In Ark Simulator, why do I always get a tough start?

Chapter 118 Yeragand said, "Please get out."

"You're a Sarkaz assassin sent by the Letanians?!"

After the shapeshifter revealed his purpose, Chen Huijie and Fiona immediately drew their weapons and stood in front of Chen Qi to protect him.

Even Ensiodis drew his longsword, which he had disguised as a cane, and protected Enya behind him.

But at the very moment when the atmosphere became tense, Chen Qi, the one being assassinated, remained remarkably calm.

He simply stared coldly at the shapeshifter and asked indifferently:

"You can transform into Encia's appearance, which means you must have had contact with Encia."

"Tell me, shapeshifters, what have you done to Encia?"

"...Please rest assured, we are not very willing to become the appearance of the dead unless there is a special need."

The shapeshifter responded to Chen Qi's most pressing question in a calm tone, saying:
"But to our surprise, Encia saw through our imitation at a glance."

"To avoid further trouble, we let her rest for a while, and it was then that I was able to simulate Encia's thoughts and memories."

"We could feel her resentment and regret at the moment she thought death was coming."

"She cherished you all very much. She was worried that her death would make you sad, so she did everything she could to stay awake..."

"That kind of persistence in 'living' for 'love'... is a feeling we have witnessed but never understood."

Throughout his long life, his clones spread across Terra, witnessing the rise and fall of countless great dynasties, and even coming into contact with the Sealings.

Even after trying everything, the shapeshifters could not find the meaning of "why they live".

Such a long, stagnant life made the shapeshifter feel bored.

However, on this day, I unintentionally sensed that someone clearly knew why I was living.

This greatly interested the long-dormant shapeshifters.

"Perhaps, after killing you, we can get the answer from Encia."

"Her grief when she learned of the deaths of her loved ones, a life lived for love, may help us find meaning in life."

"—Stop talking nonsense! You damned Sarkaz!"

However, the shapeshifter's calm tone and disregard for everyone present deeply agitated Chen Huijie.

She showed no mercy to the shapeshifter who wanted to kill her friend, placing her hand on the Crimson Sky Shield at her waist and coldly saying:

"Want to kill Qi? Then let's see if you have the ability!"

"Chi Xiao, draw your sword!"

With a roar, Chen Huijie drew the crimson blade from its sheath, unleashing a terrifying, blood-red sword aura that hurtled towards the shapeshifter!
However, the shapeshifter remained unmoved by this attack, which contained terrifying Originium Arts, and did not even try to dodge.

He simply allowed the sword energy of the Crimson Sky to pierce through his body and split him in two!
However, the deformed being split in two did not bleed a single drop of blood, but simply maintained its two-half posture.

"Such attacks are meaningless to us."

“You may be able to kill individual members of us, but you cannot completely destroy us.”

"We can achieve immortality if we want to."

The two halves of the shapeshifter spoke indifferently.

Under the astonished gazes of Chen Huijie and her group, the two halves of the shapeshifter sprouted new halves of their bodies, transforming into two complete shapeshifters.
"How can this be?"

An incomprehensible scene unfolded before her eyes, and even with Chen Huijie's courage, she couldn't help but be shocked.

But she still didn't sit idly by and wait for her fate. Instead, she gripped the hilt of the Crimson Sky sword tightly and, gritting her teeth, shouted at the shapeshifter:

"I don't believe it! You can split indefinitely!"

"Fiona, I'll go left, you go right! Let's kill this weird Sarkaz together!"

"it is good!"

With Chen Huijie's instructions, Fiona, who had previously dared not make any rash moves, now had the confidence to start wielding her technologically advanced city-breaking spear, which began to spew out scorching steam!
Finally, as if they were of one mind, the two women shouted at the same time and charged at the two shapeshifters separately!
"Chi Xiao, draw your sword!"

"High-efficiency mode! Charge!"

One uses Originium Arts, the other uses only physical strength and technology!

The two completely different, yet equally powerful killing moves struck the shapeshifters in front of them, and the intense impact caused the entire palace to tremble!

Could this terrifying attack have harmed the shapeshifter?

"Pointless."

Amidst the billowing steam, the shapeshifter's calm tone, which sounded completely unaffected by injury, once again reached everyone's ears.

"Unless we choose to die, you cannot kill us with your strength."

"...We can even render you helpless at any time."

As the steam from the Broken City Spear gradually dissipated from the room, the Shapeshifter's restored body gradually became clearer under everyone's gaze.

