Chapter 128

“Kelly…!?”

The blue-haired elf flinched at the cry, then turned to ask the clone.

“Orabeoni. Could I have… a moment? I can’t just ignore them in a situation like this, after all….”

The clone made of mana scratched its head like a person with real emotions and lowered its sword.

Then, taking a step back, it flicked its hand as if to tell her to do as she pleased.

Having received permission, the blue-haired elf lowered her halberd and offered a sad smile to Chel and the rest of the group.

“It’s been a long time. These are truly missed faces. Chel unnie. Ailet. And… Eli… Ali… Alibaba…?”

“Elizabeth! It’s Elizabeth!!”

“Ah, right. That was the name. Huhu….”

With the tension slightly broken by the outburst, Chel looked at the wings of light stretching from Kelly’s back and asked cautiously.

“How… did this happen?”

Kelly gave a bitter smile.

“Well, it’s just as you suspect, Unnie. I’m a doppelganger… and the Demon King is currently upgrading me for her own use.”

Listening to the explanation, Chel let out a low groan.

“So, you have 1,300 years of memories that we don’t know about? And in those memories, we are people who died?”

“Yes. That’s why, just like when I saw Orabeoni earlier… seeing you alive, Unnie, makes me incredibly happy. Happy enough that I wouldn’t mind dying right now.”

“…Is there… no other way?”

Understanding the many unspoken words within that question, Kelly smiled gently and shook her head.

“Regardless of the fact that I consider myself Kelly, I am a subordinate of the Demon King and a doppelganger. So, please forget about me. Besides, the real one is right next to you, isn’t she?”

Chel’s gaze shifted to the blue-haired elf lying on the side. It was the “original” Kelly, who had been rescued alongside them by the mana swords.

“Treat her well. There will be a gap of several months in her memory, so explain things carefully so she isn’t shocked.”

“…….”

Filled with regret and unable to find the words, Chel looked up at the “younger sister” who was technically 1,300 years older than her…

“I’m going now. Everyone… stay healthy.”

Kelly gave her and the other two a slight nod of the head and quietly ascended into the sky.

Following that, the Sword God’s clone divided a portion of its own body to create new swords to protect them, then spoke in a soft voice.

“Be careful. I’ll win, so don’t worry.”

Watching the back of the disappearing clone, Elizabeth muttered to herself without realizing it.

“…It can talk.”

“Did you think someone at the rank of Principality wouldn’t even be able to speak?”

“Do you think… if I asked him to give me one later, Orabeoni would do it? I’m confident I could cherish it with all my heart.”

“…As if he’d give you one.”

Disis swung tsunamis of mana at the Sword God’s clones with a mixture of annoyance and anxiety.

Yet, every time, the clones managed to survive by dodging or parrying the strikes.

“These… needlessly quick things…!!”

She knew her own abilities well.

Naturally, her essence was that of a doppelganger. While her skills as a doppelganger were truly excellent, her own innate combat skills were not particularly remarkable.

Thus, her method of combat—excluding her doppelganger abilities—was simple.

Using her subordinates as mana warehouses, she wielded near-infinite mana with overwhelming output.

Martial arts? Magic? None of it was necessary. If high-level technique—the quality—could embrace mystery, then overwhelming mana—the quantity—could embrace mystery as well.

One of the three clones had already begun to crumble. She thought that if she kept pressing them like this, she could easily suppress these fly-like clones.

Or so she thought….

Kuaaaaaaaang!!

“Stay still, will you!?”

Even in a situation that had effectively turned from 3-on-1 to 2-on-1 as one clone’s rank plummeted, the clones survived for over two minutes.

Considering the difference in their raw power, this was honestly nonsensical. It was like a toddler using a spoon to block a tank charging at full speed.

The technique was so magnificent that Kikar, who was locked in a life-and-death struggle with one of the clones, briefly stopped fighting to watch in a daze.

However, a circus act like this couldn’t last forever.

Kwadjik!

As Disis tirelessly swung her mana, another clone was finally swept away, scattering in an explosion of brilliant light.

“Huu, huu… What kind of clones are these…?”

All that remained was one fallen Archangel-class clone and one Principality-class clone that was so faint from overexertion it looked ready to collapse at any moment.

The two clones looked at each other, nodded, and lunged toward Disis simultaneously. It seemed they were determined to leave a wound before they vanished, knowing they would dissipate regardless of how much they held out.

Disis spread her arms wide toward the first-approaching Principality-class clone, inviting the strike.

Without hesitation, the clone thrust its sword with all its might toward the chest Disis had left open.

But.

Ku-du-du-duk!!

Just as an ordinary person cannot pierce the passive aura of an Aura Knight, the sword of pure white light could not pierce the dense mana wrapped around Disis’s body like armor.

Instead, the sword of light was being corroded by the red mana.

The startled clone tried to pull back, but the violent mana saturating all of space would not allow it.

The clone was trapped, unable to move an inch in the turbulent sea of mana. Watching this with satisfaction, Disis slowly clenched her fist.

The mana tightened along with her grip.

Kudu-k, kudu-duk!

“My mana manipulation might be a bit clumsy, but I’m not so incompetent that I’d let go of something already in my grasp.”

And the moment her fist snapped shut, the clone finally succumbed to the pressure and was crushed.

Kwadjik!!

The last remaining Archangel-class clone bit its lip hard, yet slowly flew toward Disis nonetheless.

“How trivial. What do you think a mere Archangel-class could possibly do…? Where is your original body, and what is it doing that it’s just hiding and watching until things have reached this point? By my estimation, he should be in a rather desperate situation as well.”

