I let out a roar of anger as I slammed my fist towards Shiro, who narrowly evaded it, my fist going past the side of his head……I then used my Healing Factor to grow out a sharp spike of bone from my forearm towards his head, it began to pierce him, but he swiftly used Teleport to get away before it go through.

  "I do not know exactly what is happening around you right now, but you must not fight him inside! The entire cave could collapse!" Warned Lazarus urgently, snapping me out of it.

  I chased after him, he responded by using Teleport again, reappearing farther away. I pointed my palm at him as if I was going to use Beckon or Repulsion, before swiftly using Teleport to appear right in front of him and grabbed his face before he could react. But before I could sink my claws in and drain his life force, a wave of ice came barreling towards me rapidly.

  Az……damn it, calm down, don't let this get to you……that'll only work in his favor. But even so, despite knowing that……I couldn't deny that this hurt.

  As I began to get out of the way, Shiro drew out a pure-white bladed short-sword and cut off my hand, swiftly getting away. A thick layer of ice had been put up to seal off the pathway, cutting me off from him and my friends. I formed a fireball enhanced by wind in my hand and aimed it at the wall of ice, as the others grabbed onto Shiro and he used Teleport to quickly head for the exit with them. Why would he……right, he can't afford to have them distrust him.

  I melted the ice wall and used Teleport to chase after him, making sure to leave a safety precaution, and as I reached the entrance, he and the others were there outside, waiting for me. Twenty seconds of Vampire God Mode was used up, and he had likely been transformed for more or less the same amount of time.

  "So, uh……who is that? He kinda look like you, Shiro, but like, with the opposite color scheme," Remarked Rai, as he ran lightning through his scythe.

  I was tempted to tell them that I'm the original and he's the fake, but they won't believe me just like that……I'll let Shiro answer, if he can't come up with something convincing, that'll work in my favor……

  "Yeah, this is pretty freaky……but I know what it is. I didn't want to believe it, but……when I took Lazarus into my body, there was some excess Dark Magic that my body couldn't handle, so he expelled it. And right now, he's telling me that this is that Dark Magic, taken the form of a sort of inverse clone……I think his goal is to kill me and absorb my life force in order to solidify his existence, he'll die in a few months otherwise," Replied Shiro with a serious expression.

  Damn it, unlike with Fuo and Atticus, there was no way to prove which of us contained Lazarus's consciousness, which would prove which of us was the original. Right from the beginning, it was obvious that he'd have to lie in order to win this battle, after all, his very existence is a lie……but even so, to be treated like the imposter made me snap……

  "Huh!? You're the imposter here, not me……and I'll prove that as soon as I kill you!" I growled viciously, before zipping towards him……I know that I was letting my rage get the better of me, but……I was too angry to care.

  I blasted out a ball of lightning and flames from my mouth as I shot towards him, which he evaded using Teleport.

  "What's the matter, you're pretty slow-," He began, before cutting off, his eyes widening in realization as I began glowing red.

  That's right, the safety precaution I left behind……was a clone, using the Quintuple Cross. Even with the distance, it barely took a fraction of a second for the clone to rejoin with me……and as I became one again, the attack the clone had been charging up was in my right hand……a swirling mass of wind, water and lightning.

  Teleport had a half-second cooldown, and I'd rejoined with my clone faster than that……what's more, I can fire this before he can get his hands in position to use Beckon or Repulsion, and he can't fly away either……I've got him!

  Now, die……Tempest Eruption!

  I fired the blast at his heart, he began to try and shift out of the way, but it was no use……no matter how much he moves, he wasn't going to be able to avoid taking damage to his heart! That's right, you're finishe-!

  Right before my attack reached him, Persia suddenly grabbed his left arm and pulled, the blast going through his chest but narrowly missing his heart. A large hole was in the middle of his chest……a couple of inches higher, and his neck would have been seperated from his body……a couple of inches to the left, and his heart would have taken damage……I had failed to kill him by a matter of inches.

  And it was because I was alone while he wasn't……Persia's full speed while using the Accelerate Cross wasn't too far below mine, she was the only one who could have saved him just now……and she did.

  "Get away from Shiro!" She growled threateningly.

  She then fired a blast of wind and flames from her mouth at me, I flew backwards to avoid it, slowly losing the spirit to keep fighting……I……I-I can't fight her seriously……

  Shards of ice were blasting towards me, I fired out Repulsion to deflect them away, as a large, fiery slash came barreling towards me. I narrowly got out of the way using Teleport, right as a lightning-enhanced scythe came spinning at me. I used Repulsion again to deflect it.

  My time limit is quickly being run down, and besides that, my will to fight had faded……I can't think straight right now……not with my friends protecting my imposter……from me. It's no use, if this keeps up, they'll kill me the instant I revert to regular Vampire Mode once my time limit in this form is up……I need to retreat……

  Having healed the hole in his chest, Shiro began to come after me, but before he could reach me, I summoned a hundred and fifty Ogres immediately, all of them appearing in front of me in an instant and forming a wall between my imposter and I.

  "What the-!?" Shiro exclaimed in alarm, as he and the others sprang back to get some distance from the large group of monsters.

  I used that opportunity to quickly slip away, heading for the path leading towards the Goldlands using Teleport……good, looks like he isn't chasing me, I was making the monsters stomp around as much as possible to kick up a dust cloud to provide me with some cover, I summoned Ogres because they're the largest and heaviest of the three monster types I can command and summon.

