Kaori opened her eyes wide in surprise.

"You want to stop them? No, you'll die!"

That was too reckless, too foolhardy. Kaori was visibly anxious. That place was a battlefield for monsters, a domain for cheaters, and undoubtedly a place of death. Going there would definitely lead to death.

However, the phantom's face still maintained an expression of awareness.

"I am the trial of this great maze. Someone is interfering with my trial and yours. I cannot remain silent. Trials also have their own dignity."

So I'm going, for me and for you.

Hearing the phantom say this, Kaori was speechless. She realized that she could not stop the phantom.

An inexplicable emotion beyond friendship sprouted between the two.

Perhaps it was because the situation was too strange that both of them were confused.

Kaori also smiled and stood up to face her own phantom.

"...You must come back safely. I will wait for you!"

"Haha, now that you've said that, I can't not come back."

The sight of them holding hands was like a husband heading off to war and his wife seeing him off, or like a vow of eternal love sworn in a movie. In every sense, their spirits had probably reached their limit.

Phantom reluctantly let go of Kaori's hand and turned to glare at the battlefield filled with death, destruction, and childish curses.

then……

"Shirosaki Kaori: The Phantom of the Trial is coming!!"

"Please stay safe!"

She boldly used the attacking move that was also Kaori's specialty.

Then...

“Stop getting in the way!!”

"Aa ...

The phantom immediately flew into the air, drawing a beautiful parabola.

“Phantom, phantom, ahhhhh!!”

"Well, I'm fine! I can still fight! I must stop them!"

The phantom twisted in mid-air, spread its black wings, and regrouped. Perhaps from the lightning and the shockwaves, her body was covered in soot, but her will remained undimmed. She wielded her twin greatswords, striking a stance like a warrior.

I feel like she's kind of reveling in this situation. She's Kaori's clone, after all.

Phantom glared at Yue and Shia, who were still arguing, and spoke in a resounding voice:

"Don't go too far, you two! This is our place! Don't interfere with the trial!"

There were sounds of explosions, bombings, crushing, and extremely childish swear words.

Phantom bravely stepped forward to rebuke him, but was completely ignored.

Yue and Xia seemed to only see each other. Their previous attack was just because they really thought there was an obstacle flying towards them, so they just struck it away.

As a result, Phantom couldn't help but get angry.

"Damn it! If that's the case, I'll make sure you guys can't ignore me anymore!"

Veins appeared on the phantom's forehead, and he flapped his black wings vigorously.

With such speed that her eyes couldn't focus, she dashed through the air towards the two arguing people. With an afterimage trailing behind her, she slightly shifted her grip on the greatsword, bringing the blade's belly forward.

The phantom attempted to stun the opponent with a blow from the sword's belly, similar to a blade strike. Its target was Shia, who had been petrified by the Stone Dragon's breath.

Phantom did not miss this golden opportunity and, with the acceleration of gravity, struck Xia on the back of the head.

"Watch out! A flash of punishment!"

But just before it was about to hit.

"snort!"

With a crackling sound, Shia unexpectedly broke the petrification with brute force. It seemed she had relied on regeneration and sublimation magic to limit the petrification to a superficial level. Then, raising her hands high, she shattered the petrified area with sheer brute force.

Phantom didn't even have time to think, "What a monster!" Shia raised both hands and easily grabbed the greatsword, achieving what's known as bare-handed combat with a single hand.

Unlike the usual bare-handed sword fighting, Shia holds the blade with her fingers.

The greatsword struck her with the belly of the sword pointed at her and swung down at great speed, but the cheating rabbit grabbed the greatsword from the side at the critical moment.

"You're kidding, right?"

The cheating rabbit paid no heed to the trembling phantom, her fighting spirit still high. She threw the newly acquired projectile with all her might. Shia lifted one foot, her sturdy, artistic legs spread 180 degrees, and then swung it down.

"Drink!"

Accompanied by powerful shouts, her pitching posture was so beautiful that it was breathtaking.

then……

"Ah ...

The phantom turned into a black meteor and flew out, as beautiful as a magic ball.

The phantom became a human cannonball that streaked through the air. Although it screamed, Yue's eyes were still focused only on Shia.

"...Devour it completely—[Giant Thunder Dragon]!"

A giant thunder dragon, unmatched by anything before, leaped out. Flashing with intense lightning, the "Giant Thunder Dragon" opened its maw, as if to say, "Hey! Come on!" as it awaited the phantom's arrival, welcoming her into the tiger's mouth.

"babble!?"

The phantom let out a wail unlike that of a person undergoing a trial, and with a frantic expression of someone desperate for survival, it enveloped itself in black wings and entangled itself with decomposing magic power.

The Great Thunder Dragon swallowed her whole, but then, with a pop, a phantom flew out. It seemed she had pierced the Thunder Dragon in its flight.

The decomposition process broke down the Thunder Dragon's form, and a channel of electric light appeared inside the "Great Thunder Dragon", and Shia rushed out through that channel.

After launching the phantom shells, Shia followed at the same speed. From the very beginning, she had intended to use the phantoms as human shields... If so, it was a truly cruel act.

