Chương 129: Chapter 129
The clones didn't attack…because they couldn't.
FUUUUUSH
…because they were locked down by the heavy pressure he was releasing.
"...let's begin round two."
GRUUU Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su Su
With a blazing red aura manifesting itself around him, the redhead was finally getting serious. There were absolutely no signs of fatigue anywhere on his body.
In fact, he was brimming with vitality.
Tswii!…BOOM!
.
|DxD|
.
Stamina. If there was one thing Igor had the most in abundance, it was stamina.
Tswii! Tswii! Tswii! Tswii!
Decades of gravity training honed his body into a machine. With most of his techniques revolving around the use of stamina, his body had evolved to better handle the strain. Techniques like the Kaioken and Instant Vanish that rely primarily on stamina and endurance require strong physiques that can handle the strain of their usage.
Gu! Gu! Gu! Gu!
The scales had tipped and the previous battle of attrition had turned into a blitzkrieg. Utilising his Instant Vanish, Yin-Yang Breathing Method, and if possible, his Instant Transmission, Igor was able to turn the tables on his clones.
Tswii! Tswii! BOOOM!
One moment, he would seemingly appear committed to attacking one clone before suddenly vanishing and attacking the other. He did not hold back and had no scruples in abusing the Instant Vanish or Instant Transmission.
Unfortunately, matters became a lot more complicated when his clones could also use the same techniques he could. With the Instant Transmission…
Tswii! Tswii! Tswii! Tswii! Tswii! Tswii!
It would become an endless teleportation spree with one aiming to attack the other. As much as Igor enjoyed taking risks, the last thing he needed was getting lost in the Teleportation Zone due to having lost his focus.
So his primary attack method defaulted to the Instant Vanish. At the very least, he could see where he was rapidly accelerating to.
Despite both him and his clones having the same level of power, they lacked his mentality and combat awareness. No matter how much they tried to team up against him, they couldn't properly fight back…
Tswii! Tswi! …BLOCK!
…even if they could also use the same skills as him.
*Struggle…Struggle…*
He held their fists firmly within his grasp, his grip firm while their arms trembled.
"This is why I like fighting alone. You two prioritise protecting each other over attacking me, which makes it easier for me to exploit that weakness."
His words, while they didn't process in their heads, were true. The clones were only dolls whose basic parameters were to protect each other and kill the original. This severely restricted their means since protecting each other seemed to hold higher priority over killing the original.
The redhead managed to exploit this by rushing towards one clone before switching over to the other clone. The second clone would be in a relatively defenceless state due to rushing to the other. And without sentience, they seemed to lack the capability to adapt to this.
Having the fist of the clones firmly within his grasp, the clones tried using their other fists, but the moment they tried doing so, he flew down with their limbs still in his grasp. The clones were forcefully pulled down and before they could even react, they were slammed into the ground.
BOOOOM!
The ground in the time chamber was hard and certainly more durable than even the hardest rock on Earth. But at this moment, two massive craters had been created. The force that Igor threw them with was so powerful to the point that even after a few seconds had passed, the clones still hadn't gotten up.
The redhead remained floating up in the air. Despite the almost overwhelming advantage he had against the clones, he didn't get off without a few scratches. Despite a few minor wounds here and there as well as his clothes being slightly torn, he was still in a relatively good condition.
Compared to the clones that were lying on the ground, he might even considered to be in perfect condition. Their clothes were completely in tatters with one clone even having half of its shirt torn off. Their skin was more red than white with wounds covering nearly every single part of their body. Even the arms Igor held them with were completely broken due to the force of the throw.
But contrary to feeling excited, Igor had a slight trace of sweat on his face.
"I think…I went a bit too far."
Either he overestimated the strength of the two clones or he used too much strength in his throw. Regardless, it was a fact that those clones were Aurelia's results of painstaking research…and those clones were now lying crippled on the ground.
"Should I try and fix them?"
Despite the battle being rather short, he genuinely did enjoy fighting against them. Losing the two clones that could keep up with him in a fight wouldn't bode well for his battle-addiction. Not having something is much better than tasting it once and then having to survive without it. Having tasted a fight after so long, he truly did not want to endure a few more years without feeling that adrenaline rush again.
Gradually descending towards the ground, he was just contemplating what to do when all of a sudden, the clones released a white light before splitting into little motes of light that slowly vanished.
"Heh?"
*Confusion*
*Processes Images*
*Confusion Recedes*
*Realisation Surfaces*
*Realisation*
*REALISATION*
"?!?!"
The blonde was so taken aback by the sudden phenomenon that he couldn't even maintain his transformation.
"No…"
Like an alcoholic watching a bottle of wine being shattered before his eyes, Igor gradually descended into despair.
"No!"
He flew down to the ground in a burst of speed and began futilely collecting the motes of lights, but they always vanished within his grasp. His eyes were wide open with panic, his hands reaching out so fast that they left afterimages.
"Aaaa! Don't leave me! Don't leave me! I promise I won't beat you so much next time!"
Yet no matter how he pleaded, the motes continued to vanish until finally, not a single sliver was left. Looking at his empty palms, a single tear trailed down his cheek.
"Stupid. Stupid, stupid, STUPID!"
Collapsing to his knees, he began pounding the ground.
