Raon completely turned around. He tapped his scabbard while looking at the Branch of Frost, which had just been locked up.
'What was that just now?'
He got an ominous feeling from the manager he'd encountered just then. It wasn't from his normal sense, but his sixth sense was telling him about it.
'There was nothing strange about him though.'
The manager's face, eyes, steps, and accent. There was nothing unusual about his behavior or speech. It was exactly the same manager he saw each time he visited the Branch of Frost.
However, the insides were different. It felt like some unknown lump was wearing human skin.
'Was that my mistake? Maybe I've been too sensitive recently.'
Raon frowned, pressing on his temple. It could've been his mistake since he was too focused on reproducing the blonde swordsman's technique recently.
'No, there's no way that was a mistake.'
There was no way his sixth sense was wrong, since he had the Ring of Fire. There was no way he would make a mistake at such a close distance.
Hmm.
Wrath was glaring at the Branch of Frost, which confirmed his doubts.
'I see.'
Raon used Glacier, and a small wave surged from the ocean of perception, spreading concentrically.
It was the manager's presence that entered the Branch of Frost just now. It wasn't the kind splash he usually made, but a mechanical wave without any emotion.
'I knew it.'
Raon clenched his fist. His intuition wasn't wrong, since it was an unknown existence wearing the manager's skin.
"Sir Raon, why aren't you moving?"
Dorian, who was walking towards the scout's quarters, returned to him and tilted his head.
"Dorian, follow the violent noise in a moment."
"What?"
Leaving a confused Dorian behind, Raon ran to the back of the Branch of Frost.
Why aren't you headed there directly?
'It might hold Yua hostage if I enter through the door.'
Since he didn't know its identity, he couldn't move recklessly. He silently moved to the wall, which Yua was leaning her back against.
One became the most careless at the moment of their attack. That was the timing Raon was aiming for.
Creak!
Something with the manager's appearance was extending its hand towards Yua. The moment the ominous presence spread out like a wrap, Raon used the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation to destroy the wall.
Baam!
While it was confused by the sudden explosion, Raon pulled Yua towards him and drew his sword.
"Who the hell are you?"
It showed itself behind the gray dust descending on the ground. Its face was that of the manager, with his eyes wide.
"Why! Why are you doing this?"
His lips were trembling as he stepped back, pretending he couldn't understand his actions.
"Say that again after hiding that hand."
Raon pointed at the manager's hand with a cold smile. A pitch-black mouth was opening and closing in its huge hand.
"How did you find out again? How? How? How? How?"
The manager's mouth split open like a crescent moon, and its head puffed up, then shrank back repeatedly. It didn't even look like a monster, let alone a human being.
"Aah…"
Yua's tears dropped onto Raon's hand, which was covering her shoulder, and his hand stiffened automatically.
"Kuaah! Wh-What is that?"
Dorian's jaw dropped upon witnessing the monster that looked similar to a mass of clay or mud.
"What is that monster?"
"Take care of Yua."
Raon passed Yua to the startled Dorian and stood in front of the monster.
'What is this thing?'
It's a doppelganger.
'Doppelganger? But a doppelganger's transformation isn't so perfect.'
A Doppelganger was a monster that ate humans to transform into them, but the appearance was all they could copy. Their behavior and speech was completely different.
Raon couldn't believe that it was a doppelganger, since he didn't only copy the appearance, but also perfectly simulated the manager's speech and action.
It is modified through black magic. They've shredded the sanctity of life to pieces to create a new race. Its base is a doppelganger, but it's pretty much a chimera at this point.
Wrath glared at the doppelganger, murmuring that it was something even the demons wouldn't do.
"Siren's vessel. I have to take the Siren's vessel at all costs."
The doppelganger was darting its gray tongue in and out in Yua's direction instead of Raon, who was ready to fight it.
Siren's vessel.
That word was enough for him to understand. Eden was the one that sent the modified doppelganger, and their target wasn't the magic stone but Yua.
"Siren's vessel!"
With a grotesque smile, the doppelganger extended its hand. The arm stretched like rubber towards Yua.
"You are looking down on me too much."
Raon was already expecting that to happen the moment he saw its wiggling arm.
Slash!
Raon swung his sword to block the arm's trajectory. The slash hit the doppelganger's arm like lightning to sever it from the middle.
"The Siren's vessel has to be…"
Even though its arm was cut off, the doppelganger kept glaring at Yua without even groaning. It looked like its sense of pain was erased when it was modified.
Whir.
The doppelganger's arm grew back in an instant. Its regeneration was surpassing the ice troll lord.
