A/N: For the finale of ACT TWO I've decided to give everyone a double release of chapters. There will two chapters tonight, so please enjoy them both! Next week's one year anniversary of the fic will be the teaser for ACT THREE (Arc 3).

Chapter 75: Searching With My Good Eye Closed

Just like the last three rooms, the whiteness of the space was nearly blinding as it displayed its flawless smooth texture. Stepping inside, the door behind them shut, locking them inside.

Rem: There it is.

As YN turned to view where Rem had gestured, he heard the sound of rusty pipes and rattling chains fill the air next to him as he squinted to make out the object in question across the room. At its very center, a pedestal stood, with the last of the crystals they'd need to destroy.

Rem: Rem will make quick work of this!

Reaching back and winding up, Rem threw her morningstar. As she launched it towards the pedestal though, it suddenly moved.

Seeing her morningstar fly past its intended target, Rem voiced her frustration.

Rem: It's evading!

But, with her morningstar blocking most of the view and Rem tunnel visioning on what she perceived was the only target, YN corrected her.

YN: No, it's multiplying!

While the pedestal had moved, it hadn't moved in just one way. As Rem had thrown her spiked ball to destroy the crystal, it had split into two complete halves. Like a cell performing mitosis, the area it had once occupied was no longer filled, but to its flanks, the two new halves remained as exact copies of its former self.

Recalling her morningstar with a pull of the chain, Rem went for another sweeping strike, hoping to nail both of the new copies.

Rem: Hiyaa!

Just like last time though, each pedestal split, creating four copies of the crystal.

YN: Damn it!

Watching as the number had doubled again, Rem deducted what YN was about to suggest; "stop attacking!" Pulling back on the chain once more, the spiked ball returned to her.

Looking to regroup before they made their situation worse, the two stepped closer to each other.

YN: I think it's the same as the mud-men, if we destroy them, they must keep multiplying.

Rem: Then how are we supposed to destroy the— YN-kun! Look.

Cutting her own words off, Rem pointed out towards the four pedestals that remained unscathed. At least, there had been four.

Watching as they began to orbit the center of the room like little moons around the world, from their rotation, a split from each was born, again doubling their numbers.

YN: I don't like the look of this...

Remaining stationary, the four new pedestals again split, forming another four. With eight now stationery, they began to move as well. Also orbiting the center of the room, they traveled opposite of the first four but at a slower speed.

With their earlier assumption of "don't attack because they multiply," having been broken by the sudden, and unprovoked duplication, Rem hastily drew in a new strategy.

Rem: Rem will try once more!

Sending her morningstar out on a wide swing, Rem sought to hit each crystal in one foul swoop. Yet—

Rem: W-Wha?!

Watching as the spiked head of her weapon casually traveled through each of the pedestals, no damage was done.

Calling back her weapon once more, Rem remained speechless as the pedestals all duplicated again.

YN: They're like holograms, or apparitions, or mirages...

As the count of potential targets grew to be over two dozen by now, they each racked their minds for ideas of what this meant.

YN: Maybe the real one is moving around?

Rem: YN-kun is supposing the real one is changing so it cannot be hit?

YN: That's the only thing I can come up with. You hit all of them once, just not at the same time...

Rem: Then we should just need to hit them all at once?

Shrugging, YN didn't want to inspire false hope in Rem.

YN: Maybe that's why this is the 'Wind' trial? Would Wind magic be the best for an attack to hit many targets at the same time?

While Fire, Earth, Water, or even Yin and Yang could also manage to do that, none of them could hit their targets as quickly as a wind spell could.

That difference in the delay of the attack could mean the difference in getting the real pedestal.

Rem: If only Nee-sama were here, she could use her Wind magic to hit them all, Rem is certain. But, with both of us here, we may be able to do the same thing.

Provided it all doesn't need to be destroyed by the same spell that is...

Not wishing to dwell on any more potential variables, YN concluded his own thoughts to be in agreement with Rem's.

YN: It's worth trying... I think if we coordinate my Jiwald with your El Huma, we might be able to get them all at once—

Almost as if they were capable of hearing their plan, the pedestals stopped in unison, halting YN's words as well as he anticipated something was changing.

YN: — — —

Rem: — — —

Remaining silent for a moment, each of the pedestals began to shake, until they each split, further duplicating their numbers.

YN: You've gotta be kidding me.

No sooner than he had voiced his frustration, they each split again.

