[T-minus 33 Days Until Dimensional Event Ritual Completion]

Concrete crunched beneath their boots, cracked and brittle from whatever psychic turmoil had ravaged the Circle of Mercy. The Sichuan Higher People's Court loomed ahead, a monolithic silhouette against Chengdu's bruised skyline.

Max halted, senses on edge. Echoes lingered here, residual ripples from Liz's psychic battle. They brushed against his mind, faint as ghostly fingertips. Was it her? Could it be anything else?

Alyssa glanced around warily, eyes narrowed at the shadows cast by the dying daylight. They flickered strangely, forming shapes – familiar yet wrong. Faces she knew. Faces that should be gone. She shook herself, turning sharply toward Dan.

"You good?" Alyssa asked, keeping her voice carefully neutral.

Dan offered a quiet nod, his calm golden aura steadying the group like a gentle lighthouse in stormy seas. "We're still standing. That counts."

Chloe stepped up beside Max, eyes distant, focused inward. Her voice was barely a whisper. "Do you feel her too? Liz— it feels different now."

Max swallowed, pulse quickening at her words. "I do. But we can't stop yet."

Chloe smiled faintly, the shadow of worry in her eyes lifting just enough. "She won't either. She's still fighting."

Beside her, Alyssa scoffed softly, nudging Chloe lightly with her elbow. "Maybe save the psychic bonding session until we're not standing in the creepiest courthouse in existence?"

"Jealous, Alyssa?" Chloe teased quietly, a hint of mischief flashing briefly through her weariness.

Victor, several strides ahead, paused abruptly. His posture shifted subtly, flesh rippling beneath his clothing as his senses sharpened to inhuman levels.

He tilted his head slightly, eyes scanning broken windows and crooked doorways that yawned like mouths.

"Whispers. Up ahead. People begging... asking for mercy."

Victor's stomach growled audibly, the noise harsh and sudden in the tension-filled quiet. He grimaced, the reminder of the Circle of Hunger heavy in his expression. Max shared a fleeting look of understanding with him – each haunted by their own recent nightmares.

"Keep moving," Max said, firm but gentle. His gaze flickered back toward the entrance, thoughts drifting once more to Liz. Resolve flared through his veins like molten iron, anchoring his frayed emotions.

They stepped forward together, shadows stretching long behind them. The Circle waited ahead, hungry to swallow whatever mercy they had left.

…………………

The courthouse swallowed them whole. Inside, shadows clung like oil, slick and heavy, pooling around their feet in stagnant puddles that reflected faces twisted in endless agony. The hall stretched ahead – a surreal gallery of shattered statues frozen mid-scream.

They barely stepped forward when the whispers rose.

"Help us... please... mercy..."

Children, frail and hollow-eyed, stumbled from the gloom, their tiny hands trembling and outstretched. Elderly figures hobbled forward, gnarled hands clasped in desperate supplication. Bodies broken and bleeding crawled from the darkness, dragging limbs across cracked marble floors.

Max's heart stuttered in his chest.

"Please..." one shadowy figure moaned, voice cracking with despair. "It hurts. It hurts so much."

Victor's breath hitched sharply, teeth lengthening into fangs, body shuddering as his chimera form emerged in instinctive defence. His muscles twitched, skin rippling violently beneath his torn clothing. But his eyes were wide, torn between feral rage and an aching, haunted empathy.

"No," he hissed, voice thick with animal fury, yet unmistakably pained. "This isn't right."

Omega stepped forward, bones erupting from his skin in a grotesque armour plating, his heavy footsteps echoing like drumbeats through the corridor.

Alpha stood motionless beside him, her eyes narrowed, watching silently, scanning each apparition with clinical precision.

Omega tilted his head, bone armour cracking faintly. "We're in a feeding ground," he said, voice low and half-feral. "But the prey here doesn't bleed."

Alpha didn't respond, but her hand hovered near her sidearm – as if expecting something worse than demons.

Alyssa froze, breath escaping in a strangled gasp as one shadow separated itself clearly from the others.

"Jack," she whispered hoarsely.

The phantom reached out, desperation carved deeply in its translucent features. "Alyssa, please... Why didn't you save me?"

She flinched, stumbling backward, her expression fracturing into grief.

Chloe stared at her own reflection, distorted in a nearby pool of stagnant water. The mirror-Chloe was fragile, sobbing quietly. Whispering shadows mocked her bitterly: "Always useless, always watching. Everyone dies because of you."

Chloe hugged herself tightly, shaking, eyes glassy with unshed tears. "Stop," she murmured weakly. "Please stop."