"Whyyyyyy! Why was I so harsh on them! If I just…if only I restrained myself a little…"
Gone was happiness. Present was sadness. His heart felt heavier than the tattered weighted clothing he had on. Even the blood splotches of the clones on his clothes had vanished, leaving him in a pit of endless sadness.
Like a gambler who had lost everything, he sat on the cratered ground with his hands on his head in silence. For a whole minute, he did not move. Resembling a person in mourning, there were dark clouds hanging over him.
He would've continued to brood had he not felt the magic circle of Aurelia manifest next to him.
Vwong!
With a brief flash of golden light, Aurelia appeared with her ever-neutral expression on her face. Despite being dressed in a simple dress, it did little, if nothing to diminish her beauty. Surveying the area around her, she finally turned around to face the blonde who looked at her with an empty gaze.
[What happened for him to be like this?]
Despite having been far away in the library, she had been paying attention to the battle. Knowing that the clones had lost relatively easily, she couldn't understand why he would be in such a state.
[He even defeated them just before the five minute mark was up. So logically, he shouldn't have been dissatisfied.]
The clones had a five minute timer on them before they would eventually cease to exist. If the clones had vanished in the middle of the fight, she would understand why he appeared so melancholic. Yet before she could ponder even further, the blonde suddenly jumped up and grabbed her by the shoulders.
His gaze was frantic like a thirsty man that had spotted an oasis.
"Sister! You can make more, right? You can make more me's, right?!"
"..."
Aurelia was…familiar with this sight. That begging expression, that tight grip on the helms of her skirt, and those quivering lips. She experienced them when he asked her to increase the weight of his clothing multiple times these past few years. She knew that when he made this expression, refusing him would lead to an hour long annoying begging session.
So wordlessly, the silverette manifested two more scrolls in her hands.
"?!"
Not willing to stand on ceremony, Igor snatched the familiar scrolls with a maniacal grin on his face.
"Haha! Thanks, elder sister!"
Jumping out of the crater, he sprinted for a few metres before he immediately unfurled them.
Fuush!
While the scrolls were still in midair, he quickly bit his thumbs and swiped them on the scrolls
Doof! Doof!
The familiar smoke. The familiar scent. The familiar…aura?
"Heh?"
What Igor expected to face were two clones that were transformed, not two clones who were like him in his base form.
"What the-"
Su! Su!
Without giving him a chance to process things, the clones charged towards him of their own accord.
"Wait wait wait! Transform first goddamnit!"
Swoosh…Swoosh
Igor dodged and parried the attacks of the two clones. But with his weighted clothes weighing him down in this heavy gravity deep in the time chamber, he was in a noticeable disadvantage. The clones did not stand on ceremony and took this chance to give him a good beating. With his armbands also having their own weight, the blonde wasn't quite fast at lifting his hands to parry blows. So he could only curl into a ball and protect his hand and other vital organs.
Gu! Gu! Gu! Gu! Gu! Gu!
The clones continued attacking him all the way without any scruples. With their attacks aimed at killing him, it was rather smart of the blonde to protect his mid-section and even the back of his neck by covering it with his palms.
Having been kicked around by the clones for over a dozen seconds, the blonde spotted an opportunity when one clone kicked him away. Fed up at being made a contemporary punching bag, the blonde exploded with power.
Gruu!
Bursting out with his Kaioken x10, he finally stood up straight with a murderous expression on his face.
"Damn bastards! I'll give you a proper beating as payback."
Su!
In a burst of speed, he rushed forward. Reaching them rather quickly, he grabbed them by their throats and pushed them to the ground. Using his aura to suppress them, he turned to look at Aurelia with slightly laboured breaths.
"Sister. Why won't they transform? Why can't they even use the Kaioken?"
He then turned towards the clones who were futilely struggling to escape his grasp, yet not a wisp of red aura emanated from them. This mildly frustrated him since he was hoping he could enjoy a two-on-one at his maximum power.
"Igor. These are just prototypes I've made. I still have a few more things to figure out before I can finally perfect the seals that can create replicas of you. Right now, they can only replicate your current state and nothing more."
"..."
Igor turned to look at the emotionless clones that were unable to move due to the pressure he was exerting on them.
"Haaa…-oh!"
Before he could finish sighing, he suddenly came up with an idea. Picking up the two clones by the neck, he reeled back his arm before throwing them away far off into the distance, one after the other.
Suuuuuuuu…
Not wasting time, he turned to face Aurelia, the aura of the Kaioken receding.
"Sister. Please increase the weight of my clothing by one…no! Two tons! Quickly! Before they come back!"
"..."
The silverette couldn't help but sigh at the sudden urgency he bestowed upon her. She was already regretting coming here or even creating these scrolls.
[If I knew this would've happened, I would've just focused on the second seal-]
Her tired expression was replaced by a dark glint. Feeling particularly mischievous, she hid a smirk behind the palm of her hand.
"Alright, Igor."
With a snap of a finger, she repaired his clothing as well as increased the weight of them to a total of two tons…times ten.
"What the?!"
Booom!
Falling to his knees at the sudden weight of twenty tons thrust upon him, the blonde barely had any time to spare a glare towards his dearest sister before two fists covered his view.
[Fuck your mother…]
BOOOOM!
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