Chapter 826

That’s how humans are.

There are billions of us, and each of us sees the world through our own standards, our own idea of what makes sense. Only when we witness something those standards can’t account for do we feel true shock.

I’m no exception.

One day, I suddenly began traveling between two worlds. The unbelievable power of the System brought me this far. None of that changed how I reacted to the impossible.

I’d always been honest about my feelings. Sometimes I got so caught up in them that I forgot what I was supposed to do.

Like right now.

What… is that?

The question brought every thought in my head to a halt.

I stared at the sight unfolding before me, stunned.

And I wasn’t alone.

“What the hell…”

Even the Skeleton King, who’d been about to charge the Doppelganger again, muttered in a daze. The golden magical power that had blazed along the Hero’s Sword had already faded.

We felt a tremendous force flowing out from the Doppelganger. At the same time, a rumble rose from deep beneath the ruins at our feet.

Rumble. Rumble-rumble.

This is…

The sensation was familiar. But the rumble wasn’t merely loud. There was something deeper, more fundamental to it.

If I had to put a word to it…

Resonance.

The thought sounded crazy even to me.

In Murim, a First Rate swordsman could make a sword ring in response to him. But this was earth. A barren wasteland where not a tree or weed grew. A ruin no one visited anymore.

And now this dead land—the ruins in every direction—was trembling as if it were responding to something.

It sounded just as crazy the second time I thought it.

If an idea hadn’t flashed through my mind, I might have stood there wrestling with the question for a long time. But as usual, the answer was closer than I’d expected.

“Magic.”

The word came out almost as a groan.

Boom!

The ruins, which had been pulsing with a deep, heartbeat-like rumble, rippled. At the same instant, a dazzling mass of light burst forth and washed over everything.

Fwoooosh!

The flash was blinding. The Teleport spell I’d experienced earlier couldn’t compare.

I shut my eyes without hesitation and bent sideways. The spear shaft trembled in my tightening grip.

It’s coming. It has to be.

An instinct carved into my bones long ago forced my exhausted body to move. I was ready to evade the Doppelganger’s attack and counter its ambush.

My body and mind felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton.

But even if I died in the clash, I was certain the Doppelganger wouldn’t come out of it unscathed.

One Strike.

Whoever fell, the fight would be decided in a single move.

I couldn’t see the Skeleton King, but he was probably waiting for the Doppelganger with the same resolve.

Come on.

I steadied my breathing and sharpened my senses as far as I could.

My eyes stayed shut. I felt the air quiver and smelled the earth of the dead ruins. I could even sense the dazzling light slipping through my eyelids, brushing my retinas—then gradually fading.

The light… is fading?

Of course, my first question was why.

The flash had given the Doppelganger a perfect opening. But there wasn’t even a hint of the ambush I’d expected. All that reached me was a voice I’d grown used to hearing.

“You’re more timid than you look, Chosen One.”

I bit my lip.

Was it trying to lure me into a trap, or had it simply let its guard down?

I had only an instant to wonder. My choice was clear.

I slowly opened my eyes. The Doppelganger stood before me, staring straight at me.

No—it wasn’t just the Doppelganger. Everything around it had changed.

“……!”

“……!”

Over its shoulder, I saw the Skeleton King’s eyes widen. Mine might have looked the same.

I had never imagined a sight like this.

This is…

“What do you think? Impressive, isn’t it?”

The Doppelganger cut off the Skeleton King and swept both arms out with a flourish.

A ball of light floated up in the wake of its fingertips, illuminating the ruins—or rather, the space that had been ruins only moments ago.

“Consider it an honor. You’re the first guests in this marvelous temple.”

Its words were half truth, half lie.

The place certainly had everything it needed to be called a temple. But grotesque fit it far better than marvelous.

Naturally.

Everything I could see was grand and immense, as though modeled on a temple from mythology. Yet rotten plant roots wrapped around the towering pillars, and the ceiling shut out every last ray of sunlight.

The temple reminded me of the Doppelganger. It had copied the outer trappings of myth convincingly enough, but everything inside was rotten and dead.

The only things that looked as though they belonged in a myth were the enormous stone statues of monsters packed into the vast space, which measured hundreds of meters¹ across.

“A masterpiece, wouldn’t you say?”

I gave the Doppelganger no answer. I just watched it.

