Shia!
Shia!
I miss you.
I really miss you.
I will go.
I’m going.
Don’t worry.
We’ll meet soon.
Wait for me.
It’s not okay.
I want to be okay, but I’m not okay at all.
Shia!
Shia!
Just wait!
○○○○
At that moment, Yeonhwa, who was patrolling the dungeon for any possible doppelgangers or monsters, suddenly noticed a gigantic ice flower rising between the buildings.
“…Ice?”
But not just any ice.
The powerful ice flower mixed with mana was strikingly similar to Yeonhwa’s own freezing abilities.
It didn’t just resemble them; it felt like it had perfectly copied her extensive ability without any distinction.
The ice flower began to expand its territory, swallowing the enlarged buildings like a contagious plague, and it quickly crept toward Yeonhwa’s location.
She didn’t know how much the black ice would spread, but the shelter with civilians wasn’t that far away.
If the ice continued to spread, it could lead to unpredictable casualties.
Ha, ice in front of me.
Yeonhwa wasn’t a boastful person, but she had a minimal pride and confidence in her abilities.
Since becoming the youngest S-grade hunter in the country… no, the world, she had grown stronger than her long-lost sister, and while she wasn’t as strong as her grandmother, she had reached a position where they could stand shoulder to shoulder.
There was no way Yeonhwa would step back in fear of a single ice flower approaching her.
“Is this how it’s done?”
Creating an ice flower from her hand, Yeonhwa lightly embroidered ice into the air.
The freezing particles, imbued with mana, touched the ground and began to bloom into a vast ocean of blue ice centered around Yeonhwa.
The blue ice spread out, forming a barrier, and it clashed with the approaching black ice, but neither shattered as the spread of the ice epidemic came to a halt.
Whoever made that ice flower, they had a good idea.
As she said this, Yeonhwa slowly drew a sword from her side.
She didn’t know the identity of the one who had unleashed such a widespread ice flower in a place where people might be present.
‘Could it be a doppelganger?’
According to the information gathered by trainee personnel dispatched by the association, the doppelganger discovered in this Erosion Dungeon was a monster with average abilities at the A-grade level, including mana reserves and physical capabilities.
The doppelganger could mimic human DNA and fingerprints perfectly, and even though its blood was a viscous black liquid unlike human red blood, it would yield the blood type of the human it copied during a blood test, showcasing its remarkable mimicry skills.
However, that didn’t mean it could perfectly replicate everything.
For example, if it mimicked a soldier with a gun, the doppelganger could use its mana to replicate the soldier’s body, uniform, equipment, helmet, and even the gun it carried, but if there were no ammunition among the soldier’s possessions, the doppelganger would be left swinging an empty gun.
Even if an A-grade doppelganger mimicked an A-grade Awakened One’s body, it could use the abilities, but it wouldn’t have the same level of skill or mana as the original.
For the same reason, mimicking an S-grade hunter’s physique wouldn’t allow it to use an S-grade hunter’s abilities.
An inherently A-grade capable doppelganger would never reach even the toes of an S-grade hunter.
“Could it be a variant…”
If it were a variant, the situation would change.
If the doppelganger had consumed the dungeon core and was the master of a large-scale erosion dungeon capable of swallowing the Mapo district, one would have to think that its strength was far beyond that of a typical doppelganger.
Mimicking not just an S-grade hunter but also being able to use their abilities at will?
At this point, one could say it possessed human intelligence. And if Yeonhwa’s abilities targeted the people in the shelter, the risk would skyrocket.
While the emergence of such convenient variants was entirely unpredictable, one couldn’t ignore the fact that dungeons and monsters remained an unknown realm for humans.
“First, I have to go right away.”
Yeonhwa pressed her feet down on the ice, increasing her speed, and started moving toward the center where the ice flower bloomed.
○○○○
Now that Yeonhwa had recognized that what appeared to be her was a monster infused with a fragment of the Demon King, there would be no mercy.
No matter how much it looked like Yeonhwa, it was still the same.
It was merely a doppelganger, taking on the appearance of the most optimal target to imitate.
In a normal circumstance, Shia wouldn’t easily deal with a fragment of the Demon King, but sadly, the area was now filled with civilians trapped in the shelter due to severe dungeon corrosion.
So…
“I’ll kill it.”
Boom!!!
