Chapter 117

“This is the end. Well, it was fun in its own way. Fake.”

At my words, the guy staggered to his feet, bringing a hand to his broken nose and sunken cheekbones.

Holy light radiated from his hand, and the wounds began to heal significantly.

Crr-ack!

After resetting his broken bridge and casting one more prayer, he glared at me and spat out a mouthful of bloody foam.

“Phew. Not… not yet.”

“What do you mean ‘not yet’? Look. I’ll ask you one question, so give me an answer. If you really are Geom-shin, do you think a mere Doppelganger could ever dares to copy you perfectly? Is the talent of a man named Geom-shin so flimsy and insignificant that some monster can just mimic it?”

“…It’s impossible.”

“Right. Exactly. That’s what Geom-shin would say. But isn’t that a contradiction? If you’re the real one and I’m the Doppelganger, then the very fact that I’m beating you shouldn’t be possible, right?”

“……”

“There. Proof complete. Understand now? Mr. Doppelganger.”

He stared at me with pained eyes.

“No.”

“What excuse are you going to make now?”

“…Even if everything you said is true, I am the real one.”

Ah, this guy. I thought we were getting through to each other… I guess I was wrong.

“I guess I have to go this far, then. Hey. Can you use Dimensional Fracture?”

“Dimensional… Fracture?”

“I figured you didn’t know. Well, if you can’t use something you have in your ‘memories,’ you’d start doubting yourself. Dimensional Fracture looks like this.”

CR-CR-CR-ACK!!

After a moment of concentration, I struck the air. Space rippled violently before shattering like a falling mirror. Behind the shards lay a pitch-black abyss.

“If you’re real, there’s no way you can’t do what a ‘mere Doppelganger’ imitating you can do, right?”

“……!”

“Give it a try.”

To be honest, at first, I thought it was fifty-fifty. Since he called himself Geom-shin, I thought that much might be possible for him.

But after exchanging blows, I knew. For this guy, it was out of the question.

How should I put it? It felt like someone had crafted a Master-class vessel and then stuffed the essence of “Me” into it as tightly as the vessel would allow.

“…”

He stared blankly at the crack in space for a moment, then gritted his teeth and took a stance.

But if it were that easy, I wouldn’t have given it a separate name like “Dimensional Fracture” or treated it as a ultimate move(?).

And sure enough, his fist slammed into the air—BOOM!—but all that resulted were a loud explosion and a shockwave.

“…”

“You thought it would just happen, didn’t you? Because the ‘You’ in your head has never failed to do something once he set his mind to it.”

Having clearly crushed even his last thread of possibility, I said to him:

“Now, do you admit it?”

“…!!!”

Finally, his expression collapsed. No, it wasn’t just his expression.

As Shia said, my essence is arrogance. The towering spire of his self-esteem was being brutally demolished.

“I am… a fake? I was the Doppelganger…?”

He covered his face with both hands, mumbling.

“Right… now I understand. Why my memories are so full of holes. I remember having a family and that they were precious to me, but I can’t actually picture their faces… I’m aware that I’m strong, but I can’t remember the process of getting there…”

“…”

“I just wove those hollow memories and emotions together with absurd logic… why did I believe that was the truth, the reality…?”

Chel had said it.

When a Doppelganger realizes it is a copy and not the original, there are cases where they can’t handle the shock and commit suicide.

I can understand why.

Identity, memories, emotions, worldview—even the relationships one cherished—are all collapsing. There’s no way anyone could stay sane. To be honest, I’m not sure I could remain composed in that situation either.

In such a case, a Doppelganger usually chooses one of two paths.

The first, as Chel mentioned, is ending its own life. The second is…

“Then… I have no choice but to eat you and become the real Geom-shin.”

…Eating the original and taking its place.

Perhaps that is the moment a mimic is truly completed as the monster known as a Doppelganger.

“You’re going to eat me and become real? You think that’s actually possible?”

“It’s not a matter of possibility. It’s something that must be done. Because…”

“Because?”

“Because for Kelly, for Chel, for Elizabeth, for Ailet, for my family… and for Shia…! I can treat them much, much better than you ever could!!”

“Oh, you know Shia too? I guess you do have some memories from the Northern Continent.”

