I felt like my honor had been trampled beyond recovery, but anyway, we successfully figured out the doppleganger’s act and chopped off its left arm.
It was a serious injury that couldn’t be healed with some recovery magic etched onto a virgin’s armor.
That’s because it was a restoration based on mana, not divine power, meaning its healing ability was inherently low. To make matters worse, some of the spells had been damaged from being left unattended for a long time.
I could recover from superficial wounds, dislocations, or fractures over time, but reattaching a severed arm was out of the question.
It was a bit disappointing that the arm that got cut off was the left one, not the right, but even considering that, it was genuinely a fatal blow.
With one hand, it was tough enough to block even two, and now I had to face four arms with just one right arm.
The doppleganger lost not only its left arm but its chances of winning. Maybe it was aware of that fact; its face was visibly distorted when its helmet came off.
“If only it had at least the intelligence of an orc…! Humans are known to be intelligent creatures, yet it had to fall into this exception…!”
“What are you talking about?”
You really know how to get on my nerves till the end.
Fueled by rage, I charged at it.
I could tolerate Friede mocking my intelligence, but hearing those words from a monster was downright infuriating.
“Don’t insult Hilde!”
If it were about offense points, Friede would be first place. But she body-slammed the doppleganger with a face that said only she could insult Hilde.
“Kugh…! Since it’s come to this…!”
Cornered between me in front and Friede behind, the doppleganger gritted its teeth and charged at me.
So it thinks I’m easier to deal with, huh? That’s a hit to my pride.
“Do you think you can hold on with just one arm?!”
As an ancient comic proverb says, wielding a sword with two hands is always stronger than with one hand.
No matter how hard it tried with its remaining arm, there was absolutely no chance it could block my sword.
“Who said I have only one arm?”
Only if its arm was the one missing, that is.
– Gurgle gurgle!
The sound like a goldfish thrown into liquid nitrogen freezing instantly.
As the doppleganger raised its now shortened left arm, the blood that dripped from the severed end froze in an instant, emanating a chilling aura.
The red ice mass gathered moisture from the blood and the atmosphere, forming a chunk of bloody ice.
It creaked and twisted, splitting apart, transforming into a bloody ice left arm the next moment.
“I have an arm…?!”
“Why are you so surprised? ‘Frost Manipulation’ is originally your technique!”
The doppleganger shouted while gripping the ice left arm like a sword. With a face saying even Trolls had to be smarter than this.
‘…No, I can’t use that move at all.’
The core function of Ice Heart, Frost Manipulation.
It was a technique to release the cold of the heart flowing through the veins outside the body, enabling a kind of ice magic without a spellbook.
It was exemplified by the Valkyries creating spears of ice, and Brunhilde could also use it.
Maybe it was such a unique technique that I hadn’t used it even once since joining Gunther’s party.
However, I couldn’t utilize that Frost Manipulation. I didn’t even have a clue how to bring forth the cold inside me.
“Even with a shabby prosthetic…!”
“It’s better than having none!”
Yet the doppleganger was using it very skillfully. It continuously changed the shape of the ice, making the prosthetic move like a real arm.
The memories it had copied weren’t just mine.
It had replicated Brunhilde’s very body. Inside its brain lived not only my memories but also Brunhilde’s.
– Kaga kaga kagak!
Thanks to that, it could somehow deflect my sword. It even expelled cold air behind it to fend off Friede’s approach.
“Yikes…!”
Surrounded by extreme cold, Friede reflexively distanced herself, startled by her freezing fingers.
It was astounding. To my knowledge, Brunhilde’s Frost Manipulation didn’t have enough power to freeze a person whole.
It was layering ice over ice, raising the strength of the prosthetic to an armor level.
That was a truly commendable use of it.
‘This is absurd; why is it using this so well?’
This seemed beyond the original Brunhilde, not just in output but in utility.
…Maybe it’s because it’s a monster?
Ice Heart originated from demons, so perhaps monsters wield that better than humans.
There’s a massive difference between Jotuns and dopplegangers, like between humans and roaches, in terms of species or the power and prestige they hold.
Anyway, it desperately fought back, spewing cold air, leading to a battle that seemed like an execution but was longer and more intense than expected.
“I’m definitely going to kill you, you troll-headed b*tch!”
“Who says so?!”
What had him so riled up?
Since the doppleganger’s identity was discovered, it had fixated on me like it could do anything to kill me before being immediately taken down by Friede afterward.
“HAH!”
The replicated Edelmut swooshed toward me like a storm.
The blade was wrapped in the cold of Frost Manipulation, the pale frost that formed on the blade looked like it was used in the inheritance ceremony.
The Edelmut of Frost and the Edelmut of Blessing collided like two whirlwinds tracing bright trajectories in the air.
BOOM!
Resounding explosions rattled the debris, and the chilly air scattered like a mini snowstorm.
An early winter descended upon the shattered crystal maze.
“Hah, you think a little cold change is going to change anything? What a pathetic struggle!”
