A Pleasant Duel
Flames engulfed the surroundings. A massive blood-red mana that had appeared in the sky scattered into countless projectiles, raining down upon the hero. Each head attached to the Lamia-like clones chanted curse incantations, transforming black curse energy into countless black hands that stretched toward him.
Yet amid the onslaught coming from every direction, the hero Rowell showed neither hesitation nor pause. Curses born of curse energy held no power over him, and the flames posed no obstacle. He cut through the blood-red mana bullets hurtling toward him, weaving between them with fluid precision.
Countless mana projectiles chased him at blinding speed. When the mammoth-headed clone stomped the ground, the ley lines trembled and a blade-like shockwave crashed down upon him.
The aftershocks had already reduced the walls, the fortress, and the castle itself to rubble, yet Anak and Aegina’s side remained remarkably at ease.
“This should suffice for the barrier.”
Under Medrup’s gesture, multiple layers of barriers overlapped and locked into place. Pillars of light driven into the earth stabilized the ground, while a massive sigil floating in the air reinforced the spell. The scale was grand enough to seal away even legendary monsters, yet Medrup treated it as casually as pitching a camping tent.
“If they focused their assault here, it might be different, but……”
They turned their heads back toward Rowell. Though the battle raged fiercely and its shockwaves rippled outward, a safe distance was being maintained.
“Well, it doesn’t look like they will.”
“By the way, where did we fight that form before?”
Anak pointed at one of the clones and asked Aegina. It resembled a massive tiger with a single large eye in the center of its face; its claws curved like hooks, and bony armor plates jutted outward like a natural cuirass.
“Hmm, let me think…… Ah!”
Aegina tilted her head for a moment, then clapped her hands.
“It was during that fight with Denatel in the forest!”
“Ah, right. That’s where.”
The battle between the hero and the clones was intense, yet because the same scene had repeated itself many times, even Anak and Aegina found their tension gradually fading.
The current fight differed slightly from previous ones. Until now, Rowell had focused on defeating the clones one by one while enduring attacks from multiple directions. Now he faced the entire group simultaneously.
The five-headed dragon in its final form unleashed breaths from every head. Countless mana bullets, shockwaves, deadly poison, and corrosive acid rained down from range, while razor-sharp melee strikes slipped through every opening, pressuring the hero without a single wasted movement.
Individually, their destructive power was inferior to the original Raiven, but their coordination and speed made them far more troublesome opponents.
The tip of the hero’s sword grew sharper still. Though he was not fighting at full strength, he had never once let his guard down. He faced them with proper respect. That was precisely why the clones could fight with genuine resolve despite the clear gap in power.
One clone collapsed before his blade. Yet that fall was not the end. More clones surged in from every side to replace it. Of course, Rowell could have dodged if he wished. But when enemies charged with no regard for defense, staking everything on a single strike and prepared to die, he could not retreat.
His sword gleamed. Following its trajectory, four new blades materialized in the air. Each was wreathed in intense light, similar to yet subtly different from the holy sword Grandias. The four blades blocked the clones’ attacks and pierced straight through their hearts.
—So those are the five swords that pierced the original. How ironic.
The final-form clone gazed at the hero and his blades, all five heads wearing a strange smile—an expression mixing regret and satisfaction.
“……Is it over now?”
At the hero’s question, the clones nodded.
—Indeed.
“This is the end.”
The five shining swords. They represented the technique the hero had used to defeat Raiven, and at the same time, they signaled the true conclusion of this battle.
—Truthfully, I would have preferred to draw them out a little sooner.
The attacks the clones had launched moments earlier had been meant to force the hero to reveal those swords. For imperfect clones like them, making the hero use the technique that had slain the original carried undeniable meaning.
—We are Raiven, Commander of the Beast Legion!
With that declaration, the clones poured every last ounce of their power toward the hero—not as coordinated follow-up strikes, but as pure, unreserved force.
“……!”
Medrup, who had been watching quietly, poured more strength into the barriers. Though they were clones, the sheer power of an all-out attack without regard for the future far exceeded expectations. The rubble of the broken walls and fortress, along with everything else within range, was simply erased.
“As expected. This is what happens when a Demon Commander-level attack is dispersed.”
Anak voiced his fresh astonishment at the widespread destruction unfolding before his eyes.