And again.

And again.

As the area was now filled with pedestals, slowly rotating in concentric rings about the center of the room, both Rem and YN had lost count of the sheer number of potential duplicates there was compared to the single one that they needed to destroy.

Rem: There's... so many now.

Pinching the bridge of his brow, YN rubbed his face with his hand and lamented.

YN: Well, this is just great.

Giving a labored sigh, Rem stepped to his side.

Rem: Perhaps we should think more together on how to solve this. Rem doesn't feel like there is any direct threat if we sit... and YN-kun looks like he needs a break.

Finding no fault in her observation, YN sat down on the white floor on what little room they each still had that wasn't occupied by slowly rotating pedestals with a crystal on top.

Still, even as he tried to relax as well as he could, YN found it hard to concentrate.

YN: I could think better if it weren't so bright in here...

Taking the opportunity to assist the one who held her heart, Rem stepped before YN, placing him in her shadow.

Unsure if that would truly do anything though, YN figured the light bouncing across the room would still be just as bright. The walls of the room would just reflect most of that light, yet—

YN: Huh?

Looking down, Rem's shadow blanketed his body.

Rem: Hmm? Is there something about Rem to YN-kun's disliking?

Standing up, YN planted his hands on her shoulders, causing Rem's face to immediately turn scarlet.

S-So direct...

Leaning in and giving the oni a kiss on the forehead, he quickly followed that up with a few very well rewarded headpats.

YN: Rem, you;re a genius.

Rem: Wha–? Huh?!

Suddenly being showered with praise, the blue haired maid didn't understand what for. However, stepping past her, YN explained.

YN: Rem, you just put your shadow over me to shield me from the light, correct?

Fidgeting with her hands, Rem assumed that to be true with a shallow, but nervous nod.

YN: Now tell me, how many shadows do you have?

Looking down at her still bare feet, they remained caked in a thin layer of dry mud, as well as her exposed legs. From where they had entered and where they stood now, both of them had left a small trail of dirt behind them as the dried mud slowly flaked off.

Rem: Umm, Rem can see her one and only shadow.

YN: Right. Same goes for me as well.

Turning away from her and towards the slowly rotating pedestals, YN pointed down at their base.

YN: Tell me what's wrong with this.

Walking forward a few paces and bending over, Rem tilted her head as she contemplated what YN might be suggesting. Looking as if she was about to give up, it was then Rem noticed what was wrong, letting out a small gasp.

Rem: They... They don't have any shadows.

YN: Exactly, how can you expect anything to be real if it doesn't cast its own shadow.

Stepping through a few of the phantom pedestals, YN pointed back down to his shadow.

YN: See?

While the pedestals caught in the eclipse of his shadow had darkened, his shadow on the ground remained unwarped, as if he had two shadows that were behaving differently.

YN: The trial is smart enough to fake a shadow over it, but it can't produce one of its own.

Putting a hand to her chin, Rem thought over what this meant before summarizing to YN.

Rem: YN-kun is saying we need to find the one pedestal with its shadow then?

YN: If only it were that simple.

Looking out over the sea of pedestals slowly dancing across the white floor, they numbered so many and were placed so densely it made seeing what could or would be it's shadow nearly impossible.

But to YN, this wasn't the only hurdle.

YN: The real crystal obviously has the ability to jump to the various doppelgangers if it finds itself in trouble. That's evident by the fact that when you tried to take them all out with your morningstar, it went through each one.

Thinking what that meant, Rem responded with a hint of defeat in her voice.

Rem: Then we are back where we started then, no? YN-kun and Rem have no way of attacking them all at once, which is still needed.

YN: We don't need to hit them all at once, we just need to expose them all at once—

Beginning to walk to the center of the room, YN finished his explanation.

YN: —In other words, give it nowhere to hide.

As Rem stood hesitantly by herself at the edge of the room, YN now stood at its center with all the pedestals now orbiting him.

Rem: YN-kun, please don't try anything hasty...

YN: I won't have to, as long as you can get your morningstar ready.

Shaking the chain and hilt in her hands, the weapon made its iconic sound. Looking on at him, Rem silently asked what the plan was, as well as assuring YN he had her unyielding trust.

Raising one arm straight up and above himself, palm facing the ceiling, YN readied mana in his hand.

YN: Rem, before we begin, and so you understand, I have only four questions for you, much like how this place has four trials for us.

