194. Catacombs
194. Catacombs
"Ugh... what kind of place is this...?"
"Hii... hii..."
Step— step— the sound of feet on the dry floor.
The occasional sound of something like dry branches snapping, mixed in here and there.
And then.
Woo woo woo—
"Eek?!"
"Hii!!"
The sound of wind blowing through the narrow underground passage.
"What? What what what? Is that a g-ghost?!"
Stella's voice, trembling as she clung to Eli's right arm, was thick with tears.
"Hii... hic, h-hic..."
Pina, clinging to Eli's left arm and pale as death, looked ready to stop breathing at any moment.
"For now, it sounds like wind, but it could've been a ghost."
"Wh-wh-wh-what? R-really? It's really a ghost? D-do-do... do ghosts show up here? Huh? Really?"
"They show up from time to time."
"Oh shit, oh shit oh shit oh shit..."
"Shine the light straight ahead. I can't see well."
"O-okay... g-got it."
The round light floating in front of the girls grew a little brighter. Following it, the hazy path ahead became a little clearer.
"We're almost there."
"Th-that... th-th-that, is that all... all... all bone? H-human, human bone? Huh? Not a model... real bone?"
"Hic, hic... h-hic... h-hic..."
"It's all human bone. Sometimes if you step on one wrong, it turns into a Skeleton, so be careful. A hole in the top of your foot is no joke."
A narrow passage.
Human bones packed densely along its walls.
And as if that weren't enough, pillars in the shape of inverted crosses made from human skulls were visible too.
The Catacombs.
The three girls were now inside the Catacombs to meet the Flame Emperor.
If they had moved exactly on schedule, the Flame Emperor would have come out to meet them, but because they had moved ahead of schedule, they had to go find her themselves.
Still, it was fortunate they knew where the Flame Emperor was staying. If they hadn't known that, they might have had to use a wish voucher.
Of course, if they had used it that way, Eli would have somehow gotten a new wish voucher out of it.
"...The Holy Kingdom just leaves those... those traces of heresy? They just leave stuff like that alone?"
"If they knock those down, the whole Catacombs collapse, so they can't help but leave them. You learned all this in the lectures."
"I-isn't there another way? Instead of that creepy thing, they could just put up new pillars..."
"If it were possible, they would have. If even one of those breaks, the whole thing collapses. It's Age of Gods... construction techniques or whatever."
"Ugh... I really hate this."
Stella swallowed her trembling breath, and as if clinging to Eli's arm wasn't enough, she wrapped herself around Eli's entire body.
Pina was already half out of her mind, practically being dragged along.
"If a Skeleton shows up while you're hanging onto my body like this, what am I supposed to do?"
"A S-Skeleton is something I can handle."
"Then why are you so scared?"
"B-because... because of the ghosts!"
"Ghosts can't hurt you, though?"
"I can't hurt ghosts either..."
"Then can't you just pass each other peacefully?"
"Th-that's impossible. How are you so calm? How can you be so composed? Aren't you scared of ghosts?"
"Why would I be?"
Eli chuckled and recalled a memory from the past.
Four hundred years ago, she had lived here for a month.
The reason she could enter so easily now was because she had finished the groundwork four hundred years ago.
She had also killed off as many dangerous Monsters as she could while she was at it.
"A-and... what if we get separated by accident? They say doppelgangers appear in the Catacombs. So... th-this is unavoidable, sticking together like this."
"Doppelgangers do show up."
She had killed off the dangerous ones as much as possible, but she hadn't killed all of them.
The inside of the Catacombs was so twisted that if you got lost, you couldn't get out, and it was so damn vast that killing every Monster was impossible.
It would be one thing if the Monsters stayed put, but they moved around just as much as humans did, so it was no easy task.
On top of that, large-scale magic couldn't be used inside, and there were Monsters hidden inside the inverted cross pillars, so there was nothing to be done.
