Doppelganger Horde

"Really, was that the best way? No matter how I think about it, even though it was a monster, wasn't it a bit too much?"

Han Yeoul recalled the soft sensation of the uterus he'd had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to crush twice because he couldn't finish it in one go, and a pang of guilt hit him as he pictured the doppelganger melting away in agony. Sure, it was just a dungeon monster that had to be taken down anyway, but watching it die while wearing Jeanne's face had gotten to him.

"But it liked it just like I said the real Jeanne would, right? Isn't that so, Jeanne?"

"...It couldn't be helped because of my traits."

"Traits are just things you already had that Master draws out with his authority, you know? Don't be so embarrassed. That's just one more part of your charm as Master's onahole."

"Haa... this is truly mortifying."

Jeanne pulled down her helmet's visor to hide her face in shame. Unlike the doppelganger, whose uterus had melted away in Han Yeoul's grip, the real Jeanne had felt an insane surge of pleasure from the crushing force that nearly burst her womb. She'd screamed louder than ever before, climaxing harder than anything he'd seen. Even after Han Yeoul fed her a semen potion and used [Repair], the lingering aftershocks had left her panting for quite a while, unable to shake off the sensation of her womb being pulverized.

Thanks to that, the party had no choice but to wait right there until she calmed down. Fortunately, once they'd found Jeanne, no more stray doppelganger copies came looking for them.

"By the way, what was up with that last doppelganger? It even copied Jeanne's traits, so it wasn't just some ordinary copy."

"Who knows. I don't really know much about doppelgangers myself... Slami, do you have any idea?"

"Huh? Me~? Of course I don't know~ But it's such a sha~me~ I got a little taste of that last doppelganger before it all melted away, and it was su~per tasty~ *slurp* Too bad I missed the rest~"

Slami pouted, bummed that she hadn't devoured every last bit.

"Enough chit-chat. Time to head to the boss room? We don't have much time left."

They had just over thirty minutes until the next black wave hit. Time was tight, but since they'd found Jeanne near the labyrinth's heart, they could probably rush straight into the boss fight without running into it—if they hurried.

"Master?"

"Haa, looks like there's no easy way out."

The boss doppelganger clearly had no intention of letting them waltz in. Countless copies started swarming from the passages—Brina, Jeanne, Slami. Every onahole except Han Yeoul had a doppelganger version, all charging in a horde to keep them from reaching the boss room in time.

"No idea why, but the boss really doesn't want to meet us, huh? It knows sending onahole copies won't do squat."

Han Yeoul drew Abigail's sword and barked orders.

"Jeanne up front, Slami cover the rear. Brina and I stick right behind Jeanne and take out anything that gets close."

"Understood."

"Finally, a real fight."

Brina and Jeanne readied their weapons, entering combat stance. Han Yeoul gave Slami extra instructions.

"Especially you, Slami—before they melt into the floor when they die, [Same-Species Devour] them first. Prioritize that over attacking."

"Ooh, a command I actually like for once, you lame master~ So much food~!"

These copies were fragments of the boss doppelganger. If Slami absorbed them, it'd mean a permanent loss of power for the boss. The fact that it was sending them anyway meant it was willing to take that hit just to buy time. Whatever for, Han Yeoul had no intention of playing along.

'I don't know what it's planning, but if stalling is the goal, no need to indulge it. Punch through as fast as possible!'

For a quick breakthrough, a solid vanguard to pierce the center was key. Jeanne had every skill a tank needed, but the problem was her main ones were active skills with heavy mana costs. Stage 4 onaholes didn't have their own mana yet. Passive skills could be fueled by semen as a substitute, but the efficiency sucked.

They couldn't waste semen potions—basically healing items for onaholes—before the boss fight. Luckily, Han Yeoul had a way to let her use mana on credit.

[Yin Gate Engraving], which he'd used once before.

"No choice. Guess I'll suffer later. [Yin Gate Engraving] target: Jeanne."

"Wha?! In the middle of this, suddenly a yin gate...?! Nnghiiik?!"

"Once we're out of the dungeon, I'll do what I did before again, so fight for now. We gotta break through there. You can do it, right?"

"Ugh...! This isn't because I want it—it's all because you engraved the yin gate on your own!"

Clang—clang—!

Jeanne thrust her kite shield forward and bashed it with her mace, sending out wide waves laced with [Taunt]'s effect.

