Immortal Ice Empress: Path to Vengeance

Chapter 793  Prime Disciple Competition: Mira  vs. Mira?

Mira steadied herself, her tails instinctively helping her to regain balance. Her eyes squinted through the fading luminosity, locking onto her clone, who was similarly recovering from the sudden explosion of light and energy.

Both Mira and her double took a moment to size each other up. The clone was an exact mirror, imbued with the same combat experience, the same mastery of Primal Energy and Qi.

Yet, there was an unsettling hollowness in its eyes, a chilling reminder that it was not truly her but a reflection devoid of soul and intent.

"What are you waiting for?" The disembodied voice filled the white void again, devoid of emotion.

Mira tightened her stance, her eyes narrowing. This wasn't just a physical battle; it was a fight against herself, a trial for her soul. Defeat would mean death, but victory would mean evolution, both of her abilities and her inner self.

With a snarl, both Miras charged forward. Their fangs clashed, sparks flying as primal energies collided. They broke off, tails lashing out like ethereal blades, each blocking the other's strikes with near-perfect symmetry.

Mira then unleashed a burst of Qi, channeling it into a blinding wave of energy. Her clone did the same, and for a second, the chamber turned into a storm of colliding forces. The energies met in a spectacular flash, each trying to overpower the other.

Mira strained against the deadlock, her form quivering under the immense pressure. She could feel her Qi fluctuating, her Primal Energy draining rapidly. She couldn't keep this up much longer.

Neither could her clone, it seemed. It was an identical reflection, after all, bound to the same limits, suffering the same weaknesses.

That's when it clicked. Her clone might mirror her strengths, but it would also mirror her weaknesses. And if there was one thing Mira knew better than her strengths, it was her weaknesses.

Channeling her Qi inward, Mira let her Primal Energy surge through her veins, focusing it all into one point in her core. It was a dangerous gamble, one that could potentially shatter her from within if not controlled perfectly. Her clone, mimicking her actions, did the same.

Now came the tricky part. At the last second, Mira redirected the concentrated energy towards one of her tails, releasing it in a form she had never attempted before—shaped like a piercing lance. Her clone, a fraction of a second too slow to adapt, continued to channel the energy towards its core.

Mira's energy lance struck true, piercing her clone straight through its concentrated core of energy, triggering an explosive disintegration. Her clone let out a screech that echoed through the chamber, its form disintegrating into motes of light.

Breathing heavily, Mira stood alone in the empty chamber. She had won, but the battle had drained her immensely.

"To progress, you must accept all facets of yourself—the good and the bad," the voice spoke again. "Only then can true evolution be achieved."

"Now, begin Phase 2."

Suddenly, two copies of herself appeared on the other side of the room.

Mira's eyes widened at the sight. Just when she thought she had conquered the trial, the voice had other plans. Her exhaustion weighed her down, and her Qi and Primal Energy were both still recovering from the intense battle with her first clone.

"Two this time?" Mira muttered, a sense of trepidation trickling through her. "What exactly are you testing?"

"Your resolve," the voice answered, giving nothing more. "How many times can you overcome yourself?"

Grimacing, Mira glanced between the two new clones. They stood there, mirroring her own fox form, eyes filled with that same hollow intensity. If they were anything like the first, they would fight with her knowledge, her skills, her tactics.

She breathed deeply, pulling at the frayed ends of her Qi and Primal Energy, weaving them together into a fragile tapestry of power. She couldn't afford to wait; exhaustion was her enemy just as much as the two copies facing her.

With a roar that shook the chamber, Mira charged forward. The clones moved to intercept, their movements synchronized to an eerie degree. Mira's fangs met with one, her tails clashing against the other's ethereal blades. She pushed back, using her superior experience to compensate for her drained state.

The first clone lunged at her, but Mira sidestepped, redirecting its momentum to crash into the second. They collided, a maelstrom of conflicting energies erupting on impact. Seizing the opportunity, Mira focused her Qi into a concentrated blade of energy in one of her tails and slashed at them.

The clones evaded her energy blade with a nimbleness that betrayed their knowledge of her tactics. Each maneuvered to counter her next move, pushing her into a corner, both metaphorically and physically.

Mira's instincts screamed warnings. Every flick of a tail, every narrowed eye from the clones signaled a counter, a threat, a peril. She was fighting mirror images with the same honed instincts, and they were adapting just as quickly as she was.

'Think, Mira, think. You have nine tails, each with unique abilities. Use them.'

Deciding to take a gamble, Mira activated the powers of her icy-blue third tail, boosting her affinity with the ice element. Simultaneously, she used her white tail to create a blizzard domain. Her perception heightened within the icy mist while her clones were blinded and disoriented.

Taking advantage of the brief confusion, Mira melded her form within her blizzard domain and emerged behind the first clone. The air crackled with the potency of her boosted ice affinity, her fangs now like icicles, cold and deadly. She lunged, aiming to strike, but her clone, as if sensing her intent, managed to evade just in the nick of time.

