The Mirrorborn let out a low, warped shriek.
Its floating shards swirled faster, reflecting Jin's face over and over—twisting it, distorting it.
Behind Jin, Noctis emerged in full phantom form—towering, wings unfurled, chains still wrapped tight around its limbs. Only one had broken… but it was enough.
"You dare face me, fragment?" Noctis's voice echoed through the room, layered over Jin's.
The Mirrorborn struck first—
Shards of glass launching like blades, bending mid-air to slice from all angles.
Jin's instincts screamed. He raised his marked hand.
CLANG.
A wall of chain and black mist erupted in front of him, deflecting the shards.
Arin coughed, blood on her lips. "You're… channeling him."
Jin didn't look back. "I'm not running anymore."
The Mirrorborn's form twisted—splitting into three illusions of itself. Each circled Jin like a predator.
One spoke. "You're incomplete."
Another whispered. "Unworthy."
The third—right in front of him—said:
"Break the next chain. I dare you."
The eye-mark pulsed again.
Inside his mind, Jin stood once more before the Abyss Gate.
Another lock pulsed. Glowed.
And shattered.
In the real world, power erupted.
A second chain around Noctis's arm broke free with a howl, and suddenly Jin's body surged with darkness. Black energy spiraled around him, condensing into a sleek armguard made of bone and shadow.
"Let's see what incomplete can do," Jin muttered.
He dashed forward—faster than before.
In one fluid motion, he shattered the first illusion with a sweeping strike.
The Mirrorborn screamed and reformed, but its edges flickered.
Arin pushed herself up, weak but defiant. "Its body's unstable. It's tethered to fear. Show it your strength, and it cracks."
Jin nodded. "Then let's break it."
He charged again, this time leaping into the air. Noctis's wings flared behind him, and as he fell toward the spirit—
"Unchain."
A burst of black flame exploded from his strike, slamming into the Mirrorborn's core.
It shattered, fragments flying like glass in a hurricane.
And when the dust cleared, the robed figure was gone.
Only one shard remained—still glowing faintly, whispering a final word:
"Three… remain."
Kael arrived seconds later, eyes scanning the wreckage.
"You broke another chain," he said grimly. "Too soon."
Jin turned, panting. "I didn't have a choice."
Kael looked between Jin and the barely-conscious Arin. "Then we need to move faster."
"Move where?" Jin asked.
"To the Chamber of Echoes," Kael said. "Where your spirit was first sealed."