"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
…
Aultcray and the others turned at Fitoria's arrival and saw that a beast capable of battling the Spirit Tortoise on equal footing had appeared. With this, the stage was now set. Fitoria could stall the Spirit Tortoise for far longer than Liviccic or even Naofumi himself. The infiltration team had reached the cave and began their descent to put an end to this madness with Ost there to guide them rightly the whole way. They had made incredible progress and were fast approaching what they saw as the end of this raid.
.
Fitoria was now there and with an army to support her, while the Spirit Tortoise had so few familiars left that it couldn't really be considered a factor. As things are, a huge source of pressure and stress was gone. Naofumi could now more fully focus on the task at hand.
"Let's go." He took another step further into the cave.
They traveled for what felt like an hour. At first, they could feel the fight between the Spirit Tortoise and Fitoria very much, nearly falling over from each impact. Strangely, the deeper they went, the less they could feel. As if they were somehow no longer inside the Spirit Tortoise.
At one point, Monti's ears twitched. "We are in another space." He said.
"Well, if Monti thinks so it must be true. Can you break us out of it using that?" Raphtalia asked.
"Maybe, but I think this space is where we want to be." Monti said, still trying to figure it out.
Ost spoke up to quiet the doubt. "You are correct. We are both in another dimensional space and still on the right path… I'm curious how you could know such a thing?" She asked.
Monti flashed his eyes. "I have the ability to invade and escape spaces." He told Ost.
Ost's eyes widened as she immediately understood what he meant. She nearly went to shout, but there were far too many people around. She continued the conversation as they walked. "If that is what you are then… Why are you helping the bearer of the holy shield?"
Monti smiled lightly. "Aren't you supposed to also be Dad's enemy? But you're helping us too."
"I am still doing my duty in protecting this world." Ost pointed out.
"But you should be battling Dad to the death." Monti countered.
Ost went to argue. "But it's not my desire. I-"
"I know. It's not mine either. Just like you, I choose to be more than what I was born to be." Monti told her with a smile.
"...I do not fully understand your meaning." She said curtly.
Monti was happy to explain further. "I'm saying that even though we should all be enemies, we ultimately are who we choose to be. And I'm happy we all chose to be allies to one another."
Ost walked in silence for a few moments, processing that. "...But had the Spirit Tortoise not been taken over, I'd still be your enemy. This decision is the result of a lack of better options." She argued again.
"...You're lying." Monti accused, a smile still firmly on his face.
"What would I gain by lying?" Ost sounded a little frustrated.
"You saved the army multiple times while severely harming yourself. If stopping the Spirit Tortoise was all that mattered, you'd have ignored them. Because if you die, you can't reach your goal. You'd have helped Dad and no one else." Monti pointed out.
"...An act of kindness, nothing more." Ost turned away, refusing to face the boy. She honestly wanted to drop the conversation in its entirety.
"Well, even though you lie sometimes, I think you're really nice." Monti told her with a wide grin.
"...I'm beginning to see why you assist Naofumi despite being what you are. You're malfunctioning. To assign such goodness to me and my actions must come from a fundamental misunderstanding, the same one that led you to assist this world." Ost was rationalizing and insulting Monti.
"Well, maybe we are both broken. But you know you'd not want yourself fixed if it were true." Monti refused to acknowledge the insult.
Ost was now becoming even more frustrated. She'd said things to rile Monti up and upset him, but he refused to take anything she said personally. Meanwhile, she was taking everything he said personally.
They traveled for several minutes before the kids and Ost stopped, the demi-humans stopping just after them. A hand was raised from Werner telling the others that something was happening.
A long pause grew and with it tension in the air. Just as Naofumi went to ask for more information from the others, the ceiling morphed and twisted. The cave ceiling that was supposed to be made of stone was now made of flesh and several nodes spouted down. Several sections of the floor also became flesh-like before nodes formed there as well.
The next moment the nodes twisted and curved into turrets. They were still made of flesh, but now they were clearly living barrels on a swiveling node made to fire.