“…….”

As she curled her lip and waved her hand, a mana storm dragged the weak clone—which was barely maintaining two pairs of wings—right in front of her face.

Then, Disis slowly wrapped her hand around the throat of the paralyzed clone.

“Well, fine. Once I crush you and the remaining two, he’ll surely crawl out. If he doesn’t… then those cute little ladies he’s cherished so much over there will be turned into a bloody pulp.”

Despite the threat, the clone struggled to raise its sword. Then, squeezing out its last bit of strength, it slowly pushed the sword toward her chest.

Of course, that pathetic attack would naturally be blocked by her dense mana armor and go no furth—

Puk.

“…Huh?”

Disis slowly looked down at the sword that had pierced through the very center of her chest.

“…How could a trivial clone…?”

“That’s because it’s not a clone.”

I shed the pure white mana that had been wrapped around my body and thrust the sword in one more time.

“Keuk!!!”

Kuaaaaaaaang!

Only then did she snap out of it, exploding her mana and pushing me hundreds of meters away.

Then, coughing up a waterfall of blood, she muttered in disbelief.

“…A switch?”

“Yeah.”

“S-since when…?”

“The exact moment the first clone exploded in your mana.”

“To use such a shallow trick… all this time, just for this….”

“Anyway, what now? Ready to surrender? If you go quietly, I’ll make it painless.”

At my words, she—who had already managed to mend her wounds and return to a pristine state—burst into a scoffing laugh.

“Fu… huhuhu… I wonder. Just as I didn’t know you well, it seems you don’t know me very well either.”

“Don’t bother pretending you’re fine. I know better than anyone that even at the Potestates rank, wounds inflicted by an equal don’t heal that easily.”

“Oh, certainly. In fact, I’ve sustained a major injury. But… it seems you’ve forgotten the fact that this is my front yard.”

Immediately after, Disis’s physical form turned mushy and collapsed, pouring down like a liquid and seeping into the ground.

Then, Disis’s voice echoed through the air.

—Since you used a shallow trick, I won’t be picky about my methods either.

“What are you planning!?”

—Stalling for time.

“What!?”

—Isn’t Akathastasia being chased by the Chains of Providence?

“……!!”

—Why? Did you think I wouldn’t know? You underestimated me too much.

“…….”

—I know better than anyone in this world that those chains aren’t something so easily trifled with. I don’t know how she’s avoiding them, but I imagine that won’t last much longer.

“…Even if Shia is sealed again and I regain my rank, I won’t help you with it.”

—We won’t know that until the time comes. Isn’t that just how the world works? You never know.

“…Damn it.”

As I ground my teeth, her voice echoed once more. And this time, she wasn’t addressing me.

—My children. It is time. Now, die for me.

Kieeek!

Kuaaaaak!

Krawrawrawrawra!!

With that, the island—the Demon Territory—began to heave.

Footsteps and cries erupted from every direction as the monsters across the entire island began to swarm toward us.

—Those monsters aren’t targeting you; they’re after your companions. Well, you’d better clear them out quickly, shouldn’t you?

‘She got me.’

I didn’t have enough mana yet to generate more clones.

Leaving the two remaining clones to handle Kikar and Kelly, I flew in a single bound to where the group was.

“O-orabeoni?”

“Sword God… no, Sir Sword God…!”

“Mister!”

“Save the greetings. Just stay right there. If you come forward, you’ll only be in the way. Got it!?”

I looked at the monsters blanketing the earth and sky, and drew Astraphe.

“…Alright. Let’s finish this quickly, friends.”

Fifteen minutes.

That was the time it took for me to wipe out every monster on the island.

Then, the mushy liquid gathered from various spots on the ground and reformed into the shape of Disis once again.

“Fast. Fifteen minutes… I expected it to take at least thirty.”

“…You seem to have recovered quite a bit. I apologize for using a petty trick. So, let’s go at it again, properly and fairly.”

At my words, she gave a smirk and flicked her index finger.

“And why should I?”

“You bitch….”

“Regrettably, I’m still in a bit of pain…. Shouldn’t a ‘fair fight’ take place under equal circumstances?”

I clenched my teeth and asked Bel inside my imagery.

‘How much longer can you hold out?’

‘As long as you need… is what I’d like to say, but it’s not easy. They’re too fast… I’ll try to hold out for five more minutes.’

Five minutes. Five minutes, huh… damn it.

I immediately raised my hand and stabbed my own left chest.

Puk!

Blood splattered from my chest, showing that the wound was far from shallow.

“…There. Now it’s an equal fight, isn’t it?”

“Oh my. To think you’d go that far. You really must be in a desperate situation.”

“I am.”

At my response, she gave a pure white smile.

“In that case, I really must stall for more time.”

“…You!”

“The monsters are all dead, but the doppelgangers still remain.”

She snapped her fingers, and thousands of people sprouted from the ground like growing trees.

“They might not look like much to you or me… but they are stronger than the monsters from before. Now, I wonder how long it will take this time?”

“Dammit…!”

Watching Disis begin to melt back into a mushy state, I tried to lung forward in desperation.

But at that very moment, an anomaly that no one could have predicted occurred right before our eyes.

Thwack!!

“Keuk…!”

Disis turned back, her eyes growing—to exaggerate slightly—ten times larger than when I had attacked her.

And there stood Kelly, having pierced Disis’s chest with her halberd, wearing a sorrowful smile.

“…This is the end.”

“You… you….”

“Let’s finish it here. You. Me. And… us.”