The moment I selected [Continue the Trial], the void pulsed.
A ripple spread across the empty space, distorting the nothingness around me. The last fight had been a challenge, but I had adapted—I had outmaneuvered the void creature and exploited its rigidity.
Now, I would have to do it again.
A System Notification appeared, its text sharp against the colorless void.
---
[System Notification]
Your next challenge stands before you—not one, but three.
Three Void Creatures, each mirroring your power, your instincts, your will to survive. They do not falter. They do not fear.
---
Three enemies. Three copies of me.
The first fight had been difficult, but it was manageable. I had studied the void creature, learned how it moved, and adapted until I found a weakness.
But three?
That changed everything.
I needed to think.
Predicting Their Fighting Style
There were three possible ways they could fight.
Independent Attackers: Each creature would fight separately, mirroring my abilities but attacking on its own. If that was the case, then the battle would be an overwhelming numbers game. Three enemies, three sets of attacks, three perfect counters. No time to create openings, no room for mistakes. If I couldn't isolate them, I would lose.
Synchronized Clones: They could move identically, repeating the same attack patterns at the same time. If they all reacted in perfect unison, it would limit their unpredictability. I could bait a single reaction and force all three into the same mistake. That would be the easiest scenario to counter.
Coordinated Strategy: This was the worst-case scenario. If they worked together—not just mirroring me, but adjusting to create openings for one another—then I wouldn't be fighting three copies of myself. I would be fighting a unit. A perfect, coordinated unit designed to exploit my every weakness.
I had no way of knowing which possibility was real until the fight began.
And then, they appeared.
The void rippled, like water disturbed by an unseen force.
Then, they emerged.
Three figures stepped forward, forming from the darkness itself.
Three versions of me.
Their exoskeletons gleamed, identical to mine. Their blade limbs twitched, mirroring my stance. Their compound eyes locked onto me—unblinking, hollow, yet aware.
I flexed my limbs, lowering myself into a stance. Waiting. Watching.
Then they moved.
At first, I thought they were attacking independently.
The first lunged from the left, aiming for my thorax. The second struck from above, slashing at my wings. The third, from below, lunging toward my legs.
I twisted, using [Compound Vision] to track them all at once. I deflected the first strike with my right blade limb, redirected the second with my left, then jumped to avoid the third—
But then they changed.
The moment my feet left the ground, the third void creature stopped attacking and repositioned instead.
It had anticipated my dodge.
Before I could adjust, the second void creature—the one I had deflected just seconds ago—redirected its attack downward, aiming for my legs while I was still airborne.
Damn.
I barely managed to block it mid-air, but my balance faltered.
They had baited me into moving a certain way.
They weren't just fighting independently anymore.
They were coordinating.
They were thinking.
The void creatures switched between two modes.
Sometimes, they fought separately, attacking from different angles to overwhelm me with sheer numbers.
Other times, they worked together, setting traps, forcing me into bad positions. One would attack, another would cover, the third would strike when I least expected it.
They were adapting.
---
The first void creature fainted an attack to my right. I moved to counter—
The second one struck from the left instead.
Pain.
A blade limb scraped across my side, carving through my exoskeleton.
Not deep. But enough.
I twisted my body, using my wings to push off, barely avoiding the follow-up strike—but one of them caught my forewing.
A direct hit.
I felt it tear, the membrane ripping apart.
I crashed onto the void's surface, rolling, forcing myself upright before they could land the killing blow.
Three against one. I was losing.
I had to turn this fight around.
---
I shifted my strategy.
I couldn't win by matching their speed. They were overwhelming me.
I needed to create an opening.
I let one of them get close—deliberately hesitating for a fraction of a second.
The first void creature lunged, sensing an opportunity.
I sidestepped at the last moment, twisting my blade limb and slashing downward.
The attack landed.
A deep cut across its thorax.
It stumbled back, struggling to recover—and I didn't let it.
I activated [Camouflage] mid-motion, vanishing for just a moment—enough to reposition behind it.
Then, I drove my blade through its body.
The first void creature shuddered. Then dissolved.
One down.
---
The remaining two void creatures did not slow.
If anything, they pressed harder, as if my wounds were nothing more than an opportunity to end the fight faster. Their attacks became relentless—sharp, precise, and suffocating.
I dodged a strike aimed at my thorax, but my movements were sluggish. My torn wing threw off my balance, every motion dragging against me. My exoskeleton ached from countless glancing blows, my limbs felt heavier.
But stopping was not an option.
The second void creature lunged, its blade limbs carving through the air, locking me in place. The third circled behind, cutting off my retreat. I had nowhere to go.
They were trying to force me into a corner.
I raised my blades to parry the first strike, the impact jarring through my frame. The second void creature followed instantly, its own strike timed to land as my guard was raised.
I twisted—barely avoiding the full force of the attack.
But it still hit.
Pain flared along my forearm. A deep gash, not enough to cripple me, but enough to slow me further.
The third void creature closed in from behind. I had to act.
I let my weight shift, my legs bending as if I was going to collapse. A feint.
The second void creature overcommitted, thinking I had lost my footing.
That was its mistake.
At the last second, I rolled into its attack instead of away from it, stepping into its range instead of out of it.
Its blade whipped past me, missing by inches.
I struck.
A clean cut through its forelimb, severing its blade limb.
It staggered from the force of the blow, leaving a small opening.
I took it.
I lunged low, hooking my blade limb under its wing joint, and tore it away in a brutal rip.
The void creature faltered. It wasn't dead, but it could no longer fight properly.
One down.
Now, I had to finish it.
---
The third void creature attacked immediately—not giving me time to kill its wounded ally. It was relentless, its strikes unceasing.
I barely deflected the first, the force pushing me backward.
It didn't stop.
The second strike came from above, aiming for my exposed head. I twisted aside, barely dodging as its blade limb cut through empty space where my skull had been.
The injured void creature, though crippled, still moved. Even with a missing limb and torn wings, it crawled forward, trying to attack however it could.
If I gave them even a second to recover together, I would be back where I started—outnumbered.
I had to kill one now.
I staggered back. Let my limbs shake slightly. Let my breath come uneven.
Not an act. I was tired. But I let them see it.
The third void creature rushed forward, sensing the opening.
I waited.
At the last moment, I turned my body—not toward the attacker, but toward the wounded one instead.
I drove my blade limb straight through its thorax.
It convulsed. Then dissolved.
Two down.
One left.
---
The last void creature did not stop.
It pressed forward, a storm of blade limbs and sweeping strikes.
I was slower than before, but I had adapted.
It lunged—I parried.
It slashed—I sidestepped.
It rotated mid-air—I read the motion before it happened.
It fought to overwhelm me.
But I had already won.
It was alone.
---
I let it come at me full force.
Then, at the last moment—
I activated [Camouflage].
For a fraction of a second, I vanished.
The void creature missed its attack.
Its blade limb slammed into empty space.
I reappeared behind it.
And then I struck.
My blade limbs sliced through its thorax, piercing deep.
The void creature shuddered.
Then, finally—
It dissolved into nothingness.
---
I stood alone.
Breathing heavily.
Bleeding.
But victorious.
[System Notification]
Void Creatures Defeated.
Trial Progress: 2/??
Would you like to continue the trial?
[Yes]
[No]
I stared at the message, my body trembling.