161. The Last Test

-snap!

I could hear this G.o.d snap her fingers.

This was the noise that sounded each time before the scenery changed.

At this G.o.d"s movement and the sound I heard, I automatically looked around me.

However, I could not see any changes.

The only thing that changed was that the illusion of my mother dissipated.

Next to me, I could hear the laughter of a young girl.

Of course, it was the G.o.d. Looking at her, I asked.

"I thought the last test began? Has it not yet?"

"Hehe. Nope! The test has started."

"……"

"Why do you look at me like that? What! What! Hehehe."

"Weren"t you the one to tell me to prove my strength to you?"

"Yep! That"s right! I can"t just hand over the powers of the Piece of Time and s.p.a.ce, right?"

"Hm… If that"s the case, there needs to be an opponent for me to demonstrate that."

"Kekek!"

"Perhaps…. Are you telling me to face you?"

"Kahahaha."

"Didn"t you say that you wouldn"t ask the impossible of me?"

"That"s right."

"……"

"Don"t be so tense. This isn"t a test to defeat me."

"But there"s nothing here……"

In a gesture to invite her to look around, I lifted my hand to point.

It was then.

I wasn"t sure when, but I hadn"t noticed all this time.

It was the fact that my body was several times heavier than usual.

Not only that, but I noticed that there was another arm below the arm I had raised to point.

"……"

"Hehe. I thought you caught on quickly, but I guess that"s not the case?"

"Is this the third test you were talking about?"

"Yep!"

"However, this test doesn"t end."

"Hm?"

This was this G.o.d"s final test that I needed to pa.s.s in order to make mine the power behind the Piece of Time and s.p.a.ce.

It seemed that I needed to win against myself in a fight.

However, as this G.o.d had said, this fight wouldn"t end.

The reason for that was due to my Mana Shield.

Mana Shield could only be penetrated by a skill beyond ranking.

Not only that, but because I had successfully Transcended this skill, this shield had a chance to block skills beyond ranking at a fixed percentage.

That percentage was at a whopping 50%.

I had 3 skills beyond ranking in my a.r.s.enal.

Proof of Pledge, Dual Casting, and Archangel"s Fall.

All these skills weren"t offensive spells.

The only thing close to one was the Archangel"s Fall, and that spell was more akin to a support spell due to the fact that it raised my damage against monsters.

And it wasn"t as if the bonus damage worked against humans such as myself.

What would happen if another me, who has the same powers as I have, fight me while both of us have Mana Shields up?

Only the area around us would be destroyed, with no clear victor at the end.

She looked towards me for awhile with a playful childish look.

It was almost as if she was signaling me that she already knew what I was going to say and what I was thinking.

Her appearance was that of a cute little girl.

However, her personality was so cruel and vicious that I dreaded even thinking about it.

After a long silence, she spoke.

"You mean to say that the shields in this battle are too thick, right?"

"……"

"Hehe. That won"t do! This fight won"t be fun at all then. A boring fight where all you do is defend! We should start this fight by removing shields from both sides to make it fair. How about it? That"ll do, right?"

"That means….."

"Hehe. From this moment on, you and your copy cannot use defensive skills. This is the rule of the test."

"I cannot use defensive skills?"

I quickly opened the status window and checked my skills.

I was hoping that wouldn"t be so, but as this G.o.d had told me, I could not find any defensive skills.

Not only that, but all my recovery skills were sealed away as well.

I could only attack.

While I was deep in thought, another me had separated itself from my body and stood in front of me.

It was almost as if I was looking into a mirror.

Even its expression, armor, and weapon was the same as mine.

It was enough to unnerve me just how identical this copy was to me.

"I a.s.sume both of you are very well aware of how strong each other is, right? Hehe."

"Of course. I know better than anyone else."

"Then an explanation won"t be necessary, and right now I"m very excited, you know? I"m hoping that this begins as soon as possible…"

"Sure."

Finishing her words, she seemed to turn and move away from me, but all of a sudden came back and whispered in my ear.

