Chapter 122

Fighting Myself (1)

An icy silence swept through the space in an instant. When it finally drove away all the darkness hanging over them, First Prince Leon came to his senses.

"Hah...!"

The confusion that had been churning through his mind vanished in an instant. Yet that only made it harder to understand what was happening.

First, there was the silver-haired woman standing in front of him. This woman, whose delicate beauty resembled a fragile flower petal...

"Give me back my brother right now!!"

Seraphia, the eldest daughter of House Whitewolf.

"Why are you here—"

Before Leon could finish his question...

"Don't be ridiculous!!"

A shrill shout cut him off. Turning toward it, he saw a woman whose seductive beauty contrasted with Seraphia's delicate loveliness. That woman, with her strikingly deep, sultry eyes...

"Luseria?"

What on earth was going on...?

"How could someone like you possibly...!!"

Luseria's face twisted. A black cloud surged out of her body, thick and ominous, as though it were condensed despair and madness.

And then the darkness vanished.

"What...?"

A dumbfounded sound escaped Luseria. Leon's eyes widened, equally unable to comprehend it.

WHOOOOOSH!

An immense wave of cold swept in every direction. At its center stood Seraphia.

"Good heavens..."

Leon's jaw dropped as well.

He had heard the stories. Rumors that Seraphia had run wild in the palace and incapacitated the Royal Knights. But he had assumed they were exaggerated.

She was a mere sixteen-year-old girl. How could a girl like that possibly have neutralized the kingdom's greatest fighting force, the Royal Knights? Naturally, he had thought it an exaggeration.

He had never imagined that, rather than exaggerating, the rumors had understated her power.

CRACK!

An explosion of cold obliterated the darkness.

Luseria ground her teeth. Waving both hands ceaselessly, she conjured more darkness.

FWOOSH!

Darkness blazed like fire. Its flames spread in all directions as though burning through the space itself.

"Die!!"

Luseria thrust both hands forward. At that moment, icy frost engulfed her. The dark flames could not melt away the cold.

"... Urgh...!"

A groan escaped her lips. Blood poured from her nose, ears, and mouth, only to freeze solid. The chill of frost spread from her fingertips.

"Guh...!"

Her body froze in an instant, the blood vessels and cells within it tearing to shreds.

She was... no match at all. It was as though they were on entirely different levels.

"Aaaaaaagh!!"

Luseria screamed in agony.

* * *

The Memorier pondered for a while. Still apparently unable to work it out, it asked,

"Was there an ability I didn't acquire?"

"Who knows?"

I shrugged. The Memorier narrowed its eyes.

Then we lunged at each other at precisely the same moment, raising our Dragon's Claw[A] and swinging.

At that instant, the muscles all over the Memorier's body writhed. Its joints followed with unnatural movements.

Slime Cell[B-].

It was too late to counter in kind. In that case...

◆Activating skill, Assimilation[C+].

My form rapidly blended into the surroundings and vanished. The Memorier's gaze wavered slightly. It had momentarily lost sight of me, but it did not panic.

"Since I have that ability too—" it murmured.

"I know how to deal with it!"

The joints in both its arms moved unnaturally as it clawed wildly in every direction.

KRAK-KRAK-KRAK-KRAK!

... I couldn't get close. I could deal with it by using Dragon’s Skin[U], but...

'That burns too many calories.'

Whoever created a difference between us would win this fight. With Inventory unavailable, our calorie reserves were both limited and equal. This was a battle of who could use those calories more efficiently. Whoever ran out first would lose.

After a split second of deliberation, I abandoned the attack and pulled back. As soon as I deactivated Assimilation[C+], the Memorier lunged as though it had been waiting.

"There you are!"

It had already drawn its Dragon's Claw[A] far back and was swinging it at me.

A swing without the slightest finesse. Utterly straightforward. But I knew that it belonged to the pinnacle of biological evolution, which needed no finesse at all.