With Shia’s fist wrapped in divine power colliding with the black sword imbued with Yeonhwa’s frost, the ice cracking the ground could be heard while being shattered.
As she tried forcefully to push back, the black tears of blood flowing from Yeonhwa’s eyes showed no signs of retreating.
This was unexpected.
With her one strength, Shia was confident, but in the brief exchanges of blows, she realized that the strength of the thing resembling Yeonhwa was not significantly inferior to her own.
Crash, crackle!
In a direct confrontation, Shia was slightly stronger.
However, the black ice covered everything, living organisms and inanimate objects alike, and it became irritating as it tried to erode Yeonhwa’s punches, sword strikes, kicks, and even any contact made with the frozen buildings or ground nearby.
If Shia hadn’t been Shia… it would have been quite a formidable foe.
Is this the power of a fragment?
Although it was just a fragment of the Demon King’s power, that fragment itself was a massive energy source.
If it were to run a power plant like a nuclear reactor, it could potentially provide energy indefinitely.
It’s no wonder the doppelganger was this strong when it had swallowed that energy.
The boss of the mutated raid dungeon that occurred in Andong could be defeated easily because it was caught off guard. If it had fought with the full might of the Demon King’s fragment from the beginning, widespread damage would have occurred.
No, it’s not really Yeonhwa. It’s just a shadow of Yeonhwa tainted by darkness… so, I’ll call it Black Yeonhwa.
Sounds like a pretty name for a flower.
Of course, the actions weren’t pretty at all.
“Found a good host, huh?”
“A host, huh. Well, that fits.”
The ice tried to gnaw at Shia’s arm, while Shia’s divine power subtly crept to erode the black Yeonhwa’s body.
The fierce struggle didn’t last long.
As the white divine power and dark-covered ice gnawed at each other for seconds, there came a moment when the strain became too much and the air burst apart, flinging them apart.
“Freeze.”
Crack!
The detached black Yeonhwa stood atop the wall frozen by ice, stabbing its sword into the ground. At that moment, Shia felt the chilling grip of black ice reaching for her ankle.
…Brr, cold.
In a place where the surroundings were engulfed in ice, it was as if they were on the black Yeonhwa’s home turf.
Crackle!
Ouch.
As Shia forced her leg to move and tore pieces from the ice, frozen flesh was ripped away.
If the ice had dug in any deeper, her Achilles or tendons could have shattered, causing her to fall over.
If she fell on that ice, the black Yeonhwa’s ice would reach out like a virus, wrapping around her.
This is incredibly annoying.
The Mangja Seongnyeo, Shia, was powerful.
But that didn’t mean she was omnipotent.
Though she could resist most abilities with her divine power, if black Yeonhwa’s abilities had been ice magic instead of freezing abilities, Shia could have overwhelmed and crushed it with the power of divine force, which is superior to mana.
However, this freezing ability was closer to manipulating a natural element than a simple magic.
Mana was merely a resource to strengthen the ice.
“Well, that’s about it.”
Brushing her hands off, Shia checked her recovered leg and crouched down.
I won’t draw this out any longer… I’ll finish this in one blow.
With her thigh muscles bulging from between her skirt, her feet were ready to pounce like a beast, as her bare feet had long since shattered due to the ice.
Crack!
“….!”
The moment the ice fragments she was standing on crumbled, Shia charged with an expression devoid of mercy toward the Demon King.
Boom, boom, boom!
Shia lacked finesse.
But that finesse wasn’t necessary; with overwhelming divine power and immense strength, she preferred to crush her opponent down, and that strike was powerful enough to wipe out a complete Demon King in her previous world.
Her straightforward speed was similarly astounding.
Just stepping forward showcased a level of strength incomparable to anything, and Shia reached black Yeonhwa’s face in the blink of an eye.
However, black Yeonhwa wasn’t just standing idly.
No chance to evade. Unable to counter.
Calculating the speed of Shia’s movements with her eyes, she quickly made the call to twist her sword into the ground.
Then I’ll stab.
[Spike]
The ice lying upon the ground sprang to life, and hundreds of icicles shot toward Shia like bullets.
The black icicles aimed at her, and although most didn’t pierce through Shia’s skin, which had a hardness greater than steel, some managed to find their way into the weaker points of her arm, shoulder, and joints.
However, that alone couldn’t stop her.