[Spirit Tortoise's Familiar (Turret Type)]
"Just how many fucking types of familiar types does this stupid thing have!? Ost was already a step too far!" Naofumi cursed his situation.
No sooner did they form did they also start firing beams of heat at them all. The attacks seemed very similar to the one used by the bat familiars, but these were smaller, a bit faster, almost seeming more focused.
Chloe leapt high and landed on the ceiling, swinging a dagger at one of the familiars. But it sank into the ceiling and reformed elsewhere on the ground. This was repeated several times by several people, including Glass, but the result was always the same. They were pretty fast. They nearly started to think they could land a hit when the first one was killed by Walter.
They looked at him a moment, not seeing how he could hit one before faster people like Chloe or Filo.
He answered their looks. "I shot while it was forming. I assume they must fully form before they can begin deforming. Or maybe they can't see to react while not fully formed." Walter explained.
From there they baited the turrets to escape attacks only to finish them wherever they tried reforming before they couldn't fully manifest. In minutes, the cave was silent again.
Before they moved on, Naofumi paused as he stared at the walls. After a moment, they moved on. They traveled for more than 20 minutes and yet never reached an end. After a while, a few were convinced they were running in circles. And the ones suggesting that had superior animal instincts. Having to really consider that accusation, Naofumi was beginning to form a potential reason as to how this was happening.
After another 10 minutes, Naofumi stopped. "Filo… attack the floor." Naofumi said.
"Okay~!" Filo required zero reason. She was basically a cute gun Naofumi just needed to point at something.
She struck the ground with her [Risuka Flail] with much enthusiasm. The rock floor cracked beneath them, but what stood out to everyone was the blood erupting from the cracks.
Naofumi didn't need to explain as Monti, Leon, and Teal joined in, attacking floors, walls, and ceilings. Rather than cause a cave-in, their actions caused sections of the floor to recede.
"What?" The queen was confused as to what was happening or why.
"Even the very environment is made of familiar!?" Raphtalia realized.
[Spirit Tortoise's Familiar (Mimic Type)]
"The turrets coming out of the stones without messing with them at all seemed really weird to me. That and we are so deep into the Spirit Tortoise at this point that there shouldn't even be rocks. My guess was right. It was all fake." Naofumi told everyone.
"That's why we were running in circles? The environment was changing to lead us around?" Werner was both impressed and pissed. Small tufts of fire flickered around him.
"But now we can go forward." Monti pointed out to calm Werner.
"No." Ost told them all.
"Huh?" Monti turned to face her.
Ost eyed the boy, then Naofumi, before facing the new tunnel. "We have a real problem."
Three people walked out from the darkness. Glass, L'arc, and Werner.
"What?" several people said aloud, looking back and forth between the two sets of the same people.
"This is…" Naofumi looked at them.
[Spirit Tortoise's Familiar (Mimic Type)]
"They can copy more than walls and ceilings!" Naofumi told them.
The three familiars in the guise of allies lashed out. Werner's copy set himself on fire and shot off a volley of flaming darts at the group as a whole. The fake Glass swept her fans back and forth, creating blades that flew through the air similar to one of her weapon's skills. The L'arc copy lunged toward one specific person, Naofumi. The fake scythe burned purple as it swung down at Naofumi.
Everyone fended for themselves from the two-front volley fairly well, but L'arc took a few hits as he instead focused on Naofumi, calling out to him. "Don't block it! Dodge!" He warned.
Naofumi had no time to consider the warning before the blade of his foe slid right through his shield and his armor, wounding his arm. "Like that!? No resistance?" Naofumi was baffled.
The familiar may have landed a solid blow, but it received far more for its trouble. Raphtalia swiftly struck the scythe to pull it from Naofumi, and then Filo and Teal attacked the creature from its sides, speed and vines striking it upwards. Followed by Monti and Leon bringing all four of their fists down on it as they stopped flying to violently fall on them. Finally, Raphtalia made a second swift slice to remove the creature's head.
L'arc looked on slightly spooked. "It looked just like me, but they slaughtered it without a second thought."
