Chapter 67

Mirror Demon.

Xiu Er was curious whether, if he entered, a clone with the same power as himself would appear.

The answer can only be obtained after he enters.

"[Reminder] Takuson, be prepared."

"Clear."

Chapter 45 Copy

Da da da...

The sound of their footsteps echoed in the empty corridor.

Xiu Er led the way, scanning the Dungeon 'Dungeon layout as soon as they entered.

"There are no Monster here."

Takuson followed behind Xiu Er, remaining vigilant at all times for any monsters that might appear in corners or shadows.

Unfortunately, so far, not even a single hair of the Monster has been found.

"[Reminder] Takuson, watch your step. This Dungeon contains numerous traps."

"I understand, teacher, I will definitely pay attention."

Just as Takuson was making his promise.

Click—

It was a very crisp sound, and both of them heard it clearly.

"..."

"..."

Make eye contact.

Looking into Xiu Er's calm, lifeless eyes, Takuson was on the verge of losing his composure.

"Haha, look at me, I was so careless."

"..."

Mechanical sounds began to emanate from within the walls.

Almost instantly, the ceiling above Takuson's location suddenly opened up, and a giant blade capable of easily slicing a person in two fell down.

Gaka.

Then, accompanied by a sharp, aching sound.

Suddenly, the giant blade of the trap above its head developed a dense web of cracks, and then shattered into countless tiny fragments.

The Golden Shield that enveloped Takuson vanished along with the trap's failure.

"One."

After shielding Takuson from the trap, Xiu Er uttered this single word.

"[Reminder] Takuson, I will block for you the first time, and only this once. I will not do it again after that."

"[Additional Information] If you accidentally 'die,' you must exit the Dungeon; I will handle the rest."

"Yes! I understand!"

Although Xiu Er can revive the dying Takuson, this should not be a reason for the other side to lower their guard.

Dungeon.

Even in Dungeon without Monster, the traps within can still be deadly.

Sure enough, after Xiu Er's warning, Takuson became much more cautious in the following process compared to the beginning.

Unlike Xiu Er, who can scan for traps directly, Takuson, being human, can only use his eyes and senses to find hidden traps.

Fortunately, thanks to years of training and combat experience, his perception has become extremely sharp.

He could sense the sounds of hidden mechanisms beneath the walls and use them as a starting point to find the connecting "switch," allowing him to bypass almost all the traps along the way.

It can be said that Takuson does not lack the qualities of a warrior. According to Xiu Er's judgment, this apprentice's strength is already among the top in the mid-level combat power in this world.

If we also consider the talent of [Goddess Magic], then Takuson could hold his own against the Great Demon Race.

As for why they "got infected" in the first place?

Perhaps because they didn't see any Monster and Xiu Er was nearby, they subconsciously lowered their guard.

The journey was easy; apart from traps and mechanisms, there was nothing else to do.

This successfully puzzled Takuson.

"Teacher, is this Dungeon really not something that someone has already explored?"

"[Negative] We were the first batch, or rather, no one from the previous batch could go back."

"Huh? What does that mean?"

"..."

As he said this, Xiu Er's eyes glanced at a wall. His detection revealed that three skeletons with human features were buried there. Judging from the degree of bone fracture, all of them had died from being crushed.

It seems to be a group of unlucky adventurers who have fallen into a trap.

Xiu Er did not intend to explain these things to Takuson, because there was no need; they were certain that they would deal with the Monster at the end once they arrived here.

"Okay, I guess they probably fell into a trap and can't 'go back'."

Based on his teacher's reaction, Takuson could guess the general situation.

The corridor was unusually quiet; apart from the footsteps of Xiu Er and Takuson, there was no sound from any other person.

Thanks to the existence of the mechanism, otherwise this apprentice would have been exhausted.

Boring.

This is how Takuson feels right now.

There are no Monster to fight, only countless troublesome traps and mechanisms.

However, the absence of Monster is also a good thing.

This also means that the process of conquering this Dungeon will be much easier. As for the absence of Monster, it's probably because the adventurers who came here before cleared it out.

Takuson, after all, did not understand the special nature of this Dungeon. Before entering, Xiu Er had not given him any necessary information. To Takuson, this Dungeon was completely shrouded in "mist".

Buzzing—

Suddenly, the entire Dungeon trembled briefly, and no one knew what had happened.