The most numerous among them had been doppelgangers.
Because of that, there had been a time when the rule was to enter alone when patrolling the Catacombs.
Of course, the Hero Party of four hundred years ago had all gone in together.
No matter how good the doppelgangers were, they couldn't deceive their senses.
"Ugh... how much further do we have to go?"
"Let go of my arm."
"No!"
"Then just shut up and walk."
"Mhm..."
[I think I smell the Flame Emperor nearby...!]
"Um... where Master is staying... is there a bathroom?"
"At the Flame Emperor's Realm, she probably doesn't even need a bathroom. That's why I told you earlier to take care of it before we came in. Why don't you listen?"
"I-I didn't have to go earlier... but, so, is there no bathroom? What if there isn't?"
"How should I know? Go ask... wait."
Eli cut herself off and looked straight ahead.
Beneath the sphere of light Stella had raised, a small ember was visible.
It danced gently, and then— whoosh!— it rapidly swelled in size.
"Ah...!"
"Hm?"
A familiar voice came from within the enlarged ember. Soon, when the blazing flames died down—
"Hm..."
The Flame Emperor stood there with a cryptic expression.
"Master! Ugyak?!"
Eli immediately grabbed Stella by the scruff of the neck as she tried to dash forward.
"Ugh... why are you pinching... Eliarnes? Why? Why does your face look like that? Huh?"
Eli then stepped forward and blocked Stella's path.
"This is... ambiguous."
The Flame Emperor, arms crossed and stroking her chin, tilted her head. Eli quietly watched her, then held out her hand to Stella.
"Hey, give me that white paper I gave you back then."
"Huh? O-okay. Got it."
"Just in case, get a Blink Scroll ready too. And grab Pina."
"...O-ok... g-got... it..."
Even at the moment Stella placed the paper on Eli's hand, the Flame Emperor still wore that cryptic expression.
But only for a moment. She let out a small sigh when she saw the white paper in Eli's hands.
"Hoh... this is troublesome. It can manifest to this extent?"
Flames rose from the Flame Emperor's right hand. Fire magic used in a place with thin oxygen would kill even the caster herself.
But the Flame Emperor was different. For her, who had ascended to the 9th Circle and transcended humanity, common sense did not apply.
"Uh... uh...? I-is she mistaking us for doppelgangers...? O-or is she a doppelganger pretending to be Master?"
"Hii...?"
"Shall I try tearing what you hold in your hands?"
Ignoring Stella and Pina's questions, the Flame Emperor glared at Eli with sharp eyes.
Eli did not let her guard down either.
It was ambiguous whether the being standing before her was the real Flame Emperor or a doppelganger.
Judging by how the flames didn't make the oxygen murky, its level seemed quite high.
An appearance that could pass for the real Flame Emperor.
Since the Flame Emperor had stayed in the Catacombs for a long time, the doppelganger's manifestation rate might have risen.
Was it the real one? She could tell if she got a little closer, but she wasn't certain.
If she had spent more time with the Flame Emperor, she could have recognized her instantly.
On top of that, the Flame Emperor could separate her spirit body.
Since they had often met through that spirit body, telling them apart was no simple matter.
If that was the real Flame Emperor, she'd just ask her to make a new wish voucher.
If it wasn't, that was fine too.
She didn't think for a second that she would lose to a doppelganger of the Flame Emperor.
Having finished her thoughts, Eli immediately prepared to spring forward and tore the wish voucher.
At the same moment.
Shlurk! A pure white hand burst through Eli's stomach.
"Kuh, hup... what... is...?"
Backflowing blood scattered onto the floor. Eli turned her trembling head. Stella—her head was smashed in. Pina, who had been clutching her tail, was also dead with her head burst open.
"You... bitch..."
Cough— blood poured from Eli's small mouth once more.
Her body staggered. Her vision blurred.
What she saw straight ahead in that blurry vision was—
"Heh, what a murderous glare."