  Still, they should be weak enough that the others can kill them without too much trouble, I won't make them fight back against my friends anyway. Az can take out a ton of them with his ice, and since Shiro has all my abilities, it won't take long to finish off all of them……and by then, I'll be long gone. I slipped into a small cave entrance I spotted and returned to my normal form with a sigh. Good, looks like this cave leads deep into the cliffs and underground.

  I headed inside and wandered about for a while, processing what had just happened……you know, I think that, deep down, before I fought Shiro just now, the gravity of my current situation hadn't quite sunk in yet. But it sure as hell was clear now. Yeah, it was crystal clear.

  Everyone I trusted……I'm nothing more than a stranger to them now……no, more than that, I'd soon be an enemy to them. He sure had thought up a creative lie, hadn't he? That I'm a clone created from his excess power that Lazarus discarded……it didn't seem very plausible, but it's not like anyone can fact check him on it, and given everything I've done over the past couple of years, they'd believe him without much doubt, since they remember him doing everything that I've done.

  Atticus can't talk to Lazarus, and there certainly wasn't anyone else that could, so I couldn't prove that Lazarus wasn't inside Shiro, but in me instead. A sense of despair was starting to creep up on me……as long as he isn't alone, killing him will be difficult, because I won't be able to fight any of friends in earnest, and I'm sure he knows that too……

  ———————————————————————————


  Point-of-View: Shiro Blanc

  ———————————————————————————


  That might have been a mistake. I was hoping that seeing me with his friends might break him and that'd give me an easy kill and victory, but……I guess he hadn't become as soft as I thought he had. And what the hell did he just do, anyway? Did he use the upgraded Store and Extract spells to collect these monsters? That can't be right, between last night and now, there just wasn't enough time for him to have gone all the way to Ogre territory and back……so, then, what was that?

  Well, whatever, at least it wasn't a complete waste, I know for sure that he won't fight any of these four……the instant they started attacking, the intensity of his attacks dropped drastically……that means they're going to be valuable pawns in ensuring my victory in this battle, not to mention that they serve as great tools for inflicting psychological damage on him.

  I'll make sure nothing happens to them, for now at least, since that might drive him to go into hiding and lose all motivation to fight me, which will result in both of us dying. Yeah, that's definitely a worst-case scenario, if he really decides to hide, I have little chance of finding him.

  "Hey, Shiro, what the heck was that all about?" Inquired Rai curiously.

  Crap, I came up with that lie on the spot, but now that I think about it, it wasn't the most believable story. I'll have to stick with it and elaborate as convincingly as possible……

  "Like I said, when I consumed Lazarus's life force, it was too much for my body to handle. And since if I die, he dies too, he expelled the excess Vampire Dark Magic in my body. To seperate the excess, which was a highly dense amount, nearly half the Dark Magic in me at the time, I used a version of the Quintuple Cross that Lazarus temporarily modified."

  Good, I'm not much of any doubt or skepticism……

  "I tried to destroy the clone, but he managed to escape. I couldn't chase him since I had to kill Valaque and issue the King's Decrees. Lazarus said he should die in a few months, so before that, he'll be desperately trying to kill me and consume my life force," I explained, building on the lie, before adding for good measure to make sure their trust in me was intact, "You guys might be in danger too, he might try to take you hostage or something, so I should deal with this alone."

  "No way, we're not letting you do this alone!" Persia protested immediately.

  "Yeah, you can count on us, dude!" Added Rai with a grin.

  Just as I thought, they were way too easy……

  "Well, Persia and I can help you, but these two won't be much help," Remarked Azyl.

  "Huh, what was that? Are you calling me weak?" Inquired Key with a cold frown.

  "Hey, not cool, Az! Just because we're not overpowered like you three are, doesn't mean we're weak!" Said Rai, grinding his knuckles on the top of Azyl's head.

  "Uh……I was kidding? Stop that, it hurts," Sighed Azyl, pushing him off.

  They're so annoying, but I need to play along……

  "As they say, the truth hurts, doesn't it?" I chimed in, putting on a joking tone, before adding, "Well, anyway, we should get back. We managed to collect some green crystals on the way in, so we've completed the Quest……heh, unlike the first time we did this."

  Yeah, looks like they're harboring no doubts against me, good. Sorry, Original, but it looks like the advantage is well and truly mine……you're gonna lose this battle, mark my words. Anyway, with that, we soon headed back to the Rustlands……

  Later in the day, as I went out to buy some food, I ran into Fuo. But something was wrong, she seemed……wary of me.

  "So, uh……did you need something from me?" I inquired in an even tone.

  "Well, it's just……Atticus wanted to talk to you about something important, but he says it has to be in private. Do you have time to spare?" She replied, looking like she was trying to hide her nervousness.

  I'm getting a bad feeling about this. What do I do? If I say I'm busy, that might look suspicious. After all, Kuro had been pretty inactive for several months. Tch, stupid Original.

  "Sure, I'm free. Let me first buy myself some food though, I'm pretty hungry. We can talk at my place, if that's alright with you."

  "Yeah, sure, that's fine."

  I then bought some meat buns and headed back to the apartment with Fuo, my bad feeling only getting worse with every step. We went into the building and entered the apartment, I slowly shut the door while remaining wary and cautious. We sat in the living room, as Fuo switched with Atticus, and I anxiously waited for him to speak.

  "Hey, Atticus, so what's up? What did you want to talk about?" I asked in a casual tone.

  "Well, first, I have to confess something……after an initial bout of fear and panic when I first saw you, I calmed down and decided to follow you today using a Stealth barrier. That was quite an interesting sight outside the Goblin cave……," He remarked with a nervous, yet bold, smirk, "So tell me……just who are you?"

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