Mira didn't have time to be surprised; her second clone was already attacking, lashing out with a tail. Mira used her gold tail to block the strike; its innate heaviness and strength allowed her to parry successfully, but just barely.

Her second clone glared at her, its eyes mirroring her own ferocity and cunning. Mira was forced to jump back as it launched a series of tail needles—her own tail's special ability—toward her.

'Fine, let's escalate this,' Mira thought.

She used her pinkish-blue fourth tail, specialized in illusion, to create multiple copies of herself within the domain. Her clones hesitated, the delay just long enough for her turquoise tail to alter their perception of time, slowing their reactions.

Seizing this fractional advantage, Mira channeled energy toward her sapphire tail, prepping it. She knew it could block a powerful attack, and she'd need that insurance.

With her clones momentarily slowed and confused, Mira used her charm tail to send a ripple of disorienting energy toward them. The clones shook their heads, clearly affected but not defeated. Their instincts were too strong for that.

Then came the hard part. Mira gathered half of her Qi and channeled it into her icy-blue tail, boosting her ice affinity to its maximum limit.

At the same time, she released the last reserve of her Primal Energy into her blizzard(white) tail, intensifying the blizzard domain to its apex. The room became a howling, disorienting, icy vortex.

With a primal roar, Mira lunged at her clones, now vulnerable and momentarily disoriented by her multi-pronged assault. Her sapphire tail glowed, ready to shield her from a counterattack.

First clone, then the second, she struck. Her fangs, now practically shards of focused ice, met their marks. And this time, her clones couldn't dodge in time. As they were struck, their forms began to disintegrate into motes of light, their essence absorbed into Mira's own form.

Panting heavily, her energy nearly depleted, Mira heard the voice once more. "Now, for the third and final trial."

Suddenly, energy coursed through Mira's body, completely filling it with Qi and Primal Energy, ensuring she was ready for the next round. Then, 3 versions of herself emerged in front of her, except this time, they were bigger and radiated a stronger aura than her.

Mira felt a shudder pass through her as the three new clones materialized before her, their aura far more potent than hers. This was no longer just a matter of overcoming her own limitations; it was about facing superior versions of herself. The ethereal room seemed to tremble, echoing the gravity of the impending conflict.

"What's next? A whole army?" Mira quipped, but her levity failed to mask the tension she felt.

"No army. Just you, three times over," the voice replied, indifferent as ever.

With a war cry, the three clones lunged at her in unison, each exhibiting a mastery of Qi and Primal Energy that made her first clone look rudimentary.

Mira barely had time to react. Her sapphire tail flared up to block the first devastating blow, but the second and third attacks came in too fast, landing with crushing force.

Thrown back, Mira tasted her own blood, a metallic tang filling her mouth. Her previous encounters hadn't prepared her for this level of intensity.

The clones weren't holding back. They charged again, their movements a terrifying dance of lethal grace.

Mira activated her blizzard domain with her white tail once more, but this time, the clones seemed prepared. They continued their advance, unfazed by the icy mist.

Desperation clawed at Mira. Her usual tactics weren't working. She needed something new, something unexpected.

As she parried and dodged, barely keeping up with her relentless clones, a wild idea took root in her mind.

All her tails had specific functions and specific abilities. But what if she could combine them? Use them in tandem to create something entirely new?

The concept was foreign, risky, and untested.

'Perfect.'

As her clones closed in for another coordinated assault, Mira enacted her desperate plan. She invoked the illusion powers of her pinkish-blue tail to multiply her image, confusing her attackers. At the same time, she used her gold tail to parry, its innate weight adding power to her deflection.

But that was just the beginning. The real gamble was weaving the abilities of her icy-blue and white tails together. She summoned the blizzard domain even as she amped her ice affinity to its peak. Then, using the minute control she had gained over her icy domain, she started freezing the moisture in the air, turning the blizzard into a storm of razor-sharp ice.

Her clones hesitated, disoriented by the illusions and slowed by the change in the blizzard. This bought Mira the fraction of a second she needed. With a feral growl, she let loose the energy stored in her turquoise tail, warping the perception of time around her clones and further slowing their reactions.

Finally, as the coup de grace, she invoked the charm powers of her pink tail—not to disorient but to lure them closer, trapping them within her deadly domain of razor-sharp ice and distorted time.

The clones growled, their instincts screaming at them to escape the trap, but it was too late. They were pulled in, their forms shredded by the whirling ice shards, their energies fragmented by the warped time. As they began to disintegrate, Mira could feel their essence, their Qi and Primal Energy, flowing back into her.

Exhausted but elated, Mira looked up as the voice spoke again.

"Trial complete. You have faced yourself, bested yourself, and reinvented yourself. The Path to the Soul Transformation Realm awaits."

Mira felt her energy reserves refilling once more, but this time, something was different. A new, unexplored realm of power beckoned as if a door she never knew existed had appeared.