But to everyone's astonishment, the figure that emerged from the steam after a series of footsteps was not the androgynous shapeshifter.

"How can this be?"

Chen Huijie stared blankly at the figure emerging from the steam—it was someone who looked exactly like her!
They had the same appearance, the same expression, and even their clothes and the Crimson Cloud Sword at their waist were exactly the same!
If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, Chen Huijie would have thought that the "self" in front of her was her twin sister whom she had never met!

"Yes, there are two Chen Chens?"

Fiona, somewhat bewildered by what was happening before her, stared at the two identical Chen Huijies and couldn't tell who was real and who was fake.

But just then, Fiona, who suddenly remembered something, also turned her gaze to the front of her!
Sure enough, after the steam dissipated, her broken city spear pierced through a person who looked exactly like her!
The only difference was that not a single drop of blood seeped from the wound that the "self" had pierced itself.

"While we cannot replicate your Originium Arts, we, who have perfectly copied your thoughts and memories, can also replicate your martial arts."

The "Fiona" that Fiona had pierced through, with a voice exactly like Fiona's, smiled brightly:
“We can even replicate your weapons.”

"And even if you can overcome yourselves... can you overcome many versions of yourself?"

The next second, the shapeshifter's body, pierced by the city-breaking spear, suddenly exploded, and dozens of jelly-like light green spheres scattered in all directions of the palace.

These dozens of small spheres that surrounded Chen Qi and his group re-condensed at an astonishing speed into figures that were all too familiar to them.

Chen Huijie, Fiona, Enciodes, and even Enya and Chen Qi themselves...

"Now, can you tell who is real and who is fake?"

Beneath the shapeshifter's calm voice, gazing at "himself" who surrounded them, Chen Qi frowned slightly before calmly making a clear judgment.

"Everyone, back to back, to avoid getting confused with each other."

Under Chen Qi's command, everyone snapped out of their daze and immediately formed a tight, back-to-back formation, watching the approaching shapeshifter warily.

Chen Qi then turned his gaze to the only unchanged entity, the shapeshifter's true form, and coldly said:
"Shapeshifter, if you want to assassinate me, why bother with these boring and disgusting tricks?"

"I am right here. If you have the guts, come and kill me!"

"...I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but it's too late now."

Seemingly confident of victory, or perhaps because their long lifespan made the shapeshifter disdain lying, they responded indifferently:
"If you come alone as planned, we will assassinate you silently and then take your place."

"Although we are unwilling to become dead, since it is the Regent's order... we have no choice but to accept it."

"After that, the throne of Kjerag will become one of ours, and we will use your name to make Kjerag surrender to Letania." "And now, in order for the plan to be carried out smoothly, we have no choice but to kill you and all your relatives."

"--madness!"

However, as the shapeshifters revealed their plans, Chen Qi's disdain grew even more pronounced, and he coldly replied:
"Do you really think that by banning me, the Sherag people will obey you?"

"Do you really think that once you sit on this throne and turn the saintess and the prime minister into yourself, you can control everything in Sherag?"

"Then I'll tell you, you're wrong, terribly wrong!"

Chen Qi stared at the shapeshifter with a cold laugh, and said, word by word:

"I have ruled Shelag for years with brutal and dictatorial methods, and the people of Shelag are already filled with resentment towards me."

"The major families only dare not resist because the Holy Maiden is in my hands."

"Now that the nation is in peril, if I dare to utter the word 'surrender,' I fear that the heads of the various clans will immediately take their weapons and go up the Holy Mountain to behead me!"

"And by then, only the lonely saintess will remain, without any voice, and she will be unable to stir up any trouble."

Seeing that the shapeshifter's expression finally showed a little change, Chen Qi seized the opportunity to deliver a final blow to the shapeshifter!

"Sherrag will never surrender! He will never compromise!"

"Even if it's just to the last man, the people of Sherag will take up arms to defend their homeland!"

"You villains who attempt to assassinate me and overthrow the rule of Sherag will never succeed in your treacherous schemes!"

"If you know what's good for you, get out of Kjerag and try to take Kjerag from my rule in a real fight!"

Chen Qi's deafening roar engulfed the entire palace with his overwhelming aura.

For a moment, not only did the group of shapeshifters stop moving, but even Ensiodis and the others next to Chen Qi had flushed faces and looked quite triumphant.

Looking sideways at his brother, who was able to seize the initiative even in the face of such a passive situation, Enshiodis felt admiration, but he also had to recognize a fact.