“Exactly. That’s why they’re more dangerous when unstable.”
The clones’ attacks were currently inflicting damage vast enough to wipe out the entire fortress and castle, yet during the original battle with Raiven, collateral damage of this scale had never occurred. It was not a matter of raw power. In terms of sheer destructive force, Raiven’s attacks had been far stronger.
This was purely a difference in concentration.
A fire lit by a mage and a fire fueled by oil or gunpowder differed completely in purity and potency. The same size of flame might only scorch skin if ordinary, yet a spell-born flame could burn flesh and bone alike. Unlike ordinary fire, a mage’s flame could focus most of its destructive power on a single target.
Attacks using mana, magic power, or other energies could either concentrate their force on one target or disperse it for wide-area destruction, depending on the caster’s skill. Without increasing raw power, the same energy could inflict far broader damage—or focus mountain-shattering force on a single target with no collateral effects.
That was why, even during the fierce battles against Raiven, the other Demon Commanders, the Demon King, Tiamat, and Nyx, the collateral damage had remained relatively limited. No matter how great the power, the range it affected stayed narrow.
But now it was different. Though the clones’ attacks possessed comparable destructive force, their concentration was excessively dispersed. As a result, while they caused widespread destruction, the actual power directed at Rowell remained relatively weak.
Grandias shone as it continued to cleave through the attacks still pouring toward the hero. Rowell closed the distance in an instant and swung his sword once more at the clones charging with dark energy wrapped around their bodies.
The golden trails of the five swords scattered the darkness. The clones vanished with them. Finally, the holy sword Grandias pierced the heart of the final form.
—……It was a pleasant duel, Hero.
“I enjoyed it too, Raiven.”
With that brief exchange, the massive dragon’s body turned to ash and scattered, as though it had burned everything away. No more attacks came. The explosions and destruction ceased, leaving only a desolate landscape and deep, gaping craters.
“……So you two have no intention of continuing the fight?”
Yet Rowell turned not toward his companions, but toward the empty air on the opposite side. The four swords had vanished and the light around his body had faded, yet he had not sheathed his blade.
“You noticed after all?”
Two faint figures materialized in the previously empty space: a small, blurry shadow and a clone of Raiven wrapped entirely in bandages.
“I knew from the start that you were only attacking from range. I also saw you hide during the final assault.”
His words were accurate. Unlike the other clones, these two had never confronted the hero directly. They had lent their power from afar but never stepped forward like the rest.
“You’re not Raiven, are you?”
At Rowell’s question, the bandaged clone nodded.
“Well, you could say that. Ah, but don’t misunderstand. Both of us are still clones. We possess memories of the original just like the others. However……”
“However?”
The clone raised a hand and tore away the bandages covering its face.
“They’re merely memories, nothing more.”
The face revealed beneath the bandages was almost human. Black hair and a somewhat cold, sharp impression. Like several other clones, it was a form Rowell had never seen on the original Raiven.
“Well, we acted together out of loyalty to our brothers, but I don’t hold that much attachment to the name ‘Raiven.’ Not toward you either, Hero.”
Even if a clone inherited some memories and form, its soul was never the same. The clones themselves had differed from one another and quarreled over small and large matters. What had united them was the name of Raiven, Commander of the Beast Legion, and the pride attached to it. That was why they had prepared for their final battle with the hero, resolved to die.
“So what do you intend to do now?”
“Who knows. I was thinking of going on a journey. Not as Raiven, but as myself. Yes…… I’ll even think of a new name.”
“……If you have no intention of fighting further, we could help you.”
“While keeping an eye on us, I suppose?”
Rowell pretended not to hear the question.
“The lifespan of a clone is……”
“That remains unknown. We can’t compare to ordinary demons, of course, but we don’t seem to be dying anytime soon.”
At his gesture, the body of the shadow-like clone standing beside him began to swell.
“And don’t misunderstand. Even if we have no desire to die fighting here, we have no intention of sullying our brothers’ resolve either.”
It happened in that instant. The clone that had resembled a faint shadow transformed into a massive maw and swallowed the bandaged clone whole. Though he did not understand what was happening, Rowell immediately lunged forward and swung his sword, cutting the clone apart. The last remaining clone’s form scattered and vanished, yet the swallowed clone was nowhere to be seen.