"Kehe. Do you think that you"re using all of your strength? Heh. Wrong. You"re not using your strength properly to its full potential. Learn well from this, though I guess you won"t be using this knowledge anywhere after you perish."

"……"

I wanted to swear up a storm, but this was a G.o.d I was facing.

I couldn"t mess this up due to my pride.

Hearing the words through one ear and out the other, I ignored what she told me.

Not using the strength I had properly?

I thought that I possessed quite the sense in when and how to use the skills I possessed.

Something that could only be obtained from countless battle experiences, I guess?

This copy that stood in front of me, had it only copied my growth?

Or has it copied also my thought processes and my experiences?

Either way, it was obvious that this opponent was quite the difficult one to deal with.

The biggest reason being that I could not defend against it.

Just from it using Meteor Call, I would have my hands full trying to avoid it.

The G.o.d leaving the scene signaled the beginning of the fight.

The one who was ready to launch the first attack was the opponent.

Behind its back were many of the vastly powerful Butcher"s Swords.

It had casted Piercing Sword.

It was pretty smart for using this skill.

Piercing Sword was one of the skills that moved at the will of its user.

Since this fight did not include any defensive measures, it would seek its target more persistently.

"This copy is quite handsome. And smart to boot…"

It began its attack before I could even finish.

The opponent it targeted was just me.

There were a vast number of swords that flew towards me at once.

If I had my shields, I wouldn"t have even bothered to try avoiding or blocking against this attack skill that wasn"t even beyond ranking.

However, the situation was different.

It was so very different.

My choice to counter the flying swords was to use Iceberg and Devil Avatar.

Just with my fight against Joker before, Iceberg was quite useful as a defensive measure.

It was solid enough to hold out against most attacks, and even its size was ma.s.sive.

It was obvious that this skill would be very important in this fight.

Due to my lack of a Mana Shield, I could cast three spells at once.

I used Iceberg in front of me to block the flying swords, and then casted Gravity Laser.

Gravity Laser attacked all that was in its range.

The attack would also become more concentrated the fewer targets there were.

An orb appeared in the air and a summoned Devil Avatar charged at my copy.

-crack!

"Ha….. You"re also blocking with that?"

"……."

It seemed that this would become quite the extended fight.

Not only did this copy possess my ability and growth, but it also had copied my fighting style as well.

I smashed a Meteor into the Iceberg it had summoned.

Meteor and Iceberg were of the same ranking and dealt a similar amount of damage.

When these two skills meet, they cancel each other out completely.

You could say that these skills were the polar opposites of each other.

Leaving behind glittering shards of ice behind, most skills had canceled each other out.

It was the same with how this copy destroyed my Iceberg I was using as a shield.

The same strength and thought process.

"Even if I used Ma.s.s Stealth Jutsu, you"d use Eye of Insight to see right through it. Just what do I need to do defeat you?"

"Same with me. I am another you."

"Oho…. You even speak? I"m too scared to even die, considering that you might impersonate me."

"You won"t be able to surpa.s.s me."

"At the rate this is going, I think we"re going to tie? As you said, you are just another me, right?"

"Kuhu! I am foaming at the mouth from all this wasted talent that is rotting away because of you!"

"Huh?"

"Endless mana. To think that you"re only using it to cast skills."

"What do you mean?"

"I shall show you. Your special trait! Your ability! Used to its full 100% potential!"

"….."

"Kuaaa!"

I wondered just what nonsense it was spitting out.

The only way humans could use their mana was through the use of skills.

I had never thought otherwise all this time.

However, here was this clone, berating me.

I looked at my copy as if I was looking at an insane person.

With its ringing shout, this copy had given up on all defense and stood still.

Thinking that it had gone mad, I charged it.

There was no attack worth allowing to be attacked freely in such a vulnerable state.

To exchange one"s life to attack was going overboard and an incorrect decision.

Especially if there wasn"t any ways to defend oneself.

