66 – Freya, the Duchess of the Realm
The first time I created nine doppelgangers,
Ascal looked surprised, mouth agape and eyes wide.
“That makes sense.”
Ascal thought my ability was about summoning daggers by snapping my fingers.
Well, I led her to think so.
Moments ago, I summoned a dagger without snapping my fingers.
Now, Ascal realized that I can summon daggers without snapping my fingers.
And before Ascal could organize this information, I revealed a new ability.
It was natural for her to look astonished.
Moreover, I created an additional ten doppelgangers.
The twenty of me in the training ground stared at Ascal.
“hahahaha!”
After glancing at the twenty of me, Ascal suddenly burst into laughter as if telling the doppelgangers to leave.
At first, I thought she had lost her mind, but looking at her wide grin and genuinely joyful eyes, I knew it wasn’t the case.
“Good, yeah. Really good. Feeling like this towards an academy student is the first time since ‘that guy.'”
Ascal tilted his head upward, muttering to himself while looking at the sky.
The goal was to frustrate, but it seemed to have instead stimulated his ambition as a masterless warrior.
“””””Now, which one is real?”””””
I threw twenty daggers at Ascal.
Each dagger traced a different trajectory, flying towards Ascal.
Clang!
Ascal seemed uninterested in avoiding the twenty daggers. Instead, he rushed towards the incoming blades.
Swoosh!
And he swung his sword towards the oncoming daggers.
Knocking one dagger away, he used the deflected one to strike and knock down another.
“…..!!”
Boom!
However, as Ascal’s sword touched the dagger, it disappeared into thin air.
Another dagger targeted Ascal, but he twisted his body, evading it.
Watching that scene, it was evident.
Ascal still hadn’t grasped the essence of my illusion.
Among the flying daggers, only one was real, the one I personally threw.
The rest were all illusions, fabricated fakes.
Swish! Boom!
However, Ascal, unaware of that, attempted to dodge the dagger or parry it with his sword.
Ascal swung his sword towards the incoming dagger, but once again, the dagger vanished upon contact with Ascal’s blade.
Swish-! Clang!
Ascal swung his sword towards the incoming dagger.
This time, Ascal’s sword clashed with the dagger.
“Tsk.”
Even though Ascal managed to deflect the dagger, he clicked his tongue. If all the daggers were fake, Ascal would have ignored the incoming daggers, rushing towards me.
However, now that he knew real daggers existed, Ascal couldn’t afford to ignore the incoming attacks.
Swish. Boong! Shooook.
With the increased mana from the potion, even creating 19 duplicates didn’t strain his mana.
The issue was whether he could smoothly control all these duplicates.
Originally, he planned to test it once and reduce the number of duplicates.
However, the current feeling was excellent.
He sensed everything in the practice field well.
Confidence that he could control everything without any hesitation.
But it wouldn’t last long.
“Probably about three minutes.”
In my mind, I estimated the time I could maintain the duplicates.
Me and the 19 duplicates all rushed towards Ascal, who skillfully avoided all the fake daggers.
“Hu… Huh!”
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Ascal also took a deep breath and charged in.
Kaaahhh!!!
The sound of Ascal’s sword and my swordstick clashing echoed loudly in the training ground.
Ascal and I clashed swords, each trying to push the other back with all our might.
Ascal was stronger than me.
“Tsk.”
But Ascal clicked his tongue and stepped back.
It was because my doppelganger had swung a sword at Ascal from the side.
Of course, the doppelganger couldn’t reach Ascal, but Ascal, unaware of that, had to be on guard against it.
Thwack.
One of my doppelgangers swung a sword at Ascal.
Swish. Boom!
Ascal also swung his sword, but naturally, Ascal’s sword passed through my doppelganger.
Kwahh!
Now that Ascal’s sword was stuck in the ground,
I swung my sword at Ascal, but he lifted the sword stuck in the ground to block mine.
“Seriously annoying!”
“Thank you for the compliment!”
While clashing swords with me, Ascal threw a dagger with his other hand.
That dagger was exactly the same as the one I used.
It seems like someone picked up what fell to the ground.
The dagger thrown by Ascal flew towards my doppelgänger, and naturally, it passed through my doppelgänger.
“You’re the real one. The rest are all fakes.”
Ascal said with a raised corner of her mouth.
“Right?”
“Correct!”
After saying those words, I distanced myself from Ascal and got mixed in with the doppelgängers.
“So, can you tell which one is real?”
…
I created 19 doppelgängers in 2 minutes and 30 seconds.
The forms of the doppelgängers distorted.
It was faster than I expected.
Some doppelgängers had their lower bodies missing, and some had no hands.
“Is it becoming difficult to maintain them now?”
Ascal said, looking at the distorted doppelgänger with a raised corner of her mouth.
There were a few small wounds on her body that were not visible before the duel.
On the other hand, it meant that there were no major injuries.
Maintaining and moving the doppelgängers was not difficult.
The problem is reshaping the form of the avatars.
It was impossible to restore the original form of all the avatars.
“Should I reduce the number of avatars?”
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No.
Not like that.
I won’t do it that way.
If I do, I won’t be able to move forward.
I left the avatars whose forms have already distorted as they are.
I must not be bound by a mold.
Even for a moment, once I’m stuck in a mold, I can’t move forward.