The ice that had frozen the ground and walls shattered. Even in between, the black Yeonhwa’s ice attempted to climb Shia to hinder her movement, but ice that merely gnawed at her arms and legs couldn’t hold Shia back.
As Shia had parts of her arms and legs frozen and breaking, she maintained her speed with remarkable recovery.
“…!”
At the sight of Shia not faltering, black Yeonhwa urgently twisted her sword to build a huge ice barrier, but in a single punch, it was shattered like drawn curtains.
Pain is a blessing, for it makes me feel alive!
“Ha, monster bitch…!”
Multiple icicles pierced through Shia’s knee, shoulder, and arms, but she dived right into black Yeonhwa without a moment’s pause.
BANG!
“Guk?!”
As Shia charged like a bull into black Yeonhwa, their surrounding space ruptured.
Boom!!!
The three-story dining hall behind black Yeonhwa crumbled completely. After smashing through one more building, black Yeonhwa became buried amongst the rubble of ice and debris.
Shia shook the ice off her body and grasped the air.
The manifested divine power cleaved through the air with her call.
In any other circumstance, they would have indulged in conversation.
But right now, Shia had no mind to spare.
No, there was no reason for it to be here at all.
You don’t deserve to sully my world.
With a chilling menace, Shia didn’t hesitate any longer and gathered physical divine power, commanding it.
“The Mangja Seongnyeo Isia declares: you are [Malicious].”
She concentrated her area of effect.
Target designated.
“O vile fragment that cries foul…”
It wouldn’t mean anything if she only destroyed surrounding buildings.
The target was the Black Yeonhwa.
And her heart.
“Return to where you belong.”
The divine power erupted from her heart.
As that power filled her fingertips, it manifested tangibly.
[Miracle – Blade of the Gap]
Pointing her finger toward the direction of black Yeonhwa, a beam of light tore through the air, slicing the world in half without sound.
The slender line that split the world pierced through the ice and buildings, precisely reaching the spot where black Yeonhwa lay buried.
Boom!
The first attack shattered the black ice.
Boom!
“Cough…!”
The second light erupted with black blood.
POW!
The third light penetrated the space where her heart should have been.
“Ah, ugh…!”
The fourth light prompted a moan of pain.
In that manner, the black Yeonhwa felt the life slipping from her body.
Recovery was slow even with the black liquid.
Ridiculous.
She had expected to take her down at least after using her power, but this was all she could manage.
Ha…
Are you in pain?
Yup.
Is this the path you chose?
Right.
But you’re lacking in strength.
Yeah.
What will you do now?
More, give me more.
What?
Strength.
Alright.
I will no longer be dragged away.
It will come to pass.
○○○○
Honestly, it was an unpleasant experience.
No matter how much of a doppelganger a monster was, it was still wearing Yeonhwa’s face.
“Sis?”
“Oh, you little silly~”
At the familiar voice, Shia waved her hand.
As Yeonhwa approached from a distance, Shia wiped the expression off her earlier blank face and smiled brightly.
“Did you fight against our little blackened Yeonhwa?”
“Uh? That was a real doppelganger?”
“Yup!”
Shia’s form looked as if she wanted to receive compliments, and Yeonhwa nodded awkwardly, returning the gesture as she tapped her shoulder.
Boom!!!
“…!”
“Ah, the ice…!?”
With the black ice and debris blown away, a dark stream of stars resembling a galactic rift burst forth.
No, those weren’t stars; they were dark, ominous entities.
From the place where black Yeonhwa had been buried, dark stars sprang up like flowers made of ice, and at the center, the malicious entity writhed violently.
And the ice burst forth like molten lava from an erupting volcano, spewing in all directions.
The melting ice on the ground returned to solid, freezing itself again, now ignoring both Shia and Yeonhwa as it coated the buildings and land.
“That’s insane. If this keeps up, the shelter…!”
[I won’t let anything be taken from me anymore.]
Now I have lost enough.
[Now I’m going to take it all!!!]
That too would come to pass.
The embodiment of malice appeared.
Abandoning humanity, an ice and malicewing stretched wide.
The colossal wings of darkness and ice, appearing even larger than black Yeonhwa’s body, began to engulf all in their vicinity as they bloated.
All the frozen doppelgangers would be consumed.
All the humans that were previously frozen would be consumed.