Werner spread his wings and shielded the two directly behind him from the fire of his doppelganger, approaching while those behind him (Walter and Renair) took to his back and readied themselves. When he was close enough, he dropped his wings, and the two shot out of his flanks. Renair bound the fake's wings with her chains while Walter finished chanting to cast [Drifa High Fulmination]. The lightning didn't strike the target as much as it clung to him, sticking to the chains and frying the creature as it growled and screamed in pain. Renair pulled out daggers and stabbed the beast over and over, finished by Walter pulling out his personal pistol and planting a shot in its head, like an execution.
After witnessing the brutality, Werner felt like he had to ask. "...Was that necessary?"
"Very." Walter blurted out.
"Better it than you, right?" Renair asked dismissively.
"You act like I'm Jaralis." Werner looked offended.
"Oh, you're better than him, but that's not saying much. This is just hands-on therapy." She dismissed again.
Glass struck each of her foe's blades down with her own. Her skill [Circle Dance of Nothingness: Moon Break] crashed against the imitated skill. Not only did her blades intercept every one of the opposing attack's own, but her's tore through the other with only moderate effort. Before all the lingering power could fade, the queen finished casting [Drifa Icicle Prison] to trap the monster's back and feet in ice, and then Therese cast [Shining Stone: Ball of Flame] to burn and boil the monster, melting and blowing the ice away.
Glass grimaced seeing the charred corpse that looked just like her a moment ago. She knew that it was superficial, but seeing a version of her own death shook her slightly.
Naofumi staggered a bit, but he saw how Werner was able to take his own attacks fairly well and Glass' own skill seemed to completely outclass her mimic's. "They're weaker than the originals. Fight ones you know."
No sooner did he say that did another group of mimics arrive. Instead of Werner, L'arc, and Glass, there was… nearly everyone else. Naofumi looked at them but didn't have the time to figure out who, if anyone, was missing. Everyone hadn't the time to consider much. Naofumi thought most people were attempting to engage their own selves, but many opted for someone else.
Chloe rushed the mimic of Fitts and threw a dagger, knowing to bait out his crossbow. She correctly deduced it would fight the weapon to intercept her attack. That was Fitts' only form of non-melee combat and the muscular man lacked mobility. From there she thought she'd be able to control the distance between them and take several safe slashes at her foe. But no. The mimic stomped the ground just as her foot went to land near him. The jarring momentary uncertainty left her open. The mimic reached out to grab her throat but was struck by the real Fitts' crossbow bolt.
She turned to him, wondering how he had managed to handle her mimic so easily.
…He hadn't. He had several cuts that weren't there moments ago. He had been using the threat of his axe to control the distance the best he could, but when he saw the real Chloe in danger, he took the shot that allowed the fake to reach him.
"...You stupid man…" Chloe said quietly.
The mimic pulled the bolt from its arm and used it as its new ammo. Part of the fake Fitts' arm peeled off into a fleshy tentacle. It pulled the crossbow string back so the creature could reload the weapon faster. It was quite gross, but also served to show their true form. A series of strips of flesh that move and morph into a wanted shape.
"Ugh!" Fitts grunted as he tried a new trick on his target as they tried retreating. He swung his axe and let go of it, revealing it was attached by a chain. This greatly increased his range and would have ended the fight, had the mimic not possessed all of Chloe's abilities.
As swift and formless as the wind, Chloe's mimic leapt to the ceiling, now standing on it.
"What? It knows my [Wall Shadow]?" Chloe was now concerned. "Wait!" Chloe just remembered that if the real Fitts had a chain attached to his axe, the fake would too. She dropped to the floor just in time to dodge the attack. Doing so placed her in a terrible position. She was forced to retreat to Fitts' side.
"Tell your fake to stop!" Chloe screamed.
"How the hell could I? Can you tell yours to stop?" Fitts took her words seriously, as always.
"And rob you of such fun?" Chloe asked with a smirk.
The two had quite the fight ahead of them.
They were hardly the only ones having trouble. There were mimics of nearly everyone present. The queen and her shadows fought a mirror match with their doppelgangers. Their main advantage was that the shadows acted defensively, while the mimics fought aggressively. None of the shadows were all that resilient. A strong blow from themselves should be enough. The queen was not that scared. Her abilities were not that amazing, it was her personality and wit that were deadly. Some of the only things these creatures did not copy.
