For a moment, I thought we might get out of here without encountering something strange.
But it seems I was just a fool for thinking that.
Who am I kidding?
I’m here alongside those damned main characters. Even if the world doesn’t throw an obstacle at them, they’ll jump into it themselves.
It would have been better if I had stopped them from entering this laboratory and left them in that corridor.
If I had done that, I wouldn’t be standing now in front of this copy of me... a version with eyes completely black, without any white.
My copy stared at me, then charged forward at high speed.
In a single moment, it closed the distance between us and arrived in front of me, delivering a clumsy slash with its two swords.
I stepped back and avoided it easily, before my hand moved and my sword headed toward its neck. But it retreated at the last moment and avoided my blade.
At the same time, it raised its other sword and struck at me.
Essence moved within my body and formed a thin layer over my swords as my blade collided with its own.
Instead of the loud metallic clash, my sword passed through and cut its blade. The piece of metal fell to the ground with a metallic sound before dissolving into that viscous black liquid. It didn’t stop there; it returned to the copy’s body and merged with it.
Then the black liquid climbed over the broken sword and quickly reshaped it back to its original form. But of course, I didn’t just stand there watching.
I was already on it and cut off its other arm, which fell to the ground along with the sword it held.
But just like before, it dissolved and returned to its body, merging back before it reformed its hand—all within a single second.
And one second was enough for my other sword to pass through its neck and sever its head.
Its head fell with a dull thud. I thought I was done with it, but its body kept moving. In the next moment, its sword grazed my arm, leaving a wound on my forearm. I barely avoided losing my hand at the last instant and retreated backward.
In the next moment, the same thing happened with its head—it reformed.
"Don’t physical strikes affect it or something?" I muttered to myself.
Even when I cut it with my essence-coated sword, nothing happened.
It also seemed equal to me in strength, but its skill was like that of a child compared to mine. In addition, its body was more fragile than mine.
As soon as its head reformed, it moved toward me again. But this time, something new happened.
A faint glimmer formed at the tip of its sword as it slashed toward me... this strike was far better than the one it performed at the beginning.
Its sword reached me, but I raised mine and blocked it. A loud clash echoed against the black walls.
And there on its blade, I saw it—a thin layer of essence. It was weak and thin compared to mine, but it was essence nonetheless.
My copy moved, trying to push me back, to no avail... with every motion it made, I cut off its limbs and head, but without result.
I even split its body into two, but even that didn’t kill it.
And that wasn’t even the worst part.
With every passing moment and every exchange between us, this thing seemed to copy me more and more.
Only a few minutes had passed since the fight began, yet in those minutes it had managed to form a strong layer of essence over its swords, and its strikes had become sharper and more refined.
I dodged a slash aimed at my neck while essence condensed over the fingers of my right hand.
Before it could adjust itself, essence surged into my legs as I lifted one and kicked it with all my strength. It couldn’t react in time, and my foot collided with it, sending it flying toward the edge of the room at high speed.
I didn’t stop there. I raised my fingers, forming a sphere of compressed essence above them, then shaped my hand like a gun and fired it at it before its body even hit the wall.
The compressed essence reached the copy and entered its body. The moment that happened, a deafening explosion thundered through the room.
Black liquid splattered across the floor and wall.
Only a few pieces, like its hands and swords, didn’t explode.
I knew that wouldn’t kill it or get rid of it, but what I wanted was to see what held it together and allowed it to return even after being cut apart.
Or to pinpoint its weakness. I don’t think this thing is immortal or something like that. And if it is, then that means it’s impossible for me to survive this.
Especially since this thing was growing stronger with every passing moment, to the point that after only minutes it could fight me face to face.
I stared carefully at the scattered liquid. It contained a large amount of essence within it.
Quickly, the liquid trembled and began gathering together again, but this time I didn’t attack—I watched the process with full concentration.
When all the liquid gathered into one mass, I glimpsed something I hadn’t noticed before.
A tiny point at its center—the only place without essence in its body.
It was very small, about the size of a grain of rice... but I saw it.
The moment I did, I dashed toward the copy as it rebuilt itself perfectly. I didn’t want to prolong the fight any further and put myself in a worse position.
I arrived before the other "me" in an instant.
Its completely black eyes stared at me calmly... since the fight began, this thing hadn’t spoken or made a single sound.
Essence coated my swords, and its swords as well.
I moved, thrusting toward that empty point, but it predicted my movement and avoided my blade for the first time.
Not only that, it even copied my previous motion, balancing its body as it delivered an essence-laden kick at me.
I raised my other sword to defend, and its leg collided with my blade, sending me flying.
But instead of crashing into the wall, I twisted in the air and struck the wall with my foot.
The muscles in my leg contracted and tightened, and in the next moment, I launched myself toward it.
I reached it, and our swords clashed with a thunderous sound. The other "me" tried to step back to gain some distance.
But I didn’t let it. I pressed harder.
I looked at the other "me."
"Pathetic." My voice was filled with disdain.
It seemed to understand my words and applied more force to its swords.
But I didn’t retreat. Essence moved through my body in large quantities, flowing through my arm into my swords.
The layer of essence grew denser and many times stronger, to the point that my swords trembled as if they would shatter at any moment... and I could barely maintain them for an instant... and that was all I needed.
I applied all my strength. My halted swords began moving again, cutting through the metal and passing through its body, leaving it in three pieces.
But I didn’t stop there. Before it could merge again, I released one sword and thrust my free hand into the cut section.
My hand entered its body, sinking into the black liquid, before I clenched my fist around something small and pulled it out.
With that, I dashed backward away from my copy. There, I managed to glimpse what was in my hand.
It was a very small black sphere.
And even after separating it from its body, the other "me" was still regenerating.
Immediately, without wasting any time, essence flooded my fist as I squeezed the sphere with all my strength.
With intense pressure from both my hand and essence, I heard a small cracking sound from within my grip.
At the same time, my copy reached me, its swords aimed at me.
But before it could touch me, its body trembled and then collapsed onto the ground in a puddle of black substance.
I stood there, looking at it calmly, while my words echoed in the sealed room.
"Pathetic copy."