Meanwhile, after the Great Thunder Dragon was breached, Yue used the "Bad Sky" satellites deployed around it to create a hypergravity space in front.

result……

"Wuwuwuwuwu!?"

The flying phantom was forcibly sucked towards the ground, its face sliding on the ground.

What a tragic scene! If Shizuku were there, even if she knew it was an illusion, she would have been furious and yelled, "What are you doing to my friend?"

The phantom lay on the ground, groaning faintly. She struggled to get up, and just as she managed to raise her head...

"Wow!?"

The phantom was stepped on by Xia who caught up with him, and kissed the ground passionately again.

Shia ignored the pitiful phantom and swung the Drukken.

The downward blow unleashes explosive destructive power.

Yue dodged by using the barrier and falling backwards, but Phantom had no way to avoid it.

The phantom was blown away along with the exploding ground.

Amidst the glittering ice fragments, there were a few sparkling water droplets flying around. Those water droplets must have come from the phantom's eye sockets.

Ignoring the poor victim, the battle entered a climax.

Yue and Shia's clothes were tattered and in disarray. Although they had both been able to avoid damage by relying on 'auto-regeneration' and 'regeneration magic' applied to their bodies, their magic power was nearly depleted, and both were panting.

Their breathing was rapid, and they were clearly close to their limit, but they did not replenish their magic power from the magic crystal. Perhaps they were both taking a gamble.

"Ms. Yue..."

“Shia…”

Yue summoned the "Five Heavenly Dragons" while Shia manipulated the giant kendama, each of them holding it high above.

The golden magic power transformed into a tsunami, spreading in all directions; the pale blue-white magic power transformed into a tornado, rushing straight into the sky. The pressure from both sides collided, pressing the space and making a loud noise.

Yue and Xia both realized that this was the final blow. Their eyes met, and they decided to put all their strength into this one blow.

Of course, neither of them considered that in their field of vision, a phantom was blown away to a position between the two of them.

"Run away~~!! Phantom! Run away~~!!"

"Huh?"

Kaori used her hands as megaphones, shouting loudly to warn Phantom. However, Phantom's reaction was slow, and judging by her unfocused pupils, she seemed to have not yet recovered from the shock.

Therefore, she was destined to not escape the final and greatest attack.

"You stubborn person!!"

“…Stubborn guy!!”

The five types of destruction brought by the five heavenly dragons are all concentrated and released at one point.

On the other side was a two-meter-diameter block of metal. The hammer swung at full force, its speed and mass enough to crush anything, arguably the largest projectile ever created.

The ultimate destructive power of magic and the ultimate destructive power of physics collided violently in the air.

An overwhelming and powerful impact ravaged the entire space.

『──!? 』

The poor victim let out a shrill, inaudible cry. The phantom was caught in the aftermath, violently impacted in the air, and then, trailing a trail of white smoke, landed back beside Kaori.

She bounced a few times on the ground in front of Kaori, then rolled all the way to Kaori's feet.

The phantom's body was emitting white smoke and lying on the ground, motionless.

Kaori covered her mouth with her hands, muttering as if she had witnessed a tragedy:

“It’s so, so miserable…”

The phantom's face moved.

"Sorry, I can't beat two cheaters."

Although barely breathing, Phantom seemed to be still alive. Kaori quickly picked him up.

"Stop talking, you'll die! I can see how hard you've worked! Just rest!"

"you……"

The atmosphere between the two was good. After all, they were basically the same person. The only difference was whether the will of the Great Maze intervened. The emotions in their hearts were still the same.

Then, to make matters worse, a crisis appeared above the two people who were relying on each other. Due to the aftermath of the battle, a part of the ceiling began to collapse with an ominous sound.

Phantom screamed upon seeing this.

"Run away! Leave me alone!"

"How can this be! No! I can't leave you!"

The two Kaoris engaged in a dramatic scene. The phantom, now immobilized, tried to urge Kaori to flee, but Kaori, with a look of grief on her face, refused. Normally, Kaori would have simply fled with the phantom in her arms, but neither of them had considered this unromantic approach.

"I am your phantom, ultimately just a shadow, destined to end here."

Phantom gave Kaori a faint smile to convince her.

Kaori hesitated for a moment, then a look of determination appeared on her face, and then...

"There's nothing else to do, drink!"

She made a cute noise as she plunged her greatsword into the phantom's chest.

"...Huh? Why?"

Phantom couldn't help but ask. Kaori replied with a wandering look:

"Is there any way? If you die due to reasons other than my own, I might not be recognized as having passed the trial... In that case, I must kill you before you die."

It makes so much sense that it even makes one wonder what the point of performing useless and exaggerated drama before this was?

Thinking back on the conversation just now, Kaori's words of "I hope you return safely," her calls for "Run!", her retorts of "I can't abandon you!", and so on, all predicated on the underlying desire to defeat you. In a sense, Kaori might have been clear-headed from the start. However, with the phantom's limbs already fading, it was best not to reveal this.

The phantom understood many things, and his eyes gradually became empty.

"...Hehe, I've become quite strong. I'm pleased with my growth... However, I still think this ending is too extreme..."

Tap the screen to use advanced tools Tip: You can use left and right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.

You'll Also Like