Beyond them, Godiva was also fighting herself. She was much less happy with the idea. The fight quickly became a boxing match with both sides going for the kill. Both sides used lightning and the same fighting style. Her fight was the most straightforward and allowed onlookers to confirm something they were suspecting. The mimics copied the ability, skill, and capability of their target. Godiva even found herself dodging attacks that she knew but hadn't used yet. This meant that the moment the mimic manifests, it can use even their most powerful and secret abilities. However, it also remained true that the mimics were weaker, possessing only about 80% of the original's stats. They also lacked certain higher mental functions.
Naofumi and Raphtalia did not get to choose whether to fight themselves or the other, they got both. Both pairs faced off against the other. One of those shortcomings became clear. The mimics' teamwork was just sloppy. Regardless, Naofumi's frown grew seeing that the mimic Raphtalia hid behind the mimic Naofumi. They may lack full cooperation, but they at least knew to fight in this manner.
The two Naofumi's charged each other as their Raphtalia's stuck behind them like a second shadow. The moment the pair collided, the pair pounced from behind them, blades drawn. Fortunately, the real Naofumi forced the fake back a step and Raphtalia was able to go for a body shot on her own double.
But before she could cut too deeply. "This is-!" Raphtalia's attack was halted by the fake using [Airstrike Shield] to block the attack from going further.
Raphtalia knew better than to try to break through. She retreated a few steps. "They may have our abilities but…"
"They use them poorly. That me was too slow in using it." Naofumi determined.
The two regrouped and re-approached. "Be careful. He has your skills and you know how troublesome they can be." Raphtalia commented.
"Troublesome? I'm just a tank. There's not much I can-" Naofumi's rebuttal was cut off by both of them being placed within an imitation [Shield Prison]. The shields were turtle shells, but otherwise, it looked the same.
"..." The two sank in awkward silence for a moment.
"Don't say it." Naofumi finally said.
[Blightning]! Monti was assisting everyone he could in small ways. When he saw his parents trapped, he untrapped them as fast as he could. Before the smoke could settle, Naofumi used his own [Shield Prison]. The ball rolled towards the fakes as they prepared to deal with it. The two mimics struck the ball and halted its movements easily. Too easily.
Naofumi came from behind the mimic Raphtalia and put her in a hold while the real Raphtalia managed to stab the fake Naofumi in the shoulder between his armor sections. It wasn't that deep, even the fake's defense was absurd.
"Made you think we were in the ball huh? Too bad there was no prize inside." Naofumi told them.
As the mimic he had bound struggled, it began to unravel and lose Raphtalia's form. it took on its real form to have more limbs and the ability to try to squirm free of Naofumi's grip. When that didn't work, it started generating a lot of heat.
"What!? These things have the same magical heat-based attacks as the bats!?" Naofumi now had to tank the extreme heat or let the monster go. Just what will happen?
Walter also found himself facing a mirror match. At first glance, he was relieved. He still had Werner and Renair at his side so they'd make quick work of… Renair and Werner quickly broke off to fight a fake Renair. "Fair enough." Walter allowed. "Alright. Now will I be a disappointment if I struggle with a copy or is a copy of me being strong a better sign?" Walter was still focused on seeming impressive in later reports to Mia.
The fake pulled out its 'bent wand' and fired. Walter dashed to the side, dodging it. He watched the beam, and then observed the impact location. "I would be amazed if it could copy equipment too, but it… can't? It's a mere imitation. This beam wasn't one of ours. It was a heat beam, like the ones the bat familiars spammed."
"So copy this." Walter pulled out his custom flintlock and fired. The enemy dodged, taking to the nearby wall. Showing to everyone that Walter also knew [Wall Shadow].
"Shield dammit! Stop revealing my moves!" Walter ran up the wall to join his fake and the two exchanged attacks. This was what Walter needed. He'd been bound to ranged combat for so long that he was beyond rusty. "What better way to get back in shape?" He asked aloud.
