Chapter 188 - Carried by Gear (3)

We were walking through the dark forest, following endlessly in the direction the doppelgänger had vanished from the Shadow Altar.

"..."

We advanced through the tense silence.

For the record, our formation had me out in front, with everyone else following several meters behind. A bit too spread out to call it a normal formation...

But what could I do? Such was the life of a tank who had to carry.

"Prepare for combat!"

The moment I sensed movement ahead, dozens of doppelgängers emerged from the darkness beyond the reach of our magical light orb.

This was one of the changes that came with the fourth chapter. Once the doppelgänger's seal began to unravel, the number of copies roaming the field increased exponentially.

And...

"Enemies... of the Empire...!"

"Kill... them!!"

They no longer transformed into us. At least, not until we encountered the main body itself.

I didn't know why. Back when I played the game, I'd simply accepted it.

Well, now I suspected there was some hidden background behind this phenomenon too, if I looked into it...

But this wasn't the time to think about that.

「The character has cast [Leap].」

Before they could close the distance any further, I launched myself into their midst.

BOOOOM!

The instant I landed, the ground heaved as the special terrain effect [Rebound] kicked in. Dozens of doppelgängers flew into the air at once.

CRUNCH!

First, I smashed one as though swinging a baseball bat and activated [Wild Outburst].

"VEHELLLAAAAAA!!"

My Threat stat tripled. The doppelgängers in soldiers' forms charged at me like crazed beasts. As monsters, they couldn't ignore the taunt.

"For... the Empire...!"

The doppelgängers disguised as soldiers had no skills, but they were still formidable opponents because their raw stats were incredibly high. As the shield-bearing soldiers' ability to withstand my mace demonstrated, each was at least Aynar's equal in stats alone.

Their diverse troop types—archers, spearmen, swordsmen, mages, crossbowmen, shield bearers, and more—also made the battle harder.

But...

CRUNCH! CRUNCH!

I blocked what I could, but never dodged. Dodging was pointless to begin with. I was already surrounded by enemies.

All I could do was take the beating like a proper tank and wait for my teammates' support.

「Allua Raven has cast the rank-five offensive spell [Thunderbolt].」

Before long, the long-awaited spell was ready. Lightning rained down over a wide area.

「Kailman Parteian has cast the rank-five support spell [Spell Enhancement].」

Perhaps thanks to Parteian's support, it was about twice as powerful as usual. So I paused to avoid getting caught in the spell.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOOOM!

The Thunderbolt barrage, practically a natural disaster, lasted only about five seconds, but that was enough to decimate the doppelgänger legion.

'Mass pulling really is the way to farm.'

I took my time finishing off the survivors with my teammates, who had been keeping their distance.

With that battle over, the blunt-weapon warrior shook the blood off his weapon and murmured,

"... Master Parteian, Miss Sarman will be all right, won't she? I can't stop worrying."

"You saw it yourself, didn't you? The doppelgängers couldn't come anywhere near the altar. She'll be fine as long as she doesn't leave."

"Still, perhaps we should have brought her..."

The blunt-weapon warrior apparently couldn't stop worrying about the Guide girl we'd left in the safe zone. But as far as I was concerned, there had been no other choice.

Given the doppelgänger's traits, it wasn't as though there was absolutely no way to make use of her... but only as a disposable pawn. Bringing her as someone we needed to protect would do far more harm than good.

"Enough. Miss Sarman agreed to this too, didn't she? If we fail, we'll all die anyway."

Parteian glanced at me and ended the conversation there. I said nothing and resumed our exploration. Wasting time would do us no good.

RUMBLE!

After several more battles as we advanced through the dark forest, I felt a faint tremor beneath my feet. That meant the seal release rate had reached 20%.

Well, it rose about 1% every ten minutes, so it was about time.

"Mr. Jandel, could we go a little faster?"

"All right."

We picked up our pace as though racing against the clock.

And...

"We're here."

At last, we'd reached our destination.

A sinkhole we hadn't seen while wandering the forest in search of the minibosses. Once we descended, the boss fight would begin.

First, though, there was something to do.

"Let's search the area for a moment before we move on."

At Raven's direction, we circled the sinkhole in search of something. It didn't take long.

"Just as the book said. It said there would always be one hidden near the entrance."

A white monument emitting an eerie sound. In the game, it had been specifically named a Sealing Stone.

Still, this alone hardly qualified as a hidden piece. For one thing, they appeared all over the forest once the fourth chapter began...

"As the book said?"

Information on the Sealing Stones naturally became available through the [Sacrifice's Journal], which appeared at the Shadow Altar after the third chapter ended. Though all it really said was to find and activate them.

"There was nothing of the sort in that journal."

"I meant a different book, not the journal."

Without answering the mage Parteian's question in detail, Raven placed her hand on the Sealing Stone.

WHOOOOSH!

A pillar of black light shot into the sky.

「The Sealing Stone has been activated.」

「Seal release rate: 10%.」

That reduced the doppelgänger's seal release rate by 10%. Of course, that number wouldn't matter much if we followed our strategy, but it was on our way, so there was no reason to skip it.

"That completes all the preparations we can make here."

We returned to the sinkhole.

"Everyone ready?"

Time for the boss fight.

* * *

「The character has entered the Usurper's Hideout.」

* * *

The boss fight was the highlight of a rupture. But the one in Doppelgänger Forest followed a somewhat unusual format.

First, the expedition had to split in two. One team fought the boss, while the other searched the forest full of doppelgänger soldiers for Sealing Stones to keep the seal release rate under control.

That was the standard strategy, also described in the [Sacrifice's Journal].