This was the case at least for me.

Without a single hesitation, I stabbed it with my sword.

After that, I used Formless Sword Aura.

It was because I was being too hasty with the idea of trying to deal a heavy amount of damage to my copy.

However, I didn"t deal that much damage.

The reason for that was simple.

My strength was over 30,000. However, my stamina stat was far over 50,000.

Due to my miscalculations, I had made a mistake that had wasted what little precious time I had.

However, I believed that my continued attacks with Formless Sword Aura would cover the mistake.

"d.a.m.n it! Why did I raise so much of my stats!"

With the Wild Beast activated, my Formless Sword Aura attack countlessly stabbed away at my copy.

I sliced and stabbed repeatedly in a crazy frenzy.

Due to the skill"s rank and destructive force, the difference in the strength stat and stamina stat had been covered for awhile.

The end was approaching.

-gulp.

"d.a.m.n it…. No way….."

"UWOOOOO!"

Something that I didn"t even want to consider a possibility had occurred.

It had swallowed something.

That something was the King"s Marble.

Noticing the changes to its body, I became sure of it.

"You little s.h.i.t!"

"Kuhahaha!"

In an instant, its body turned to a slightly reddish hue.

This process continued until its color changed black like charcoal.

Thanks to the effects of the King"s Marble, its body had become immortal.

Even the body that had been pierced all over had recovered in an instant.

There was still one more huge issue.

That issue was the effect of the marble that granted twice the offensive power to its user for a minute.

Even resorting to letting out a roar, it had created something.

It was using a skill that I did not possess.

This spellcasting motion was something that I had never seen nor heard of before.

It had created something insane that was completely different from anything so far.

Not only that, but it was twice as strong what it would have been normally.

"What…. What is that….."

"I told you! I said that I would use 100% of your potential!"

"I had never learned that skill! What….."

"Kuhu. Skill? I understand that you cannot use magical energies. After all, it is a power that our kind cannot use. However, you"re saying that someone who cannot even use the mana that they were hand fed will obtain the power of the Piece of Time and s.p.a.ce? Shut up with that nonsense!"

"d.a.m.n it……"

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162. Control+C, Control+V

"You"re just an illegal fake copy….."

"Observe well! This is what true power is! This is how you use power!"

"….."

A ma.s.sive tower appeared behind it.

The tower glowed in a bluish hue.

It didn"t appear solid, but anyone could tell from a glance that ma.s.sive amounts of mana had been compressed into it.

A pure white pupil formed at the top of the tower.

I did not know of its capabilities or use, but I sensed that it was dangerous.

Not letting down my guard, I kept watch of the tower.

"What is that…."

"Take this! While you lament in your helpless state, receive the attack of the Magician Tower!"

"……"

As soon as it had finished talking, a bright light shone from the tower, almost as if exploding.

Magics that I"ve never even heard nor seen before came forth at me.

Attack skills had their own elemental types.

Fire, ice, and electrical attacks were the most common out of the spells being hurled towards me, with other types being mixed into the barrage.

-crack!

"My Iceberg is being shattered this easily? And to an electrical attack? s.h.i.t……"

Iceberg could only be destroyed by polar opposite skills, yet it was being destroyed by a simple electrical magic.

The power behind the spells from that Magician Tower was immense.

No, it would be more accurate to call it downright insane.

The one good thing for me was that the tower was stationary.

I did not know the full attack range of the tower, but it wasn"t likely that it covered this large battlefield.

Thus, if I was able to escape its activation range, I would be able to nullify that tower without taking any heavy damage.

Continuing to use Iceberg as a shield, I made distance between myself and the tower.

If things were normal, I would be using up a shield or two and escape the distance in one leap, but due to the endless barrage of attacks, I could not do so in this situation.

"Just how far do I need to back up?"

"Kuhaha! Are you trying to escape the range of my tower?"

"……."

"Good. Try to flee with all your might! I"ll make it as many times as needed!"

"It doesn"t just end with one? d.a.m.n it!"