“Shut up!”

BOOM!

Immediately after, he shattered the ground and lunged like lightning. At the same time—Clang!—a pure white metallic blade erupted from the back of his hand.

Has he hardened part of his body? I guess he’s completely given up on pretending to be me now.

Clang!

I had no reason to insist on fighting bare-handed anymore, so I drew Astraphe.

Skreeeeee!

The fake’s pure white blade clashed with Astraphe’s golden edge, shards of light shaving off under the pressure.

“Urgh! My Astraphe is…!”

“Uh-uh. Not your Astraphe. My Astraphe.”

“You bastard…!”

Immediately, white flames erupted from his sword. The blaze pushed against Astraphe, growing more ferocious by the second.

“Aura? You’ve got tricks, I’ll give you that. Even I can’t use Aura, yet a Doppelganger can? You were using Holy Power earlier, too… Doppelgangers really are built different from other monsters.”

“I told you to shut up!”

The aura burned with a thick, concentrated brilliance. Along with it, his physical stats—which had been capped at my level—suddenly began to spike.

Thanks to Bell and Sis working overtime in my Imagery, my physical vessel had become quite respectable, but I was still only at the entry level of a Blaster. It was too much to expect me to go toe-to-toe with the raw physical output of a Master-class Aura user.

But then again, did I ever decapitate lion-heads and snake-heads just because I was strong?

I parried the incoming aura and shattered the thrusts.

Gritting his teeth, he separated a dozen blades of aura from his body. They took the shape of swords for a moment before firing toward me like artillery shells.

Whoa, now that’s fresh. Is this how a Master-class martial artist handles aura?

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!

Aura blades decimated the ground. I lunged forward to dodge them and used the explosive pressure pushing from behind to propel myself toward him.

Predicting this, he manifested another set of aura swords and fired.

“You didn’t think the same trick would work twice, did you?”

I relied solely on Astraphe to deflect every single blade flying at me with micro-second timing.

Looking at the dozen swords now tangled with Astraphe, I spoke to the fake as if giving a lecture.

“You used the ‘Great Revolving Wheel’ earlier, didn’t you? Let me show you what happens when you use it properly.”

Still keeping the swords entangled, I leaped into the air and began to spin my body.

SCREEEEECH!!

The swords made of aura were sucked into Astraphe’s rotation, clashing and colliding with one another. Each deflected sword struck the next, triggering a chain reaction of impacts.

K-BOOM!!

Shards of aura shattered and scattered along with a spiral shockwave.

The moment the fake was pushed back by the direct impact of the shockwave at point-blank range, I lunged forward and carved two long gashes across his upper body.

Once upward. Once downward.

Slash!!

I passed him by and flicked the blood off my blade. As if on cue, his two arms flew into the air.

Spurt….

Blood sprayed. He watched his arms hit the ground before falling to his knees with hollow eyes.

“……”

“Heh… I guess a fake is just a fake after all.”

“……”

“God… why did you create such a miserable creature as me? Even for a monster… isn’t this too cruel…?”

Seeing the Doppelganger quietly shedding tears, his will to fight completely gone, I felt a bitter taste in my mouth.

A Doppelganger is a monster that is a fake by birth. The moment they realize they aren’t real, they desire to become real. That is the very purpose and motivation of their existence.

The problem is, even if they succeed in eating the original and becoming “real,” the aftermath isn’t necessarily happy.

The moment they are outed as a fake, they lose everything and are pointed at as a monster. The family, lovers, and friends they shared emotions with would look at them with nothing but hatred and disgust—seeing only a beast that devoured their loved one.

So, they act the part of the “real” person desperately. And every time they do, they are ironically wounded deep inside by the fact that they are a fraud.

That is a Doppelganger. A monster as pitiful as the human it devoured.

As I frowned at this alien and bizarre ecology, the fake looked up at me with fading eyes and spoke quietly.

“…You must have questions. I’m dying soon. If it’s something I can answer, I will.”

“I… appreciate that. First, where did you get my blood or fluids?”

He shook his head.

“I don’t know. At least, I wasn’t the one who collected it. I just received the data. I don’t remember the specifics, but that’s likely how it happened.”

“Received it? From whom?”

“From ‘Us’.”

“Us?”

