,Shibal... There are too many of them.'
I instinctively knew I was fucked.
I thought I could handle it after seeing the number of Doppelgangers, but I didn't know Hwaran was a Necromancer.
,Clone... Fly faster.'
I urged the clone.
I heard the Sword Queen was giving it suspicious looks.
Maybe the upper echelons of humanity have already noticed the existence of Doppelgangers.
It's uncertain if they'll follow the decoy.
They might stop chasing once they see it enter the intermediate zone.
I secretly prayed they would follow.
The odds are slim.
I only factored in the duo, not the other Doppelgangers.
And now, Orc zombies are making it even worse.
,Kueooooh.'
An Orc zombie charged at me.
Its face was bloodless. Just seeing a corpse is unsettling, but it's disgusting when it moves.
I gathered my magic power.
I used my Authority.
Fire shot out in a straight line like a flamethrower.
,Keeeeg.'
The Orc zombie was engulfed in flames.
I rotated my hand, setting the bodies of the Orc zombies on fire.
The burning zombies flailed their arms and then collapsed.
The dark energy faded from the zombies' bodies.
The Orc zombies became corpses.
The fire's energy burned away the dark magic.
,Maybe this is doable?'
I realized fire magic was its weakness.
If I played it right, I might be able to handle the Doppelgangers without outside help.
,Damn it, there was no mention of you using magic!"
One of the Doppelgangers was shocked.
,So, Hwaran is also vulnerable to fire magic?'
I condensed a fireball in my other hand.
My target was Hwaran, who was sitting still and controlling the zombies.
Dark energy surrounded her body, but
it was energy that would disappear with one fireball.
I threw the condensed fireball.
,Where do you think you're going.'
The male Hunter blocked Hwaran.
He bisected the fireball with his magic-infused sword.
But he couldn't do anything about the heat, and the hand holding the sword turned red.
It was because he didn't have magic resistance.
,Kueooooh.'
The Orc zombies surged forward.
Hwaran was furious that she almost died.
,Ugh. Shibal. That hurts.'
My back stung. An Orc zombie had attacked, aiming for a blind spot.
There was a shallow scratch on the membrane of my back.
It wasn't a deep wound, but it would be dangerous if the damage accumulated.
,Shibal.'
I swung the greatsword horizontally. The bodies of the Orc zombies in its path were split in half.
The fire energy imbued in the greatsword burned away the dark magic.
The fallen Orc zombies became corpses.
But even more zombies stepped over the corpses and approached.
When I came to my senses, I was surrounded by zombies without a gap to escape.
Killing them wasn't the problem.
The problem was after killing them.
The Orc corpses were getting in the way.
The more corpses piled up, the harder it became to keep my balance.
,This sucks.'
There's no choice. In times like these, a forced breakthrough is the answer.
I put strength into my arm. The body covering my arm swelled up.
I turned my body, using centrifugal force.
The greatsword tore through the zombies' bodies and flew outwards.
Kang.
I threw the greatsword by feel, but luckily, the direction was right.
The male Hunter deflected the greatsword.
Now unarmed, I picked up and threw an Orc corpse.
I escaped from the corpse pile.
I picked up the party leader's sword and shield that had fallen on the floor.
I looted the swordsman's sword from my back and swapped in the swordsmanship factor.
Holding the shield in front, I ran forward.
My target was Hwaran. I had to kill Hwaran, who was using magic at the very rear.
Kang.
The sword was blocked. The male Doppelganger stood in my way.
His arm was gone, but I had also swapped in a low-grade swordsmanship factor.
The swords were evenly matched. Neither sword was pushed back.
,Magic recovery.'
Hwaran activated her magic.
The zombies' bodies slumped down like puppets with their strings cut.
Black smoke returned to Hwaran's body.
She had recovered the magic power that was controlling the corpses.
,Why?'
,They're useless. They didn't inflict any real wounds.'
Only 1/4 of the Orc zombies remained compared to the beginning.
They had burned to death from the fire Authority, which was their weakness.
,Resurrect corpse.'
Black energy gathered in one place.
It settled into the corpse of the management office worker lying on the floor.
The management office worker rose.
,Corpse enhancement.'
The worker's muscles swelled up.
His body was strengthened by the black smoke.
Hwaran pointed at me with her finger.
The management office worker charged.
He's fast. It seemed his ability was also the type that strengthened the body.
The closer he got, the faster he became.
I moved my magic power.
I created a fireball.
,Not so fast!"
The Doppelganger who had been standing by rushed in.
He swung his sword at the newly created fireball.
The magic power scattered. The flames vanished into thin air.
,Kueooooh.'
A fist slammed into my stomach.
I layered membranes on my abdomen.
I protected Seolhwa inside the membrane.
,Cough... Huk. Where?'
The sleeping Seolhwa briefly woke up.
But she fell asleep again, as the drug's effects were strong.
,Kueooooh.'
The zombie didn't give me time to rest.
It grabbed Seolhwa's head and slammed it into the ground.
It would have been a good choice if it were a human, but unfortunately, the main body wasn't Seolhwa but me.