According to this copy, the Magician Tower could be created infinitely.

If I keep holding out and it just keeps sp.a.w.ning more Magician Towers to cover the entire battlefield in its range?

That would conclude in my defeat.

Only if I was able to control my mana to my will like this copy did, but that was impossible.

So instead my plan went like so.

As stated before, this copy was identical to me.

This also meant that the number of King"s Marbles would be the same as mine.

Out of the 5 marbles, I had to make this copy consume at least one more before me.

Whenever it creates a Magician Tower, it will be open to attacks.

When that happens, it will have to consume a King"s Marble.

Since it had consumed one already, this copy would only have 4 marbles left.

I had to increase the advantage further. I had to make the copy use as many marbles as possible before I have to.

"What are you thinking about? Hm? Are you thinking of a strategy to win?"

"……"

"Know this. There is no such way. Once these towers are summoned all over this area, no matter how much you struggle for you life defending, you will lose your life."

"Not sure who you take after, but you sure talk a lot. Shut up and go build your towers, you little s.h.i.t!"

"Pfft! I shall do as you say. Keyaaaa!"

"Good. Looks like I can make it consume another marble."

The copy did not chase me past the range of the Magician"s Tower.

Instead of coming close and overextending to summon another tower, it stood near the already summoned tower that had stopped its attacks due to me being out of range to summon another tower.

There was one huge issue with my plan though.

The problem was that the way I thought would easily become the way it thinks as well.

This copy also knew just how important these marbles would be to the conclusion of this battle.

However, it wasn"t as if there was no other way.

After all, I had skills that had longer ranges than that of the tower.

These skills were Explosion and Holy Missile.

The destructive force wouldn"t match that of a Formless Sword Aura with the Wild Beast going off or that of Meteor level S ranking skill, but they were still very destructive.

Since the copy could not use shields, I was positive that it would deal ma.s.sive amounts of damage.

I busily moved my previously idle hands.

Targeting only at its body, I casted a barrage of instant cast spells without rest.

With all the skills. .h.i.tting their mark, it seemed that the damage was beginning to rack up.

"Hurry up and eat it already. Shove down that King"s Marble!"

Almost as if my pleas were heard, I saw its Adam"s apple move.

-gulp.

"Good……. With this, it"s over."

The copy of myself swallowed the marble in its mouth without a second thought.

At this moment, one could say that the victor in this fight was already decided.

And that victor would be me.

Why?

With this, this copy only had 3 marbles left.

I, on the other hand, still had 5.

With how our healing skills were sealed away, there was no possibility that Status Denial would be used in this fight.

No matter how strong the Magician Tower is, I would be able to ignore it easily with a one minute immortality buff.

From now on, I"m going to stick on this copy and not let it escape.

One minute of immortality. Once that ended, it would consume another.

Another minute and it would so again, and after another minute, again.

Without a King"s Marble to help against my attacks, it would be difficult for it to survive.

Just like that, the one to consume the marbles one by one and run out of them first would be the copy.

A battle of attrition had begun.

I"m sure that my copy had thought this through carefully and decided on a drawn out fight.

You could say that it had planned quite far ahead.

However, there was something that it didn"t consider.

The scariest person in the world is not someone who meticulously plans ahead and follows it without a single mistake, but someone who lives as if it is their last day.

Finishing the creation of a Magician Tower, the copy called forth summons.

They were King Suwoo and Devil Avatar.

I knew that with a Meteor or two, they would be defeated.

Was it because it wanted to decrease as much as damage it was going to take while it created the next Magician Tower?

However, the copy probably also knew that doing this was pointless.

I observed it for a brief moment instead of acting right away.

The copy began to pour in mana into the giant summoned creatures.

Absorbing the mana, the summoned creatures became even bigger in size, and the amount of killing intent that they let out increased to another level.

Just exactly how many ways could one use mana?

I felt ashamed at myself that had been only using mana for skills all this time.

After receiving mana, the summoned creatures covered the copy with their bodies.