"Like this." Walter felt a chain wrap around his arm and throw him. It was Renair. She was throwing him towards her own fake.
"What gives!?" Walter asked, pulling out his own blade to clash with the mimic.
"You fight me, I'll fight you. Your stats are higher from the assistance the Shield Lord provided, but your blade is rusted. Meanwhile, my copy lacks power but… my blade is quite sharp. Werner, with me." Renair called.
"To be honest, I really wanted to kill the fake you." Werner admitted.
"Jerk." Renair pouted.
"You killed the fake me! Gruesomely, might I add!" Werner argued earnestly.
"Jerk." Renair kept pouting.
Before Werner could ignore her and fight her fake more, she gave him a serious look. "There's something to see here." She told him.
Werner knew her serious face was a rare sight. "...Very well."
Walter saw the chain coming for him and moved, only for a knife to be inserted into the chain and redirect it, cutting his cheek as he struggled to dodge the second hidden attack. "...I'd rather fight my copy honestly." Once they traded dancing partners, the battle intensified.
To no one's surprise, Filo and Leon made absolutely sure to rush the other's fake. An evil version of the other that they are allowed to beat to death? They were very excited by the idea.
Leon tried to take the fake Filo by surprise. He came in with no small number of fireballs. He wanted to defeat his enemy rather than monologue, not the other way around. Unfortunately, he approached with a maniacal laugh, tipping off his target. She moved several feet away at the last moment. When Leon searched for her, she was already in her full filolial form. She lunged at Leon and he knew dodging her wasn't actually the best option.
He moved almost out of the way but allowed her to cleanly cut him with the edges of her talon. However, he misjudged the distance and the wound that he was hoping to be a scratch ended up being two cuts nearly an inch deep, blood dripping profusely.
"Don't think that means anything," Leon told the fake. "I had to let you hit me. That double damage on the first hit could be deadly. But now that I let this thing damage me, the threat of that is already gone." Leon swelled with fire as he went to reengage. "Round two!"
He threw magic around and breathed fire, trying to use wide-area magic to limit her escaping options, but it always seemed fast enough to escape anyway. Leon knew he could win this way, but there were too many other people in the way and he took this tactic any further, he'd end up hurting allies. "Hurting allies? Hmmm" Leon needed to think.
The real Filo found the fake Leon before he could attack anyone else. Seeing her approach, the mimic threw several fireballs at her.
"No good~!" Filo sent just enough wind to snuff out the fireballs without hurting the fake. She knew she needed to value her initial damage bonus here. Filo charged mana and life force into her hand, forming [Mana Talons].
[Spiral Strike]! Filo wasted no time and went for the kill immediately. However, her attack missed the mark completely. What Filo failed to consider until this moment was an ability Leon rarely used, [Smog of War]. It was just a smokescreen, yet Leon himself had never shown any signs of struggling to see through all the smoke he created. It took until this moment for Filo to realize that Leon could see through smoke or at least had an easier time doing so. So her attempted attack was actually quite telegraphed just now.
She caught sight of the fake in the smoke and tried another strike. This time she saw the attack hit the mark. However, the moment she pierced the target, it fell apart into fire.
"!" Filo's shock nearly left her open to a spear being swung by the fake behind her. She freaked out. She saw a spear behind her and the mark on her back ached. She panicked and kicked at them blindly. She was both lucky and unlucky. She managed to kick the attack away, but she did so by kicking the mimic's arm. This meant she just spent her double damage bonus on an extremely superficial attack. It'd likely not even bruise.
With that advantage lost and this fake seeming to prefer using the staff as a spear, Filo was beginning to regret her choice of opponent.
Teal hesitated the most when she saw her opponent, another Teal. Teal took out her sword and struck the stance Raphtalia had taught her. Teal wanted to learn how to fight like her mother, and how to be more like her. The mimic did not mirror this motion at all. It grew out its arms and legs, tentacles spouting out of its back, began spewing poisons out, and just generally became ugly and scary.
Teal frowned and shook with anger. "That's the optimal thing to do. I… disagree." She seemed to be arguing something to herself.