"Don't get in my way."
The doppelganger's left hand puffed up like a boulder, and a thorned whip was flapping from its right hand.
"Kieee!"
It kicked the ground to run towards him, slamming down with its huge fist. A tremendous amount of pressure was weighing down on him, but Raon simply pulled his sword back instead of withdrawing.
Baam!
Along with a tremendous wave of power, the doppelganger's left shoulder was blasted off entirely.
"Siren's vessel!"
As expected of a monster that couldn't feel the pain, the doppelganger immediately swung its whip from its right hand. The thorned whip was coiling around Raon's body like a snake.
Raon used the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation on the whip that was curling in his direction. The flower petals dancing on the blade fluttered around.
Whir!
The flower blossoms of flame followed the whip and burned up the doppelganger's upper body. Raon thought he could subjugate it just like that, but that was his mistake.
"Kieee."
The doppelganger cut off its burning body on its own, and regenerated itself as if it were turning back time.
The regeneration was so fast that an average person wouldn't even be able to tell anything had ever happened.
"Siren, I have to take the Siren's vessel."
The doppelganger kept repeating the same thing, as if that was the only goal of its life.
"Kieeee!"
The doppelganger roared. Turning its hands into greatswords, it flailed them around while walking towards him. Even though there was no technique in its movements, the sheer strength and speed couldn't be ignored.
Slash!
Analyzing all of the doppelganger's movements, Raon stepped forward. He ripped apart its arms and sliced its chest.
Spurt!
Gray blood gushed from the doppelganger's chest, which was cut by the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation, but it only lasted for a moment. The injury in its chest was closed in an instant.
"Kieee."
Despite burning with fire and cutting with his sword, the doppelganger's body kept growing back like a lizard's tail. Raon felt like there was no end to it since it couldn't even feel pain.
"I haven't used my fist in a long time."
Raon sheathed his sword and clenched his fist. The Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's aura surrounded his fist like thick armor.
"Kieee!"
The doppelganger's hand transformed into an iron mace and sharp spikes appeared throughout his body. It looked like it was trying to hurt him in return if he tried to attack it.
"Do you think that's enough?"
Raon kicked the ground and pierced into the doppelganger's space. The iron mace, which was the size of an adult's body, swung towards his head and heart. It was an attack with the intention of quickly eliminating a hindrance.
That was why it was easy to read.
Raon deflected the first iron mace with the back of his hand and thrust his left fist. The strike contained the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's energy and the Void Tiger Fist's rotation as it shattered the iron mace completely.
Baam!
His right fist followed, to punch the right side of the doppelganger's upper body. It sharpened the spiked even further, but it was overwhelmed by the tremendous energy imbued in Raon's fist, and its upper body got blasted apart.
"I'm only getting started."
The Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's energy fully bloomed around his fist. The raging flame around his fist became a storm to assault the doppelganger's body.
Facing the attack affecting a plane instead of a line, the doppelganger's regeneration couldn't catch up to the damage. Its clay-like body started to disappear, as if it were erased by an eraser.
"Seiren's—gah!"
Raon destroyed its mouth as it tried to blabber again and struck its chest. It seemed the fear still remained in it despite the sense of pain being gone, as its eyes started to tremble.
"S-Stop doing that!"
* * *
Yua's scream could be heard right before the doppelganger's upper body was completely destroyed.
"M-My grandfather! My grandfather is still alive inside! Please save him!"
Yua started crying on her knees.
"M-Mister swordsman!"
"Kiee!"
The moment Raon's gaze was distracted at Yua, the doppelganger's body, which was covering the ground, transformed into a long shape like a snake and leaped outside.
"..."
Raon didn't say anything. He simply met Yua's eyes to confirm her desperate wishes before running in the direction the doppelganger had left.
You let it escape on purpose.
'I can't kill it in front of her.'
Even though it was a monster, it was taking her grandfather's shape. He didn't use any brutal moves because he couldn't kill it in front of Yua, and even released it at the end.
'And there's no way it can escape.'
Raon had already finished analyzing its patterns. He was confident that he could find it no matter what.
'Is it leaving the castle?'
The doppelganger was running outside the castle towards the north, where Stallin Mountain was located.
Raon climbed the castle wall. He could see the doppelganger running through the snow field like a wolf.
'You won't go anywhere.'
Raon stomped heavily on the ground, creating a crack. His body leaped like a rock from a catapult to strike the doppelganger's back.
Slam!
Along with the sound of bursting flesh, the doppelganger was shoved into the snow.
"Kieee!"