"What happened? Has some trap been triggered?"

"[Negative] The detection results show that the mechanisms in the Dungeon were not triggered, but..."

"But?"

The detection results showed that ten humanoid targets were moving towards them.

Ten people?

Indeed, Xiu Er's investigation revealed nine identical short individuals, one of which remained outside the room where the Mirror Demon resided at the end of the Dungeon, and there was also a tall, strong individual.

Needless to say, Xiu Er understood.

Those were clones of himself and Takuson. Apart from the one guarding the BOSS's room door, which was the "original body," the other eight were "Doppelganger" depending on their energy levels.

It seems that the tremor just now was caused by the "Mirror Demon" trying to replicate itself. I wonder why this Monster would make such a noise when creating a copy of itself.

Xiu Er had already scanned the energy properties and magic power of the other party as it approached.

This is to be expected, since the unique characteristics of Xiu Er could not be replicated, so the Mirror Demon chose to replace that energy with [magic power].

It only knows what abilities Xiu Er has, but it doesn't know the source of Xiu Er's abilities. As an outsider in Xiu Er's world, it can only make a clumsy imitation of his appearance.

Now it's time to gather specific information in practice.

"[Reminder] Takuson, you are about to encounter a hostile target. Prepare for battle."

"Yes!"

Sure enough, just a few seconds after Xiu Er reminded him,

Suddenly, a gray figure darted out from around the corner ahead—it was a clone created by the Mirror Demon!

The towering Takuson clone burst out from around the corner, dragging its Battle Axe, and charged straight at Xiu Er and his group.

Interestingly, the Takuson clone bypassed Xiu Er and swung its Battle Axe directly at Takuson behind him.

Of course, it was able to get past that because of Xiu Er's consent.

However, he paid no attention to Takuson, who was engaging the enemy, because he had other things to do.

"Ah?!"

When Takuson saw that the enemy looked like himself, he was clearly stunned for a moment, and this moment caused the battle to be directly taken over by the enemy.

Ping! Pong! Bang—!

The clash between swords and Battle Axe, the collision between flesh and "flesh," each move can be countered by the other, and neither can gain an advantage.

The initial disadvantage caused by the surprise attack has now been brought back to a state of evenly matched strength by Takuson.

The enemy uses the same moves as me, and his physical strength is almost identical. This guy who looks exactly like me seems to be my [copy].

"Ha, a mere imposter dares to be so arrogant."

Are you kidding me? Just thinking about this clone having the same face as me makes me want to throw up.

Boom!!

The two collided once again, and the huge impact caused the floor beneath their feet to crack.

Takuson pressed his advantage, using the dust and mist he stirred up to flank from the side and adjust the direction of his wrist, maneuvering his weapon to slash horizontally at the clone's waist.

But the scene he had envisioned—the clone being cut in half—did not appear the next second.

Click.

That's the sound of a mechanism being activated!

The replica of Takuson was pressing one hand against a dented brick in the wall.

A massive stone pillar rose from the ground as the mechanism was activated, blocking the path of the replica and simultaneously pushing Takuson, who had circled around, onto the ceiling.

The situation can change in an instant; in just a second, the tide can turn.

The clone gave Takuson no chance to catch its breath. It immediately grabbed its Battle Axe and with one blow, the stone pillar broke, and Takuson, now without support, fell from the ceiling.

He raised his Battle Axe above his head, poised to strike down, seemingly preparing to strike Takuson the moment he fell.

Takuson didn't want to guess what would happen if he got hit by the lightning.

"How could I possibly let you succeed!"

He flipped open the Sacred Canon with lightning speed.

"Binding Magic!"

In the blink of an eye, just as Takuson was about to land on the ground and the clone's Battle Axe was about to strike, a spell array appeared beneath the clone's feet, from which countless bands of light extended and wrapped around the clone's entire body.

This rendered it unable to move any further.

Before landing, Takuson successfully maneuvered in front of the clone and, before the control effect ended, slashed his Battle Axe into the clone's body.

There were no sounds of flesh tearing apart, no images of blood spurting out; there were only human figures shattering like clay dolls.

"Ha ha..."

"Hahaha, it seems I guessed right. Even as a clone, you, whose essence is Monster, are unable to use [Goddess's Magic]."

Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, after a tense and exciting battle, his mind, which had cooled down, suddenly remembered something.