Dragon's Claw[A] raked through the air as though tearing space apart.

CLAAAANG!

An enormous impact spread outward, driving me back several steps. ... And the Memorier? It was twisting in midair to steady itself, raising its Dragon's Claw[A] once more.

It happened in an instant.

BAM!

My kick slammed into the Memorier's side.

CRUNCH!

Its Dragon's Claw[A] tore into my calf.

The Memorier went flying. I did not pursue. We both used Regeneration[B+], but I was the one burning more calories.

... Strong. Strange as it was for me to say it, I was strong.

'I can't get the upper hand.'

Since the Memorier lacked my memories of my previous life, I had assumed I would naturally have the advantage. My experience on countless battlefields. My experience as Chief of Covert Operations of the special warfare unit. My fighting prowess had been built on those experiences.

But had it copied my muscle memory? True to a Legion Commander of Darkness, a class beyond a class of its own, the Memorier was keeping pace with the combat instincts I had developed through countless battles.

Its copy wasn't perfect. But it was going beyond simple imitation and reconstructing what it lacked. Even if its combat instincts weren't complete, it was learning and applying them as it fought me, refining them further and further.

In other words, even the edge my experience gave me had vanished. More precisely, we had become equals. Having Predation[S+] made no meaningful difference.

'As for Berserk...'

I didn't have enough Sanity. I'd used it all up experimenting with this and that.

But the same went for the Memorier. We were still on equal footing. That left only one potential variable... Ian's abilities.

The Memorier hadn't copied Ian's abilities, but it had copied my body after those abilities had affected it. In the end, we had the same capabilities and the same stats.

It probably hadn't copied Inventory either. But that was meaningless too, since I couldn't use it myself. Inventory did not respond inside The Forgotten Social Gathering.

A variable. I had to create a variable that would make a difference between me and the Memorier. Even if I had to force it. But there was no obvious way to—

It happened right then. A variable appeared.

Something even I had never anticipated. Something the Memorier had been unable to copy. The one variable that could decide this battle. It wasn't an ability, or strength, or experience—

◆You have completed the Territory Quest, [Unemployment! Aaargh! Damn It! Fix the County Right Now!]!

◆You have completed the Territory Quest, [Here Come the Recruits!]!

It was the bonds I had forged along the way.

* * *

Bitter cold gripped Whitewolf county throughout the year. Yet its square teemed with lively activity.

Stalls lined the square, their displays neatly arranged with all manner of handcrafted accessories and textiles. Alongside finely crafted pottery, furs and winter clothes were laid out to show off their quality.

Merchants who had flocked in from Frecce wove between the stalls. Seeing the county's goods firsthand, they could not contain their admiration.

"Wow...! This is better quality than I expected!"

"I only came because I heard this was Lord Adrian's territory..."

"Say! How would you like to sign a formal contract with our trading company?"

New contracts with Frecce's merchants heralded the beginning of the county's revival.

Meanwhile, the Vister recruits had finished their grueling training and officially begun their duties. Assigned to their respective units, they patrolled the county's outskirts, maintaining order and safety while also protecting merchants on their trading expeditions.

Along the border that followed the rugged, snow-covered mountains...

"Waaaaah!!"

A child's cries rang out.

The shadow of a huge beast loomed over the child—an Alacron. Just as it was about to pounce...

"Hey!"

A low, rough voice rang out. A burly, fearsome-looking man stepped between it and the child. Sarpedon, once the leader of the Black Grasp.

His axe slammed into the Alacron's face. But the beast didn't take the blow without fighting back. Acting on animal instinct, it raised its claws and tore deep into his shoulder.

"Graaagh!"

Red blood spurted out, and the pain of torn muscle made his head swim.

... What about the Alacron? Sarpedon quickly turned his gaze. It lay on the ground, motionless. His last blow had apparently been fatal.

... It had been tough, but the field training had paid off. He panted heavily.

"Fuck... that hurts like hell."

