Elaina lifted her head, staring at her own reflection in the mirror before her.
Her hair was disheveled now, nearly covering her entire face. The reflection staring back at her wore the same expression.
Worry.
Frustration.
And fear, all twisted together into one.
Around her, the echoes of screaming souls and the genuine cries of support from the spectators had become impossible to distinguish from one another.
Slowly, Elaina rose to her feet, trying to put on the professional mask that had protected her all this time.
Her eyes darted wildly. Her breathing grew ragged.
Yet her lips slowly curled into a strange smile.
"If only I had managed to save her back then."
Her voice was soft, trembling faintly.
Suddenly, Elaina turned toward the human stands—the very people now placing all their hopes upon her—with a sharp glare.
"WHY SHOULD I CARE ABOUT ANY OF YOU HUMANS?!"
Her voice thundered through the arena, shaking the entire colosseum.
The human spectators froze instantly, horrified by the drastic change in the woman they once deeply respected.
"Rot in hell with the rest of the sinners! I don't regret imprisoning every last one of you!"
Her laughter spiraled into madness.
Hysterical, trembling, shrill like shattered glass ringing inside a chest.
"Hahaha! Hahahaha!"
Every syllable sounded like an old wound long buried beneath her cold professionalism, now exploding outward without restraint.
All her resentment toward the system, the crushing pressure of her position, her loneliness, and the loss of her child erupted together upon that magnificent stage above the clouds.
Behind the mirrors still displaying false illusions, Huli Jing watched with satisfied eyes.
A soft gleam shone within them, marking a victory not merely over flesh, but over the human soul itself.
Slowly, she stepped out from the mirror and gave a small bow toward Libra, as though proudly presenting the result of her masterpiece.
"Humans are fragile creatures, Great Judge," she said smoothly. "Truth to them is nothing more than a mask that slips away the moment their hearts are touched."
The mythological side erupted into roaring cheers.
The noise surged like a storm, rumbling so fiercely the clouds above the Colosseum trembled. Some spectators rose to their feet, waving their arms and shouting triumphantly.
"That woman has lost!"
"Humanity has collapsed before illusion!"
But among the humans, the atmosphere fractured.
Some still shouted encouragement, hoping Elaina could still be saved.
Others began mocking her.
"Get up, Elaina!"
"Don't listen to her!"
"She's still fighting for us!"
And amidst those voices came others:
"She's already lost."
"Look at her eyes! She's broken."
Amid the chaos, the President remained seated upon his throne.
His shoulders slumped. His breathing turned heavy. The light of hope faded from his eyes.
He knew Elaina was gone.
Not her body.
Her soul.
The woman who once fearlessly exposed the lies of anyone before her had now drowned within the lies created by a fox spirit.
Meanwhile, across the arena, The Ancient One leaned back comfortably upon his towering throne. His golden wings trembled lightly as he gazed downward with satisfaction.
Crossing one leg over the other, he spoke in a deep voice that echoed throughout the heavens.
"Behold, President of Humanity. This is the end of your race's arrogance. There is no absolute truth—only convictions that are easiest to shatter."
Libra's brows furrowed. The soft glow from the star-like ornaments in her hair dimmed as she watched Elaina kneeling below.
Elaina laughed.
Yet the sound escaping her mouth resembled someone crying.
Amid the flames of illusion that had become indistinguishable from reality.
FLASHBACK — The Past of Elaina Voss
That night, rain poured mercilessly from the sky.
The sound of police sirens had long since faded, leaving only the rotating emergency lights casting endless circles across the walls.
Beneath the pale glow of a streetlamp, Elaina knelt while clutching the small body of her daughter—Chloe.
The child's eyes were closed. Her lips had already turned blue.
The rabbit doll once tightly held in Chloe's little hands slowly drifted away through the growing puddles of rainwater.
Elaina kept calling her name.
Even after she already knew the child would never answer.
Only hours earlier, the report exposing an international drug smuggling network that had infested her nation's legal system for years had been waiting for her signature.
She knew the stakes involved death.
But after her husband had also died because of a similar case, Elaina refused to remain silent.
She swore to continue what they had begun together.
Yet the retaliation came far too quickly.
"Chloe!" she cried one last time, her voice hoarse and broken.
A detective slowly approached, intending to place a hand upon the trembling woman's shoulder.
But he stopped himself midway.
"I'm so sorry, Ms. Elaina," he whispered quietly.
Because he knew it was nearly impossible to expose an organization so deeply influential within the government itself.
Slowly, Elaina rose to her feet.
In the distance, the faint sound of an ambulance siren began approaching.
A sharp glint flashed within Elaina's eyes as she watched her daughter's body being lifted onto the stretcher.
From that night onward, Elaina stopped believing in the law.
Stopped believing in the system.
She locked herself inside her home for months, accompanied only by the sound of rain endlessly dripping beyond the windows, and the same memories that occasionally crept into her dreams.
But rather than drowning in grief, Elaina chose another path.
She studied.
She devoured books on psychology, criminal law, nonverbal communication, even hypnosis and stage magic.
Anything that could help her understand people— especially the lies hidden behind their faces.
Years passed.
And she changed.
The once idealistic lawyer transformed into a master of micro-expressions, a mentalist, and a brilliant manipulator capable of reading fear behind the slightest blink.
Yet beneath all her accomplishments, one empty space remained inside her.
A void that could only ever be filled by Chloe's tiny laughter and the warm voice of her husband reminding her not to be so hard on herself.
Sometimes, when she sat alone reviewing case files, she could hear a faint voice whispering:
"Mommy, I'm here…"
Elaina would only smile bitterly.
Because she understood that no justice she fought for would ever bring back the warmth she lost that night.
From then on, she stopped fighting for the world.
She fought for one thing only.
A justice that depended on no one else.
If the world could not deliver justice—
Then she herself would become justice.