Artemia: Journey To The Thirtieth Floor

42. Replica

"Where are we off to now?" I asked as I followed Yuki.

It has been a long time since that fateful day. The day where we saw Shiro near the camp, I mean. Everybody has completely recovered from the fight they had with the three kings' troops. As for me, my legs have returned to normal, and the scars have healed completely. My gratitude goes to Kai, who worked tirelessly to ensure that all of my bruises were fully gone. I didn't know he was that skilled with recovery magic. Boy, he even made the scars that are supposed to be permanent disappear!

Why is he so much like Dylan...? Sai also keeps an eye on me all the time, even though he is silent, which reminded me of Blake. I had never seen somebody who looked like Freya before, but I got the impression that I was in the body of the person who looked like her. I haven't looked in the mirror because I don't want to see myself. It's strange to look in the mirror and see someone who doesn't look like me. And it would be weird to see my reflection and end up seeing Freya's face. I mean, she's pretty but wouldn't it be strange?

Whatever the case, we're headed to face the troops once again!

"I was told by a messenger sent by Charybdis that the naval force intends to harass an isolated island where Shirayuki is still revered," Yuki told me as she clenched her jaw, obviously prepared to lash out the moment we see the enemy.

Oh? So this is how I look when I'm mad...

Enkai and Kasai finally joined us as we collected up the rest of the troupe's participants. While issuing the order, Yuki was very efficient. We had just recently learned of the kings' intentions, yet she had already devised a strategy in my head! My mouth went agape as I stood there watching her explain to each squad what they were meant to do, mesmerized. I mean, Yuki has been trained for this ever since she was a child, so it shouldn't be a surprise. But this is the first time I'm seeing this!

When Yuki had finished speaking, Sai started blowing what seemed to be a Viking horn in a certain direction. Dragons came flying towards us as he placed it down. They seem to be rather intriguing, to say the least. I couldn't say anything since I was too surprised, so Yuki dragged me over to a white dragon that seemed familiar. She appeared to be breathtakingly beautiful! My mouth went agape as I watched her shine amidst the crowd.

"Yukina, bring us to Fuyu island."

Oh, that's right! Yukina is the dragon that saved us from our certain death on Fuyumi mountain. That was the time when the hound dogs appeared to devour us. As the two of us rode her, I had a distinct impression that my spirit was about to escape my body. Yukina was flying at such a fast pace that I would have fallen off her back if I hadn't grabbed hold of the scales on her back. I saw how Yuki was trying hard to resist the impulse to laugh at me when she saw me struggling to hold on for dear life. This girl...

When I squinted my eyes at her, she instantly built a translucent ice barrier to protect us. It was impossible to see what was in front of us when we had to be on the lookout for our enemies. The twins are just beside us, riding their dragons with a calm demeanor. I was embarrassed that they had to see me looking dumb while riding a dragon, so I looked away. Anyway, even though the others are behind us, they are keeping up with us, so we were not worried that they would be left out.

So I peered down to see what was causing all of the noise on the waves. When I saw the huge number of sea creatures swimming at the same pace as our dragons, my jaw literally dropped open. My guess is that they're being guided towards the island by Scylla and Charybdis. Great! I don't believe the kings' army will be able to outnumber us at this point. Although they have a lot of soldiers, they wouldn't be able to easily defeat the sea monsters. Heh, they're going to eat the dust.

"Ivory, we're getting close. Please be prepared for a bloodbath..." Yuki muttered.

After hearing Yuki's words, I got goosebumps, although I had expected it since we had left the camp in the first place. But there was something else that struck me completely by surprise. Her eyes were dead, and I could swear it was something I had never expected to see in my life. It was as if she had forgotten about the sweet Yuki that I had been seeing for the last several days.

Have I ever looked like that...?

"Yes, I've prepared myself beforehand..." I replied, still feeling a bit afraid.

Everyone was really acting more serious than ever, which was to be anticipated. I have been compressing the ice plumes to the greatest extent possible while we were on the way. It would be inconvenient if I were to suddenly run out of those in the middle of the battle, right? Yes, I could just rely on Fuyumi's initial powers, but that wouldn't make her the 'Winter Warrior' that she is supposed to be anymore. The least I can do for her is to preserve her image.

Anyway, Fuyu island was already in sight, so I had to empty my mind of any unwanted thoughts. Instead, I concentrated on tracking down as many enemies as I could. Even though it was impossible to recognize them, I could already feel the oozing bloodlust emanating from a mile away. We're up against some formidable opponents, it seems. However, I do not believe they are on the same level as Yuki. Oh my, it's going to be a long day...

When I saw flames erupting from a distance, my brows furrowed. "They had arrived too soon..."

"No, we are just late."

The dragons were flying even faster than before, and I couldn't help but let out a tiny groan as I battled to keep my balance. As soon as Yukina touched down, she quickly put out as many flames as she could. When the others got off the dragons they were riding, the evacuation squad went to work saving as many citizens as they could while the other troupes looked after them.

As for the four of us, we went on a search for the commanders of the enemy. They were quite simple to track down since they were the ones who were unleashing an excessive amount of elemental force. Upon understanding that we were capable of dealing with them on our own, the four of us divided. I also wanted to look into something while we were here, so I chose the most powerful of the three options available. It's not that I was bragging, but I believe there is something that only I can find out if I fight that person.