Lifting his thumb and three fingers to Rem with his free hand, she nodded confidently.

Rem: Yes?

YN: I want you to imagine yourself standing on the mansion's front just got through serving Emilia-sama her mid-day tea and decided to go for a walk. You're facing towards the mountains to the north, admiring how they look. Where is the sun in the sky?

Rem: Rem usually serves Emilia-sama her tea right after Wind Time... meaning the sun would be near its highest point in the sky.

Lowering the first of his four held up digits, YN nodded.

YN: I see. Now then, back to standing outside. Picture it, and tell me, where is your shadow?

Closing her eyes, Rem imagined what YN asked of her.

Rem: It is... to Rem's left.

As a second digit fell, half of them now remained.

YN: Good. Okay, next part. Let's say, you need your shadow to be on the right side of you, and you can't wait till the start of Water Time. —And you can't look away from the mountains! How would you do that?

Thinking for only a moment, Rem answered.

Rem: The easy answer would be just to turn around, but that would mean looking away from the mountains... Rem would need a brighter light than the sun to cast a new shadow then, correct?

Letting another digit fall, the mana in YN's other hand was at full capacity.

YN: Right. Now, last question. I want you to picture how big that shadow of yours is at the end of Wind Time, when Fire Time begins. If you wanted your shadow to be longer and more noticeable, what would you need to do?

With no hesitation this time, Rem replied.

Rem: At the start of Fire Time, Rem's shadow would be very short because of how high the sun is, and for it to be longer, all she would need to do is wait for the start of Water Time when the sun is setting.

YN: Exactly. If we put all of that together, to get a shadow on the other side of you, and have it be longer—

Rem: —The sunrise!

As his last remaining digit was still held up, he pointed it at Rem, giving her a finger gun, signaling she had correctly guessed what he was getting at.

YN: That's right, we need the sunrise. But since we don't have the sun here, I'll need to stand in.

Letting the mana in his palm peak, YN let out his spell.

YN: Get ready Rem! Jiwald!

Firing off a wide and bright Yang spell, YN flooded the room with bright light, emulating the power of the rising sun coming over the horizon.

Shuddering her eyes, Rem was forced to avert them by looking behind herself as YN kept his magic flowing. Seeing her own silhouette, it was long and tall as it reached the wall behind her and crawled up it's side.

Squinting as she might, Rem struggled to turn her head back the other way as she readied her morningstar to quickly locate the shadow of the real pedestal. Yet, as she did, she suddenly noticed something else.

On the same wall as her own shadow, another began to grow next to it. Simple in shape and moving unhurried across her own shadow, the silhouette of their target had been found amongst the sea of dancing doppelgangers.

That's it.

Braving the harsh light, Rem reached back with her morningstar, and flung it at the origin of the pedestal's shadow. As the pedestals had moved silently across white floor, the only other sound was the twinkling crackle of YN's Yang spell, but that quiet atmosphere was quickly broken by the shattering sound of the head of Rem's weapon impacting the crystal.

Ending the flow of magic to his hands, YN lowered his arm, and let his eye's readjust to the less bright ambiance of the room. Blinking a few times, he tried to see if the other pedestals had indeed vanished, but before he could—

YN: —Hk!

Feeling a sudden impact to his front, a quick squeeze of his entire body, and a soft peck against his cheeks, YN nearly toppled from the impromptu barrage of the culprit back, Rem looked up at him and shook her azure hair from infront of her eyes as she smiled with a brightness akin to what he had just cast.

Rem: YN-kun! We've done it! Rem has smashed the crystal!

Returning the smile, YN gave her a series of pats that she had well earned.

YN: Yeah you did. Where would I be without you?

Rem: Rem cannot guess, but she wants her YN-kun to know that she very much enjoys being there for him.

YN: We wouldn't be able to progress if it hadn't been for you...

Holding the blue haired maid in his arms for a moment longer, YN looked about the room.

YN: But uhh, now that the trial is over, what happens now? How do we get out?

Perking up at something behind him, Rem pointed at something beyond YN's vision from one of the arms she had held him with.

Rem: Rem would assume that.

Trying to turn his head to see, YN was unable to, given the tight oni-strength hug he was in.

YN: W-What? I can't see what you're talking about—

Craning his head, a force felt like it was dragging him backwards. Either like going on an escalator backwards or being pulled by the undertow on the beach, YN was slipping backwards into a blinding light.

YN: Woah woah—!