Dead End

On the other side.

The passage has come to an end.

A cold, rocky wall rose abruptly before us, blocking our path. The rough stone surface gleamed grayish-white in the dim light, silently proclaiming that the road was impassable.

Ubel stopped in her tracks, her green ponytail swaying slightly with her movement. She looked up at the dead end in front of her, the usual faint smile on her lips unchanged.

"It's a dead end." Her voice was exceptionally clear in the silent passage, tinged with a lighthearted mockery. "We've been driven to the brink."

She turned her head to look at her side.

Lanto leaned against the cold rock wall and slowly slid down. He adjusted his glasses; the lenses were dusty, but his gaze remained calm. The front of his mage's robe was soaked with dark red blood, the color almost black. The wound seemed to be slowly oozing blood, spreading deeper marks on his dark fabric.

He took a breath, his voice lower than usual, but still steady.

"It seems so."

Not far from them—about a dozen steps away—at the entrance to another side passage, "Ubel" stood.

They had the exact same green ponytail, the same face and figure. Apart from the different colors and the fact that Ubel was "hee hee" while "Ubel's " was "not hee hee," they were almost identical.

The clone "Ubel" was holding the glass bottle she had snatched from Lanto's arms. The bottle was gently twirling between her fingertips.

She seemed very interested in the bottle, looking down at it and completely ignoring the person in front of her.

Ubel withdrew her gaze and looked back at Lanto, who was leaning against the wall. She tilted her head, her smile deepening.

"Glasses Guy," she began, her tone light as if discussing the weather, "I'd like to hear your opinion as an expert on doppelgangers, is that alright?"

Lanto lifted his eyelids, glanced at her, and his face remained expressionless.

"I already said, my name is Lanto." He paused, seemingly too lazy to correct him further. "Fine, whatever. What do you want to ask?"

Ubel took two steps closer, squatted down in front of him, and looked him in the eye.

"How perfectly do you think that thing replicated me?" she pointed towards the replica in the side passage, where it was playing with a bottle.

Lanto glanced in the direction she was pointing, then looked away, his voice flat.

"Ubel, you're the type who talks a lot even in battle," he stated, "Like you'd die if you didn't say a word."

"You're very observant," Ubel laughed, making no attempt to deny it. "Indeed. It really could be fatal."

She paused, rested her chin on her hand, and looked at the silent replica.

"Hmm... she's very composed, and she doesn't smile, which means she didn't completely copy her memories or personality, right?"

Lanto remained silent for a few seconds.

"... No." He spoke slowly, his tone calm and analytical, "I think she probably just can't speak or laugh."

He coughed, which aggravated his wound, causing his brow to furrow slightly, but his voice remained steady.

"When we were first attacked, she snatched the bottle containing the escape Golem from my arms. Her goal was to prevent me from escaping."

"I see." Ubel nodded, his smile unchanged. "If it were me, I would definitely do the same."

"She knows something about us too," Lanto continued, his gaze sweeping over the clone before returning to Ubel's face. "She knows we've cornered us, but she hasn't pursued us because she's wary of your 'Gaze Restraint Magic.' She's waiting, waiting for a better opportunity, or waiting for me to bleed out and become incapacitated."

Ubel narrowed his eyes, a different meaning creeping into his smile.

"Who knows," she said softly, her gaze falling on the replica's fingers spinning the bottle. "Maybe it's just for fun? Or maybe... it's simply because it can't replicate the bottle and finds it interesting, so it snatched it to take a look?"

Lanto looked at her.

"You can still laugh?"

Ubel didn't reply, his gaze returning to the shocking bloodstain on Lanto's chest. The blood was still slowly seeping out, staining the surrounding fabric even darker.

"You're bleeding quite a bit." Her tone remained light, even slightly teasing. "Did you get your period today?"

Lanto glanced at her expressionlessly.

"Can you stop joking?" he said. "I'm not a girl."

"Haha." Ubel laughed, then his smile faded, and he looked at him calmly. "At this rate, you look like you're not long for this world."

Lanto paused for a moment, then forced a smile.

"Probably."

The passageway was silent for a few seconds. Only the extremely faint sound of dripping water came from somewhere in the distance, drip, drip.

Ubel suddenly leaned closer, his green eyes staring directly into Lanto's eyes behind his glasses.

"And one last question?" Her voice was low, tinged with a hint of inquiry, "Glasses Guy, are you... your original self now?"

Lanto met her gaze. His eyes behind his glasses remained expressionless.

"Who knows," he said, his voice barely audible, "Is it really true...?"

Ubel stared at him for two seconds, then smiled, his eyes narrowing.

That smile was different from usual; it lacked a bit of nonchalance and had something else in it.

"Then you can use my bottle."

As she spoke, she reached into her bosom and pulled out her own glass bottle. The small bottle lay in her palm, inside which a little wooden figure curled up quietly.

Lanto paused almost imperceptibly.

He looked at her but didn't say anything.

"... This is something you need to save your life." After a few seconds, he spoke slowly, his voice calm.

Ubel's smile remained unchanged as he scanned Yubel's pale face, as if trying to confirm something.

"... Hoo hoo." She uttered two ambiguous syllables softly, "Is that so?"

She didn't say anything more and stood up.

A short staff appeared in her hand. She bent down and gently placed the glass bottle containing the escape Golem, which belonged to her, on the ground next to Lanto.

The bottle made a soft "click" sound when it touched the ground.

Lanto's gaze fell on the bottle, then he looked up at her.

Ubel had turned around, facing the replica still fiddling with the bottle in the side passage. Her fingers tightened slightly around the short cane, and the faint smile remained on her face.

"Glasses Guy," she said, her voice soft but clear, as her back was to Lanto, "Wait for me here."

She paused.

I'll go get the bottle for you.

Lanto's pupils constricted slightly.

"Hey, wait a minute--"

He didn't finish his sentence.

Ubel had already rushed out.

A green ponytail cast a blur in the dim light, and the tip of the short staff gleamed with a cold light, pointing directly at the throat of the clone in the side passage!

The sound of the wind.

The sound of the short staff cutting through the air.

At the other end of the passage, the sharp sounds of close combat had already erupted.