It stood back up immediately and started to regenerate its destroyed flesh, but its gray eyes were clearly telling him that it was in a panic.
"This is as far as you go."
Raon drew his sword once again. He lowered his posture while using the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation to the extreme. He wanted to kill it right away, but he couldn't move his blade because he remembered Yua's eyes right before.
'Is it really impossible to save him?'
A Doppelganger was an extremely rare monster. Since there weren't many people that encountered one, he'd never heard of anything about the precautions against it or how to save a person that was swallowed by one.
How pathetic.
Wrath sneered and popped out from the bracelet.
The pineapple girl told you that the old man is inside. She is right about that.
'What?'
Use Glacier to look into it in detail. Focus on the inside rather than the outside.
Raon took a glance at Wrath before starting to use Glacier. He focused the entire ocean of perception, concentrating on the doppelganger lying in front of him.
"Kieee!"
The doppelganger tried to punch him with a huge fist, one the size of a boulder. Raon simply dodged it with River Footwork and focused on the ocean of perception.
He could feel its energy, nature, and liquid-like body in his grasp.
'What am I supposed to feel… Huh?'
He could feel a weak energy inside the doppelganger's body, splashing like water inside a bottle. It didn't belong to the doppelganger. Even though it was as faint as a snuffed-out candle, it was certainly the vitality of a human being.
Did you finally realize it? The pub's old man is still alive. It was pulling out his memory inside its body just like a child sucking on a candy.
'How can I save him?'
Raon adjusted his grip on the sword. Since he received a lot from Yua, he wanted to save him if it was possible.
It's impossible for you right now.
Wrath decisively shook his head.
Your current level isn't good enough to only kill the doppelganger while leaving the old man alive.
'What level do I need?'
In human's terms, your mind has to become one with the weapon…
'Unification with the Blade?'
Yes. You need to become one with the sword to cut nothing but the doppelganger, which is impossible for you right now. If you make the slightest mistake, the old man is going to die.
'That's fine then.'
What?
'Even though that's impossible for me alone, I can do it with some help.'
Raon sheathed his sword and drew the Blade of Requiem from his waist. Lifting the crimson blade, which was emanating ghastly energy, he asked.
"I want to help the man in there. Can you help me?"
Whir!
The Blade of Requiem resonated clearly, telling him that he didn't need to ask the obvious. The ghastly energy was burning on the crimson blade like a haze.
Cring!
The flame of Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation mixed with the ghastly energy, creating a bloody crimson energy that surrounded Raon and the Blade of Requiem. Just like the river merging into the ocean, the Blade of Requiem's ghastly energy mixed into the Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's aura.
Huh, are you trying to achieve unity through the will of the blade instead of your level?
Wrath exclaimed, witnessing the natural harmony between the aura and ghastly energy.
I don't really like it, but it seems possible.
Raon nodded upon hearing Wrath's answer.
"Then all that's left is…"
To decide what he needed to cut.
Since he needed to slice nothing but the doppelganger's soul, the most important part was to decide where to cut.
You only have a single chance. The old man's state isn't good enough to survive more hits. You'd better pick carefully which part to sever.
'I know.'
Raon nodded. He could feel through Glacier that it wasn't impossible for the manager to die at any time. He needed to cut it in a single strike, without any impact.
"Kieee!"
As Raon was focused on checking the doppelganger's body, it started screaming and extended its arm.
Slam!
The doppelganger curled its splashing body, then started expanding like an unfolding rubber.
It reached six meters in height in no time, punching him with a fist the size of a house.
Ignoring the huge fist slamming down on him while covering the moonlight, Raon resonated the rings of fires. The world became slower. Inside his apparently paused sight, his red eyes examined the doppelganger's insides.
'There!'
At the left side of the doppelganger's waist, there was a region smaller than a bean, no. A region smaller than a grain of rice was spurting the void energy like a fountain. That grain was the origin of the doppelganger's power.
Creak!
Raon grasped the Blade of Requiem in a reverse grip.
The Ten Thousand Flames Cultivation's aura and the ghastly energy merged with each other in harmony, like paints of different colors poured into water, and the bloody crimson energy surged onto the blade.
Unification with the Blade was normally achieved by the swordsman's own power. However, Raon had become one with the Blade of Requiem in the true sense of the word by having the same will.
Raon stomped the ground and extended his hand. The Blade of Requiem's natural movement felt like it was part of his hand.
The doppelganger sensed the danger to its life and moved the core of its body, but Raon's extreme perception didn't miss that slight movement.
The crimson light born from the end of his blade pierced through the doppelganger's soul.
____