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He fell with the dirt that was picked up. He hadn’t been prepared for the fall, and his strength was gone. I cut his tendons and ligaments. He had already lost a lot of blood. I released my wings, and the light above my head dissipated into smoke. I collapsed to the ground.

(Elroy!)

The pain hit me all at once. I gasped for air, then coughed up blood. My heart was racing like a broken machine. One minute, I was flapping like a hummingbird; the next, I wish I were dead. Every time my heart beat, blood spilled from my mouth and nose.

(Elroy…! Wake up!)

The mana of the Holy Sword faintly seeped in. As if the regurgitated blood wasn’t enough for my nose and mouth, it also trickled down my eyes. Pain. The mana of the Holy Sword flowed strongly into me, barely keeping me conscious.

(Elroy!)

I inhaled air and exhaled blood.

I gurgle at the violent pressure of air that threatens to tear my lungs apart, but I manage to let it out. I coughed out more blood as I inhaled shallowly. I wiped the blood trickling down my chin with the back of my hand and leaned against a rock.

(Are you okay? Don’t close your eyes.)

“Fuck…it hurts like hell.”

(You’re lucky you’re not dead, Elroy. You’ve already crossed the threshold of what your body could handle.)

A cold sweat ran down my face. I was lucky Arjen wasn’t unconscious. As much as I had disabled him, I took a huge hit. I’ve received a lot of damage that can never be healed. I tore the cork from the potion I’d set aside for emergencies with my teeth. A sweet smell wafted from the bottle.

If only a bottle of this would heal my wounds.

The potion must have cost ten thousand gold a bottle, and I poured it all into my mouth. I knew no potion could soothe my pain, and nothing can ever heal me. I used an expensive and rare potion just so that I could think a little clearer.

(Elroy…)

The Holy Sword was worried about me. She’d already warned and nagged me enough to put scabs on my ears. But I’m happy to hear her worry for me. Fueled by the mixed emotions I felt for her, I rose from my seat. The halo glowed dimly as I started to move.

(You should–)

“It’s okay. I should check on him first.”

I said, stroking the crown-shaped engraving on the hilt of the Holy Sword.

I stared at Arjen, who had fallen to the dirt. He was staring up at the sky, his eyes bloodshot. Judging by his cuts, he could not force himself to get up. I held the Holy Sword to his throat and asked.

“What is it?”

Arjen glared at me, his eyes devoid of any venom.

“Why did you do this to me?”

“Do I owe you an answer to that?”

“Who is behind you?”

“I’ve answered those questions before, but you must have a short memory.”

It was a stupid question. Arjen Elmion, the original Arjen, this Arjen, or any other Arjen, would never open his mouth to someone’s interrogation, so I decided to ask him a question that might provoke him from the start.

“Where is the real Arjen now?”

The tip of my sword nudged his Adam’s apple, but the frostiness in his eyes didn’t abate. No, my question must have hit the nail on the head because the venom began to seep out and began taking form.

The ground shook slightly. The mana in Arjen’s body was rampaging with his emotions. It squeezed the space as if it were trying to kill me.

“Did you say ‘real?’ Can you not see it even when it’s right before your eyes?”

The silt and dirt rose. ‘Was he holding back this whole time?’

(…It’s not the Mercenary’s power.)

Arjen’s whites slowly turned black. A tidal wave rushes from the distant horizon, huge enough to cover the sun and sky.

“You failed to save the world! You died drunk on being a ‘Hero,’ unable to decide what was important. Are you really a Hero in this world?”

A grotesque voice came from Arjen’s body.

“I couldn’t stop it. The world was destroyed by something I never even considered a threat. I blamed myself for not suspecting the obvious. And I came to set this world right by any means necessary. Do you want to see the truth?”

Arjen’s body contorted strangely, his bones cracking one by one as black blood poured from various holes in his body. The wound did not mend. From the blood, a certain darkness formed.

“I pity you, Hero. I hate that I had to see the end of the world and that I had to be helpless in it. So….”

‘It’s’ voice overlapped with Arjen’s.

“This time, I will have a different ending.”

I jerked back at the tingling sensation creeping up my spine.

(ELROY!!!)

Holy Sword called urgently to me.

(Don’t get eaten by that thing!)

The Holy Sword’s voice was distant. I opened my wings. No, my heart did not listen. I had no escape. My vision-no, the world-was blackening. From the horizon, beyond the flattened mountains, everything was slowly being consumed by darkness.