"Ugh... M-Master...!"

"Grrraaah...!"

The primal waves of [Taunt] hit home, and the doppelgangers charged straight at Jeanne, their reason dimmed—unlike the sneaky copies that had first approached to deceive the party.

"These ones are totally feral compared to before? Good, they're all taunted. We'll break through like this—stay close behind."

[Charge] activated, and Jeanne shot forward. Just before colliding with the doppelgangers, she triggered another skill.

[Heavy Strike] flared to life, coating Jeanne's kite shield and mace in brilliant milky-white mana.

"Hrah!"

Boom!

Jeanne swung her mana-charged kite shield, blasting the front-line doppelgangers away, then followed up with her mace.

Crack!

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

A doppelganger with an identical shield tried to block, but it crumpled on impact and flew back. Even if the copies had degraded physical stats and couldn't use skills compared to the originals, the gap shouldn't have been this wide. Part of it was the [Yin Gate Engraving] boosting her physicals, but mostly, it was the sheer mana Jeanne poured into [Heavy Strike].

Thanks to the engraving's side effect, she could burn mana freely now—the "debt" would come due later as fully grown yin gate "collections" in semen. There were rank-based limits on efficiency and amount, but with her shield and mace glowing like stars, even doppelgangers dropped in one hit.

Seeing that, Han Yeoul slashed at flanking doppelgangers with his sword and yelled,

"Hey! How much mana are you dumping into [Heavy Strike]?!"

"You told me to break through, so I'm using what's needed!!"

"That's all gonna come back to me later as loads I have to pump into you!!"

"If you were worried about that, you shouldn't have engraved it!! Here we go again—[Heavy Strike]!!"

"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?!!"

"Focus on the fight!! [Heavy Strike]!!"

"Hey!!!"

Han Yeoul grew nervous at Jeanne gleefully spamming [Heavy Strike] with wild abandon, dreading the aftermath—but the results were undeniable. With her leading, flanked by Han Yeoul and Brina picking off stragglers, and Slami devouring fallen bodies with tentacles, the party carved forward.

Slami had eaten so much her volume visibly swelled.

"Slami can't eat any more~ Urp~ Too full, it's gross~"

"That's enough, Slami. Focus on attacks now."

"Ugh~ Labor right after eating~"

Slami grumbled but whipped her tentacles, spraying acidic mucus to keep enemies at bay. With her joining the offense, punching through got easier, but the doppelgangers kept coming endlessly. The boss seemed dead set on winning with numbers before they reached its room.

'Too many copies. At this rate, we'll get bogged down in attrition or scattered by the black wave for piecemeal takedowns.'

Han Yeoul racked his brain for a breakthrough while staying ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠calm. Then he spotted something odd. Skeptical at first, but after it repeated, he was sure—and issued new orders.

"Slami, handle the Jeanne copies! Brina, take the Slami ones! Jeanne, keep [Charge] up and focus only on that—no more [Heavy Strike]!"

Slami and Brina swapped targets on cue; Jeanne clicked her tongue and canceled [Heavy Strike].

'I'll handle Brina's copy.'

Han Yeoul swung at Brina's doppelganger. All copies fixated on the party, so it saw his honest frontal slash coming.

"M-Master...?"

Slash—

"Eh...?"

Thud—slurp—

As it reverted to its true form and melted into the floor, Han Yeoul confirmed his hunch.

'They only half-ass copy memories and looks, so they're slow to react to attacks from superiors in the hierarchy.'

Jeanne > Slami > Brina > Han Yeoul—that was the onahole pecking order. These lower-fidelity copies had unwittingly inherited those relational memories, creating exploitable weaknesses.

"Who taught you to attack Master, Slami?!"

"Hauuuh...?"

"These look just like Jeanne but are even lamer~"

"Grrraaah...?!"

Like Han Yeoul, the others mopped up their advantageous matchups effortlessly.

"Not at the core yet?"

Jeanne asked as she [Charge]d on, merely batting aside blockers.

"We're definitely near the labyrinth's heart, but no boss room in sight."

Exploiting the weakness sped them up, but time was still razor-thin.

Only three minutes until the black wave scattered everything. Jeanne eyed Han Yeoul's eerie calm.

"Got some trick up your sleeve?"

"Not certain, but it should work."

Time ticked mercilessly as they cut through. Finally, the promised moment arrived.