Ch.174Demon God – 5

The monster that had burst through the goddess’s chest had replicated the form of the goddess right in front of it. So, if something similar had emerged from the demon god’s chest, it should have copied the demon god’s form.

“W-what is that thing?”

That’s what I thought, but I was wrong. The human who suddenly entered the temple didn’t resemble the demon god at all, but rather looked like a mix between Aria and me.

Its height and clothing resembled mine, but its figure was feminine. The face and hair were exactly like Aria’s. Though it held Eternity in its right hand, golden light emanated from its other hand, just like Aria’s.

There wasn’t a trace of the demon god’s form in its appearance.

“Who knows? Maybe it’s been stalking us, following you and me around.”

It likely had been following us, observing, and then changed its appearance. If it could deceive detection magic, fooling our intuition would be child’s play.

Though why it was doing this remained unclear.

“What a disgusting habit. It makes me uncomfortable.”

“I agree.”

Aria, who rarely spoke harshly, began gathering mana.

“It’s best to avoid using high-tier magic if possible. That thing might—”

“Be able to copy it?”

As soon as she said that, the monster standing in the distance mimicked Aria’s movements a beat late. Blue light also gathered around its body.

“How did you know?”

“Simple deduction. Its appearance resembles us, the weapon it’s holding looks like yours, Mr. Mira, and despite not being human, it’s emitting golden light similar to divine power. You just warned against using high-tier magic. So I figured it might be able to copy not just appearances but also techniques and magic. Seems I was right.”

She reached that conclusion in such a short time? It seemed the mind that never lost the top rank in the original story was still sharp.

“Correct. That’s exactly right. We need to end this quickly in case it can copy us. I’ll give you a signal, and you can use your magic then. Understood?”

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Aria muttered something intensely, seemingly trying to select a magic that would be powerful but wouldn’t be too devastating if copied. I positioned her behind me and stepped forward to face the monster.

It mimicked me, stepping forward as well. Though it wore my clothes with Aria’s appearance, the dissonance was unsettling. After taking a deep breath, I charged forward, kicking off the ground.

‘It seems to prioritize visual information.’

When I encountered a similar creature in the celestial realm, it extended thin tentacles to touch the goddess’s corpse before changing its form. When copying my swordsmanship and magic, it observed first, then reacted.

It was an experiment worth trying.

Deliberately approaching without using body enhancement or acceleration, I created a massive earthen wall blocking the path. A small mountain of soil rose to the temple ceiling, but I heard no sound of the monster copying my magic.

Instead, the wall was sliced in half despite its size and thickness, scattering debris everywhere.

‘So it doesn’t blindly copy magic.’

That was good news. The spell wasn’t intended as an attack anyway. A momentary obstruction of vision was all I needed.

Hidden behind the collapsing wall, I activated body enhancement and acceleration, then crossed through the slowly falling debris to get behind the monster without entering its field of vision.

I could see the monster still moving sluggishly. It apparently hadn’t realized I was behind it. My prediction was correct.

I immediately swung Eternity, infused with mana.

The blade, moving at imperceptible speed, cut into its right shoulder and emerged just above the left ilium. The cut surface, twisted by the dimensional distortion, was torn apart as if run through a grinder.

“…!”

The mangled upper part of its collarbone floated into the air, and its head turned 180 degrees to face me. I immediately released my body enhancement.

In that brief moment, the ragged cut surface had completely healed. The severed area wriggled as if trying to reconnect.

“Aria!”

I called out to Aria while kicking the monster’s lower body. We couldn’t give it time.

Its gaze was still fixed on me. If I used magic now, there was a risk it would copy me with one arm, but if magic was cast from a direction it wasn’t looking at, that would be different.

“…Ignite.”

The magic circle emitted blue light. Flames mixed with orange and yellow struck the lower body that had been thrown against the wall. The body, less than half intact, was engulfed in flames.

However, the monster’s lower body was still regenerating even as it burned.

“Wh-what?! How?!”

Aria exclaimed in shock. Despite the magic hitting its mark, the monster’s flesh was regenerating much faster than it was burning.

The upper body was the same. It deflected the replica of Eternity that was swung at an angle impossible for a human without breaking the shoulder joint.

And in the next moment, the upper body—now regenerated not just to the right shoulder and arm but nearly to the chest—fell to the floor. By the time the fallen body rolled half a turn, regeneration had completed up to the waist.

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

“…Well. I didn’t expect this either.”

I couldn’t help but laugh wryly seeing the lower half that had flown away and the upper half that had fallen near me both complete their regeneration separately. I had inadvertently created two monsters.