“A Doppelganger is both singular and plural. While we have individual free will… that will is guided by the collective ‘Us’.”

I stared at him as he answered honestly, then asked again.

“Do you… want to live?”

“…What?”

“I can save you if you want. Your insides seem identical to a human’s, so if I stitch you up and use a Prayer, it’s not impossible.”

He let out a hollow laugh.

“Don’t. I’m being cooperative now, but I am ultimately a part of ‘Us’. Depending on our collective will, I could be exploited at any time. It would be a problem for you if I went around committing crimes with your face, wouldn’t it?”

“Are you worrying about me? That’s unexpected.”

“Worrying, my ass. Honestly, I don’t care what happens to you… but if that happened, it would make things difficult for the people around you.”

“……”

“I… hate the thought of that.”

“…You’re quite the sweetheart.”

“I was always a sweet man.”

I let out a low sigh and dropped the rest of my questions without regret. I knew he didn’t have much time left.

“Anything else you want to say?”

“……”

“……”

After a brief silence, he asked in a faint, lifeless voice.

“…If it were Shia, would she have recognized that I was a fake?”

I nodded without hesitation.

“She probably would have known at a single glance.”

“I see… I figured. Since it’s Shia.”

“How much do you remember about her?”

“Surprisingly, I remember nothing. All I have is a image of her with swaying blue hair, hugging me and laughing brightly.”

“……”

“But… that was enough for me. Just recalling that scene filled my chest with a warmth I can’t describe…”

“……”

“I trust that you will make Shia—and all the others you cherish—much happier than I ever could.”

“Yeah.”

The fake looked toward a distant point in the sky and smiled faintly.

“…That, is a relief.”

Sshhhh….

And so, my Doppelganger… with a face that still believed itself to be Geom-shin, crumbled into a handful of ash and vanished.

“…Phew, damn. That really puts a damper on my mood.”

How was it?

‘How was what? Why do you always ask such weird questions?’

It has been over twenty days since you began traversing the Demon Territory with him. Do you feel nothing?

‘What I feel about Orabeoni? Plenty. He’s incredibly strong, wise, handsome, confident, kind, takes good care of people… sometimes when he has that melancholy look in his eyes, my heart just starts pounding….’

Stop. I asked the wrong question. Tell me if you noticed anything unusual, not what you feel.

‘Unusual? Orabeoni himself is the personification of “unusual.” Is there anyone on this planet more unique than him?’

Goodness… No matter what I ask, I’ll get the same answer. I have no choice. I must look for myself.

‘Wait, what are—AAAGGHHH!!’

Endure it for a moment. I am merely extracting the contents to have a taste.

‘Hah, hah… you…!’

He is indeed unusual. And impressive. A truly magnificent and peculiar ‘human’. But this… this is not enough. What I want is not something like this.

‘What on earth are you looking for!? Why do you come into my dreams every time to torment me!’

Great power. Overwhelming power. Transcendent power. Absolute power that could crush even a Demon King into a helpless child.

‘What does that even…?’

Tch. Must I check for myself after all….?

‘I don’t care what it is, just get out of my dream!’

Get out? To where?

‘Out of my dream! Away!’

Why do you think this is your dream?

‘What?’

This dream is mine. Not yours. You simply wandered into the place where We are.

‘…What?’

Come to think of it, you need to change a little as well. Progress is far too slow in your current state.

‘W-wait. What are you trying to do—?’

Do not worry. I will not change much. I will simply make you a little more honest with your emotions than you are now. So, accept it quietly.

‘No! Don’t touch me! Don’t change me! I, I…! AAAAGGHH!’

…Hmm. This should be enough. Any more and this child would become one of ‘Us’.

‘……’

Now, wake up. Kelly. Someone is calling for you.

‘…Yes.’

Gasp!

“Bleugh!!”

“Ah! Unnie! Seriously! Why are you like this every morning!? Kelly unnie! Are you okay!? Snap out of it!”

“Hah, hah… E-Elizabeth?”

“What kind of dream was it today? That same nightmare you don’t remember?”

“I don’t know. But… this time, for some reason, it didn’t feel like a nightmare….”

“Kelly unnie. Don’t look at me with those weird eyes. It’s scary. Seriously.”