The tower pulsed with a mysterious energy, and the walls that had been solid moments before began to change, as if reflecting reality in an unnatural way.
The heroes stood before the king of the island, who looked more like a part of this world than a living being.
There was no time to think, for in an instant, the king raised his hand, and a dark energy surged from the heart of the throne, forcing everyone to move immediately.
"You have broken the balance, are you able to bear the consequences?" the king said in a steady but indirectly threatening voice.
Lin rushed at full speed, his sword radiating reflection energy, but he immediately realized that the king was moving ahead of him, as if the tower was giving him an advanced view of every move.
Rin took a direct hit, but the king didn't retreat, instead absorbing the energy within, causing Rin to quickly retreat to avoid a counterattack.
Maru launched an analytical wave to see how the King's power worked, but he immediately shouted: "The tower is reshaping the attacks in its favor!"
Yumi, who began to feel the tower responding to her, reached out her hand towards the wall, and the dimensions immediately changed, causing the king to turn to her for the first time.
Suddenly, the king struck the ground with all his might, and the walls began to split into thousands of flying pieces that rushed toward the heroes at a deadly speed.
Lin did not retreat, but rather embraced the energy within him, becoming faster and more maneuverable, causing the king to raise an eyebrow in admiration for the first time.
Yumi saw a faint reflection of the king's aura, and quickly said: "There's a weak spot! Aim there!"
Ren jumped up using Yumi's momentum, and struck at the point, causing the king's aura to crack for the first time.
Maru used his techniques to hit the flow of energy within the tower, causing the whole place to go haywire for a moment, giving Lin a golden opportunity.
Lin, who had reached the peak of his fusion with the reflection, rushed in with insane speed, his sword glowing with destructive energy, and struck directly into the heart of the king's aura.
The energy exploded, the tower shook as if it were dying, and shrapnel began to fly in every direction.
Celestia screamed: "We hit it... "But why won't it collapse?"
Suddenly, the king disappeared from before them, and a new reflection of him appeared, stronger and more ferocious, his body pulsing with a dark glow as if he had been completely transformed.
In a low but terrifying voice, he said, "You have managed to break my laws, but don't think that you have defeated me yet."
"What's going on here?" said Lin, his voice filled with astonishment.
The King rushed toward Lin with a devastating attack: "You puny beings of the Balance Realm, you will be crushed under the weight of my might!"
Yumi and Rin tried to attack him, but the king grabbed their heads and threw them to the ground, seriously injuring both of them.
Maru shouted: "Celestia, distract him while I get Rin and Yumi out of the way!"
Celestia quickly replied: "Copy that!" and sprinted at high speed towards the king, trying to make him back off a bit, but to no avail.
The king grabbed her by the neck, opened a mirror-like portal and threw her inside.
"Sit quietly, naughty girl," the king said in a mocking voice as Celestia disappeared into the portal.
Lin was unconscious within his own consciousness, trapped in boundless darkness.
Within that void, he saw Nyx, the entity that almost killed him in the village.
Nyx smiled wryly, saying: "Look at you, helpless as ever, while your comrades are crushed in front of Ikar, unable to do anything."
The waves of darkness began to penetrate the void, moving as if they were an independent entity, and then began to consume Nyx, completely enveloping his body.
"What is it?" Nyx screamed, trying to break free, but the darkness was stronger, more entrenched.
In an instant, the darkness swallowed Nyx whole, his screams disappearing into the blackness as if he had never existed in the first place.
Then the shadow merged into the center of the darkness began to penetrate Lane's body, surrounding him, interfering with his existence, but this time it wasn't an attack, it was a complete merger.
Lin moved within the void, his body began to take on its new shape, a dark energy spread through his body, but it was not an alien force, it was a part of him, an extension of his being.
Lin appeared in a new form, his body covered in a black cloak that interfered with the reflection, his face hidden behind a dark mask.
This was the **Shadow Form**, the power born from the fusion of darkness and shadow within him.
Lin opened his eyes within reality, and the entire tower shook, as if he realized that something new had awakened amidst this upside-down world.