*
A light probing attack; we started to slowly circle around the axis without a word.
It wasn't just the appearance that was similar; I felt myself tense up at the sight of the habits and minor movements that mirrored my own.
'He doesn't seem to have any openings.'
It wasn't just my perception; the guy genuinely showed no openings whatsoever.
Since you can't know anything without clashing, I approached him and brought my sword down.
The doppelganger reacted simultaneously with my downward strike.
The moment the swords met, he slightly twisted his blade, guiding mine off course.
It was absurd to have my usual tactics used against me.
'I would have been caught off guard if I didn't know, but I was prepared.'
Anticipating his twist, I adjusted my strength, quickly rotating my sword to defend against his attack.
I tried to counterattack as soon as the defense was complete, but his movements showed he had anticipated that as well.
It felt like he had perfectly copied me.
The light probing battle began to intensify.
With a sharp sound, the sword began to glow brightly.
'Sword Aura.'
It seemed he could use the same techniques as me, as his sword began to emit the same light as mine.
__Kieeeing!!! Kwang!!!
From the moment we used Aura, the weight of the attacks changed. The shockwaves created by the impact made my body tremble.
I couldn't help but click my tongue at his movements, countering every attack and aiming for the next.
"This is really... I can't help but say it's the same level."
It was beyond bewildering, it was shocking. How could I not be amazed when he perfectly executed the techniques with the same face and posture as me?
The doppelganger rushed in, not missing the chance while I was flustered.
I couldn't help but click my tongue at how relentlessly he targeted my weaknesses. It felt like he had copied my fighting style exactly.
He aimed for my heart, and I had to retreat, abandoning my defense.
Because it was a move that gave up defense to end it all.
"So, you're coming at me like this?"
"..."
From the moment he started attacking aggressively, I was pushed back unilaterally.
'Shibal... how am I supposed to win this?'
If only his physical abilities were just similar, it wouldn't be a problem to slice him up.
I don't know how it happened, but the doppelganger in front of me had everything the same as me, not just physical abilities.
He had the same combat experience I had gained by risking my life, and he was launching dangerous attacks as if he didn't care about dying. How am I supposed to win this?
It wasn't just a reckless, dice-rolling move; it was a thoroughly calculated one.
In a situation where he was launching attacks that would inevitably harm both of us, I was at a distinct disadvantage.
I didn't know what would happen to him if he died, but I only had one life.
__Kaang!! Kieeeing!!! Chaeng!!!
Attacks that could sever a hand, leg, or arm with the slightest mistake began to pour in relentlessly.
I didn't even have time to breathe. Is this how the guys who fought me felt?
Experiencing the attacks I barely managed to avoid through save-loading, I couldn't help but curse.
It was absurd for the opponent to move as if they knew all my moves, even though we had never met.
"Haa... haa..."
Because he was using a concise and quick combat style to push me, there was no room to use techniques that required a long preparation time.
I thought he was just using my swordsmanship, but seeing him respond to my movements without any gaps, wouldn't it be fair to say he was reading my mind?
Moreover, seeing that he didn't seem to tire at all even in that fierce barrage of attacks, I felt my chances of victory were dwindling.
"..."
Could he copy this too?
[Anti-Demon: Activated]
The aura surrounding the sword began to burn with a clear light. Even if I couldn't use other skills, the power of Anti-Demon was the only one available.
Since it was a power that didn't exist in this world, maybe he wouldn't be able to imitate it?
"..."
Indeed, you bastard, now it's my turn.
__Kaang!!! Kieeeing!!!!
The moment the Aura activated with Anti-Demon met his sword, it began to devour his Aura with a grinding sound.
The doppelganger looked surprised for the first time.
Well, it might seem cowardly, but wasn't he fighting dirty too?
Just as I was about to defeat him, his atmosphere changed.
"Hmm?"
There was a brief flash, and then his sword came at my neck.
"Just now...?"
Before I could react, intense pain washed over my body.
"Blue Moon Flash."
"Huh...?"
*
"Heo... heok... heok?"
I frowned involuntarily at the pain that had been so vivid until just now.
Clearly, there was a flash, and then he rushed at me and cut my neck.