Swallow them up in ice.
Consume, consume.
It’s not enough.
More, more… I need humans.
Ah, there they are.
So many.
Thousands… no, tens of thousands.
Let’s freeze them all.
Let’s consume them all.
And take them all until my life ends.
Let’s kill them all.
Let’s take everything away.
There’s no need to concern myself with the Mangja Seongnyeo who was told by the fragment.
The ice moves faster.
The spread of ice contamination has already started.
There it is.
The shelter.
Fortunately, ‘my world’ and the shelter are in the same location!
Just like this, like this, everything….!
“………”
And at that moment, the black Yeonhwa’s gaze met with Yeonhwa’s.
Ah….
At that instant, the movement of the being with the black ice wings halted.
The ice that was about to head toward the shelter, where civilians were hiding, also stopped.
“……..Yeonhwa?”
“…….”
Yeonhwa and the black Yeonhwa held eye contact for a moment.
The eyes of Yeonhwa looking up at her were clear.
Still…. clear.
[…….]
As the strange behavior of the black Yeonhwa suddenly appeared, Shia sensed something amiss and slightly tightened her fist.
Of course, the divine power still held a physical form that could be acted upon.
[….Grandma…]
“…What?”
[Is… grandma… okay…?]
What are you saying?
What the doppelganger is saying right now?
I don’t care if it’s a high-ranking doppelganger, but it shouldn’t have memories of the human it imitated… No, if that were the case, it would never ask about Yeonhwa’s grandma, so…
“………”
But Yeonhwa felt a strange emotion.
It was rationally understood that the doppelganger, a monster, was merely a copy of her, but she felt a strange kinship and something indescribably complex from the black Yeonhwa.
Sadness? Sympathy?
No, something more complicated…
[Answer me.]
“…….She’s doing well.”
[…………Is everyone else?]
“……Who?”
[Mom, Dad? Friends? Yeonju Unnie? Director Lee? Everyone… everyone is doing well?]
Moments ago, the being that had aimed to freeze this world to its core sat down on the ground before Yeonhwa, bringing with it no aura of life or aggression.
“Everyone is… Mom… died in an accident when I was a baby… but everyone is generally doing well…”
[…….]
At those words, black Yeonhwa’s eyes began to well up with black tears.
Whether it was truly crying out of sadness or from being unable to hold in the malice overflowing within her was unclear.
[What a relief… ]
Why is that?
You’re a monster.
You’re nothing more than a doppelganger. How can you say that you’re relieved…?
‘…But why does it feel so genuine…? ’
At that moment, Shia realized something was wrong.
She felt no deceit from black Yeonhwa.
‘…Could it be.’
What if that isn’t a doppelganger or a dungeon boss…?
○○○○○○
“Director! The erosion rate has surpassed 120%!”
“…Isn’t this a huge problem?”
“No, it’s not that big of an issue. While the erosion rate has never reached this level before… it doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a dungeon. Just because the erosion rate is high doesn’t mean it’s hard for people to survive.”
“Then what is it?”
“Simply put, we are no longer on Earth.”
“Not on Earth?”
“……How do I explain this… Oh, right.”
“We’re on a completely different Earth. Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say it’s a point of dimensional intersection…”
○○○○○○
[……Where is my sister…?]
Sister… sister…
Yes, she must be talking about Yeona.
The kind sister who died for me when I was a child… I can barely even remember her face now.
“I lost my Yeona as well.”
[……But why…?]
“I lost her protecting me. She died.”
[…You…! ]
Even though it was undoubtedly a monster, Yeonhwa felt an overwhelming sense of rapport with the one who resembled herself.
Exactly, it was… herself, from a time before she met Shia, desperately pursuing power and faith in strength at the cost of her own life.
[Everything has been taken. Everything has been taken!! I have lost everything! What is so wrong with wanting to take everything back NOW?!!]
“Was that how you wanted to live, with the life my sister saved?”
[……..!]
Yeonhwa approached the black Yeonhwa, who was shedding black tears.
“I don’t know what happened to you.”
[….]
“I won’t dare to say I understand.”
[How can you say that…? I lost everything while you…! ]
“I guess I haven’t lost anything yet… perhaps because of my sister.”
[Sis…?]
“Right here.”
As she said this, Yeonhwa gently clung to Shia’s arm.
