[Isabella Entvider vs Isabella Entvider]
[Map: Solitaire Village]
[Isabella Entvider has joined your team.]
[Occupy the base to gain a tactical advantage.]
“My true name is Isabella Entvider. Please kill my doppelgänger.”
A noble voice echoed toward a hundred heavily armed knights.
“That’s why I hired you.”
*
Isabella Entvider was an arrogant woman.
The source of her arrogance came from her exceptional magical talent; she was the foremost genius in Solitaire Village.
By the age of ten, she had laid the foundation of geomancy, and by twelve, she had grasped the principles of pyromancy.
And by her twenties and thirties, she had become a famous adventurer known to all with her purple hair.
Having risen to the position of leader of a guild, Isabella Entvider hired a hundred mercenaries and declared a small war.
The target was Isabella Entvider, sharing the same name. She, too, was the top genius from Solitaire Village.
The difference was that her doppelgänger was not a mage but a sword-wielder.
Clang!
The swords clashed.
Amidst the short standoff, screams echoed from all directions.
I tightened my grip on the sword and stepped back, initiating a scouting duel with the enemy Isabella.
The healer was caught alone in the midst of the enemy forces. If I could hold on for just a bit longer, Kariri would come to rescue us with the team.
“I can’t believe you thought of sending an NPC alone to sector C.”
The enemies had clearly devised an intelligent strategy.
Personnel allocation for the first stronghold significantly impacts the outcome of the game.
Even though it’s a game where comebacks happen frequently, taking two positions early allows one side to secure a stronghold for the next five minutes.
Therefore, sending an agile healer solo as a scout has always been a valid tactic.
But the opponent flawlessly predicted my movements and executed a perfect counter by sending an NPC.
Even if I abandoned this place to join the center, the enemies would likely be concentrated in sector B.
“That strategy was quite good. That is, if a one-on-one with an NPC in the early stage is even possible.”
Statistically, it’s nearly impossible to win a one-on-one against an NPC in a limited time. But when it comes to buying time, that’s a different story.
“Where are you looking away from?”
A wave-edged flamberge rushed toward my left side.
With a swift motion, I deflected the sword with my short sword, then immediately struck diagonally at her neck.
Isabella had amazing reflexes.
I stood my ground, not intimidated by her attacks as I parried her strikes one after another.
“That’s as far as your flailing goes!”
The swordsman version of Isabella fought clumsily, akin to street thugs, suddenly coming to mind.
She raised the flamberge high and aimed to bring it crashing down on my head.
With unbroken focus, I watched the sword’s trajectory until the very end.
Once the swords met, I couldn’t afford to avert my gaze. The experience honed over years had etched itself into my instincts.
I narrowly dodged the attack, feeling the dual-blade swipe just beside my head.
Despite the weight of her sword, Isabella wielded it with surprising ease.
Her movements flowed as if it were a wooden sword, but the indentation in the ground spoke of her capable strikes.
“Dropping dead like a henchman clinging to a doppelgänger! Die here!”
From her perspective, our Isabella was the doppelgänger.
With both hands gripping the flamberge, she suddenly stabilized it with her left hand and threw a punch with her right. It was aimed at my head.
She balanced the two-handed sword with just one hand.
Her now unencumbered right arm sliced through the air toward me.
A confident smile flashed across her face, foreseeing victory.
I couldn’t tolerate the look in her eyes or that smile.
I should remind her that until the result is shown, nothing is certain.
I raised my left arm and took a guard position above my head.
I let go of the sword I was holding and dropped it to the ground.
“…!”
“If you’re going to brawl, you should have dropped the sword properly.”
The obsession with not parting with the sword didn’t matter. What use was being able to control the two-handed sword with one hand?
After all, she would only be able to fight with one hand.
And in a melee, going in without both arms just meant fighting with dulled blades.
I grabbed her sleeve with my right hand and pulled her arm inward.
Even if she meant to retrieve the flamberge later, she wouldn’t have the speed for it.
I twisted her wrist, pushing my upper body forward.
I tripped her by hooking her weight-centered leg and spun my body around.
“Guh…!”
At that moment in the air when our eyes met, she seemed unable to believe she would soon roll on the ground.
Thud!
Centered around my back, she fell flat on her face without even managing to roll properly.
Dust rose around the woman. Her armor-clad body groaned.
Without a moment to catch her breath, I stomped the end of the sword’s hilt and flicked it upwards.
I swung the returning Skiabona forcefully.
Shwaak—
There was no resistance in cutting through flesh.
Isabella rolled on the ground, trying to dodge the repeatedly thrusting sword, but it wasn’t urgent for me.
I decisively determined the moment when the counter-move would kick in, plunging the sword into her thigh.
She bent her body to avoid the vital spots and even tried to shove me away.
“Don’t try to get up.”
Whack—
Using a kick augmented with acceleration skill, I struck her head.
