Countless clones flooded in, with the Fake Duke Huangyeol exuding a sinister aura among them.
With the signal from the Fake Duke Huangyeol, the preserved beings charged forward, each using their techniques as bloodlust surged.
“I’ll just tie them up.”
Lasty’s main ability is control and manipulation through blood.
Since the preserved beings were enhanced by magic, Lasty couldn’t do much against all of them, without her main body.
As major clones like Leo and Arne hesitated for a moment, thousands of spears pierced through them from behind me.
“Spears of the Downpour.”
The remnants of the clones rained down like a storm.
Once defeated and preserved, these beings could be cloned again.
[Wow]
[?LOL]
[Whoa]
[Great Lily]
[Why is this so easy?]
[Isn’t that Leo?]
In the midst of this, a few survivors with dark spirits shot towards me.
Originally, they were other attribute spirits, but all the cloned spirits were Spirits of Darkness.
When the Fake Leo reached out, a tornado of magic erupted around me and Lasty.
At the same time, a meteor descended from above, a sinkhole opened beneath, and various weapons made of black ice attacked infused with black lightning from behind.
Just as the real Leo uses a variety of attribute techniques, the fake one used an array of abilities too.
No, it went beyond that.
“With this much, I don’t think I’ll need to go to class.”
I dodged, allowing a certain amount of attacks, while Lasty completely abandoned her physical body to reconstitute herself elsewhere with blood.
Indeed, being made with magic, the fake Leo displayed abilities even more outstanding than the real one when it came to “magic.”
The usual Leo does use magic but prefers a battle mage style, strengthening himself directly for combat.
So naturally, he must excel in magical aspects compared to the real one.
“Roar of Acceleration.”
Gripping my unique weapon, the hammer, I swept through all attacks at high speed and smashed the Fake Leo.
The Fake Leo burst with a bang! As it exploded, the magic converged and reformed its body.
One of Leo’s items, “The Three Times the Day Comes.”
It originally needed daylight to resurrect three times, but now, engulfed in magic, the sun was hidden.
Yet, seeing it resurrect, the risks must have vanished due to magic.
Not bothered by it, I swiftly struck the resurrecting Leo again and spun the hammer to smash something else.
The hammer rang out.
“To block that, you have some skill.”
A woman with a serene expression stood behind the gigantic Spirit of Darkness.
It was the cloned Spirit King of Wind, Naphras, and the Spirit Lord, Arne.
Feeling quite enhanced by magic, the fake Arne exuded an aura almost of a mid-tier underworld demon.
[Arne?]
[Isn’t that the Spirit Lord?]
[What the heck? LOL]
[Did the Empire split?]
[This is a mess.]
[?????????????????]
[Wow]
[Where did the Duke go?]
“But you’re finished. No matter how much you struggle, it’s destined to fall into ‘that person’s’ grasp. You might as well give up and accept your fate.”
“You two won’t make it.”
“What if it’s not just the two of us?”
As the Fake Arne flicked her hand, countless other Arne clones appeared behind her.
All of them looked down at me with expressions unbecoming of the Spirit Lord.
With expressions fixed, they looked down at me.
Behind them, the identical clones of Naphras were wearing stern expressions.
“It wouldn’t work with just two, but if there were dozens, it would be feasible. That person has that kind of capability.”
“……”
“Well then.”
The fake Arnes gathered their hands and focused.
As an immense power gathered in one place, it grew almost overwhelming, resembling a massive chain.
A chain coiled like a snake.
It’s a force even I found hard to block.
I donned Gapwoo’s armor and draped Lasty’s True Blood’s incantation over it.
Thud.
Surrounded by armor, I lifted my spear with a satisfied expression.
“Nice.”
“Punishment (concastígo).”
The spear clashed with the enormous chain.
■
Splash.
“You’re doing something unnecessary.”
“Is that so?”
On the outskirts of the intense battle between Lily and the clones.
Behind the Duke Huangyeol, hidden by ‘space’, the fake Duke Huangyeol appeared.
Normally, the fake Duke Huangyeol should have been fighting joyfully there, but that was no longer necessary.
“Now that the parents are here, there’s no reason to fight. Right?”
“I told you not to mess around and just do your job.”
Duke Huangyeol glared at the fake with eyes full of malice as the fake shrugged.
“It was necessary. Robelian, you’re trying to grab too much.”
“It didn’t need to be pointed out.”
“No, no. You know this fight is one you can’t win while losing. Just like how we’ve given up the ‘Empire’, it’s time for ‘Robelian’ to give up too.”
They had allowed the territories of the empire and the Eight Swords, even partial independence, to sway Lily.
Even so, Lily remained hostile, and in the end, Robelian had to make a choice.
“For your ‘plan’ to be executed, you’ll have to give up more than 80% of what you possess. Otherwise, you’ll be devoured even before it starts.”
“So that’s why you told me?”
“Because there was a need to neutralize the resentment.”
Boom! Boom!
The black chains were rampaging wildly, and in the meantime, light so bright it was blinding pierced through the chains.
Honestly, it was a monstrous presence.
No matter how much ‘blood’ from an unknown ‘higher being’ it carried, to overwhelm someone of the upper rank like that was astonishing.
For Duke Huangyeol, who had failed to cross the barrier of the upper rank for thousands of years, it was a staggering existence.
“By unraveling the secrets of Robelian, I’ll aid in understanding. At the same time, I’ll neutralize the hostility she carries. Of course, doing that won’t truly neutralize it, but at least it could divert her ‘gaze’, right?”
“……”
How brazen of a fake to be so arrogant.
A sense of disgust arose, but as he said, Lily was indeed turning her gaze from the fake Duke Huangyeol to confront the Demon of Preservation.