Her own face, twisted in a scowl.
It was Eliarnes Eustetia.
"Doppel... ganger... how... when...?"
"You're the doppelganger, you fucker."
Cherry-blossom-colored Mana flashed from the hand of the scowling Eliarnes.
*****
Splat— I dodged the viscous fluid spraying in all directions and turned away with a grumble.
"Guys, is my face really this bitchy normally?"
[Eliarnes's sharp expression is like a truly fearsome marten, so it's magnificent!]
"...Is being compared to a marten a compliment?"
[Of course it is! Martens are truly fearsome and powerful animals...!]
"...Hm. Really...?"
What does a marten even look like?
No, wait, is this a backhanded insult?
While I was scratching my cheek and looking at Pina, the Flame Emperor, having killed her own doppelganger, approached with a bright smile.
"Friend of this Flame Emperor, Eliarnes. Your expression is not so much bitchy as it is haughty and coldly sharp."
"Right? This is because it's a doppelganger that it's this vicious and bitchy, right?"
"Hm, the sharp expression you make is like looking at a tiger. Truly an expression befitting a friend of this Flame Emperor."
"Hm... rather than a tiger, more like a bitchy cat raised in a rich house— ugyak!!"
I flicked Stella on the forehead and glared at the corpse turning into sticky slime.
That made five teams already.
This time, the ones mimicking all of us had gathered in one place, so I hid behind the Flame Emperor's magic and watched—and they were copying our actions inside the Catacombs exactly.
Creepy little bastards.
Anyway.
I felt this four hundred years ago too...
Seeing the expression "I" make every time I die is really not a pleasant feeling.
So for Stella and Pina's doppelgangers, I've been bursting their heads so I don't have to see their faces, but my doppelganger—maybe because it really resembles me—is hard to burst in one go.
So I sneak up and aim for the gut...
Maybe because I died with a hole in my stomach in my Past Life too... the feeling is a little... something something...
Was my stomach actually my weak point?
Am I just unable to deal with gut shots?
This is... a problem worth considering.
"...Actually, what if we're also doppelgangers... or something? There's a real body somewhere, right? I... am I really me?"
When I shifted my gaze from the now completely vanished doppelganger corpse, Stella had come up beside me and was whispering.
"Doppelgangers kill the original because they think the exact same thing as you. Actually, there's no 'original' or anything in their heads. They think they're the original."
"D-don't say scary things."
Stella shuddered, grabbed my hand tightly, and used Cleanse.
"Nothing even splattered on you. Why use it?"
"It still feels gross."
Then she stared at my face and pouted.
"But, um... if my doppelganger acted like she knew you when I wasn't around... would you recognize right away that she wasn't me?"
"Obviously."
Even if a doppelganger copies everything else, there's exactly one thing it can't replicate about the original.
Of course, even without that, the people I've been close to—
Family, obviously, and people like Eurasia, Pina, Stella, Leona, and the Flame Emperor—I could recognize them instantly.
"Heh, heheh. I see. You could recognize me right away?"
Giggling, Stella clasped her hands behind her back and spun around.
"I can recognize you too! So don't worry!"
Forget recognizing me—she'd probably just get beaten up right away.
I didn't say it out loud. Teasing has to be done in moderation to keep the impact.
I can't lose Stella's unique impact.
I nodded vaguely and started walking.
"Let's head out again."
"Mm, good. But, um, by any chance... Eliarnes. How much further to our destination?"
The Flame Emperor asked in an excited voice.
"From here... about ten more alleys and we'll be there."
"Ooh! Is that so!"
A bright smile spread across the Flame Emperor's face.
"Come, let us depart at once!"
"Hii!"
"Ah, what. That way? Let's go together!"
Having entered the Catacombs and met the Flame Emperor, we decided to go find the traces "we" had left behind four hundred years ago.
If the Flame Emperor sees it, she might just die of happiness.