Reverse your thinking.
Do not be bound by common sense.
Reshaping the forms of all 19 avatars takes too long.
“Ascal, who do you think is the real me?”
“Well, obviously it’s you.”
Ascal pointed at me with his finger. I was the only one with an intact form.
“Really? Then I’ll ask one more time.”
I distorted my form into a fantasy.
If I can’t restore the forms of all avatars, then let my own form be destroyed.
“Who do you think is the real me now?”
“…….. Insane.”
“”””Shall we go at it again?””””
Entities resembling me rushed towards Ascal.
* * *
“I didn’t expect it to go this far.”
Ascal muttered as he looked at the numerous Lokis charging in bizarre forms.
Initially, it seemed like Johanna just wanted to test her skills as she requested a duel.
But during the duel, he came to realize.
If I go easy, I’m the one who loses.
He was genuinely surprised when she summoned a dagger without flicking a finger.
To flick a finger for just that one move.
Ascal glanced at his father, Duke Freyja.
‘Sorry, Father.’
He never thought he would use magic during a duel.
Platinum mana, symbolizing the Freyja lineage, enveloped the sword.
This was one of the techniques only the direct descendants of the Freyja family could learn.
To use this against academy students.
Kwaaang!!!!!!!
Ascal swung his platinum-covered sword, unleashing a thrust.
The platinum thrust covered the entire smoke armor.
Roki’s doppelganger couldn’t avoid the thrust and vanished completely.
So much for a “doppelganger.”
“Can’t believe you managed to evade that.”
Ascal looked at Roki with an incredulous expression.
Naturally, he thought it would end with this thrust.
“We can’t just end it like this, can we?”
In reality, the reason Roki could evade the thrust was that he already knew the technique through Croaker.
Ascal raised his sword towards Roki and spoke.
“Your magic, or rather, your ordinary magic. Is it your unique magic? Creating fakes, isn’t it?”
“Correct. But it’s disappointing to call it fake. Might as well say it creates illusions.”
Ascal created a cat in the air, looking at Roki to demonstrate his ability.
“Making another doppelganger?”
Roki raised both hands.
“No, I don’t have the strength to make more now.”
He didn’t believe that statement; right now, Roki’s words could be a lie in themselves.
“So, ready to surrender soon?”
“I can’t do that. I’ve worked hard, so I plan to win.”
“Is that so?”
Percussion!!!
Ascal charged the ground with force, surging towards Loki like a lightning bolt.
Crash!
Suddenly, a wall appeared between Ascal and Loki.
He knew the wall was a fake created by Loki’s unique magic.
Loki, seemingly indifferent to being exposed as a fake, casually conjured the wall.
In fact, it was hard to call it a wall; it rippled like a liquid.
“Ugh, seriously annoying!”
But even knowing it was fake, it still obstructed his view.
He launched a decisive blow, blasting away the wall.
Behind where the wall should be, Loki was nowhere in sight.
“Then naturally from above!”
Loki descended from the sky, wielding a sword.
“I’ll deflect and finish it.”
Bracing his lower body to stop Loki falling from the air, the moment the sword touched, Loki vanished.
Fake!
Then where’s the real one?
“Behind you.”
From behind, Loki swinging the sword was felt.
Physically impossible to swing a sword.
Kaang!
Ascal threw the dagger hidden in his left hand behind him, blocking Loki.
“When did you pick up my dagger?”
“Just a moment ago, I picked up another one.”
Ascal and Loki faced each other, keeping their distance.
“Don’t you think it’s about time we finished this? People watching will get bored if we keep fighting for too long.”
“I don’t think they’ll get bored, to be honest.”
How could anyone find it boring to watch people fight like that?
Even though Father might outwardly dislike Loki, he can’t deny his skills.
Thud.
“To be honest, I’m really tired.”
“Well, honesty suits you.”
“It’s one of my strengths.”
Thud.
“Well, should I finish it for your sake?”
Swoosh. Swish.
Ascal swiftly swung the sword he held towards Loki.
Thunk.
From the empty space just a moment ago, Loki appeared.
Loki raised his hands high as if to surrender.
“How did you notice?”
I didn’t ask, “What?”
It must be about how I sensed what was behind me.
“You, over there. Even though the wind is blowing, your hair doesn’t sway, and your shadow is too short for this time of day.”
“Even if you noticed that and concluded that I’m a fake based on it, how did you know I was behind you?”
“It was subtle, but I heard footsteps.”
Loki muttered as if in regret.
“Indeed, the Imperial Knights are different.”
“What a shame. I almost lost because I was doing well, huh?”
Ascal extended his hand towards Loki, speaking.
He was much stronger and more cunning than he appeared.
Loki also reached out his hand to grasp Ascal’s extended hand.
“But what are you talking about? Almost lost?”
“Huh? Well, in this sparring, I wo………..”
The hand that had reached out for a handshake passed through Loki’s hand.
And Loki, who was right in front of him, disappeared.
Thud.
And he felt the touch of a blade on his back.
“In this sparring, I won. Lady Ascal, I thought you wouldn’t miss those small footsteps and shadows.”
“……..Ha!”
As if taken aback, Ascal remained still, realizing his defeat and letting out a disbelieving chuckle.
Lowering his sword, Ascal raised both hands above his head, just like Rocky had done earlier.
“I lost.”