'Did I just die?'
Then is the Save Load skill automatically activated?
[That's what I saw too... but you didn't die.]
'I died, but I didn't die?'
[It seems this space is special. It's not that time has turned back. Si-woo-nim's body has been restored.]
'So... is it a kind of soul state...?'
I couldn't know for sure, but it seemed to be a special feature of this space.
The doppelganger was waiting for me with the same expression as before, but the atmosphere was different.
The posture seemed subtly different, more solid.
At first, he had the same expression as me, but now his face seemed subtly full of composure.
Seeing him looking at me as if waiting for a challenger, I felt my blood boil.
"If I don't die, it doesn't matter."
I unleashed Anti-Demon power and rushed at him.
The Anti-Demon power began to devour his Aura as before, but this time the picture was different.
As if there was no need to struggle, he began to swing his sword.
The attacks were sharper and clearer than when he was throwing his body around earlier.
It was clearly the same swordsmanship, but his movements seemed more refined and solid. With each swing of the sword, the afterimages of his movements, which seemed more complete than mine, left more and more scratches.
I had to retreat from his blade that had just passed my shoulder.
Yeah, this was swordsmanship that no one could do unless they were a hypocrite above me.
"Kallis?"
"..."
He continued to swing his sword silently, still keeping his mouth shut.
At first, he was a doppelganger who followed my movements, but now he was a completely different person.
His movements, which were at a higher level than mine, made me feel like a child in front of an adult.
Even though I had deflected his sword, it still touched my body, moving strangely like a snake.
"Keu... euk..."
I didn't die, but the pain was still vivid.
Maybe it was because the Pain Resistance skill had disappeared, but it wasn't easy to endure the pain.
In front of such a master, a moment's gap leads to death.
"Ah..."
I faced death powerlessly again in front of him.
*
A woman with a tired expression got up.
"I wonder how many years have passed."
Her voice, which seemed languid yet tinged with sadness, belonged to a woman with pink hair and eyes, who rose from her seat wearing a thin silk nightgown.
She didn't know how long it had been, but every time she moved, her joints cracked.
"I didn't expect anyone to come looking."
She was not very tall, and her arms and legs were thin. She got up from her seat, leading her body that seemed like it would break.
"Surely, it's not you, is it?"
The woman smiled bitterly, recalling the man who had passed the burden on to her until the very end.
That shameless man who had not granted her request despite her pleas, and then asked her for a favor.
He wouldn't come here, would he?
"Is it your descendant?"
She had no idea how the world had changed because she had been in a deep sleep, so she felt frustrated, but she couldn't just stand by because of his request.
She smiled faintly at her own inability to refuse his request, even though she had never been repaid in her life.
Seeing that she still couldn't forget him even after being rejected so many times, she was clearly a fool.
"Everyone called me a genius... but I guess I'm just a stupid woman."
As the woman reached out her hand, a long staff flew into her hand. She wielded the staff, which seemed to be twice her height, familiarly, and swung it in the air.
"Four people... it seems some completely unrelated people have entered as well."
The woman watched those who were fighting with dolls that looked like themselves.
"The moment you talked about must have come..."
Kallis, he was worried about the demon that would one day be resurrected.
He knew that the goddess's power was constantly weakening, so he wanted to leave behind his power through some means.
"He asked me with a shameless face."
If the demon's power spread to the world, he had created a device that would allow his descendants to find the monument.
So that someone who had inherited his swordsmanship would come to this forest.
And the fact that someone had come here meant that the demons had started to become active again.
"Well... it's not my problem anymore..."
There probably wasn't that man left in this world anymore, so what was the point?
"Black hair... I didn't know your swordsmanship would be passed on to a stranger?"
I remember him confidently saying that another Hero would come out of his descendants.
I wondered how he would react if he saw this.
"Well... it doesn't matter. As long as they pass the test..."
Well, it didn't matter to her who the target was. She just had to fulfill the request that man had made.
The woman watched the man being brutally killed by the doll Kallis had left behind.
He was getting up again even though he was facing an opponent he could never win against, just like that man. But how long could he last?
They say it gets better with time, but it doesn't seem to be the case for her.
"Kallis... I miss you..."