True Bastion

At the lake's bottom, allowing the moon's reflection to come. The moon was like a perfectly round silver disk hanging above Bastion, and its reflection was like a radiant circle resting. One needs to enter the circle then the ghost of reality hidden behind Bastion's splendor will appear.^[2]

The sky was black, with pale stars shining in the distance. Spanning its vast expanse, fragments of the shattered moon shine brighter in the night sky. The moon was broken into countless pieces, creating a heavenly river illuminating the hidden world with ghostly light. The broken sky can fill one with a deep sense of terror.^[1]

Across the lake, a monumental wall of towering dark trees rose to the broken sky. The illusory Bastion had been surrounded by a forest once, a horrid Titan with which the Knights of Valor had waged war. Anvil, still a Saint, had destroyed it. In the hidden reality, the forest was untouched, and many terrifying creatures inhabited it. The real Bastion was a Death Zone, and there were dreadful beings dwelling in the deep, dark lake.^[1]

Both the illusory castle and the real castle had enchanted lanterns shining softly in the darkness of the night. The castle existed in both the illusory world and the terrifying reality, but while it stood tall and proud in the former, the reality is the mighty walls had collapsed, and the tall towers were toppled. Bastion the once-magnificent citadel, was like a mountain of fractured white stones, barely recognizable in its ghastly crookedness.^[1]

The lake in True Bastion is highly dangerous and requires careful adherence to specific rules and prohibitions to avoid life-threatening dangers. Despite these precautions, many elite Knights granted access have met chilling ends, underscoring its perilous nature.^[4]

Main article: Great Mirror

At the very heart of the mountain, in a small, artificial stone chamber with smooth walls, polished surfaces, and a high ceiling. There is only a tall, dark wood door, which seems mundane but is slightly wrong. The door's handle is too high, its shape is off, and the hinges are spaced strangely as if it was made for a being that resembled a human but was not quite human.^[7]

The Mirror Maze lies at the bottom of a deep fracture in the mountain. This fracture is one of the deepest among those that broke the surface of the mountain.^[5] In Chapter 2450, Sunny had intentionally drowned the Mirror Maze in shadows to erase the infinite reflections on its walls, thereby avoiding encounters with the Others. It had previously been hidden deep underground and protected from common detection methods. Clan Valor, including the Warden and his son, had been unaware of its existence, despite having spent decades above it.^[8]

In the Mirror Maze, there is a vast hall without mirror walls. The floor of the underground chamber was sloping downward like a bowl, and the ceiling was out of sight. The hall is enormous, ancient, and dangerous, reminding one of their worst horrors.^[9]

The hall made the harrowing encounters one experienced in life into reality. It was speculated that the hall could make what they imagined into reality. Conquering the Hall of Imagination is a lethal task for someone who has seen too much and remembered too much.^[9]

• Whatever you do, do not drink the water from the lake.^[3]
• Do not look at reflections, and if a reflection moves strangely, walk away immediately.^[3]
• Do not answer if a reflection speaks to you. It will perceive it as an invitation.^[3]
• If a king's servant's sword is drawn, one must hide immediately.^[3]
• Do not summon a sword of your own while in True Bastion, even if it wasn't forged by Valor.^[3]
• One must have a token that will allow them to pass most of the defensive enchantments in True Bastion. If they lose it, they will end up being invited to an audience with the King.^[3]

• One had to be careful around reflective surfaces in True Bastion, especially the lake.^[4]

The timeline is unclear, as the Citadel that Valor conquered was an illusory Bastion, not the real one. The Hidden Bastion was only disturbed by humans after Broken Sword, Anvil, Ki Song, and Asterion became Transcendent. Valor had not truly occupied the True Bastion before the Sovereigns emerged, as they had limited time to explore the vast ruin. The best warriors of Valor had spent over a decade conquering distant regions of the Dream Realm to expand the King's domain.^[10]

• The True Bastion is fraught with danger. Aside from Nightmare Creatures, one must also be wary of the Anvil and his servants.^[3]
• In Chapter 1838, Sunny decided to return to the eerie place after winning the war. He will not need to hide in the darkness and come back only once a month, as there will be no King of Swords and no Clan Valor. He will return to the eerie place after the war ends, and the world will be a different place.
• Anvil's domain extended into this real version of Bastion. He ruled the ruined castle and killed anything that tried to crawl out of the water.^[1]
• True Bastion has a twin complex of great dams located to its north. These dams are part of the real version of the city, as opposed to the illusory version. During a past conflict, Morgan had drawn True Bastion into reality in order to protect the illusory version. When this happened, it bordered the surrounding regions of the Dream Realm seamlessly, as if it had always been part of them.^[5]
• Mordret was believed to have known about the Mirror Maze, as his Dormant and Awakened Abilities allowed him to gaze and travel through mirrors. Sunny suspected Mordret had felt the presence of the mirrors beneath True Bastion when he returned to Clan Valor and may have been the first human to explore the maze.^[8]