“You saved that fool who pursued nothing but strength. You showed me the scenery behind me when I was only looking ahead. While you may not be my Yeona, Shia is already a precious sister to me.”
[…………]
“I’m grateful to you, and you’re my role model. Though you do some weird stuff sometimes, overall, you’re a really good sister.”
The black Yeonhwa alternated her gaze between Shia and Yeonhwa.
[That’s… reassuring… ]
Slowly, the black Yeonhwa’s ice started to melt away.
She wore a sad smile, on the verge of bursting into tears.
[It’s a breach of contract…]
[Who cares? I won’t take this back anymore.]
Crumble, crack…!
As the contract was nullified, the incapable malice began to dissolve her body.
That’s okay.
I had already spent my life a long time ago.
[If possible, let’s go together….!]
[Let go! LET GO!!]
I have no regrets.
I’ve committed acts that cannot be pardoned by anyone, and this outcome is merely pathetic and miserable.
However, I was satisfied with it.
[Take care of… Grandma…]
“….!”
Ah, right.
[Sister, take care of… the woman known as a sister…]
“Wait, just a moment…!”
Crumble! Crack!
With those final words, the black Yeonhwa’s body shattered like ice pieces.
The Seongnyeo doesn’t… she couldn’t even save one person.
As Shia released a faint sigh inwardly.
“…All of it was true.”
“Is that so?”
Knowing that Shia possessed the power to see through lies, Yeonhwa nodded.
Yes, the acknowledgment that what the black Yeonhwa had said was true and not mere words.
If everything she had said was true, then she wasn’t a mere monster.
She wasn’t a doppelganger either.
She was another Yeonhwa.
She had existed and lived her life in a different world.
Perhaps I still have a long way to go as a Seongnyeo.
A Seongnyeo who saves people.
One that realizes miracles and gives hope while living… yet, this time, she hadn’t saved anyone.
No, not only had she failed to save, but she had also driven the black Yeonhwa into a corner, treating her as a monster.
“It’s alright, Sis. Even though I don’t know what happened to the black one, this is okay.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yes, I don’t know why, but I feel that emotion.”
The emotion of being okay.
The emotion of satisfaction.
The guilt and regret that had been piling up.
“Surely, the black one must have committed unforgivable acts over there. Of course, those things probably stemmed from their own experiences.”
Yeonhwa tried to shake off her gloomy mood, tapping her face.
“This situation is likely unprecedented, but it seems the dungeon has undergone significant dimensionalization.”
In that instant, the dungeon’s sky began to crack with distortion.
“Oh, but it seems that this will cause a boss incident. Space is already cracking.”
“True.”
Ah, I genuinely don’t want to deal with this kind of dungeon again.
The Demon King really created an awful dungeon.
I thought the doppelgangers filled with greed would mock me by absorbing the Demon King’s fragments, but they turned the entire area into a different world, creating a colossal rift in the dimension.
“Sigh, let’s head back now. This has escalated a bit, but now…”
[Sh….. ia….]
“…..?”
In that moment, a familiar voice called Shia’s name in her ear.
What was that?
Did I mishear…?
“Just now, I thought I heard my sister calling?”
No, Yeonhwa heard it too.
Why is my name being called here?
[I’ve missed you…]
The Demon King and the fragments exploded just moments earlier.
Even if the Demon King’s fragments called out to me, they wouldn’t address me by my personal name “Shia”, especially not in the soft tone of “sister”.
Not many people would directly say my name without cursing me as a fragment little sister or the cursed woman known as a Seongnyeo.
Above all, this voice… this is… familiar… somewhere.
“Menelapie…? Teresa…?”
We are in a dimensional rift.
We’ve come to an Erosion Dungeon, where dimensionalization has occurred.
Could it be…
Ah, no way.
Just as I returned to Earth…
Menelapie and Teresa came too?
No, it can’t be.
That’s impossible.
The astronomical possibility is beyond my comprehension.
Such rational judgments had long since crumbled.
I followed the calling of my name echoing through the rift.
“…..!?”
Menelapie….?
Teresa…?
Is it really you?
You really… really came to see me?
“Sis, stop!”
As the shattered space splintered like glass, it began to fracture, revealing someone on the other side.
It was an outline that felt both familiar and strange.
Ah……….
[I’ve really missed you…]
