Chapter 47: Who Are You?!
The two Malakais faced each other, their identical shadow odachis resting casually over their shoulders.
"So, how many more of you are there?" Malakai asked his copy, his voice dripping with forced casualness.
"Not that many, honestly," the clone sighed, shaking his head. "It’s a shame, really. A lot of us died just trying to make it down here. But it’s a worthy sacrifice for a chance to finally rid this world of you filthy shadows."
Malakai chuckled, slowly shaking his head in amusement. "Wow. You actually make Asterion look like a mischievous, misunderstood man."
"Speaking of the devil," the copy sneered, "once we get what we need out of Nyquella, we’ll gladly let her join you in the afterlife."
"Very bold words coming from a coward who’s wearing another man’s face."
"Let’s cut the chit-chat, shall we?"
"Very well."
The two Malakais simultaneously gripped the hilts of their blades and lowered themselves into a tight, pouncing stance, tracking every micro-movement of the other.
Crack!
The two pushed off the ground with tremendous force, the explosive pressure splitting the stone street beneath them. They clashed in a brutal, direct head-on collision, their dark blades ringing out sharply. Malakai stepped off to the side, pivoting his weight to swing his odachi in a curved, upward arc. The copy fluidly twisted his torso, letting the blade whiz mere inches past his face before immediately launching a fierce counter-attack of his own.
The two continued to exchange a blinding flurry of blows. The ground ripped apart at every strike, and the surrounding buildings were torn to shreds by the stray kinetic shockwaves.
Malakai and the fake Malakai were neck and neck. Neither could gain the upper hand. Their speed, strength, and reflexes were a perfectly mirrored match. But a copy was never better than the original.
Clang!
Malakai dynamically shifted his shadow blade into a heavy halberd, slamming it down with crushing velocity onto the clone’s weapon and shattering it upon impact. Before the clone could recover and escape, Malakai dissolved his weapon back into raw shadow and morphed it into a jagged whip, slamming it down hard on the retreating fake.
The clone quickly crossed his hands over his chest to protect his core from the impact. Sustaining only minor damage, he slid backward across the cobblestones, catching his balance. With a sharp gesture, he formed a dozen spears out of the surrounding shadows and launched them toward the real Malakai.
The already ruined outer city district became completely devastated as the fight raged on. Giant whips of shadow swept across the terrain, leveling dozens of buildings at a time, while shadow arrows rained down from above like a barrage of heavy artillery.
The two navigated the crumbling ruins seamlessly, using the debris as both cover and weaponry. They utilized the ambient shadows to reinforce the black marble walls for defense while relentlessly trading high-tier attacks from a distance.
Eventually, they met back in the center to exchange close-quarters blows. Heavy hammers, greatswords, and sharp daggers materialized and vanished in an instant. Malakai stepped forward, swinging a horizontal crescent slash. The clone ducked under it, retaliating by manifesting sharp shadow claws and rushing in for a vicious, tight melee.
Slash! Slash!
The strikes connected. Crimson blood welled from Malakai’s stomach and right leg. The clone pressed the advantage, trying to drive another strike home, but Malakai kept a rigid, flawless block.
"Tsk! Stop blocking and figh—"
BLAM!
The fake Malakai felt a heavy, physical fist slam directly into the side of his face, completely scrambling his vision. Before his head could snap back, BLAM! Malakai’s boot came crashing down onto his skull, smashing his face into the dirt.
While pinned to the ground, the clone felt a devastating force strike his ribs. His bones trembled violently under the pressure, and a sharp gasp escaped his lips. He looked up, his blurred vision focusing just in time to see another massive fist flying toward his face.
Bang!
He managed to intercept the punch, but Malakai’s other fist struck him squarely in the chest. Desperate to turn the tide, the clone launched a counter-strike of his own, his fist connecting solidly with Malakai’s face. To his utter surprise, Malakai didn’t turn into an intangible shadow to dodge the impact.
Bang! Another strike landed. Bang! Then another. Bang!
Before the clone could figure out a counter-strategy, he was being relentlessly pummeled with raw, physical attacks until the reinforced shadow wall behind him shattered into pieces.
He fell backward, desperately catching his footing and pushing off the ground—only to leap right into the path of Malakai’s sweeping shadow battle-axe.
"Argh!" the clone spat, his flesh being deeply cleaved. He tried to force a counter-attack, but in the very next second, a solid shadow spear pierced straight through his chest, impaling his core.
"How...?" the clone gasped in shock, coughing up dark fluid.
"You can only copy my active powers, man. That’s honestly sad and unfortunate for you," Malakai chuckled darkly, looking down on his dying copy with pure disdain. "If I don’t turn into a shadow... you can’t either."
"You—"
"Be quiet," Malakai interrupted flatly. He manifested a massive shadow hand and completely crushed his clone’s head.
The clone’s body instantly dissolved into a pile of black ash, dropping a glowing Rank 2 core onto the pavement.
Malakai scooped up the core and calmly walked away, treating the encounter as if he had just taken care of a common household rat rather than a fellow shadow spawn.
"Time to go find Nyquella... Or not, Yuki’s got that handled. I need to find the real Camilla before she has a full-on panic attack from missing me."
