Patterns symbolizing the sun, moon, and stars lit up on the floor at this moment, while the largest pattern, centered on Dorothy's standing position, was a simplified diagram symbolizing the human body structure.
Following the ritual's requirements, Dorothy extended her hand towards the mirror, and “the other Dorothy” in the mirror, whose life seemed to be nearing its end, also came to the mirror and extended her hand.
Their fingers touched through the mirror's surface. At the moment, it was as if Dorothy had become the match girl in the mirror, and also as if the match girl in the mirror had become her.
“It's going smoothly. Just light and extinguish four more matches, and the ritual will be complete!”
Completing the Sublimation from Low-Ring to Middle-Ring with this ritual not only maximized the use of the core Ling Rune “The Writer” but also attempted to use the power of the core Ling Rune “Acting.” This was the most suitable ritual given by Saint Byron's, combining Dorothy's power system and Ling Runes. The Three Great Arcane Academies are extremely top-notch in this regard.
Xia De thought to himself, seeing that on Dorothy's Destiny Ring behind her, both core Ling Runes 【The Writer】 and 【Acting】 were glowing. She withdrew the finger that had touched the mirror, then went to light the match… but her hand only made a withdrawing motion, yet her finger seemed to be stuck to the mirror, not moving at all.
The Golden-haired girl frowned in confusion.
“What's going on?”
Xia De dared not rashly enter the ritual site, only able to inquire about Dorothy's situation with his eyes. The golden-haired Writer lady turned her head and shook it at him, then gradually became panicked.
Once the optimal time for the ritual was missed, all these preparations would be in vain. A failed ritual would not only cause severe damage to one's spirit, but preparing this ritual again and determining the time was not a simple matter.
【Outsider, there's an evil spirit.】
“What? Where?”
【In the mirror, an evil spirit has invaded the house.】
He couldn't bother to maintain the Mystic Lock any longer. He dabbed the weathervane bluegrass extract on his tongue, then stepped out and came to Dorothy's side.
He extended his fist, wearing a Mind Crystal Ring, and smashed it towards the mirror, but not only did he fail to shatter the mirror, he instead punched “Dorothy” in the mirror.
The powers of Soul Echo, Mind Blast, and Directing Death acted together, and the evil spirit in the mirror was sent flying deep within the mirror scene, but it didn't seem to have suffered too much damage.
“Oh no, it's a mirror ghost!”
Dorothy withdrew the finger that had just been “stuck” to the mirror and reminded him in a low voice.
Evil spirits are also divided into different types, of course, generally speaking, only extremely special types will have names. And “mirror evil spirits” are one of them. Such evil spirits are not only immune to all physical attacks due to their spiritual body characteristics, but even because they are evil spirits in the mirror, most spells have very little effect on them.
“Dorothy, you continue your ritual, I'll deal with it.”
Saying that, Xia De was about to give the mirror a few more punches. Although the damage was low, it wasn't without damage. As long as he suppressed the opponent and got through Dorothy's ritual, Xia De, without any qualms, could use the relic 【Corpse-Hiding Mirror】 to enter the mirror and let this evil spirit, who came from who knows where, know what the price was.
“But where did this evil spirit come from?”
Xia De didn't have time to think too much and was about to swing his fist, but Dorothy suddenly exclaimed:
“What's going on?”
Her Destiny Ring behind her was still spinning rapidly, but in addition to the five Ling Runes connecting the Sublimation Words and the core Ling Rune 【Acting】, the last core Ling Rune 【Another Princess】 also lit up.
The uncontrolled brass-colored spiritual light, in an instant, shone brighter than all other Ling Runes. The flames on the three hundred and sixty-five matches on the ground instantly shot towards the ceiling, and the ritual traces that had been dimmed due to the unexpected appearance of the evil spirit also flickered with light again.
A thin layer of white mist actually appeared again in the mirror. After the white mist dispersed, in addition to the mirror ghost that Xia De had sent flying, a new figure with long red hair actually appeared in the mirror.
It was Leia, and she was wearing the exact same flower girl's clothes as Dorothy, even the basket she was carrying was the same.
“What?”
The two people, one inside the mirror and one outside, looked at each other in astonishment, then simultaneously clutched their heads and groaned in pain. Even if one was in the mirror and one was outside the mirror, this was still a very close contact, and the pain brought by this contact was like a soul being torn apart.
The mirror ghost in the mirror approached the suffering Leia, and Princess now had no strength to fight back.
Xia De, who had not intended to use the relic during Dorothy's promotion ritual, could only pull out the gem-encrusted cosmetic mirror, aim it at the mirror in front of him, and then suddenly turn sideways and crash into it.
As if passing through a transparent film of water, he directly crashed into the mirror and appeared on the snowy street.
The mirror ghost, maintaining Dorothy's image, paused its forward floating motion after seeing Xia De, then poof~ and directly disappeared into the mirror, obviously using the evil spirit's inherent characteristics to transfer to other mirrors.
Xia De had no time to track that evil spirit at the moment. He picked up Leia from the ground in the mirror and placed his hand on her forehead:
“Cindyia's Silver Moon Grace!”
This is a Miracle specifically used to treat soul and mental damage, and its effect is even better on this snowy street at the moment. But even so, it still couldn't offset the pain that felt like the soul was being torn apart.
“Why are you here?”
Xia De in the mirror asked anxiously. Leia, who was tightly embracing him, had a pale face and squeezed out a few words from her tightly closed mouth:
“Originally in Yodel Palace, somehow…”
Xia De looked at the mirror standing on the street, and then at Dorothy, who was clutching her head in pain on the attic floor outside the mirror:
“Leia, you also summon your Destiny Ring!”
Because Xia De was holding Leia, the PentaCircle Sorcerer's Destiny Ring appeared behind Xia De. Because of her extremely unstable mental state, the Destiny Ring also appeared somewhat illusory.
He held Leia's right hand with his right hand, then half of his body crashed into the mirror, letting his left side return to reality, and then pulled up Dorothy's hand.
At the moment, a strange feeling made Xia De believe that he was holding the hand of the same person.
He shook his head and guided the hands of the two closer to the mirror:
“A moment when your palms touch, there will be a moment of intense pain. Remember, you must not lose consciousness.”
Half of his body was in the mirror, and half of his body was outside the mirror. Although the 【Corpse-Hiding Mirror】 did not prohibit doing this, the state of two parts of the body staying in different spaces for a long time still made Xia De feel the relic stirring:
“Ladies, repeat after me, outside the match's dream, The Writer pities those who freeze to death!”
“Outside the match's dream, The Writer pities those who freeze to death.”
The trembling hands of the girls finally came to their respective mirrors. Xia De could clearly feel the trembling of each person's arm, a pain he found terrifying just thinking about:
“I, my true name, hereby declare.”
This was the ritual content Dorothy had told Xia De in advance.
“I, Dorothy Redemptor Louisan, hereby declare.”
“I, Leia Savior Cavendish, hereby declare.”
Their voices were very unstable, almost unable to suppress the body's instinctive groans of pain. If it weren't for the extreme activity of the spirit within their bodies during the ritual, they would have fainted immediately.