Max staggered as if struck, the world tilting violently. Among the chorus of cries, one voice pierced deeper, softer yet infinitely sharper.

"Max... Please, it's so dark. Why won't you save me?"

April's voice – gentle, familiar, breaking – filled his mind. He saw it clearly: flames roaring around them, the choking scent of smoke, his hands blistering against the heat as he failed again and again to reach her. His chest seized, breath coming in shallow gasps, panic flooding his senses.

"Max!"

Dan's voice sliced through the chaos. Max's hand clenched tighter around Ferron's chain, the familiar weight of it anchoring him back to reality. He sucked in a harsh breath, forcing April's pleading voice into the back of his mind.

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"We're here for Liz," Max growled through gritted teeth. "This isn't real."

Victor's nostrils flared sharply. He inhaled deeply, lips curling into a snarl. "They're illusions. Smells wrong. Feels wrong." He roared, voice booming like thunder down the corridor, shattering several nearby reflections. "They're not real! Keep moving!"

Ferron shuddered visibly, gripping his kusarigama tightly, eyes darting anxiously across the reflective pools.

"These aren't echoes," he muttered. "They're fragments. Shattered souls still trying to be whole."

"Feels like The Mirror," he muttered uneasily. "Just like back at the Institute. Let's hope these reflections don't fight back this time."

Chloe's breath quickened, heart hammering painfully against her ribs. Ferron's words stirred a chilling familiarity deep within her. She remembered the suffocating maze of reflections back at the Institute – the cold, mocking eyes of The Mirror, twisting her insecurities into weapons. She had faced this darkness before. She had beaten it.

And now, she could feel its echoes crawling along her skin again. She swallowed hard, pushing the fear down. There was no turning back now.

Max's eyes hardened, taking in his team, each caught in their personal hell. He stepped forward resolutely, raising his voice. "Stay close. They feed on pain. Don't give them yours."

Together, they pressed on, leaving the pleading ghosts in their wake, a chorus of heartbreak following every step they took deeper into the Circle of Mercy.

…………………

Alyssa pulled Chloe into a narrow alcove, away from the echoes of pleading voices and shifting, haunted shadows. The quiet here was tenuous – a fragile reprieve from the relentless psychic pressure of the Circle. She glanced quickly behind them, checking to see if the others had noticed. Only Dan stood quietly nearby, a gentle but vigilant guardian.

Chloe trembled, pressing her back against the cold stone wall, eyes wide and unfocused. "Alyssa," she whispered, her voice shaking, "Jack died because I froze. What if it happens again? What if I just stand there, useless—"

"Chloe, we don't have time to break down," Alyssa snapped sharply, tension making her words harsher than intended.

Chloe flinched, her expression crumbling, and Alyssa's gut twisted instantly with guilt. She closed her eyes, forcing herself to soften. Taking a deep, shaky breath, she reached out, gently gripping Chloe's hand.

"I'm sorry," Alyssa whispered softly. Her voice wavered as she admitted quietly, "Every time I see him… every single time, I freeze too. It's not just you, Chloe. I see Jack reaching for us, begging, and every time, I fail."

Chloe's eyes shimmered with unshed tears, but her trembling stilled slightly at her sister's admission. Alyssa squeezed her hand tighter, pulling Chloe closer.

"But these are lies," Alyssa continued, forcing conviction into her voice. "They know exactly how to hurt us. That's why they're doing it. Jack wouldn't blame you, and you're not useless. You never were."

Chloe breathed deeply, steadying herself, her eyes clearing as she met Alyssa's intense gaze. "I just keep thinking about Liz – how she's trapped, fighting alone. She'd never give up. She wouldn't let them in."

Alyssa nodded slowly, determination hardening her features. "Exactly. Liz wouldn't let their lies break her – and neither will we."

Their hands tightened, a quiet, fierce resolve sparking between them. Chloe's voice, steadier now, echoed softly in the quiet space: "We survive this together."

Alyssa smiled faintly, the shadow of grief retreating just enough to let strength shine through. "Always."

A short distance away, Dan watched silently, his chest tightening with pride mingled with a deep, aching sorrow. They were too young to carry such burdens – yet here they stood, defiant and unbroken. He drew a quiet breath, silently reaffirming his promise to shield them from whatever he could, no matter the cost.

…………………

Max found Victor crouched in the shadows, his form hunched beneath the skeletal remains of a shattered archway. The once-grand entrance had crumbled, leaving Victor framed by broken stone, half-hidden in the encroaching darkness. His breathing was ragged, shoulders rising and falling sharply with barely contained aggression.

