The impact was minimal. Barely enough force to qualify as an attack.

But Jack felt the mark sear into his flesh, glowing with the same dark, corrupted mana as the shadow.

The technique created a targeting beacon, allowing certain abilities to track marked targets regardless of concealment or distance.

Jack’s tactical mind immediately recognized the danger.

If the shadow could use Branded, it could use Spear Toss or any magic spell, which meant anything thrown would curve mid-flight to strike him regardless of trying to dodge.

He needed to control the battlefield before the shadow could establish ranged superiority.

Jack’s hands moved through a familiar pattern, crimson threads materializing from his fingertips as he cast Red Web across the entire altar’s surface.

The strands spread in a fifty-meter radius, lying dormant against black stone while Jack simultaneously summoned thirty Static Orbs into the air above the combat zone.

The golden spheres floated innocuously, their electrical charge held in check until triggered, creating a minefield that would catch anyone moving through the designated airspace.

The shadow watched the preparation and scoffed at Jack. "Predictable," it snickered, its tone carrying mockery that made Jack’s jaw clench.

"You always start with field control. Trying to limit variables before committing to the fight."

Lightning Steps carried it directly toward Jack’s position with speed that left afterimages.

Its right hand was empty.

There were no weapons manifested, just clenched fists gathering purple-and-black lightning that crackled with a building charge.

Jack triggered Red Web, a mental command snapping the crimson strands inward to ensnare the charging shadow.

The threads wrapped around its legs, torso, and arms, creating restraints that should have immobilized any target caught in their radius.

The shadow’s momentum halted, its body jerking against the restraints as Red Web’s continuous damage began grinding against its form.

Purple-and-black energy bled from impact points where the threads cut into flesh, the proc damage accumulating with each passing second.

But the shadow was already countering, purple-and-black aura erupting across its skin as it activated Thunder Mantle.

The technique created a vibrating field that interfaced with Red Web’s structure, and the high-frequency oscillation began to fray the crimson threads at the molecular level.

Jack didn’t wait for the shadow to break free.

He gathered lightning in both hands, the golden discharge building toward Arc Blast that would catch the restrained target before it could escape.

His fingers spread wide, electrical energy crackling between them as he prepared to release a devastating stream.

The shadow’s grin never faltered.

Its aura flared brighter, Thunder Mantle’s vibration reaching a frequency that shattered Red Web completely.

The crimson threads dissolved into mana particles, their restraining force eliminated in a single moment of resonant destruction.

Then the shadow blinked forward using Abyssal Step, the temporal displacement technique carrying it through space directly into Jack’s guard.

The transition was instantaneous.

One moment trapped twenty meters away, the next standing close enough that Jack could see his own face reflected in his red gaze.

The shadow’s fist drove toward Jack’s sternum, purple-and-black lightning wreathing the strike with force that would have pulverized ribs and possibly stopped his heart from impact.

Jack’s left hand snapped up, Arc Reversal activating automatically as his palm intercepted the blow.

The technique reflected kinetic energy, sending the shadow’s own force back through its arm in a golden burst that should have fractured bone and torn muscle.

The shadow absorbed the reflected damage, purple-and-black veins across its visible skin glowing brighter as it triggered Overcharge.

The technique converted incoming lightning. Turning Jack’s counter into fuel for stronger attacks.

Its free hand slammed downward, palm striking stone as it activated Thunder Stomp.

The shockwave radiated outward from the impact point, a force sufficient to fracture the obsidian floor and send cracks spreading across the altar’s surface.