episode_0016

Encountering a truly unexpected boss in the Tournament Difficulty Hell Dungeon.

Seeing the doppelganger that transformed into Ran’s childhood friend Amy, I was surprised, but apart from that surprise, I was confident in my victory.

“Because she isn’t strong.”

This was because Amy was a very weak warrior party member in the game.

Originally, Amy’s performance in the game was close to the bottom tier.

Her attack power, defense, health, and so on were far below those of other warrior party members.

She was just at the level of a slightly stronger adventurer…? That was the extent of it.

At first, one couldn’t help but wonder how such a person could become a warrior party member.

“It’s all because of Ran, the fool.”

Naturally, the reason was that Ran brought her along.

Ran couldn’t resist his childhood friend who wanted to join the warrior party, travel with him, and help out.

Because of this, a girl whose qualifications as a warrior party member were far below par had taken on the role of a warrior party member.

Even thinking back, Ran was more like a warrior than anyone else, but he didn’t think he suited the role of a warrior well.

“Let’s win this easily, shall we?”

In any case, for that reason, I was certain of my victory.

No matter how much you have the Holy Sword, if the user wielding it is inadequate, it would be meaningless. Moreover, due to the nature of a doppelganger, its abilities would be lower than the original.

I thought I could easily defeat Amy.

“Ugh… Why are you so strong?”

However, I found myself struggling more than I had expected. No… It wasn’t just a little struggle; it was much more than that.

Amy, wielding the Holy Sword with fierce attacks, her swordsmanship was difficult even for me to keep up with.

“Amy has this kind of power?”

The Amy transformed into a doppelganger was quite powerful. She was almost on par with the warrior Ran.

Therefore, I couldn’t help but be momentarily flustered.

“Has she been hiding her strength until now?”

Why is she so strong now?

In this incomprehensible situation, various assumptions came to mind.

“No. She wasn’t hiding her strength.”

At least, my previous thoughts were not wrong.

While in the warrior party, Amy was indeed weak, not lying. I can vouch for that.

So, what is this situation now?

“Future Amy…?”

If I were to predict, the current Amy seemed different from the one I knew.

Should I say her hair was a bit longer, her physique a bit more mature?

Overall, she looked much more mature than the Amy I knew.

Perhaps Amy had a future like that.

“What happened to her?”

I don’t know what happened in the future to make her so strong…

Unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury to leisurely ponder over such things right now.

“Argh…!”

I began to fall behind gradually.

I struggled to defend against Amy’s relentless attacks.

“My sword can’t hold up.”

To be honest, I won’t boast about physical specs.

Clearly, Ran now was stronger than Amy turned doppelganger.

However, the difference seemed irrelevant as the disparity in the weapons we wielded was overwhelmingly significant.

“This performance is insane…”

My sword facing the Holy Sword couldn’t hold its ground.

Although the sword Ran held wasn’t exceptionally remarkable, it wasn’t a bad sword by any means at this point in the mid-to-late game, yet it couldn’t stand a chance against Amy’s weapon.

As our swords clashed, I felt like my sword and I were being devoured.

“I don’t think it’s real.”

Even if she’s a doppelganger, she wouldn’t have the ability to create a Holy Sword.

Therefore, the sword the doppelganger held must be a fake.

But it was just an imitation, and to think it could perform like this… I really thought it was an incredibly unreasonable weapon.

“If things continue like this, it will be disadvantageous.”

In such a situation, fearing that my sword might break, I had no choice but to continue fighting passively.

If the sword were to break, the possibility of winning against me would completely disappear, so I had to do everything to prevent the sword from breaking. Therefore, I thought it was better to use defensive swordsmanship.

“Let’s give it a try.”

However, that thought quickly vanished. No matter how defensively I used swordsmanship, if things continued like this, I would eventually lose.

The disadvantage was on my side as time passed. In this situation, I had to play my trump card.

“…!?”

In the end, I immediately switched from defense-oriented swordsmanship to offense-oriented swordsmanship.

Doppleganger seemed quite flustered by the sudden attack.

Clang! Clang clang!!!

Crash!!!

I did not miss that opportunity.

Continuing to press Doppleganger, I was able to achieve quite significant results.