Teal lunged forward, swinging her blade in a long, wide arc. The opponent's body was so lanky and free-moving that the body was able to fold away from the attack completely.
"Tsk." Teal wasn't just frustrated that she missed. "I knew it." She expected this.
She continued swinging her sword while taking further steps forward. Teal knew that the moment she stopped using these wide swings she was going to be in a world of hurt. She needed to do substantial damage before that happened. Teal could not run out of breath. She could keep swinging for an hour, but as she kept missing because of her enemy taking advantage of her abilities in ways she never did, she saw this bearing no fruit.
She kept swinging to buy time to figure out how to solve the current problem. One that didn't compromise who she wanted to be.
Despite finishing Glass' mimic before, Glass found herself in a mirror match as well. They had pushed their enemies so completely that they accidentally pushed forward enough for another floor section to reveal itself to be a mimic and copy Glass. She had left L'arc and Therese's mimics injured enough that she felt confident switching to focusing on her own fake alone. This decision was now proving to be an issue. Glass was not overcoming her lesser right away, but fought in a very calm and consistent manner. For reasons unknown to those around her, Glass was able to easily take attacks from her foe knowingly and follow up her mimic with a heavier hit. She seemed to have a much, much better grasp on fighting herself than everyone else.
Everyone fought tooth and nail, finding frustration and appreciation in how strong they or their comrade were, even with only 80% of the original's stats.
Unfortunately, that wasn't going to remain that way. Just as some of Naofumi's allies were going to take out their enemies and tip the balance of the fight definitively, the balance was swung in the other direction.
The Naofumi mimic raised his hand up as a familiar glow told them that things just got a lot harder. Suddenly, each mimic began to glow and gained power and speed, instantly turning the battle around.
"You have to be shitting me! They can even copy things like [Zweite Aura]!?" Naofumi was beside himself now.
The battle changed immediately. Walter was about to finish his opponent, having already knocked as much rust off his skill as he could afford, but now the Renair mimic was nearly as strong as he was. Combined with the still present skill gap, things began looking bad. He found himself covered in light cuts he barely couldn't dodge, each was meant to kill. He already confirmed that the mimic's knife didn't have a venom coating, so the damage was truly just cosmetic, but he knew one slip-up would be his death.
Werner and Renair were having an even rougher time fighting the fake Walter. He was roughly an even match for Werner before, but now he had no choice. Werner assumed a form similar to a phoenix. Deep red wings with long elaborate feathers that ended in a golden design. It seemed to harken back to the vermillion bird with its majestic visage. The air surrounding him lit aflame and expanded outward. Renair seemed to have known he was capable of this because she retreated a bit to keep herself out of his range.
"Take away his magic." Werner told her.
"Already on it." Renair said, followed by a chant. [Drifa Clinging Chain]
Her chain left her and found itself wrapped around the mimic. "Now if he uses lightning magic, he'll only hurt himself. My chains are made of a conductive metal, as you well know."
"..." Werner just realized something. At first, he thought that this Walter character was simply very skilled. That perhaps he was copying Renair's fighting style, or that maybe the mimic copied only Walter's appearance and stats and chose to copy Renair's style. But just now he realized something. "How did you know he used lightning magic? Neither this Walter nor the real one has showcased it to my knowledge."
Seeing as the cat was out of the bag, it was time to go big. "Screw it then." Walter said.
He began chanting His hands outstretched on either side, forming a barrel from his chest.
[Drifa Railgun]!
Lighting shot out of his arms and chest and began tugging at all the metal in front of him. That being the fake Renair's weapons and further away, the fake Walter. The chain, knife, chakram, and dozens of needles. The further target was not losing the grip on his weapons, but was still being pulled away, forcing the mimic to fight to even just remain where it currently was, made all the worse because of the metal shoulder it copied and now being wrapped in chains.
After a brief period of gathering ammo, the spell reversed, shooting all the collected metal as shrapnel in a general direction. Like a shotgun powered by a thunderstorm the attack tore several holes through the mimic's body. That said, the mimic survived. The power of [Zweite Aura] allowed it to survive an attack that would have been a sure kill otherwise.