I protected my head with a membrane.
,Die.'
Two Doppelgangers seized the opportunity and attacked.
I used Berserk.
Increased stats.
I moved the arm holding the sword.
I deflected the male Hunter's sword.
The male Hunter, unable to overcome the difference in strength, created distance.
With my other hand, I grabbed the arm of the management office worker zombie.
I infused fire energy inside. The black smoke that had settled inside burst into flames.
The zombie, having lost its energy, lost its strength.
I twisted the zombie's arm. I swung my fist and smashed its head.
The zombie, having lost its energy, lost its strength.
I twisted the zombie's arm. I swung my fist and smashed its head.
Zombies controlled by a Necromancer don't die from things like this.
Only after pulling out its spine did the zombie find rest.
I created a tentacle.
I wrapped it around the arm of the Doppelganger swinging its fist.
I could feel the pulsating heart and blood flowing beneath the skin.
For some reason, I felt like I could stop the heart.
I manipulated the blood.
I stopped the heart for a moment.
The Doppelganger's body faltered for a moment.
A gap.
I crawled up his arm.
I went over his shoulder and arrived at his head.
I crushed the Doppelganger's head with the tentacle and devoured the Doppelganger inside his head.
I carried out the series of actions simultaneously.
It felt like my Core would break from the multitasking I had never done before, but I somehow succeeded.
Kung.
I cleared away the management office worker's corpse.
Now there are only 4 Doppelgangers left.
The male Hunter and Hwaran. And the 2 Doppelgangers who appeared later.
,Stop, if you do anything more, I'll kill this bitch.'
One of the Doppelgangers held a knife to the party leader's neck.
It's a hostage situation with absolutely no leverage.
,I don't care. Kill her.'
I answered immediately. I didn't care what happened to the party leader's life.
Rather, I hoped they would kill her.
,Th-this... this monster....'
The Doppelganger, who didn't seem to have any intention of killing her, held the knife.
I aimed for the moment when his emotions were heightened.
I kicked off the ground. I split the head of the Doppelganger holding the knife.
Furthermore, I pierced the head of the Doppelganger next to him.
,Now it's just the three of us left, huh?'
I threw away the broken sword. I drew the swordsman's sword that I had been carrying on my back.
Now it's the male Hunter, Hwaran, and me.
Only these three remained.
I took out a pill from the pill container and ate it.
My magic power was almost completely depleted.
The pill made by refining magic stones also served as a kind of potion.
The magic power I gained was weak, but it was better than nothing.
My body tingled.
Something was conveyed through the senses shared with Seolhwa.
Besides the ability to manipulate blood, there seemed to be another direction I could go in.
The problem was that I didn't know what it was.
To grasp the feeling, I extracted blood from the corpses.
I gathered the blood into a round sphere.
I think I know. To confirm whether the ability I realized was real, I ran forward.
The man blocked my path. I had expected that much.
I threw the sphere of blood I had prepared in advance at him.
Puhwak.
The sphere of blood burst. A large amount of blood bound him.
The binding force wasn't that strong, so he could break free soon, but it bought me a little time.
Thanks to the time I bought, I approached Hwaran.
,Fireball.'
Hwaran threw a fireball.
She was trying to buy time.
I swung my fist and knocked away the fireball.
The deflected fireball exploded next to me.
,Fucking magic resistance.'
Hwaran sensed her fate. She closed her eyes.
I placed my hand on her chest.
I could feel her heart beating fiercely beyond her soft chest.
I dominated Hwaran's blood.
The absolute ability even defied the natural order.
I gathered the blood.
I gathered blood inside her heart and made it explode.
Kwang.
Flames soared from Hwaran's body.
The fire affinity that Seolhwa had existed for this purpose.
Transmute blood into fire.
Because it was an ability activated through a medium, the magic power consumed was also small.
,Now it's just the two of us left, huh?'
I picked up the greatsword that had fallen on the floor.
I said, looking at him, who was left alone.
Seeing him left alone after his comrades and zombies had all died, I found it amusing.
,Y-you, damn...'
He gritted his teeth.
He had broken free from the blood binding, but he couldn't even beat me when he had the numbers.
There was no way he could beat me alone.
I silently raised my sword.
The Doppelganger closed his eyes as if sensing his fate.
,Stop...!"
A magic-infused voice shook the surroundings.
I couldn't swing my sword and put it down.
A group of people arrived at this place.
And a woman came forward from the middle of the group.
Her face was familiar. Of course, even Seolhwa, who lived without knowing what was going on in the world, knew her face.
,Please save me. That crazy bitch suddenly slaughtered our party members.'
He immediately ran out. He knelt down in front of the woman and begged.
If you didn't know the situation, you would have been fooled.
The woman quietly drew her sword.
She passed him.
,Th-thank you. Please get rid of that, crazy bitch...'
His voice gradually weakened.
His head split open. The Doppelganger's true form could be seen through the split.
,How...'
,It's all too obvious that you're acting.'
She answered.
The Sword Queen. Lee Sia's mother.
Her appearance, which I thought would be old, was incredibly young.