*BOOOM*
A massive ball of flame blasted the fog cloud away, turning instantly into ice. Another two tried to rush forward, only to meet the same fate as the first one. Nothing could approach him or even get close to him.
After discovering his new plan, Arthur simply blasted them all as he advanced through the fog. He didn’t struggle anymore and that only pushed him to move faster.
‘Hahaha! You can’t get close to me now, bastard! Can you?’ He grinned.
The frost flame proved to be extremely powerful against the fog. It also surprisingly didn’t use a lot of mana so he was able to freely manifest it whenever he wanted without the need to worry about the consumption rate.
Several minutes passed in such a manner as the relentless attacks from the fog grew even more intense in number and aggression. It was as if the fog realized that Arthur was getting dangerously close to his target and it had gone into a panicked state trying to stop him.
He could feel the forest shudder with each step he took. The ripples of energy assaulting his body also grew far stronger than before, hitting his body like a raging tide. It forced Arthur back with its pure strength.
So, to fight it, Arthur had to make some decisions. The first one was to naturally focus on advancing forward rather than fighting the fog around him. Since he now had the situation under control more or less, he put his effort into moving deeper into the forest.
The second decision he took was to increase his agility and strength. Putting 5 extra points into strength and 5 into agility, he was able to make the task considerably easier on his body. His muscles grew way stronger and his speed increased.
‘I’m a beast!!’ Arthur felt a thrill like nothing else at that moment. The power rushing through his veins filled him with euphoria. He was doing it. He was raging a war against an entire environment that wanted him dead and was winning.
The ripples of energy, and the clouds of fog relentlessly assaulting him from all angles as if that was the only thing they could do. Yet, he had everything under his control. He felt invincible.
Advancing like an unbeatable monster, he cut his path relentlessly through the forest. ‘I’m coming for you bastard. Hahahaha! It’s my win.’
“Hm?” At that very moment, Arthur coincidentally looked down to trace his path forward and avoid anything that could make him stumble or fall. After all, any mistake could make the fog around him instantly consume him.
However, what he saw down there, a foot away from him was something he didn’t expect at all. ‘Hm? Is that a footstep?’ He asked himself.
Arthur didn’t understand at first what a footstep was doing there but then it clicked in his head. ‘Did one of the group pass from here?’
Since they were all separated, he assumed that one of them might’ve just found their way to his path and were moving ahead of him. Looking up, Arthur squinted his eyes. ‘I should try to trace their path.’
So, Arthur started walking again. Taking one step ahead, his leg fell on the footstep. That was when Arthur halted again as his eyes slowly widened. His pupils moved down to look at his feet. There, he saw it… His foot fit the trace perfectly.
***
“Hah… Hah…” Isla clashed with the fog as she was launched back, sliding on her feet across the area. When she stopped, she looked up with a deep frown on her face. A huge bloody energy sliced through the side of her face.
Looking up, amidst the fog, the sample silhouette she had seen before was still standing there and hadn’t vanished yet. It was also staring back at her with a weirdly soft smile that Isla was very familiar with.
“Little sis. You really don’t have to do this. I am here for you.” It said.
However, Isla didn’t reply as she clenched even tighter. Her heart ached greatly hearing that voice and that familiar tone. She could barely focus on the battle while that person was standing there staring at her and telling her such words.
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“Why are you trying to fight for this? There is nothing beyond this point.” The clone said with a smile. “My little sister isn’t someone who does things without a purpose, is she? This has no purpose for you.”
However, Isla didn’t even bother to answer. She knew that this was all a facade created by the forest. But, she couldn’t bring herself to try and put a stop to it. Her hands shook at the simple thought of doing it. Isla, the same person that people deemed to be invincible, was shaking at the mere thought of even facing this person’s clone.
Instead, she simply tried to fight the fog, and as ironic as it is, that was far easier than simply talking to that clone.
However, that also meant that Isla was quickly losing the battle. She had been fighting for several minutes now without a stop. She used all her abilities, destroying many of the clouds, but still not making any progress.
She could’ve moved forward if that clone wasn’t standing in her way, talking to her like her own devil. She couldn’t for the life of her take a step past him as if he was some kind of insurmountable wall that she couldn’t climb.
“Isla, what is it that you want? Why aren’t you talking to me? Haven’t you missed me?” The clone asked. “Have my little sister forget about me?”
“Shut up!!” Hearing that, something inside Isla snapped as she yelled at him. “Shut the hell up!”
“Why are you angry? Hm, are you perhaps feeling regret now, Isla?” The clone asked back, unbothered by her fit of rage. “What makes you feel regretful, Isla? Is it that you left me to die? Or is it perhaps that you couldn’t do anything when the time came to it?”
Ripping a cloud apart, Isla glared at the clone before she averted her eyes quickly. She couldn’t answer the questions he kept posing one after the other simply because she didn’t have the answers.
If she did have those answers, then she would’ve been able to easily cut through him and move on. But, this was impossible at that moment. She hated it deeply, but she was feeling weak as all hell at that moment.
‘Why do I have to see this now? Why…?’ She cursed and yelled in her head a thousand times by that point. The battle was the least of her worries at that moment. ‘Why did you appear here, now? I can’t face you… I can’t…’
“Come on, answer me, little sis. What did you do when I died? What did you achieve? What did you change in yourself?”
“Everything…” Isla muttered.
“Hm?”
“I changed everything.” She replied coldly. “… I’m not the same person anymore.”
The clone went silent for a second before it suddenly exploded into a fit of laughter. The laughter was soft and pleasant to the ear as painful as it was. “Changed yourself? Hahaha, do you even hear yourself right now? Do you even believe anything you said?”
“…” Isla pursed her lips tightly.
“You have never changed, Isla. Look at you, fighting a losing battle. You haven’t really moved on nor did you change. Put all the coldness and ruthlessness you want on the surface… Down beneath, there is nothing but fear. Fear from the inevitable.”
At that moment, Isla’s eyes widened slightly as the light in pupils rippled. At the same time, a cloud of fog smashed into her stomach, sending her flying as she hit a tree. All the air was knocked out of her lungs and she was lost for breath for a moment.
However, her mind was in complete shambles at that moment. The words she just heard resonated in her head at that moment and she couldn’t really get them out. Her senses went numb and the world around her grew darker.
‘… I…’ She tried to logically refute those words the clone said but could she really? No, even her clever mind couldn’t come up with a proper response to those claims. Perhaps because deep down, she knew that they were right.
She hadn’t changed at all, did she? All these years, she had simply hidden that side of her behind the cold and calculating Isla. The person that can never be defeated. The person who was ready to take immense power into their hands and control it.
It was all her destiny. But, that didn’t seem to change anything about those layers beneath. Now, faced with something akin to a test, she was failing miserably.
Slowly, she lifted her hand up and touched her face. Even as the clouds of fog flew toward her, ready to kill her, she didn’t move. She didn’t care about the fight or the game anymore. Her mind was defeated.
Isla had lost.
A//N: Don’t forget to give the book some golden tickets for good luck! :3