chapter_0177

The monster that had pierced the Goddess’s chest had taken on her form. So, if something similar had emerged from the Demon God’s chest, it should have taken on the Demon God’s form.

“What……?”

But it wasn’t. The human who had suddenly entered the temple looked like a mix of Aria and me, with my height and clothing, but a feminine build, and Aria’s face and hair. It held Eternity in its right hand, and golden light emanated from its left, just like Aria.

Its appearance bore no resemblance to the Demon God.

“I guess it’s been stalking us and copying our appearances.”

It was likely that it had been following us around, observing and changing its form to match ours. It could easily hide from my detection spell and sense of ki.

I didn’t know why it had been doing so, but its taste was terrible.

“Disgusting. I don’t like it.”

“I agree.”

Aria, who rarely spoke harshly, began to gather mana.

“It’s better not to use high-level magic if you can help it. That thing might……”

“Copy it?”

As soon as Aria finished her sentence, the monster in the distance copied her movements a beat late. A blue light gathered near its body.

“How did you know?”

“It’s a simple guess. Its appearance resembles us, its weapon resembles yours, and despite not being human, it emits golden light similar to divine power. You told me not to use high-level magic unless necessary because it might copy it. So, I thought it might not only copy our appearances but also our techniques and magic. Seems like I was right.”

She had reached that conclusion in such a short time. Her top-scoring brain in the original work hadn’t gone to waste.

“You’re right. That’s right. It might copy you, so we need to end this quickly. I’ll give you a signal, and you can use it then. Understand?”

“Yes. I’ll keep it in mind.”

Aria began to mumble to herself, seemingly trying to choose the most powerful magic that wouldn’t be too damaging if the monster copied it. I put Aria behind me and took a step forward to face the creature.

It also took a step forward to match my movement. Its appearance was a bizarre mix of mine and Aria’s, and the dissonance was jarring. I took a deep breath and charged at it, sword in hand.

‘It seems to rely on visual observation first.’

In the Heavenly Realm, the creature had extended thin tendrils from its body to touch the Goddess’s corpse before changing its form. When it copied my swordsmanship and magic, it also reacted after seeing them first.

It was a worthwhile experiment.

I intentionally didn’t use physical enhancement or acceleration and instead created a massive earthen wall between us. A small mountain of soil rose to the ceiling of the temple, but there was no sound of the creature copying my magic.

Instead, the mountain was cleanly sliced in half, and the resulting debris scattered.

‘It doesn’t blindly copy magic, huh.’

That was a good thing. After all, the magic wasn’t intended to be used as an attack. Just a brief moment of blindness was enough.

I hid behind the collapsing earthen wall, activated physical enhancement and acceleration, and crossed the slowly falling debris, making sure to stay out of the creature’s line of sight.

I could still see the creature moving sluggishly, apparently unaware that I had reached its back. My prediction was correct.

I immediately infused mana into Eternity and swung it.

The sword moved at an invisible speed, slicing through its right shoulder and exiting just above the left hip bone. The wound caused by the extreme distortion of space looked as if it had been shredded in a grinder.

“……!”

The tattered shoulder floated in the air, and its head turned 180 degrees to face me. I immediately released the physical enhancement.

In that brief moment, the ragged wound had healed, and the severed parts seemed to wriggle as if trying to rejoin.

“Aria!”

I immediately called out to Aria and kicked the lower half of its body. There was no time to waste.

The creature’s gaze was still fixed on me. If I used magic while it was looking at me, there was a risk it would copy it with one arm, but if I cast it from a direction it wasn’t observing, the situation would be different.

“……Burn.”

The magic circle glowed blue, and orange and yellow flames beyond red engulfed the lower half of its body that had been thrown against the wall. Less than half of its body remained as it was consumed by the flames.

However, even as it burned, its lower half continued to regenerate.

“What, what?! How is this possible?!”

Aria exclaimed in surprise. Despite the magic hitting it directly, the rate at which its flesh regenerated was far faster than the rate at which it burned.

The upper half was the same. Its upper body twisted at an angle that would have been impossible without dislocating its shoulder joint and deflected the replica of Eternity that it swung.

And in the next moment, in addition to its right shoulder and right arm, its chest and upper body fell to the floor. By the time its body rolled half a turn on the floor, its waist had also regenerated, and the two halves of its body were now separate entities.

“Mr. Mira! Are these things usually like this?!”

“……I didn’t expect this either.”

I smirked as I looked at the two halves of the creature, which had regenerated separately. Unknowingly, I had split the creature in two.