'What an annoying concept.'

To clear this place, everyone had to trust one another and do their part.

We probably would have selected two or three suitable members from each party and split into two teams for the boss fight ourselves.

If that land mine hadn't gone off.

["We can't use that method anymore. There are only seven of us now."]

Losing half the expedition had complicated things. We simply didn't have enough people to split up.

So what were we supposed to do?

After checking the loot left by the dwarf's party and Hans G's team, I'd settled on an answer early on and given Raven hints to lead her to the same conclusion.

All in.

Rather than divide our already meager numbers and accomplish neither task properly, we'd concentrate all our strength in one place and aim for a quick victory.

In short, the veteran player's strategy.

["It might be a little dangerous. Is everyone all right with that?"]

["What other choice do we have?"]

And so the foundation of our strategy was laid. I estimated our chance of success at 90%.

Of course, probabilities were just numbers. The only way to know whether it would actually work was to try it.

When had life ever gone entirely according to Plan A?

THUD!

Like a proper barbarian, I jumped down the hole first to check that it was safe. Once I signaled up, the others came down one by one.

"There's a chill in the air."

The cave was cold.

["SKREEEEEE!!"]

Something inside let out a bizarre howl, perhaps having sensed our presence. I chuckled.

This was one of a barbarian's jobs.

"What are you all frozen for? Let's go fuck it up."

Giving my teammates courage.

I took the lead down the straight passage without a moment's hesitation, and the few who'd been intimidated pulled themselves together and followed.

Our footsteps echoed as we walked. After about forty paces, the mist hanging throughout the cave cleared, revealing the boss chamber.

A cavern with an enormous magic circle drawn across it. Stones of Truth lay scattered over the floor like toys, and at the center crouched something humanoid with its back to us.

And there was sobbing.

"Have you... come to kill me... too...?"

The thing turned its head to stare at us. The face it revealed belonged to none of us.

It was just an ordinary child.

Or would have been, if its eyes, nose, and mouth hadn't been upside down.

"I haven't... done... anything wrong..."

The child glared at us as though wronged. Soon, the emotion in its eyes turned to rage.

A thoroughly run-of-the-mill boss intro.

"I'm just... like you—!"

So I skipped it before it could deliver its next line.

"VEHELLLAAAA!!"

The terrain wasn't well suited to Leap, so I simply dashed forward and swung my mace.

THWACK!

The child's head was crushed before it could even stand. But the impact didn't feel the way it usually did.

It felt like hitting a punching bag full of water.

["SKREEEEEE!!"]

A scream from some unidentifiable source filled the cave as the child transformed into a mass of black slime.

BUBBLE, BUBBLE!

The black thing repeatedly contracted and expanded, jutting out like a sea urchin's spines.

'Starting with me, huh?'

When the process ended, another me stood in its place.

Mimicry.

A skill unique to doppelgängers that couldn't be acquired even by absorbing their Essence. But it was a little different from what we'd seen in the field.

"SKREEEEEE!!"

It no longer copied my words and actions.

And...

「The Nameless Usurper has cast [Swing].」

It didn't merely imitate me. It became stronger than the original. Put simply, it added its target's stats and skills to the base stats of a rank-five monster.

It hadn't been classified as rank four for nothing.

WHOOOOSH!

To test it, I first stepped back and dodged. Its mace slammed into the floor.

BOOOOOM!

It left a crater and shook the entire cave. That kind of power seemed like it would take at least another 200 Strength. Thinking of it as a glimpse of my future self even made me a little proud.

But...

'I can block that easily enough.'

All I had to do was cover the stat gap with gear.

I raised my shield and blocked the creature's path, keeping its wildly swinging mace away from my teammates.

BOOOOM!

I didn't hear the clear ring I'd expected. The weight pressing against my shield was beyond anything I'd imagined too.

This was with the impact reduced by 50%?

"Raven!!"

Like the shameless explorer I was, I pinged for assistance.

Magic flew in immediately. Since we were facing a high-ranking monster, she started with curses rather than offensive spells.

BOOM!

Its attacks became a little easier to withstand. But that merely fulfilled the first prerequisite of our strategy.

The real first phase began now.

「The Nameless Usurper has cast [Autoreproduction].」

Black slime sprayed indiscriminately from the doppelgänger wearing my form and splattered onto the floor. The tiny droplets were so numerous that counting them was pointless.

"Iherno Haindar!"

Raven's staff spewed flames, melting the droplets, but she couldn't eliminate them all. Those that stubbornly crawled across the floor and gathered together underwent a series of transformations, beginning to mimic our forms.

"Four in total!"

Raven calmly relayed the information, and I made a quick decision.

Since these were copies, they couldn't perform at the same level as the main body.

So the plan would continue.

"Don't worry about me! Take them out first!"

I was just about to leave the copies to my teammates and focus entirely on the main body when...

"They're all Hans Krissen!"

Raven's additional report made my body freeze involuntarily.

'What?'

Unable to believe my ears, I checked my surroundings despite being in the middle of combat. Needless to say, Raven hadn't given me incorrect information.

'... Motherfucker.'

How could every single one roll Hans G? Wasn't this a mechanic where they transformed into one of the fifteen of us, living or dead?

What were the odds of that?

Oblivious to my inner turmoil, Raven shouted,

"Thank goodness none of the copies are you, Mr. Jandel! Let's finish them quickly!"

She sounded like she was delivering good news. It wasn't as though I couldn't understand how she felt.

Hans G was relatively weak compared to the rest of us, and four summoners made for a lousy team composition too. This was certainly a good thing for us.

But...

THUMP.

My heart began to race like mad.