I shouted while fiercely parrying its sword.
Each time our swords clashed, a chilling cold seeped from the blade to my fingertips, but as expected, it was manageable.
Even without being able to utilize Frost Manipulation, I was still the holder of Ice Heart. The damage its cold dealt was merely making my fingertips a bit chilly.
– KAAAAANG!
“Ugh…!”
On the other hand, its strength was noticeably weaker than before losing its arm.
That’s only natural. Creating a prosthetic out of ice was just a temporary fix; it wasn’t truly a replacement.
That fake arm lacked the might of Strong Arm. It was merely a solid chunk of ice.
“In close combat, strength and speed are everything!”
“You troll b*tch…!”
The doppleganger staggered back a step, unable to completely deflect my sword, with the arm holding the sword raised and its upper body exposed.
Opportunity.
“I will finish that statement…!”
I dropped the Edelmut altogether, reached out, and grabbed its right arm and shoulder. The replica’s armor creaked painfully under the force of my grip.
“What?!”
Caught off guard by my unexpected move, the doppleganger failed to respond in time. I headbutted it with my helmet, grinning.
“AAH!”
As the scream rang out, blood gushed and soaked the helmet, flowing into the eyeholes like ice-cold blood.
“Then, die ripped apart by my troll-like strength!”
“What the hell?! Wait, stop—”
“Stopping is for your life!”
With both arms gripping its forearm and shoulder, I poured all the power I could muster into them.
“HAH!”
Like a trigger pulled, I unleashed that strength, yanking its arms apart with all my might. The resistance was almost nonexistent thanks to the twofold strength advantage.
– Crack!
With the sound of flesh and bone tearing at once, the doppleganger’s right arm was yanked out at the shoulder joint. Just like a human caught by a troll or an ogre.
“AAH!”
The doppleganger screamed. It must be weaker than me. Quite the overreaction.
“I did say I was going to tear you apart, right? This isn’t enough!”
The doppleganger flailed, its face twisted in agony. I grabbed the fake Edelmut lodged in its thigh and drove it down hard, kneeing it in the face.
The horrible sound of bones shattering echoed as its body shook violently.
Even as a tenacious monster, this was a fatal injury it could no longer withstand.
“Uh…!”
Having lost all four limbs in an instant, the doppleganger collapsed onto its own blood.
Its consciousness seemed foggy from repeated trauma, as if the idea of replacing its limbs with ice had completely slipped away.
“Uh…! Wait, Hilde!”
Friede shouted at me right after.
“What?!”
“Let’s capture it alive for now! If we just subdue it, it could be useful…!”
Was this suddenly a desire arising from thinking it was a waste to kill it? How ridiculous.
“I don’t want to! I’m not interested!”
“Heh…! If you don’t want to, I can’t force you!”
My response was a firm no.
I had no desire to find out if the doppleganger could mimic me. Whatever I could imagine was highly disturbing.
So, I turned down Friede’s suggestion and glanced back at the doppleganger.
“There, little warrior girl! Do you know? There’s a bizarre gap in this troll’s memories!”
The doppleganger howled in spasms, its throat straining to yell.
Its last-ditch effort. Reactively, I swung my sword at its neck.
“Gap, distortion, contradiction! This woman’s memories are a mess! It’s as if her mind…!”
Was split in two. Its severed head muttered those words in inaudible sounds.
I let out a relieved sigh internally and crushed its head under my boot. There was no aversion now that it was reverting to its original form the moment its head was severed.
‘…That was close. That bastard had to blabber some useless junk at the end.’
The doppleganger hadn’t realized the possession itself, but it was clearly aware that this “Brunhilde” had become a completely different person from that point on.
I was thankfully able to shut its mouth before it could say anything more. At this level, I could easily manage the situation with just an excuse.
“Hilde…? What was this monster going to say just now?”
“Well, who knows, probably insulting a lunatic who can’t remember past events correctly? I suppose it was pretty frustrated that was how it revealed itself.”
I shrugged and smiled nonchalantly.
Its last words were just empty venting, and I didn’t care to dwell on them. I casually sidestepped that topic.
“Speaking of which… Friede, what were you saying earlier?”
To cap it off, I threw the topic onto something even more shocking.
“…Huh?”
“Hilde twice. Heaven. Before and after. There’s something useful… and I think you said my memory is troll-level?”
At my questioning, Friede’s face turned pale rapidly.
“Uh, no, I mean, my bad, it’s just that, well, it happened to come out…!”
“Hah… I didn’t think you saw me that way, Friede. I’m a bit shocked…”
I pretended to be gloomy and sighed heavily. I looked disappointed with both myself and her.
“My heart aches… Was that all I amounted to?”
“Ugh, no…! That’s not it! I’m so sorry!”
Friede flailed her arms in a panic, not knowing what to do.
Seeing her look as panicky as a child who fell in water, it seemed the doppleganger’s loaded last words had already flown out of her mind.
Phew, mission accomplished.
I knew these kinds of words would resonate just fine.
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