‘At least there’s some useful information.’

Neither the upper body that was watching me nor the lower body that was directly hit by the magic could copy Aria’s fire spell. It also didn’t use dimensional distortion, which confirmed my theory.

The monster that had been the lower body approached me with Eternity drawn. The one that had been the upper body also pointed Eternity at me.

At least they weren’t targeting Aria. That was enough. I put away Eternity. Two opponents was manageable. I refused to let their numbers increase further.

“Even their regeneration has limits, Aria. If we keep attacking, they’ll eventually die. So attack quickly and briefly when they’re not looking.”

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

“I’ll have to use something other than my sword.”

I put Eternity away and clenched my fists. Last time, I had simply wanted to avoid complications, but now that I’d confirmed each split entity regenerated separately, it turned out to be a wise decision.

I just hadn’t expected to have to do this twice.

The monsters, just like before, turned into slimy puddles after being beaten to their regenerative limits. Aria panted, catching her breath.

“Th-those were persistent creatures…”

“Still, this ended relatively quickly.”

Having someone to help definitely made it faster than when I fought alone. Aria took a deep breath and carefully spoke.

“…Um, about the demon god. It seems to be dead already, so should we go back now?”

“We should. With the demon god dead, there’s no reason to stay here.”

I met Aria’s eyes. Her blue eyes hadn’t lost any of their light.

“Except for one thing.”

“Pardon?”

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

“…Me?”

Blink, blink. Those blue eyes blinked with curiosity. Aria tilted her head.

“What do you want to ask?”

“Who told you I was going to meet the demon god?”

This was the decisive reason that tipped the scales toward bringing her along, and why I didn’t more actively discourage Aria from coming with me.

It was to ask this question.

After looking momentarily blank at the question, Aria smiled timidly and scratched her cheek.

“Couldn’t we talk about this after we get back? I’d really like to leave this creepy place as soon as possible.”

“No. I need to hear it before we go. It might seem forceful, but it’s because it’s that important. I’ll apologize as much as you want later.”

“…Why do you want to know?”

After a moment of silence, Aria asked. As soon as she spoke, I felt an inexplicable sense of discomfort.

Her face was still smiling as warmly as a spring day, but the atmosphere was different. It was clearly different from the usual Aria, and from the Aria in the novel. She was smiling, yet somehow not smiling.

Not because she was angry at my attitude, but for an entirely different reason.

“Because I want to know who leaked information that was supposed to be secret. There are only a few people I told about this.”

“Oh my, I didn’t hear it from you, Mr. Mira. So you were keeping it a secret from me too? How cruel.”

Aria laughed. I didn’t. Her upturned lips fell slightly.

“Is it that important? Important enough to look at me like that?”

“It is important. Everyone swore to keep it secret.”

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

“…Your trust is impressive. If it’s someone you’d mention like this, it’s probably the four people I’m thinking of.”

Her downturned lips curved up again. Aria flashed a bright smile.

“I’m even a little jealous. To think you have four more people you trust so deeply besides me. I’m curious too now. There must be a reason you trust them so much. What is it?”

“I asked you first, Aria.”

“I’m just curious too. As curious as you seem to be suspicious of me right now. Haven’t you known Leona and me longer than them? So why do you trust them more than me?”

“You, Priscilla, and I all met at the entrance ceremony. It’s hard to say I’ve known you longer.”

“But shouldn’t you reconsider when the difference in attitude is so dramatic? I’ve always noticed it. Priscilla, the Saint, and even Ciel who joined with the special privilege of imperial admission. You all seem unusually close.”

Aria was still smiling brightly, but the atmosphere grew increasingly cold.

“I can understand with Priscilla and the Saint. They’ve been by your side since the beginning of the semester. They’ve spent similar time with you as Leona and I have. But what about the Crown Prince? Your attitude toward him changed suddenly at some point. Was there some dramatic catalyst? And what about Ciel? What kind of relationship do you have that made you vouch for her identity to get her into Bellium Academy?”

She was quite eloquent. She had skillfully shifted my simple question about who told her about meeting the demon god into an interrogation about our relationships. If I let her control the conversation like this, I’d lose the initiative.

I needed to clarify the subject. I was about to mention how she had blatantly avoided my question in the hallway.

“You were friends with Leona and me too, Mr. Mira. But with those four, it feels like you’ve crossed the boundary of mere friendship. It feels like there’s something beyond simply being close. What’s the reason? Is it because you feel a sense of kinship?”

“Kinship?”

With a smile as radiant as spring flowers in full bloom, Aria casually said:

“That’s right. Because you’re all fellow transmigrators.”