With that attack, even though it survived, marked the end of Walter's problems. He would re-engage the mimic from here. The heavy injuries offset the power it still had from [Zweite Aura].
So the mimic used another ability to keep up the pressure. Black smoke began to come from the end of her tail as it molded into a shape. After a moment, it formed another her that mirrored her movements and met at the ends of their tails connecting.
"Oh… [A Cat of Two Tails]... Fuck." Walter was not pleased.
While this went on, a conversation occurred.
"..." Renair winced at the question.
"Is he…?" Walter went to ask something.
"Yeah." Renair answered with an accompanying sigh, hating that he figured out whatever he did.
"And that means Jaralis…" Werner again did not finish her statement.
"Got it in one." Renair replied. "Are you going to snitch?" Her eyes leveled at his with a hint of a threat.
If he was afraid, he didn't show it. "It does not affect me or the elite races, and if anything it's a benefit to Siltvelt." He responded calmly.
"Then why ask?" Renair asked.
"Because that means Jaralis failed another scheme. There is joy to be had in that." He said with a rare smile on his part
"On this, we agree." Renair commented.
Werner began to chant something that made the whole room heat up a bit. He finished his chant by flapping his wings. [Drifa Heatwave]! Fire and, more importantly, an oppressive heat threw itself at the bound mimic. The skin burned and the creature struggled with slight screaming.
"Just a bit more and it will-" Werner's thoughts were cut off by his target suddenly disappearing. "Where did he-?" Werner nearly had his wing cut off by a glowing enemy. Renair threw several weapons at the target in time. It prioritized parrying the weapons and abandoned striking Werner long enough for him to take to Renair's side.
"Is that…?" Werner started to ask.
The Walter mimic stood there burned and still burning, lightning crackling through the chains and his shoulder.
Renair began answering. "Yes. [Drifa Galvanize]. A dangerous spell that supercharges one's every nerve. Allowing them to act and react at a speed the brain normally can't do as well as gain a level of precise body and muscle movement that allow for far greater options in battle."
"...I'm starting to wish Jaralis aimed better." Werner said, his lighthearted comment seeming full of more worry than he wanted to let on.
"Heh, at least my spell is still slowing it down." Renair readied herself with her last remaining dagger.
"That was it slowed down? …We need to ask for further assistance." Werner didn't like these odds.
"Werner… I know you wish to take the full breath of this journey with Naofumi-sama, but if you don't show him your capabilities, he'll pick Jaralis over you. I'd prefer that not happen." Renair spoke more seriously.
"..." Werner said nothing.
"I know how strong you are. I'll create an opening and you go for the kill. Even if you have to retire here, Naofumi-sama will see you." She prepared herself and awaited Werner's response.
"..." Wordlessly, Werner began to gather more heat and fire to his side. This fake didn't fight like the real Walter, not really. This fake preferred melee range and Werner would make it regret flying too close to the sun.
Glass' Mimic went from being the most sure to die to the largest annoyance. While all the other mimics felt about 50% stronger, Glass' mimic seemed about 2 or even maybe three times stronger. That alone would have been the end for her group, but Glass still had a few SP potions left. Drinking one put her about on par with the mimic. Their battle was the one grabbing everyone's attention. As waves of power came off of the two of them in waves of wind and blades soaring all over the widening room, even other mimics seemed to slow down a bit, if only to avoid the danger.
Naofumi saw this and decided to act. "You better not screw us over after this." Naofumi began chanting and cast [Zweite Aura X] on Glass.
Just as with the fake, Glass tripled in power. But this was the original Glass and one that was already boosted by [Soul Healing Water]. The moment the spell was cast, a light was cast all over the widening room. Glass took only a step forward and with it a force that threw the lesser mimics against the walls. Mirellia's mimic, the mimics of her shadows, and the mimics of some of the Siltvelt council members slammed violently against the walls.
"They pushed us quite far if you are willing to trust me to this extent. I will not betray your trust." With no more words she began striking familiars down one after the other. Some would try to evade, some would have their own competing attacks swallowed up in her attacks, and a few fools even tried to block. None resisted for a time. Then the Naofumi mimic took the attack, a moment later he staggered through the smoke.
