Ex-Machina on a Dimensional Journey

"Number Three has caused quite a commotion."

Doppelganger Number One watched the red blaze on the horizon and sighed, the pupils in his eyes constantly contracting and expanding.

At that moment, Number One sat alone atop the highest branch of a towering tree, gazing into the distance.

To his left lay the plains near the highway ravaged by hurricanes. There, at the source of the gale, a black figure wielding a massive silver lance fought Lancer in red with exhilarating intensity. The ground had been devastated by their battle, riddled with countless craters—some blasted out by energy, some vaporized by extreme heat, and others left as mere slashes from weapons.

To his right was a comparatively smaller-scale battle: an exchange of offense and defense between a black swordsman and a silver swordsman. Their sword styles were completely opposed. A purple Greatsword repeatedly clashed with a silver two-handed sword, and the aftershocks of their battle covered the nearby ground in sword marks.

"Hmm, Number Four and Number Five aren't doing badly either."

Number One took in all those scenes. He sat peacefully on a tree branch while the other Doppelgangers fought fiercely elsewhere. The contrast could not have been more extreme.

Just as he was enjoying himself, a voice came from behind him.

"Reminder: instead of idly watching the other Doppelgangers fight and making snide remarks, how about I find something for you to do?"

Xiu Er herself, who had just flown out of the Golden Passage, immediately heard Number One's remarks.

She had no particular reaction to them and merely accessed Number One's records to examine his memories.

Unlike the Doppelgangers from before, which had been crude imitations of Zafkiel, the reason Xiu Er had always known what the Doppelgangers experienced was simple: every one of their actions had been