The clone remained silent, having no intention of revealing his current situation.
"I want to see him..."
However, Kurumi was not willing to back down. She rose from her seat and declared her intention. She was considered one of the leaders of this group of girls due to her leadership and intelligence, and also because she was very close to Yuki.
"I do too..."
"I'm in..."
"Me too..."
Instantly, her insistence created a chain reaction among the girls. Each of them stood up and supported Kurumi's suggestion.
"..."
Yuki had no words to say at that moment. He was just a clone, a shadow of Yuki's past. Though he was glad the girls were worried about him, he also knew the condition of the Original was complicated and that this could affect the girls' performance in completing their mission.
However, if he rejected them now, he didn't know what consequences it might bring...
"Fine, but promise me that no matter what you see, you'll continue with the plan..."
"I promise..."
Kurumi responded instantly, and the other girls nodded in agreement. Because of this, the shadow began to expand, and the entire group sank into it...
-----------------
*Bam*
In a world of darkness, the intense sounds of battle echoed through the void of this space.
In a cage of chance, two characters faced off in a fight to the death.
One of these characters had a human form, with a strange ancient clock floating behind him, armed with two flintlock pistols.
The other was a ten-meter-tall beast with large tentacles protruding from its body, and its arms and legs were thick and robust.
*Bam
*Bang, bang
Bullets struck the monster at great speed, while it lashed out with its tentacles like whips.
Yuki moved at great speed, avoiding being hit while firing at the monster from different angles.
The damage to the monster was accumulating, causing its body to shrink each time to heal, but this also made it more agile than before.
Its tentacles spun in the air, attacking Yuki's blind spots, but he spun like a top to avoid being hit.
Whether above, below, left, or right, Yuki ensured he dodged at the last second. To his Rinnegan, these movements were in slow motion, and he continued firing in succession.
Zafkiel, behind Yuki, spun its hands continuously, while Yuki used the moment to move with great agility and cut the tentacles...
*ROOOAAARRR
The beast roared, and its body shrank further.
Everything seemed to be going well. Though the giant was intimidating, Yuki had the advantage. He was stronger, more agile, and the monster could only take Zafkiel's bullets until suddenly, blood spurted from Yuki's mouth...
*Bam
The monster seized the moment and struck hard. Fortunately, Yuki reacted at the last second and used one of his flintlock pistols to block the blow...
*Creakkk*
The flintlock pistol shattered, and Yuki was sent flying, crashing into the cage of chance...
[HAHAHA, I TOLD YOU, YOU'LL FALL BEFORE ME! YOUR MOVEMENTS ARE GETTING SLOWER, AND YOUR POWER IS DECREASING... NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, VICTORY WILL BE MINE.]
Without giving Yuki a chance to recover, the tentacles twisted grotesquely and attacked.
"Hmph!"
Zafkiel behind Yuki started spinning its hands, and Yuki recovered instantly, dodging the attack and continuing to fire with his remaining flintlock pistol...
--------------------
"This is terrible..."
Kurumi clenched her fist upon seeing what was happening inside the cage of chance. She never thought the final outcome of this battle would result in Yuki and the Overlord being locked in a cage, fighting to the death.
However, this was the only thing Yuki could think of to prevent the world from being destroyed. Yuno had fallen, and Jasmine as well, both ending up in comas. Yuki was the only one who could face the chaos.
"Why... Why did he spit blood?..."
Tsunade bit her lip, seeing how badly Yuki was faring and unable to understand why Yuki suddenly bled when the Overlord hadn't touched him once...
"It's because the he is fighting while protecting the world. There are thousands of humans still alive and hundreds of thousands of Aragamis. Each one damages the world every second, and the crown continuously nullifies all attacks on the world, transferring that attack to its master. Yuki is being hurt every second, while Zafkiel reverses his time..."
Looking expressionlessly at the cage of chance, Eggy gave her analysis. She and Est had stayed in this world of darkness to watch over the cage of chance.
Both had expressions of helplessness on their faces, especially Est, who was Yuki's weapon. She wished she could enter the cage and fight alongside Yuki.
"Can we help him?"
Emilia asked nervously and with concern, but Eggy shook her head.
"The cage is closed. Yuki can't see or hear us because he is isolated. Even if we wanted to, we can't help. It's the chaos we were talking about. You can't help even if you could; you'll die and be corrupted the moment you enter. Even we, the spirits baptized by Order, feel pain when touched by chaos..."
No matter how much Eggy tried to deny it, it was true. Even they couldn't face the Overlord without Yuki's help. They needed the protection of the Crown, but this crown was protecting the world and healing Yuno and Jasmine.
Yuki already had enough weight on his shoulders to be another burden for him.
"Only Zafkiel can help him now as support. The time inside the cage is slowed, and only Zafkiel can block the chaos within the cage..."
Yuki had foreseen all this, so to prevent Est and Eggy from dying due to the intense fight, he created a clone and sent Rasiel, leaving only Zafkiel to fight this battle to the death.
Zafkiel was born with him, so it was the only one alongside Rasiel that could withstand the chaos. Even though time was corrupted, the Rinnegan could change the effect momentarily, not to mention that Zafkiel and the Crown were constantly devouring Gabriel to remain in the cage and protect the world.
This whole battle was about endurance. Either Yuki would run out of Karma and energy, or the Overlord would disappear due to Yuki.
However, the probability of the Overlord disappearing was almost zero, as chaos was unlimited. Zafkiel wouldn't be able to block the chaos forever...
"!!"
The girls bit their lips and clenched their fists, feeling so helpless and useless.
But it couldn't be helped. This was a battle where they shouldn't participate in the first place. Saving the world wasn't their duty; they were paper tigers compared to Chaos and Order.
Champions and Overlords were the ultimate existences in the food chain; there was no comparison.
"Do you understand now? I hope you focus on the plan to build the Tower of the Apocalypse and increase Karma, even though Karma is not as important as the Tower..."
Yuki's clone, who had been silent, spoke after seeing the girls frown.
"How much time does he have left?"
Kurumi was once again the first to react to his words and got straight to the point.
"Zafkiel distorted the time inside the cage to 1/100. The Original can endure approximately three days at this intense fighting pace without resting, which would be a total of 300 natural days. Beyond that, it will be a problem..."
The girls' eyes widened in shock. They had less than a year to build the Tower of the Apocalypse worldwide and cleanse the world of chaos.
"Tch! That's if they don't damage the world, but the chaos is consuming the world very quickly. He won't last that long..."
Eggy snorted coldly, seeing that the clone tried to be optimistic and deceive the girls so they wouldn't feel too much pressure. But she and Est knew it wouldn't be that easy.
Enduring the world's suffering was madness, especially when fighting, so she had to speak to prevent these girls from damaging the world in their fights.
"I understand... Then we have no time to lose."
Kurumi gave one last look at the cage before leaving, and the girls did the same.
They also swore in their hearts...
"We cannot fail!"
---------------
TN: You gooo gurls!!!