He touched his torn shoulder. Pressing down on the bleeding wound, he looked down at the child sitting on the ground.

"Kid, get up if you can."

The child immediately stiffened, staring at him with terrified eyes.

"What are you shaking so much for?"

"M-mister, you're a Vister... aren't you?"

... So that was why. Sarpedon gave a bitter smile. Well, he was used to being treated this way. It had always been like this.

Sarpedon, leader of the Black Grasp. Fear and contempt had always followed him. He might be receiving training as a soldier of Whitewolf county now, but he was still a Vister at his roots. In other words, a criminal.

He had been born in a lawless city. By the time he became master of the gambling dens, his hands were stained with far too much blood. How many people had he betrayed and deceived? How many screams had he ignored?

He had been struggling to survive in Violess, but... he was too tainted now. The stains would never wash away.

That was why people didn't change. They couldn't. No matter how hard he tried to walk a new path, no matter how hard he tried to live a different life, the stains of his past wrongs would never fade. They would follow him like a brand.

'Who am I kidding, trying to be a soldier?'

It didn't suit him. He belonged back in that filthy gutter.

"That's right, kid. I'm worse than a monster."

Blood flowed from his torn shoulder and between his fingers. Today, it looked especially filthy.

Then...

"... Don't lie."

The child's lips moved. The voice was barely a whisper, yet Sarpedon heard it clearly.

"You... saved me."

Fingertips trembling with fear took hold of his clothes.

The child was clearly frightened. Yet the child hadn't turned away, calling him sinister or bad luck.

"You're not bad, mister. You're not a bad man at all."

At some point, those clear eyes had turned toward him. There was neither contempt nor fear in them. They simply saw Sarpedon as he was—

"You're a good man... Bad things just happened to you."

Sarpedon's eyes wavered.

At that moment...

"Sergeant!!"

"Are you all right?!"

Other members of his unit came rushing over from the distance.

But Sarpedon stood frozen like a statue.

"Sergeant...?"

"..."

"Huh? Sergeant, are you actually crying?"

His massive shoulders twitched.

"I-I'm not crying..."

"Your shoulder is pretty badly torn up, but—"

"Come on, you've been stabbed in the gut hundreds of times. Why cry over a little thing like this?"

"I said I'm not cryiiing...!! I'm not!"

Sarpedon hurriedly turned away, roughly wiping his eyes with the back of his hand.

"I'm not cryiiiing...! I'm not cryiiiing!!"

But his voice shook more and more. Before he knew it, his face was covered in tears and snot. Rubbing furiously at the mess, he thought...

"I tol' you I'm not cryiiin'! You fuckin' baaaastards...!!"

...that becoming a soldier here in Whitewolf county had been a truly, truly wonderful decision.

And he made a vow. To Whitewolf county, which had accepted him. To Adrian, who had given him a chance at a new life—

"Bwaaaaaah...!!!"

He would pledge his loyalty for every remaining day of his life.

* * *

The Territory Quests had suddenly been completed. Even inside this barrier, Ian's abilities, including I Alone Level Up[EX], functioned normally. That meant I could receive the experience for completing quests normally too.

I had no idea why the quests had suddenly been completed. This was a variable even I hadn't anticipated. But the reward for both quests was "a large amount of experience."

◆You have gained 10,597,800 quest experience!

◆You have gained 10,412,500 quest experience!

◆You have leveled up! x24

I gained a whopping twenty-four levels in one go. These were stats the Memorier hadn't copied. They were also the result of Ian's ability, which it couldn't copy—and the bonds I had forged.

And with that...

◆Using combination skill 'Metabolic Overdrive[U]'!

◆Calories Consumed - 50,000Kcal

◆All of the player's stats increase by [+50%] for [500 seconds]!

Additional stat points, amplified stats. The gap between me and the Memorier had now widened unmistakably.

"I've wondered about this before."

What would happen if I used Predation[S+] on myself?