I fear I will never be able to compare to my brother.

"...You might be right."

“Killing you won’t change the fact that Sherag will still resist, and the Regent’s strategy will still fail.”

However, under Chen Qi's cold gaze, the shapeshifters, who gradually realized the deviation in the plan and whose transformations differed greatly from Theresis's estimates, did not back down as Chen Qi had expected.

Instead, He abruptly changed the subject, saying indifferently:
"Then we'll have no choice but to kill you all here, and then use assassinations to slaughter everyone in Shelag."

"Although there are some deviations, this is the only way."

As he spoke, the shapeshifter's mind stirred, and all his clones, as if receiving a signal, simultaneously raised their weapons and approached Chen Qi and his group!

"Brother, I will do my best to fight my way out for you and help you escape."

Seeing the shapeshifter approaching aggressively, Enciodes, having made up his mind, made his choice at that moment.

"And what about you guys?" Chen Qi, who had already guessed what his brothers were thinking, asked unconsciously after a slight tremor in his heart.

"—We are here to buy time for our brother."

Ensiodis smiled faintly, revealing an unprecedentedly relaxed smile despite having already prepared himself for death.

"Sherrag can live without me, but he cannot live a day without his brother."

"As long as my brother can live, even if I die here, it will be worthwhile."

“Enciodes is right.”

Staring intently at the approaching enemy, knowing that he would likely be the one to deal with Chen Huijie today, he answered with remarkable nonchalance:

"Qi, I'm sorry. I misunderstood you for so long. Now I know that you are the true king."

"Consider this my apology—Enciodes and I will fight our way out for you here!"

“Enciodes… Chen…”

Looking sideways at his brothers and friends who were willing to risk their lives to save him, Chen Qi, already aware of their determination, swallowed back all the heartache and words of pleading.

He knew that even if he stayed here now, he would only be another corpse.

The only way to honor their sacrifice is to listen to their advice and do everything in my power to help Enya and Fiona escape with me.

Therefore, Chen Qi did not act coy, nor did he say anything about "not doing this".

He simply took a deep breath and gave them a satisfactory answer.

"...I will remember you all, forever."

"...That's enough."

Upon hearing Chen Qi's reply, both Enshiodis and Chen Huijie felt a tremor in their hearts, suppressing the urge to burst into tears as they gripped their weapons tightly.

At this moment, the shapeshifter finally gave the order to attack.

"kill!"

At the command of the shapeshifter, all those who shared His consciousness and clones unleashed the strongest attack of the characters they were imitating at the same moment!
Chen Huijie gritted her teeth, and Chixiao was drawn again, burning all her Originium Arts, intending to unleash [Chixiao. Shadowless], a technique she had never successfully used before.

Enshiodes even unusually activated his Originium Arts, deciding to use the [True Silver Slash] he had just mastered to fight the enemy.

Suddenly, accompanied by a cluster of tremors, a thick layer of ice that surged from the ground blocked the attacks of all the shapeshifter's clones!

Not only that, the moment the shapeshifter's clones came into contact with the ice, their bodies froze at an astonishing speed, turning into ice sculptures!

"This is……"

Feeling the connection between himself and his clones being severed, and realizing that all the clones were "dead," the shapeshifter turned his gaze to the source of that power.

Soon, as the thick layer of ice slowly dissipated, a familiar, gentle voice drifted from the side.

"Oh dear, everyone, I was just away for a moment, and you all seem to have made quite a mess of the palace."

"Please be understanding of the head maid's workload. Even I get angry when faced with a messy room, you know?"

"—Yela?"

However, when Yera's beautiful figure slowly stepped out of the room next door, Chen Qi's tone finally showed a hint of surprise, and his heart, which had been hanging in suspense, was finally put at ease.

Yela responded to Chen Qi's call in a gentle tone.

"Your Majesty, I apologize. I just dealt with some...minor troubles. I hope I haven't caused any delays."

After saying that, Yera also turned her gaze to the shapeshifter, and her originally gentle eyes suddenly revealed a rare hint of hostility.

"Then, those dozen or so Sarkaz assassins with their horns cut off must be the guests you brought, right?"

Although Yela's voice was still beautiful, she could no longer hide her emotions because of the assassination attempt against Chen Qi.

That deep killing intent was also unconsciously revealed.

"I'm sorry, but the Holy Mountain is not open to the public at the moment, and we do not welcome any guests."

"Could you please, sir, get out of here gracefully?"

(End of this chapter)