Isabella stumbled again. It was temporary, but unmistakably she was about to be knocked out.
The vulnerable spots on Isabella’s tall body were glaringly exposed.
Carotid artery, ribs, sternum. Any of them would be satisfactory to stab.
“Return to your respawn point.”
I climbed atop her fallen form and plunged the sword gripped in reverse down hard.
[Critical!]
[Your hits deal an additional 3% damage with every successive strike due to ‘Critical Strike’ effect.]
[Current: 38 stacks]
[6964 (1709+5255)]
[The red team NPC has been defeated. Respawn time: 30s]
A notification spread across the entire map that the enemy NPC had lost in the duel.
NPCs don’t know skills. That was the fatal flaw of those who sent me NPCs.
How could they withstand when I kept landing blows without breaking my combo?
We even forgot to farm together, defeating an NPC at level 1.
[Level Up! 1 → 3]
It seems the system praises my achievements. I leveled up two levels at once.
In this game world, I wasn’t sweating, but I instinctively swept my hair back.
I gave a simple peace sign to the observer camera broadcasting this view and raised my sword again to face the remaining soldiers.
Is it just my imagination, or is a healer using a sword more frequently?
I shook off the liquid that likely resembled blood and moved forward. I had barely taken a step toward victory.
*
Isabella Entvider thought she had explained sufficiently why she needed to kill her doppelgänger.
The two were fighting over the roots of Yggdrasil.
Now, there was only one remaining “Panacea.”
They were engaged in a battle, betting everything to define each other as the doppelgänger and prolong their lives.
“But is what I’m saying funny? I’m your employer! You shouldn’t so easily defy commands!”
Isabella shouted in anger.
However, the blonde woman continued to walk ahead with a disinterested expression.
Intentionally ignoring her.
She protested continuously.
In the first operation, she had asked her six elite members to divide into two groups of three to capture the hills and plains.
But the party’s sole healer, ‘NoName,’ suddenly wandered off to Nariell Marsh, which was hard to comprehend.
“The results turned out well, didn’t they? Just fight well moving forward!”
The ice mage ‘Dal-tori’ mediated the fight.
“Our NoName is a remarkable individual. I think it might be okay to trust him a little.”
“Ugh… Uwuu… Oppa, you really don’t fit saying that.”
“Ugh, what concept is this again?!”
Shinsim Man got overly immersed in his roleplay, using an unexpected historical tone.
Dal-tori and Brownie’s expressions were visibly souring in real-time.
“This isn’t just a child’s play. Listen. I’ve bet my entire life on this. For 30 years, I’ve been fretting over how to burn that damn doppelgänger to death! And now’s the time to reap the rewards.”
Isabella’s eyes blazed as flames flickered on her staff, mirroring her fury.
“You seem weak.”
“What?”
NoName’s mocking laughter.
“I just wondered how you haven’t managed to kill such a weak individual.”
NoName referenced having a showdown with the doppelgänger in the swamp.
The atmosphere grew tense again.
Han Yong-cheol questioned whether there was really a need to clash with the allied NPC like this.
“Hey NoName, what’s with you! Miss Isabella, please give the next order quickly!”
The desperate shout for victory was from Yong-cheol.
“Don’t listen to that person. I’ll give the orders from now on.”
NoName openly defied the commands of the AI.
Sparks flew between the two women.
“Are you saying you will defy your employer?”
“Is simply having the same face enough to be declared a doppelgänger?”
“What?”
“No, Yong-cheol, it might be better to give this object to the enemy. We’ll buy more growth time from the other side.”
“That’s the most nonsensical thing! You want to let the enemy go in this advantageous position? You’re a spy, right!? A spy sent by the doppelgänger! Everyone, don’t be fooled. Now is the time to fight!”
The approach to giving orders or countering a troller varied by character.
And Isabella was among the more irritable types.
Though NPCs vehemently shouted that golden-haired girl wasn’t an ally, the response they received was frigid.
“Our NoName has an astonishing idea! Isabella, don’t just get mad—follow quickly!”
“Isn’t this another order from the genius? Surely, there’s a reason behind the words.”
Isabella could only feel panic seeing her mercenaries coldly turn away.
The continent’s foremost genius had always been elevated by those around her and had lived up to that expectation.
Perhaps that’s why she found this situation unsettling.
“Why…? Then what about you, Dal-tori?”
“I’m sorry, hehe. But I’ve never been wrong trusting NoName’s orders.”
Even Dal-tori, who had been following the orders the best during the B operation, switched sides to NoName’s camp.
“NoName is an incredible genius!”
At this point, Isabella nearly recognized all six as traitors, but wasn’t that more odd?
In such times, one could only resign to the fact that she might truly be in the wrong.
“Then let’s see how confident you are.”
Having reunited with her team, Isabella crossed her arms, scoffing.