This probably meant that it was attempting to not use anymore marbles.

After all, it had enough defensive capabilities now to hold off against my Explosion and Holy Missile attacks.

"You"ve even got my smarts. But you know, sometimes charging in with reckless abandon is the right choice."

"Haha. What? If anyone else heard you right now, they"d think that you are the winner of this fight."

"Why, anyone can see that this is my victory….."

"You won"t be able to damage me with those quick cast spells no matter how much you try. What will you do? Will you get in the range of my tower to try attacking me? Or will you accept your death and watch as a new tower is created?"

"Observe well, smarta.s.s."

I threw all 5 of the King"s Marbles into my mouth that I had been keeping in my armor.

It was impossible for me to eat them one by one whenever I was in danger.

Not only that, but this copy would try to flee as fast as it could within the range of the tower.

This plan that I had carried out with a small gesture and everything on the line could go awry.

Kicking the ground, I shot forward at it like a bullet.

Due to being in the range of the Magician Tower, a barrage of magical skills came hurtling towards me.

Defensive measures? I did not need such a thing.

The reason why I had waited until I had two more than the copy was that.

On one hand, I could not guarantee that I would win with this.

I had to calculate the damage that I would take from the tower after all.

"Ugh!"

Even the short while during the time it took me to close the gap, I felt a great amount of pain.

However, I did not give in to the pain and kept my eyes trained on the copy.

The other me was smiling sinisterly at me from behind the summoned creatures.

Staring it down, I swallowed the first marble.

"Kuwahhhh!"

The moment that I swallowed the marble, all the pain that was blocking everything out disappeared as if it was never there in the first place.

On top of that, I felt a power surge from somewhere from my body.

I put a level of strength that I could not control on top of the S ranking skills I possessed.

From the sky came Blizzard and Meteor.

From the ground came Iceberg and Glacial Field.

Not only that, but I used Chain Explosion, which I could not use without a shield.

"Urgh!"

Despite the summoned creatures having received mana to become a rank stronger, they were torn apart as if they were nothing.

Only then did it seem to react and turned around to try escaping.

However, it was too late.

I had become 2 times stronger due to the marbles.

My strength and speed had far surpa.s.sed my copy"s.

With how shocked it was, only after did I grab it by the cuff of its collar did it swallow a marble.

"Cuffing time. Gotcha, you little s.h.i.t!"

"Ah! You"re crazy."

"Crazy…… Despite not wanting to be called that, for some reason I feel good."

"Argh!"

Due to the marbles in my mouth, not only did what I say incoherent, but drool was spilling out.

I could"ve avoided looking like a fool by not talking, but how could I hold back when I"m in a situation this satisfying and cathartic.

I was smiling, continuing to drool.

I looked absolutely insane, but I did not feel any shame.

Grabbing a hold of my copy, I casted a barrage of spells down on it.

Most area of effect spells also deal some damage to the caster as well.

The copy struggled to escape, but it could not do so.

A minute had already pa.s.sed amidst the storm of spells.

Noticing that its body was cooling down from the previous heated form, my copy swallowed another marble.

"Two."

"Aargh!"

Two marbles left.

It would all end soon.

-gulp.

"AHH! LET ME GO! YOU"RE INSANE!"

"One."

"d.a.m.n IT!"

"Zero."

"PLEASE! AHH!"

"32, 31, 30…… 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, bye."

"A…. ugh!"

"Oho?"

"As you can see, I won."

"……"

"I pa.s.sed all the tests you"ve given me."

"Hehe. I did think that you weren"t an ordinary human……. But to think that you"d actually succeed."

"As promised, I demand that you give me the power of a Piece of Time and s.p.a.ce."

"A promise is a promise. I"m curious as to how things will be, you know?"

"Happy ending. That"s it. Do I need to explain further?"

"Pfft. No. I hope that things go as you will it to. It won"t be all sunshine and rainbows though. Let"s meet again, human."

-snap!

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