“I’ll take care of the biggest hindrance first.”

The sun was hidden behind a dark veil. Everything disappeared. When the horizon on the other side was submerged in blackness,

I opened my eyes again to a vaguely familiar sensation. Nothingness. I was moving, though I couldn’t quite feel my body. I fidgeted with my hands, trying to summon mana.

“…Again.”

Mana didn’t rise. But I’m not dad. I’ve felt something similar before. It was like the imaginary world of the Holy Sword. I frowned and looked around. There was nothing around. This world was just a void of endless darkness. There was no north nor up. An average person would have gone insane upon waking up in this space.

“Holy Sword.”

I heard a muffled voice. Was she being blocked? So it’s not her world. I can’t see my hands and feet. I can only guess from the rustling that I’m wearing clothes. Where should I go? Is there any point in moving? I closed and opened my eyes and stared into the darkness.

Was it trying to keep me here forever?

I frowned, unable to make sense of the situation. Where was the entity that trapped me, and where was Arjen? Just as the questions began to pile up, someone stepped before me. My vision cleared a little, and I could see a figure standing at the edge of the darkness.

“There you are.”

Arjen. The dark-haired mercenary was strolling toward me. I squinted and turned to face him.

“Why do you look so surprised, Hero?”

I felt no hostility. He just stood some distance from me. I faltered, pointing a finger at him.

“You’re….”

“You called me the ‘real’ one.”

Arjen smiles wryly. It seems he was listening. I felt a bit embarrassed by his words. I coughed and spoke to break the awkward silence.

“What the hell is this place? It looks like a mental space, but it also looks like something else.”

“You’re not wrong. This is definitely a place where visions float. I was living my life until I was suddenly brought here. I don’t know how much time has passed.”

Arjen shrugged.

“I can vaguely distinguish what is ‘real’ and what isn’t, but beyond that, I don’t know much.”

“What happened to you”

Arjen sighed and looked at me. He seemed to be choosing his words.

“As you may have heard, the inquisitors and I were attacked by the Black Mist in the stronghold of the Doomsday Cult. It’s an entity I’ve never even seen records of.”

“When you say attack, do you mean the beating you took on behalf of Bishop Andrei?”

“…I’m embarrassed to say I was defeated in his stead. I was trying to repay a debt of gratitude I owed him, though the outcome was far worse than that.”

Arjen smiled wryly and shook his head.

“…If you had not intercepted it, it would have resulted in the Bishop slaughtering his men.”

“Then I would have been able to stop the Bishop somehow. I don’t need your flimsy consolations, Hero.”

“No one could have foreseen such an outcome.”

“Hero… that’s unbecoming for you. As I said, I don’t need consolation. I didn’t do what I did for your approval or sympathy. I didn’t defend Bactins for it, either. I’ve always done what I thought I should do. You don’t matter in my decisions.”

His voice was firm.

“So, all of this is me being me. You can think of it that way. The people who died, the way you look now, are all because of me.”

“…Whatever you say.”

He was more just than I thought. I frowned slightly, unable to adjust to it.

“So, what was the entity that ate your body?”

“…According to the Black Mist, it was a ‘protagonist’. But it probably put itself as well.”

I felt like a stone had been dropped in my heart, but I nodded, trying not to let it show.

I didn’t know if they were evil or good. All I know is that they had knowledge of the original. Then, what is this world and I….

“…Now is not the time to chat.”

At Arjen’s words, I turned my head; something else stood at the edge of the darkness. I forced the eerie aura out of my head.

“It’s pretty creepy.”

“It’s just the way it looks.”

“Appearances are everything.”

It was Arjen, the protagonist of the original. He seemed to have lost all sense of reason. He stood facing us, its eyes inhumanly opened.

“That is not where you should be standing….”

The original Arjen said. I frowned, and the Arjen beside me snorted in amusement. He didn’t think it was worth responding to.

“We’ll have to work together to catch that thing.”

He spoke first. When I looked at him in surprise, he frowned.

“I see you’re still not very good at situational awareness.”

“You could’ve at least pretended to be happy.”

I shake my head. Before I knew it, Arjen had a sword in his hand, and I had one in mine. He turned to face the ‘protagonist.’

“Will you hinder me?”

“I should be asking that.”

Arjen took the first step, and I moved to match him.