Malakai dissolved into his shadow form, gliding swiftly in the opposite direction of the fake Camilla and Nyquella.
"Huff... huff... huff... We are going to be fine, Nyquella," Camilla panted bitterly, her face covered in sweat as she sprinted through the dark streets.
"They’re dead... both of them are dead," Nyquella stammered, her entire body shivering from intense grief as she rode on Camilla’s back.
"They are, and we will be next if we don’t get the hell out of here right now!"
Camilla turned a sharp corner, using her crimson barrier to fling them over to the next street, expertly softening their landing as they hit the ground.
Ding.
Camilla snapped her head to the right, her danger senses tingling. Realizing an attack was incoming, she hastily summoned a barrier to intercept it. Smash! A thrown bottle of thick black ooze splattered against the crimson shield, the corrosive liquid creating a small, temporary opening in the magic. Through that tiny gap, two stone throwing knives flew with lethal precision, striking Camilla directly in the throat.
"What...?" Camilla thought in a daze as her body violently collapsed onto the cobblestones. Blood gushed uncontrollably from her neck. She desperately tried to apply pressure to stop the bleeding, but her limbs instantly began to shiver as her body became imposingly heavy.
"Venom...?" "How...?" "Who...?"
"Camilla!" Nyquella cried out, scrambling to stand up so she could help her. But she froze in sheer horror as "Camilla’s" face began to melt away, bubbling and shifting until Nyquella’s own facial features appeared on the dying woman.
Nyquella fell backward, completely horrified by the grotesque sight in front of her.
"Fuck you," the copy spat, coughing up blood as she forced herself to stand. "Damn it..." Ticking her tongue in frustration, she locked her eyes onto the original Nyquella and manifested a glowing holy bow to finish her off.
"Filthy traitor," the clone growled, raising the weapon. But just as she prepared to draw the string, the bow suddenly dissolved into harmless golden particles.
"Wha—"
BANG!
Yuki’s heavy fist slammed directly into the clone’s face, sending her hurtling backward. But before her body could hit the ground, his long, armored tail wrapped tightly around her waist, yanking her right back into his melee range.
Yuki unsheathed his razor-sharp claws, instantly slashing her body into bloody chunks. But the fake Nyquella refused to go down easily. Gritting her teeth through the pain, she reached out and grabbed Yuki’s hands, using her immense strength to crush his fingers.
Yuki didn’t even bother trying to free his hands. Instead, he wrapped his legs securely around her waist and threw his entire body weight backward. The sudden momentum yanked the fake Nyquella forward, stretching her arms completely out. She leaned her own weight back, desperately trying to cancel out the pull of Yuki’s body.
Just as the clone was about to pull him forward, the real Nyquella grabbed the two stone throwing knives from the ground, rushed forward, and buried them deep into the clone’s back.
"Argh!" she screamed out in agony. "You fucking bitch!"
In her pain, she released her grip on Yuki’s hands. But instead of falling back to hit the ground, Yuki dug his sharp claws deep into her legs, slicing through her muscles and causing her to collapse forward. Before she could fall on top of him, Yuki nimbly twisted around to her back, gripping her head with all his strength and pulling backward.
"Aaahhhh—SNAP!"
The screaming cut off instantly as her neck snapped back at an impossible angle. Not wasting a single beat, Yuki continued to dig his claws into her body, tearing her into a state where she couldn’t possibly regenerate, ensuring she completely bled out.
"Huuu... hell, this place absolutely sucks," Yuki exhaled heavily, flopping over onto the ground.
He pushed the heavy corpse off himself and watched as it dissolved into a pile of purple ash, leaving behind a single glowing essence core. Yuki picked it up and held it out toward Nyquella.
"Are you okay?" he asked, grinning like an absolute idiot.
"You... you..." she stammered, her hands trembling violently as her orange eyes welled with fresh tears. "You’re alive?"
"Yes? Why wouldn’t I be?"
"But... I literally saw you die!"
"Well, that definitely wasn’t me, because this is the first time I’m seeing you" Yuki reasoned, rubbing his shoulder.
"So, does that mean the you I saw wasn’t the real you either?"
"I have absolutely no idea what that means," Yuki admitted honestly, shrugging. "And my arm hurts from stretching it out so much. Just take the essence core."
"Oh. Okay..." Nyquella scurried over, taking the stone from Yuki’s hand and immediately absorbing it.
The pure energy of the Rank 2 core boosted her tremendously, flooding her veins with fresh essence and instantly adding 10 points to her absorbed essence core count.
"We have to leave," Yuki said gently, reaching down to grab her hand. "Can you walk?"
"Uh-huh," Nyquella replied, nodding quickly as she wiped her eyes.
"That’s good to hear," Yuki said, smiling blissfully.
As they began to run through the ruins, Yuki turned to her with a bright expression. "By the way, I’m Yuki. Well, you technically already knew that. Never mind. What’s your name?"
"Nyquella," she replied, a small smile finally breaking through her distress. "My name is Nyquella."
"It’s a lovely name," Yuki said cheerfully. "It’s a pleasure meeting you! Now, let’s get back to the base and get you sorted out."