Contrary to the expectations of the livestream audience, the first to clash weren’t the two magic warriors whose eyes spewed fire and bodies crackled with electricity.
Instead, it was the two priests who, combined, probably didn’t even weigh 150 pounds.
The holy gold-forged gun-sword and the perfectly replicated imitation from the Square Water Mirror clashed violently in midair.
In that instant, the explosive shockwave rippled outward like tangible ripples, billowing both their clothes.
The sparks that erupted were even more dazzling than illumination magic.
[Holy shit, she’s creating sonic booms fighting hand-to-hand with her own copy? What kind of monster strength does this priest have?]
[You new here? Didn’t you see her soloing three nocturnal-grade monsters earlier?]
[So bright, so loud—Third Maze Boss Room is just one Light Giant after another]
“Not bad strength… but that’s all it is, imitation!”
In the moment when vision was obscured by blinding light and shockwaves, Kars flashed a wild, predatory grin at the “clone” that looked exactly like her.
She twisted her wrist, and instead of slowing down her heavy downward strike, she added a second burst of force, forcing her opponent’s knee to bend.
The expressionless copy furrowed its brow slightly, used the momentum to roll backward, and retaliated with a standard spinning kick—which Kars dodged by leaning back.
But just as she was straightening up, a piercing thunderclap assaulted her from the blind spot behind her.
Knowing Gray as well as she did, Noctiluca understood that this surge of lightning couldn’t have been produced by him—especially not now, when his reason hadn’t dropped to zero.
So the one charging at her at breakneck speed had to be the copy.
The livestream drone’s lens faithfully captured the figure transformed into gray lightning, its face twisted in fury as it sprinted forward.
[He’s gonna get her from behind! She’s done for!]
“Dodge it, little Kars!”
Both the barrage of comments and Ingram in front of his screen broke into cold sweats for Kars, who couldn’t defend herself in time.
Only Ingram himself sat there calmly sipping tea, as if he had no worries at all.
***
Back in the mansion, Lobelia’s eyes first flickered with schadenfreude, but soon her smile faltered.
‘Hah. As if Gray would just stand by and let his precious little priest fall into a pincer attack.’
Sure enough, the next instant, two longswords wreathed in lightning clashed in midair, the metallic screech setting teeth on edge.
The real Gray had somehow appeared behind Kars, holding his blade with one hand and firmly blocking the copy’s sneak attack.
His usually gentle chestnut eyes now blazed with chilling killing intent.
“Trying to touch my captain?”
Gray stared at the enraged copy across from him, his voice cold as ice.
“Did I give you permission? Fake.”
At this moment, both warriors found the other unforgivable.
One side was furious that the copy had kissed Kars first (even if it was fake), while the other was enraged at having its enjoyment of possessing a beautiful girl interrupted.
Thunder Fang, Dragon Ascension Slash, Lightning Blade Flash, Thunderclap, Fire Thunder God…
The two warriors instantly transformed into two blurred masses of lightning, blade flashes and sword shadows illuminating the dim church as bright as day.
For a time, they were evenly matched—just as Gray had predicted.
It would come down to relying on the slight advantage provided by those potions, slowly wearing down the opponent’s stamina.
***
On the other side, Kars sensed something was off.
‘Did this Square Water Mirror only copy half of me when it created this replica?’
Exaggerated brute strength, abundant mana reserves… but a fighting style completely ignorant of sword-gun technique.
CLANG!
Another unadorned, head-on clash.
Both priests slid backward simultaneously, opening up a dozen meters of distance.
Looking at the lifeless yet flawlessly exquisite gray face across from her, Kars thought for a moment, then the corner of her mouth curled upward into a malicious smile.
‘If I’m guessing right, the Square Water Mirror only copied the stats and skills of this girl named “Kars.”‘
‘Then maybe for her, I just need to shift my thinking a little bit. This “All Beings Equal Monster” and its perfect copy can be broken through right here.’
For most heroes, defeating a numerically identical version of themselves was genuinely difficult.
But defeating a “newbie priest who only knows how to swing weapons with brute force”?
For the Calamity Pillar Noctiluca, who possessed a wealth of combat experience, that was practically a cakewalk.
Still…
Kars’ peripheral vision caught the livestream drone buzzing in the air like a dragonfly.
‘First, I need to take out that annoying pair of eyes.’
She made her decision and immediately turned to flee.
The gray-haired copy, not understanding why, simply brandished its heavy gun-sword and gave chase.
As the two engaged in their intense chase, the fluttering skirts, graceful figures, and the occasional glimpse of their Absolute Domains instantly captured the livestream drone’s lens.
Driven by the soaring popularity in the livestream room, it flew lower, closer—giving Kars the opportunity she needed.
Using the upward sweep of her sword-gun to execute a backflip, Kars chanted in midair and conjured a Light Sphere, hurling it at the copy on the ground.
The gray copy mimicked her movements, condensing its own Light Sphere atop its gun-sword.
Seeing the sphere of pure Light Elements flying upward toward her, Kars could no longer suppress her smirk.
‘Got it.’
In truth, the Light Sphere she had condensed contained a tiny core of Mana at its center, allowing her—using her Calamity Pillar abilities—to guide both spheres to collide and merge, redirecting them toward the unsuspecting spherical alchemy drone.
BOOM!
Two concentrated masses of Light Elements exploded at point-blank range right in front of the livestream drone’s lens!
[I’m blind! I’m blind! I got flashbanged!]
[Why is there no signal? I want a refund! Why is there no signal? I want a refund!]
Under the effects of the erupting elemental turbulence, the magical circuits inside the drone briefly overloaded.
Then it plummeted straight down, crashing to the ground with a clatter, emitting a puff of black smoke before falling still.
The gray-haired girl’s copy stared at the smashed alchemy machinery, completely failing to understand the point of what the other version of herself had just done.
‘Since our stats and attributes are exactly the same, why go to the extra trouble of wasting mana?
Doesn’t that just lower her own chances of winning?’
It didn’t understand that “herself.”
But it also couldn’t be bothered to think that deeply.
At this moment, it only wanted to quickly defeat the two heroes in front of it and return to “Lord Gray’s” embrace to continue being doted on.
The gray-haired girl shook her head, planning to resume her offensive once the flash from the light explosion faded.
‘If the opponent just wasted a bit of mana, how should I exploit that—’
Before she could figure out a plan, a terrifying gust of wind suddenly came crashing through the dust-filled air ahead.
The gray-haired girl dodged.
‘What kind of noise is that? Is it that man’s blade wind?’
Impossible.
A longsword could only produce a sharp, “swishing” sound as it cut through the air.
But this sound…
It sounded like someone was swinging an entire building around.
Fifty meters, twenty meters—the terrifying sound approached with incredible speed.
The gray Kars didn’t have time to think; she instinctively raised a shield.
When the light and dust cleared, she finally saw clearly: the young girl, leaping high into the air with her sword-gun in hand, and the light emanating from the light-gem embedded in the tip of that weapon.
That light was so brilliant it seemed tangible, condensing at the weapon’s tip into a massive hammerhead.
“Take this hammer!”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.