Six days passed inside the realm. Today is the seventh day, and is also Seven's last chance to defeat his doppelganger.
Thirst.
Hunger.
Fatigue.
Those mortal limits weren't applicable inside the realm.
Slowly, the water level rose up. Six days ago, the level barely reached Seven's ankles. Yet now, the water lapped softly against his calves.
"Hah… Hah…"
Seven tried to steady his breathing.
Aside from the faint ripples of the water every time he shifted his stance, a simple 'inhale and exhale' was the only way Seven could mark his existence in the middle of oppressive darkness.
Ripple.
A disturbance—ripple across the water that wasn't his.
Seven tightened his grip around the sword. He then closed his eyes, and enhanced his senses. In the complete darkness, vision wasn't important, but sound was.
Splash.
A faint water splashing to his left.
He immediately whipped the sword up, striking left, but steel caught nothing but cold air.
Splash.
Another sound, but this time it came behind him. Pivoting his heels, water sloshed around his calves as he thrusted the sword.
Clang!
Steel met steel.
The vibration shot up his arm as the familiar sound of clashing steel echoed around him—the clashing he had been hearing for the past six days.
Seven grit his teeth.
The doppelganger stood before him with its blade locked with his. Even their breathing, the rise and fall of their chest, were the same.
But there was a way to tell them apart now:
Their left eyes.
Seven's left-eye glowed a little brighter.
In the pitch-black water, the faint gleam of gold was the only true indicator of each other's position.
And it wasn't enough.
For a moment, Seven thought that he was fighting a mirror. Each movement of the doppelganger was exactly as his own.
Every parry.
Every strike.
Every attack was both his and not his.
The water beneath them continued to slosh around their feet as they danced with their swords.
Both of them met again, and their swords clashed with the same rhythm.
Clang.
There was no other sound but the rasp of steel on steel and the consistent slosh of water with each strike.
But Seven knew that it wasn't about defeating his doppelganger completely; it was about learning how to break free in the cycle of repetition, and how to think beyond the boundaries of his own mind.
"Hah…"
With a deep breath, he suddenly broke off the rhythm and spun away from the mirrored strike.
The doppelganger did the same.
But Seven knew it would do that. He could see the motive beyond the faint golden glint of the left eye out of the corner of his doppelganger's vision.
"Hah…"
His own left eye glowed in the darkness, too, but he focused on 'his' light, and the way it moved.
Again, Seven spun around one more time.
He didn't follow the standard pattern. Instead, he let his movements become erratic and unpredictable.
He smiled.
'Best talent…'
It was his talent—highly unpredictable.
And then, there it was.
The flaw.
The weakness.
Though his doppelganger also matched his unpredictable movements, it was always a heartbeat behind.
Rhythm.
The rhythm was broken, just enough. The water betrayed it as ripples spread at the wrong moments, making it too late to sync with Seven's new tempo.
It was mimicking his actions, but only as they happened.
Seven laughed as he swung his sword with no plan. A wild slash here, and a stumble there.
He's making use of his talent to its maximum potential.
Then as his sword carved through the water aimed to strike low at its legs, the doppelganger lost balance as it tried to copy Seven.
'...Got you.'
Seven seized the opportunity. With a sudden twist, he drove his blade toward the doppelganger's chest.
Again, the doppelganger copied Seven at the same time it tried to regain its balance.
But at the last moment, Seven's sword slid to the side, forcing the doppelganger into an awkward block.
Clang.
The doppelganger staggered.
It was a second-long opportunity, and Seven didn't hesitate to take it.
"Eclipsing Blade."
Seven disappeared, and in less than a second, he was already behind the doppelganger.
It was a one-step flash technique, slicing everything along its path.
The water remained still.
The technique was fast enough that even the pitch-black water beneath Seven didn't have the time to ripple.
But the doppelganger turned around, and it was now facing Seven.
For the first time in days, it smiled.
And for the first time in those 'six' days, it spoke.
"You… can't… beat… you…"
It raised the sword to strike Seven, who was panting. But before it could, its body collapsed—no, it was cut in half at the waist.
The sound was like shattering of glass echoed through the water as the golden light in its left eye flickered once, then vanished into the darkness.
"Hah…"
Again, Seven took a deep breath as the doppelganger dissolved, fading into the darkness.
It was the very essence of the technique:
Let the opponent speak their final words.
Now, Seven stood alone as his own golden left eye still faintly glowing.
The stillness returned, heavier than before, as if the world took a breath and was now waiting for him to move.
"You were me…"
Seven smiled.
"But not anymore."
Seven remained where he stood as the sword that hung loosely in his hand disappeared. The water now lapped gently around his calves.
Slowly, the water level went down.
Now, they were back to his ankle level.
Seven pressed a hand to his chest, feeling the slow, steady thrum of his heartbeat.
Crack.
Then, the darkness cracked, one by one, each crack held light and they all focused on him.
Shatter.
Cracks filled the space, and the darkness completely shattered.
Now, Seven was back in the mansion's ground.
But the first thing he noticed wasn't the ruins of the mansion or the chunks of debris scattered around the ground.
It was the person sitting beside him.
"Iria…?"