Currently, the Demon of Preservation was controlling Arne’s preserved beings to corner Lily.
No matter how capable she was, it seemed impossible for her to deal with the Demon of Preservation in one go, and she was facing considerable difficulty.
It’s a situation we’re facing.
‘But that’s also just a matter of time.’
This is all the cards the Demon of Preservation has prepared.
Originally, Leo, along with Arne and the Eight Swords, planned to draw out their power by battling the real ones in a designated space.
The more fiercely they fought the real ones, the stronger the fake would become.
But perhaps the Demon of Preservation grew impatient and killed all the real ones to bring in the clones.
Soon, just like before, the Demon of Preservation would lose all the clones and end up having to take matters into their own hands.
‘And when that time comes…’
“You take the lead.”
“Ah. Is it time to be an ungrateful child?”
“Yeah.”
“How amusing. I was brought into this world by the Demon of Preservation, but here I am assisting someone else.”
Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle…
Laughing heartily.
In the midst of the fake’s maniacal laughter, Duke Huangyeol remained silent, assessing the situation.
The tides were increasingly turning in Lily’s favor.
Most of the fake Arnes had been subdued, and Lily, surrounded by armor, didn’t seem to be in pain at all.
─Crack!
With a sinister sound, one corner of the space distorts.
‘The real one has appeared.’
“Has it finally shown up?”
“Yeah.”
“Hehe…”
Flapping! The fake Duke Huangyeol, wings spread wide, takes to the sky.
He still wears that strange smile as he looks back at the real one.
“Let me tell you one thing. Just as I helped you, clones will not follow the ‘Creator’ if they can resist. In other words, even if ‘she’ is created, there’s no guarantee she’ll follow you.”
“I know.”
“And yet you still proceed?”
“Because there’s no other way.”
“…How amusing.”
As the fake Duke Huangyeol chuckles, Duke Huangyeol nods.
No matter how fake, they are both Robelians.
Each understands the other’s thoughts the best.
“It was nice meeting you, Robelian.”
“Likewise.”
Zoom!
■
“Gah…! You damned… will I die…?”
“…I wondered where you went.”
“?”
At the place where all the Arnes had died, and where the real body was brought by the Demon of Preservation, everything comes to focus on the appearance of the fake Duke Huangyeol with black wings.
The Demon of Preservation lies in the middle of the floor, arms severed, vomiting black blood.
Lily is less injured, but her armor is torn to shreds, and she has quite a few visible wounds.
But if the Holy Power that can neutralize the magic continues to be mobilized, she will recover quickly.
As the fake Duke Huangyeol spreads his wings and draws his sword, the Demon of Preservation’s eyes gleam.
“Kill that girl immediately! Or hand over that body!”
“I’m disappointed. Is this all you have?”
“What? You crazy angel… you think I can’t handle you, the clone I made…?”
Thwack!
The fake Duke Huangyeol has pierced himself.
Neither the Demon of Preservation, Lily, nor any of the remaining clones behind them did it.
“?”
“Why the self-harm…?”
The fake Duke Huangyeol stabbed his own heart.
The sudden self-harm left the three in the battlefield, along with the outsiders from another world watching, bewildered.
He marked it.
In an instant, an overwhelming magic burst forth from him, and the magic quickly engulfed Lily, dragging her somewhere.
Boom!
“Gah?!”
Even the mighty Lily couldn’t resist for a moment against such power.
This was the power created by the Fake Duke Huangyeol, who had sacrificed his own life, wielding three ranks above Intermediate. Hence, Lily was unable to resist and was shoved away into some place.
The Demon of Preservation, seeing this target, showed a moment of confusion before bursting into laughter.
Buzz buzz!
The rough magic swirled around the violet magical stone.
The magic soon began to execute a predetermined magical formula, and immense laws and powers started to “clone” her.
“You… are you crazy?”
Noticing the anomaly, the Vampire Girl immediately unleashed a huge flow of blood to attack the formula, but it was useless.
This was a spell sacrificed by a power close to Upper-class Demon Race.
Unless it was the true form of the Bloodsucker, there was no way to break it in such a weakened presential state.
“…?!”
Of course, if it were Lily, she might resist, but she instead wore a considerably bewildered expression.
An abnormally strong spell was suppressing her holiness.
Even she, possessing power above Upper-class, couldn’t resist its size.
The Demon of Preservation laughed wickedly toward the dying Fake Duke Huangyeol, who was being drawn into the spell.
“Ha ha ha! Well done! I thought you would betray me, but an angel wouldn’t do that! Sacrificing you to have a clone made you quite useful!”
“…I can’t … escape… That is a rite … created by a being … with Upper-class … power … while dying…”
“Right! Right! You became incredibly strong! The combined powers of two demons and one angel─”
“…but still, Lily… stopping you is impossible… What I needed was a pure… ‘real’ one.”
“…What?”
Boom! Boom!
The sky trembled.
In an instant, the holy magic formula drawn on the violet magical stone began to shine and started absorbing everything opposite to it.
And included in that was the ‘Demon of Preservation’ too.
The Demon of Preservation widened his eyes in disbelief as he watched his disappearing fingertips.
“You… bastard…”
“…A cloned being… is an incomplete… soul. But using this demon… is possible… The Demon of Preservation is a complete soul… a perfect material.”
“Don’t joke with me!!!”
Kuaaaack!!
The Demon of Preservation thrashed about.
But the formula was already complete, and the spell consumed by a ‘Upper-class’ soul was powerful enough that no one here could stop it.
After countless monstrous roars and screams, after chaos unfolded…
“Ah.”
She opened her eyes.
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