“Haap!!!”

A brief opening appeared, and without missing it, I tried to stab my sword into Doppleganger’s body.

“Oh no.”

Unfortunately, my sword couldn’t even withstand that brief moment.

Was it really unable to withstand the Holy Sword after all?

Doppleganger once again gained the upper hand, continuing its attack.

“Ugh.”

I dropped the sword without hesitation.

Then I focused solely on evasion, trying to dodge Doppleganger’s attacks, but unfortunately, I couldn’t avoid them completely.

While escaping, I managed to avoid fatal injuries, but I ended up being stabbed in the abdomen.

“…”

As I touched my abdomen, blood oozed out.

It seemed like the tide had definitely turned against me.

Thud thud.

Unlike me, who was injured and had my sword destroyed, Doppleganger still looked fresh and unscathed.

Seemingly ready to finish me off, it slowly approached.

It was a somewhat desperate situation…

“It went according to plan.”

Well, it wasn’t that disadvantageous.

Actually, this situation itself was the gamble I was hoping for.

“Magic Sword Sekripa.”

I smirked and glanced to the side. The place where I had evaded Doppleganger’s attack was none other than where the Magic Sword Sekripa was embedded.

I didn’t really think I could defeat Doppleganger, who wielded the Holy Sword, with a regular sword.

In fact, from the beginning, I planned to draw this magic sword and fight, right?

“Ugh…”

As I placed my hand on the magic sword, I felt like my magic power was being sucked away.

Like some kind of vacuum cleaner… it absorbed all the magic power in my body.

“Deserving of being called a magic sword.”

The moment I touched it, I realized this sword was no ordinary one.

It must be an extremely dangerous sword.

“It feels good in my hands.”

And it must be incredibly powerful.

I held the magic sword and faced Doppleganger once again.

“…”

Doppleganger immediately rushed towards me with the magic sword.

And it seemed like it was about to unleash the rapid swordsmanship it had shown before.

As if it wouldn’t give me any time to adapt to the magic sword.

Grasping the Holy Sword, it charged towards me to decisively end it this time.

Swoosh-

And we collided.

The result was truly a close call.

“Ugh… Ugh…”

The replica of the Holy Sword and Doppleganger split in half.

Shortly after, as if realizing they had died, they turned into black ashes and disappeared.

[You have cleared the Hell Dungeon at Tournament Difficulty.]

[Congratulations.]

The system announcement rang out. It seems like I dealt well with the dungeon boss.

It was a tougher battle than I expected, but the outcome was quite good.

Overwhelmed by fatigue, I collapsed right there. I didn’t have the strength to lift a finger.

“Master. Are you okay? Oh no… Blood… If Master dies, what will happen to me, Lili? Oh no.”

During that short break, a voice was heard in the distance.

Upon spotting me, Liri ran over and began to sob.

Looking at me lying down as if to ask what to do, tears streamed down her face.

“Don’t make a fuss just because there’s a little blood.”

Anyone would think I’m dying.

Even an ordinary human wouldn’t die from this level of injury, let alone me, a hero and a demon. There was no way I would die from such wounds.

“Let’s go back quickly.”

“Yes.”

It seems like my strength has recovered enough to return to the Demon King’s castle.

I must have obtained the Dark Sword and the Secrifado. Let’s head back to the Demon King’s castle for now.

After exploring the dungeon, another three weeks had passed.

Since the injuries were not severe, they healed quickly, and I continued training to become familiar with magic and to practice using the Dark Sword as soon as I recovered.

Throughout this process, Liri clung even more persistently around me than before, causing some trouble.

Ultimately, during these three weeks, I spent quite a meaningful time.

Now, I can truly say that I am perfectly prepared.

“Ronan, the brave warrior…”

“What is it?”

“It’s time. The Demon King has ordered the recruitment of the Four Heavenly Kings.”

I’m relieved that it’s not too late.

It has been a month since I arrived at the Demon King’s castle.

“I see.”

Now, the final stage of the war episode is about to begin.

Before starting the war, the secretary of the Demon King came to find me.

Perhaps they are planning a strategy meeting among the officers?

“Let’s go right away.”

There’s no reason not to participate.

I got up from my seat and headed towards the conference room.