"Okay, seriously? Your defense is bullshit." L'arc was equally impressed and frustrated.
"It's fine. I'll just use this." Glass seemed to almost disappear and reappear in front of the injured mimic. She did not use a skill. She simply thrusted her fan forward.
"Is that…?" Teal seemed to notice something about the attack, a few others did too, including Raphtalia.
"It's [Hengen Muso]?" She asked.
The attack went through the fake like it was the wind, killing the source of the problem.
Filo, Leon, and Teal tried very hard to overcome their foes, but one by one their victories were stolen from them. Raphtalia assisted Teal, Godiva helped Filo, and Fitts aided Leon. The three were very frustrated that they couldn't beat their foes themselves and needed help in the end. It felt just like when they fought the other three heroes. But they also knew the best thing to do was let it happen.
"Victory is more important than pride." Naofumi told them. They nodded but did not meet his gaze.
Glass exhausted her power quickly, but managed to finish every single mimic that was in the room. "Was that perhaps too much?"
"Certainly not." The voice was Ost's. She had been near Monti this whole time, the two of them affecting enemies with magic from a distance since they had no enemies themselves.
Everyone stopped and caught their breath. Werner was exhausted from having killed Walter's mimic, yet Glass was so powerful that he worried he was eclipsed entirely. But he was glad it was over. He's rather fight the other mimics any day of the week. Even the corpse parasite familiars were preferred.
"I'm not doing that again." Fitts complained. "Next time that shit happens, buff this Glass woman right away."
Naofumi frowned. "I'd like to avoid doing that."
Glass now frowned. "I used the power to help us all. I did not betray your trust."
"Yet." Naofumi replied, less than impressed.
"Still, there's value in those fights. We got to see our own strengths and weaknesses from on outside view." Raphtalia tried to keep things positive.
"Maybe for you, we never got mimics of us." Monti motioned to himself and Ost as he led her forward to guide them further.
Suddenly Naofumi's hair stood on end as his face looked terrified. He snapped to attention and spun around towards Monti. "Monti! Get away from the front! Stay in the back!"
There was genuine fear in his voice. Monti heard that and stopped immediately. "Why? What's wrong?"
"Just hurry! Before… before… Shit." Naofumi's fear came true before he could even voice it. The last section of the floor was the singularly remaining mimic and transformed into a copy of Monti. It looked like him but that menacing look that gave off an evil feeling was not one that Monti seemed to be capable of.
"Oh… We're screwed." Teal said, Filo and Leon nodded.
"It's just the brat. We got this." L'arc seemed unimpressed and leapt over the others, scythe drawn, bringing it down on the fake.
"Hyaa-" L'arc's weapon came to a sudden and violent stop. The mimic caught the weapon with ease and used it to slam L'arc some violently that he nearly lost consciousness. Glass came to L'arc's rescue and struck Monti's hand to force him to let go. He didn't. The creature glanced momentarily at Glass before meeting her with his tail, striking her so hard that she was thrown halfway to the other side of the room.
"Wh-What the hell!? Since when is he this strong? Isn't a mimic supposed to be weaker than the original?" L'arc protested.
And normally he'd be right. But unfortunately for everyone there, they were now facing a Monti that didn't hold back, ever. Even if it was only 80% of the real deal, it was still a bigger threat than what they faced just before. The beast glanced over the room, filling each who shared sight with him to raise their guard or retreat a few steps. Somehow this thing seemed to be a threat second only to the Spirit Tortoise itself.
.
[Author's Notes]
God, this took forever. It's more than a little chaotic and bounces around everywhere. Not sure if I like how chaotic it is or not.
Next time, we'll get a glimpse at what a Monti that is ready to kill can do. A prelude to things to come?
I know these keep taking longer and I wish it wasn't the case. I like my stories and would never abandon them without finishing them in some way. Life is just being a final JRPG boss who seems to always have another form. Maybe this one came slowly because of how many people I am juggling? That won't be a problem soon enough...
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