Chapter 161. The Last Test

-snap!

I could hear this god snap her fingers.

This was the noise that sounded each time before the scenery changed.

At this god’s movement and the sound I heard, I automatically looked around me.

However, I could not see any changes.

The only thing that changed was that the illusion of my mother dissipated.

Next to me, I could hear the laughter of a young girl.

Of course, it was the god. Looking at her, I asked.

“I thought the last test began? Has it not yet?”

“Hehe. Nope! The test has started.”

“……”

“Why do you look at me like that? What! What! Hehehe.”

“Weren’t you the one to tell me to prove my strength to you?”

“Yep! That’s right! I can’t just hand over the powers of the Piece of Time and Space, right?”

“Hm… If that’s the case, there needs to be an opponent for me to demonstrate that.”

“Kekek!”

“Perhaps…. Are you telling me to face you?”

“Kahahaha.”

“Didn’t you say that you wouldn’t ask the impossible of me?”

“That’s right.”

“……”

“Don’t be so tense. This isn’t a test to defeat me.”

“But there’s nothing here……”

In a gesture to invite her to look around, I lifted my hand to point.

It was then.

I wasn’t sure when, but I hadn’t noticed all this time.

It was the fact that my body was several times heavier than usual.

Not only that, but I noticed that there was another arm below the arm I had raised to point.

“……”

“Hehe. I thought you caught on quickly, but I guess that’s not the case?”

“Is this the third test you were talking about?”

“Yep!”

“However, this test doesn’t end.”

“Hm?”

This was this god’s final test that I needed to pass in order to make mine the power behind the Piece of Time and Space.

It seemed that I needed to win against myself in a fight.

However, as this god had said, this fight wouldn’t end.

The reason for that was due to my Mana Shield.

Mana Shield could only be penetrated by a skill beyond ranking.

Not only that, but because I had successfully Transcended this skill, this shield had a chance to block skills beyond ranking at a fixed percentage.

That percentage was at a whopping 50%.

I had 3 skills beyond ranking in my arsenal.

Proof of Pledge, Dual Casting, and Archangel’s Fall.

All these skills weren’t offensive spells.

The only thing close to one was the Archangel’s Fall, and that spell was more akin to a support spell due to the fact that it raised my damage against monsters.

And it wasn’t as if the bonus damage worked against humans such as myself.

What would happen if another me, who has the same powers as I have, fight me while both of us have Mana Shields up?

Only the area around us would be destroyed, with no clear victor at the end.

She looked towards me for awhile with a playful childish look.

It was almost as if she was signaling me that she already knew what I was going to say and what I was thinking.

Her appearance was that of a cute little girl.

However, her personality was so cruel and vicious that I dreaded even thinking about it.

After a long silence, she spoke.

“You mean to say that the shields in this battle are too thick, right?”

“……”

“Hehe. That won’t do! This fight won’t be fun at all then. A boring fight where all you do is defend! We should start this fight by removing shields from both sides to make it fair. How about it? That’ll do, right?”

“That means…..”

“Hehe. From this moment on, you and your copy cannot use defensive skills. This is the rule of the test.”

“I cannot use defensive skills?”

I quickly opened the status window and checked my skills.

I was hoping that wouldn’t be so, but as this god had told me, I could not find any defensive skills.

Not only that, but all my recovery skills were sealed away as well.

I could only attack.

While I was deep in thought, another me had separated itself from my body and stood in front of me.

It was almost as if I was looking into a mirror.

Even its expression, armor, and weapon was the same as mine.

It was enough to unnerve me just how identical this copy was to me.

“I assume both of you are very well aware of how strong each other is, right? Hehe.”

“Of course. I know better than anyone else.”

“Then an explanation won’t be necessary, and right now I’m very excited, you know? I’m hoping that this begins as soon as possible…”

“Sure.”

Finishing her words, she seemed to turn and move away from me, but all of a sudden came back and whispered in my ear.

“Kehe. Do you think that you’re using all of your strength? Heh. Wrong. You’re not using your strength properly to its full potential. Learn well from this, though I guess you won’t be using this knowledge anywhere after you perish.”

“……”

I wanted to swear up a storm, but this was a god I was facing.

I couldn’t mess this up due to my pride.

Hearing the words through one ear and out the other, I ignored what she told me.

Not using the strength I had properly?

I thought that I possessed quite the sense in when and how to use the skills I possessed.

Something that could only be obtained from countless battle experiences, I guess?

This copy that stood in front of me, had it only copied my growth?

Or has it copied also my thought processes and my experiences?

Either way, it was obvious that this opponent was quite the difficult one to deal with.

The biggest reason being that I could not defend against it.

Just from it using Meteor Call, I would have my hands full trying to avoid it.

The god leaving the scene signaled the beginning of the fight.

The one who was ready to launch the first attack was the opponent.

Behind its back were many of the vastly powerful Butcher’s Swords.

It had casted Piercing Sword.