Its attitude had changed unmistakably. And the instinct I’d developed through countless fights told me its ease wasn’t carelessness.

Composure.

It had regained the composure it had briefly lost.

But that wasn’t merely because a new arm had grown from its empty shoulder, or because a temple full of monster statues had risen around us.

It came here for a reason.

I quietly extended my senses.

An unseen force stirred on every side. At the same time, something Magic Johnson had once mentioned in passing about Siegfried Bassmann came back to me.

“Bassmann was an excellent Grand Mage. He wasn’t the War Mage I am, but no one was more eager to study, and he was especially good at using Magic Formations.”

I already knew that much. I was also certain the Doppelganger, after spending so long absorbing souls and accumulating experience, had grown even stronger than the Grand Mage had been in life.

Three years.

A long time, depending on how you looked at it. Or a short one.

Either way, it was enough time for the Doppelganger to make preparations after taking the Grand Mage’s power and soul.

“Hey.”

The Doppelganger clicked its tongue as it watched me.

“When someone asks you a question, you should answer.”

Vwoom.

A low hum resonated with its forceful words.

I exchanged a quick glance with the Skeleton King, then opened my mouth.

“Are you an idiot? I’m not answering because the thing asking isn’t a person.”

“Hmm. No respect for your elders. Siegfried Bassmann is quite a respected hero in this world, isn’t he?”

“Sure. The Grand Mage I know is. But…”

I lowered my spearhead.

“A monster like you doesn’t count, you bastard.”

I didn’t know what Siegfried Bassmann had been like in life. I’d never seen him or met him. All I knew came from textbooks and what other people had told me.

But listening to a bastard wearing someone else’s shell mock me still left me disgusted.

Of course, I had another reason to show my hostility so openly: the Doppelganger would consider it a natural reaction.

Just a little longer. Just a little.

I’d lowered the spearhead I’d aimed at it, but another spear remained pointed at it in my mind.

Slowly, I drew in the qi around me. Quietly. Subtly enough that the Doppelganger wouldn’t notice.

It was one of the things I’d learned when I discovered what my Middle Dantian could do.

I spent too much strength before I’d recovered from the Teleport spell. I need a little time.

The Skeleton King did, too. But being already dead put him in better shape than me. He was gradually absorbing the magical power scattered through the air, ready to take the Doppelganger’s head the moment I gave the signal.

Meanwhile, the bastard kept talking.

“Monster. Right, that’s what I am. I’ve spent so many decades among humans that I sometimes forget.”

The Doppelganger scratched its chin.

“But there’s one thing I never forgot, no matter what happened. This place. The command my master gave me here.”

I stopped short despite myself.

The Doppelganger’s master.

The being who had planted it in this world, just as the Doppelganger had put Michael Silbert forward as its puppet.

“Don’t tell me…”

My voice trailed off. The question rising in my mind made my stomach churn.

As if it had seen right through me, the Doppelganger smiled gently.

“Shall I guess who you’re thinking of?”

Why did that smile make my heart sink?

I struggled to keep my voice even.

“Shut your mouth.”

“Why? Weren’t you curious?”

“I don’t care who it is. Even if…”

My mouth felt as though I’d swallowed a handful of sand. I steadied my breathing and forced out the rest in a hoarse voice.

“Even if your master is the Demon King Asmodeus.”

“……!”

The air trembled. I could feel the Skeleton King’s agitation from where I stood.

The Demon King.

Ruler of the monsters and master of the Demon Realm, that land of death no human had ever reached.

To humanity, the Demon King Asmodeus was the cause of calamity—and calamity itself. His arrival had changed human history, overturned civilization, and robbed countless people of those they held dear.

People like me.

Father.

A beloved face flashed before my eyes. The misfortune that struck my family had lasted only an instant, but the sorrow and longing lasted forever.

Maybe that was why something hot was boiling deep in my chest when I needed to be calmer than ever.

Why I wanted to rip the mouth off the bastard smiling in front of me—and, at the same time, wanted him to answer.

Crack.

My grip had tightened until my hand turned white.

I glared at the Doppelganger and spoke. No, I muttered the words like a promise to myself.

“He—the Demon King—is already dead.”

And at that moment, I saw it clearly.

The Doppelganger’s smile deepened. Then came the question, carrying a truth I couldn’t accept.

“Do you really think so?”

“……!”