‘At least it wasn’t a wasted effort.’

The creature that had been looking at me and the one that had been hit by Aria’s fire magic didn’t copy the magic. It seemed my guess was correct.

The lower half of the creature, which had flown quite a distance away, approached me with Eternity in hand. The upper half, which had fallen near me, also pointed Eternity at me.

At least they weren’t targeting Aria. That was enough. I sheathed Eternity and clenched my fists. Two was more than enough. I didn’t want to increase the number of opponents any further.

“They do have a limit to their regeneration, Aria. If we keep attacking, they’ll eventually die. So, keep attacking them when they’re not looking. Short and fast.”

“Yes, yes! But what about you, Mr. Mira?”

“I’ll use something other than a sword.”

I sheathed Eternity and balled my fists. The last time I had used my fists, it had been to avoid a troublesome situation, but now that I knew the split entities regenerated separately, it turned out to be a wise decision.

I didn’t expect to have to do it twice, though.

.

.

.

The creatures eventually turned into slimy blobs and melted away after being beaten to their regeneration limit, just like last time. Aria panted, catching her breath.

“They were…… tough.”

“But it ended faster than I expected.”

Aria, who had been helping me, took a big breath and cautiously opened her mouth.

“……Mr. Mira, about the Demon God…… It seems to be dead already. Shouldn’t we go back now?”

“Of course. There’s no reason to stay here now that the Demon God is dead.”

I locked eyes with Aria. Her blue eyes shone brightly.

“Except for one thing.”

“Huh?”

“Before we go back, I have something to tell you, Aria.”

“……Me?”

Blink, blink. Blue eyes blinked in confusion. Aria tilted her head.

“What is it that you want to tell me?”

“Who told you I was going to meet the Demon God?”

The reason I had ultimately decided to bring her with me, despite weighing the options of taking her or leaving her behind, and the reason I hadn’t tried to dissuade her more actively was to ask this question.

Aria, who had been confused by the question, smiled timidly and scratched her cheek.

“Can’t we talk about it after we get back? I want to get out of here as soon as possible.”

“No. I want to hear it before we go. It may feel a little forceful, but I think it’s important enough to warrant it. I’ll apologize later if you want.”

“……Why do you want to know that?”

Aria, who had been silent for a moment, asked in return. As soon as she said that, I felt a strange sense of dissonance.

Her face was still smiling warmly, like a bright spring day, but the atmosphere was different. It wasn’t the usual Aria, nor the Aria from the novel. It felt like she was smiling but not really smiling.

Not because she was angry at my attitude, but for a completely different reason.

“It’s important because I told only a few people about it, and I want to know who let that information slip.”

“Oh, didn’t hear it from you? Mr. Mira. So, you kept it a secret from me as well? That’s a bit much.”

Aria smiled. I didn’t. The corners of my lips, which had been raised, fell slightly.

“Is it that important to you? Enough to make you look at me like that?”

“It is. They all swore to keep it a secret.”

And because you avoided my question about how you knew I was leaving when we met in the hallway.

“……Your trust in them is remarkable. If I think about it, I can probably guess who it is. There are only a few people you could have told.”

The corners of my lips, which had fallen, rose again. Aria smiled brightly.

“I’m a little envious, actually. You have four people you trust so deeply, more than me or Leona. I suddenly became curious. Do you have a special reason for trusting them so much? What is it?”

“You’re the one who asked the question first, Aria.”

“I’m curious too. You’re looking at me strangely now, but I’ve spent more time with you and Leona than with those four people, haven’t I? So why do you trust them more than us?”

“You and Priscilla are the same. We met at the entrance ceremony. It’s a bit ambiguous to say we’ve known each other longer.”

“But if your attitude towards them is so drastically different, shouldn’t I be a little suspicious? Don’t you think I should be wondering what the dramatic turning point was? What about Ciel? What’s your relationship with her that made you vouch for her and get her enrolled in Bellium Academy, disregarding her social status?”

She had a way with words. She had turned my question about who told her I was going to meet the Demon God into an interrogation about my relationships with the others. If I let her continue at this pace, I would end up losing.

I needed to be more specific with the topic. I was about to bring up how she had avoided my question in the hallway when she interrupted.

“You were friends with me and Leona, but with those four, it feels like it goes beyond just being close. It feels like there’s something else there. What is it? Do you feel a sense of camaraderie with them?”

“Camaraderie?”

Aria smiled innocently, like a flower in full bloom on a warm spring day.

“Yes. Because you’re all Possessors, just like me.”