It was pretty smart for using this skill.

Piercing Sword was one of the skills that moved at the will of its user.

Since this fight did not include any defensive measures, it would seek its target more persistently.

“This copy is quite handsome. And smart to boot…”

It began its attack before I could even finish.

The opponent it targeted was just me.

There were a vast number of swords that flew towards me at once.

If I had my shields, I wouldn’t have even bothered to try avoiding or blocking against this attack skill that wasn’t even beyond ranking.

However, the situation was different.

It was so very different.

My choice to counter the flying swords was to use Iceberg and Devil Avatar.

Just with my fight against Joker before, Iceberg was quite useful as a defensive measure.

It was solid enough to hold out against most attacks, and even its size was massive.

It was obvious that this skill would be very important in this fight.

Due to my lack of a Mana Shield, I could cast three spells at once.

I used Iceberg in front of me to block the flying swords, and then casted Gravity Laser.

Gravity Laser attacked all that was in its range.

The attack would also become more concentrated the fewer targets there were.

An orb appeared in the air and a summoned Devil Avatar charged at my copy.

-crack!

“Ha….. You’re also blocking with that?”

“…….”

It seemed that this would become quite the extended fight.

Not only did this copy possess my ability and growth, but it also had copied my fighting style as well.

I smashed a Meteor into the Iceberg it had summoned.

Meteor and Iceberg were of the same ranking and dealt a similar amount of damage.

When these two skills meet, they cancel each other out completely.

You could say that these skills were the polar opposites of each other.

Leaving behind glittering shards of ice behind, most skills had canceled each other out.

It was the same with how this copy destroyed my Iceberg I was using as a shield.

The same strength and thought process.

“Even if I used Mass Stealth Jutsu, you’d use Eye of Insight to see right through it. Just what do I need to do defeat you?”

“Same with me. I am another you.”

“Oho…. You even speak? I’m too scared to even die, considering that you might impersonate me.”

“You won’t be able to surpass me.”

“At the rate this is going, I think we’re going to tie? As you said, you are just another me, right?”

“Kuhu! I am foaming at the mouth from all this wasted talent that is rotting away because of you!”

“Huh?”

“Endless mana. To think that you’re only using it to cast skills.”

“What do you mean?”

“I shall show you. Your special trait! Your ability! Used to its full 100% potential!”

“…..”

“Kuaaa!”

I wondered just what nonsense it was spitting out.

The only way humans could use their mana was through the use of skills.

I had never thought otherwise all this time.

However, here was this clone, berating me.

I looked at my copy as if I was looking at an insane person.

With its ringing shout, this copy had given up on all defense and stood still.

Thinking that it had gone mad, I charged it.

There was no attack worth allowing to be attacked freely in such a vulnerable state.

To exchange one’s life to attack was going overboard and an incorrect decision.

Especially if there wasn’t any ways to defend oneself.

This was the case at least for me.

Without a single hesitation, I stabbed it with my sword.

After that, I used Formless Sword Aura.

It was because I was being too hasty with the idea of trying to deal a heavy amount of damage to my copy.

However, I didn’t deal that much damage.

The reason for that was simple.

My strength was over 30,000. However, my stamina stat was far over 50,000.

Due to my miscalculations, I had made a mistake that had wasted what little precious time I had.

However, I believed that my continued attacks with Formless Sword Aura would cover the mistake.

“Damn it! Why did I raise so much of my stats!”

With the Wild Beast activated, my Formless Sword Aura attack countlessly stabbed away at my copy.

I sliced and stabbed repeatedly in a crazy frenzy.

Due to the skill’s rank and destructive force, the difference in the strength stat and stamina stat had been covered for awhile.

The end was approaching.

-gulp.

“Damn it…. No way…..”

“UWOOOOO!”

Something that I didn’t even want to consider a possibility had occurred.

It had swallowed something.

That something was the King’s Marble.

Noticing the changes to its body, I became sure of it.

“You little shit!”

“Kuhahaha!”

In an instant, its body turned to a slightly reddish hue.

This process continued until its color changed black like charcoal.

Thanks to the effects of the King’s Marble, its body had become immortal.

Even the body that had been pierced all over had recovered in an instant.

There was still one more huge issue.

That issue was the effect of the marble that granted twice the offensive power to its user for a minute.

Even resorting to letting out a roar, it had created something.

It was using a skill that I did not possess.

This spellcasting motion was something that I had never seen nor heard of before.

It had created something insane that was completely different from anything so far.

Not only that, but it was twice as strong what it would have been normally.

“What…. What is that…..”

“I told you! I said that I would use 100% of your potential!”

“I had never learned that skill! What…..”

“Kuhu. Skill? I understand that you cannot use magical energies. After all, it is a power that our kind cannot use. However, you’re saying that someone who cannot even use the mana that they were hand fed will obtain the power of the Piece of Time and Space? Shut up with that nonsense!”

“Damn it……”