"Vic," Max said softly, moving closer with deliberate caution. He knew well the dangerous tension radiating from his friend, could see it in the tense muscles, the half-glimpsed flicker of beastly eyes. "You still with me?"

Victor snarled quietly, a sound laced with pain and simmering violence. "Barely. These voices… these goddamn whispers, Max. They're clawing at everything I've buried." He raised his head slowly, his eyes glinting in the dim light, pupils slitted like those of a predator. "I can't tell where the chimera stops and I begin. Not anymore."

Max knelt slowly beside him, keeping his tone even, grounding. "Victor, listen to me. That thing inside you – it's a weapon. Nothing more. You're a soldier. A protector." His voice softened, sincerity cutting through the tension. "An animal lover, too. Remember when you insisted on feeding that stray cat back in Syria? The one you wouldn't leave behind even when bullets were flying?"

Victor's fierce expression faltered slightly, humanity flickering back into his gaze. He let out a shaky breath, his monstrous features momentarily receding. "I…remember."

"You did that because that's who you are," Max continued firmly. "You don't lose yourself to the chimera. It's just something you use – just like your rifle, just like your fists."

Victor's hands clenched, claws retracting gradually. Still, doubt clouded his features as he whispered hoarsely, "What if the chimera isn't something I control, Max? What if it's just me?"

Max placed a firm hand on Victor's shoulder, meeting his tortured gaze steadily. "It's a weapon, Vic – not your identity. Remember that."

For a long moment, Victor was silent, his breathing gradually easing, the violence in his posture slowly replaced by something calmer, quieter. He finally nodded, voice low but resolute, "If you believe that, I can try."

Max let out a quiet breath of relief, giving Victor's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "I do."

They shared a brief nod – wordless, but the understanding clear. The gloom pressed in, but its hold had weakened, pushed back by something stronger than its twisted manipulations: trust.

…………………

At the far end of the corridor, a vast, ruined gate loomed. Symbols of justice and mercy - once pristine and reassuring – were now twisted grotesquely, distorted by fungal growths and oozing decay. Darkness coiled within it, as though waiting to swallow them whole.

As Max led the team forward, the pleading whispers rose to a deafening crescendo, desperate and anguished, clawing into their minds like knives.

Then, just steps away from the gate, the darkness coalesced sharply into a single, harrowing form – a young girl, broken and bruised, kneeling helplessly before Max.

"Dad," Liz's voice trembled softly, so achingly real it tore straight through his defences. "Please don't leave me… it hurts. I'm scared."

Max froze, breath punched from his lungs, heart seizing violently in his chest. The sight of Liz – fragile, vulnerable, pleading – dragged him instantly back into the burning house, flames roaring, smoke suffocating, April's hand slipping away from his grasp.

"No," he whispered, voice strangled by anguish, eyes wide with raw pain.

Victor stepped forward sharply, growling, teeth bared, "Max, it's not her. Stay with us!"

Dan raised a glowing hand, the golden warmth flaring softly. "Max, remember why we're here."

Liz's illusion reached out, her small fingers trembling, her voice cracking with desperation, "Dad, don't leave me here alone!"

Max shuddered, eyes squeezing shut for a brief, agonizing heartbeat. Then, his fist tightened fiercely around Ferron's chain, the familiar coolness of the metal grounding him firmly back into the present.

He opened his eyes again, and when he spoke, his voice was steel-edged, resolute. "You're not my daughter. Liz wouldn't beg – not anymore. She's stronger than any of your lies."

Blue flame erupted along the chain, its blazing light tearing straight through the illusion. Liz's pleading image dissolved instantly, breaking into fragments of shadow and dust. The air rippled violently, a psychic shockwave dissipating the oppressive darkness and momentarily scattering the demon-echoes around them.

Chloe exhaled sharply, relief flooding her expression as Alyssa steadied herself, eyes blazing fiercely with renewed determination. Victor flexed his hands, claws receding, the chimera briefly subdued. Dan nodded approvingly, his calm aura intensifying. Alpha and Omega shared a silent, meaningful look, their vigilance unwavering.

Max stood straighter, conviction burning brightly within him. He glanced back at his companions, the brief, vulnerable fear replaced entirely by renewed determination.

"We're done listening to these lies," he growled. "This place won't break us."

As they moved toward the shattered gate, stepping through its ominous threshold, Max felt something else – a distant, familiar sensation humming in the depths of his soul. It wasn't a voice, not exactly. Just a feeling – heat and defiance braided together. Her will, brushing against his like a flame licking the edge of paper. Liz's presence – steady, resilient, unbroken – echoed clearly through the psychic chaos, reassuring him quietly that she was still fighting.

And that, he knew, was all the mercy he would ever need.

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