When I saw that the guy I set my eyes on hadn't noticed me yet, I couldn't help but smirk. This person believes that by feigning, he can get the upper hand. Instead of aiming for his head, I struck my katana on the ground. Water fountains emerged in the vicinity of where he was standing, causing the ice plumes to erupt at the same time. I couldn't help but smile as I observed him writhe in agony when a plume burst near his face.

"You piece of crap..." he mumbled as he looked at me with a maniacal smile on his face as if he were mocking me.

Uh-oh. We've got ourselves a psychopath on our hands. He licked the blood that was dripping from the wound on his forehead. I wasn't trying to judge him, but I already saw through his colors. The only thing I could detect in him was a passion for blood and a desire to kill everything in his immediate vicinity. Ah, I might have started digging my own grave. Well, I chose to fight him, so I have to somehow make it out alive.

I gritted my teeth as I worked quietly to extinguish the fire he had started. But just as I was about to execute it, he made them a lot stronger. Oh? What a surprise. He's quite sharp. Since I learned healing spells from Yuki, I shouldn't have any trouble fighting on my own. Fuyumi's aquatic attacks surely pack a punch, so it's better to fight in a place where I have the upper hand. In my opinion, I shouldn't have too much difficulty guiding him to a location where there is a lot of water is fortunate. But considering his intelligence, I am certain that he will be able to figure out what I am up to.

"Hey..." he trailed off as he walked up to me, his fingers toying with his blades as he walked slowly and leisurely. It seemed as though he was trying to intentionally cut himself. "You're not a resident of Artemia, are you...?"

I smiled at him instead of answering, so he quickly figured out that he was right. There's no sense in answering since I'm going to murder him regardless of whether he finds out or not. He snickered as he looked at me with a scowl on his face. It was as if he was trying to scare the s**t out of me. He's definitely not planning to go easy on me. But neither am I! I wiped the smile off my face as I summoned as many daggers and spears as I could.

It was almost as if the sky was conspiring in my favor because it began to rain. Some of the drips became into needles, which I discreetly aimed towards the man in front of me. I was laughing maniacally as I did so. He probably saw that coming because he tried to negate their existence with his hellfire. After realizing I was coming after him, he started to ignore them.

You made the wrong decision, dude. After jumping as high as I possibly could, I began to spin my whole body. As I started to gather momentum, he drew his katanas and positioned them in a defensive position. I prepared to hit the ice plumes near him while creating tridents on my hand. I noticed that he was defending himself from all sides while waiting for me to clash with him, so I made daggers and spears from where he was looking for. I tried to make him believe that I was the decoy.

Heh, gotcha!

He didn't have time to prepare for the ice plumes that were erupting underneath him. He slowly froze, literally. I took the chance and placed him in a bubble of water as I made more plumes explode. When I was certain that he was fully frozen, I threw the trident behind me. Why? Because his true body was lurking behind me, ready to attack me in the back.

I looked at him with a sadistic grin on my face as I slowly pushed the trident into his core, shattering everything inside him. He looked at me like he couldn't believe what had just happened. When I saw electricity starting to ignite from inside him, I took a quick step back. I stared at him while he was beginning to malfunction. The light coming from the robot's eyes slowly went off, indicating that he had already shut down. Huh, I was right all along...

"What the hell could have brought you here, hmm?" I whispered to myself as I removed his shirt, showing the name on his chest. "Kaji 031."

This explains why the kings commanded such a large army. They've been reproducing their warriors for a while now. I gritted my teeth while I inspected the cables within its skull until I discovered a pentagon-shaped crystal inside its interior. I jabbed it with a floating dagger since I didn't want to touch it. My brows furrowed when it broke, unsure about what I must do about it.

However, there is still much too much going on in our immediate vicinity! My senses told me that the other leaders were still alive because their elemental strength was still overflowing. I stored the gem in a bubble and buried it under the ground, afraid that other people might find it. I went to Kasai since he was the one who was the closest to my area. The woman he was facing got distracted by me, so Kasai took the chance to take her down.

"Nice reply," I said, a grin on my face as I said it. I used a knife to gouge the crystal out of the robot's skull in a stealthy manner.

"Why, thank you," he said as he returned a smug smile. "Please return Princess Yuki to her rightful place. "I'll provide a hand to the squads."

I nodded and started looking for Yuki, aiming to destroy as many troops as I could along the way. My brows furrowed in confusion when I saw her near the lake, battling...what seemed to be a snake. I tried to approach them quietly, but a ring blade flew towards me. Fortunately, I was able to throw up a shield in time. Damn, that was so f*****g dangerous.

"That was close..." I murmured as I heaved a sigh of relief.

"Ivory, this is strange..." I heard Yuki muttering as she gripped the hilt of her sword tightly. She was cursing under her breath as she stared at the snake who was tossing her tail at her.

"What do you mean?"

She was about to respond when a pair of ring blades made of water started to shower down on her. Yuki transformed them into ice and flung them back to the snake while I just took control of them to make sure that they wouldn't hurt me. I stood near Yuki, keeping an eye out for the woman's attacks on us both. She must have realized that she's not a human.

"What's wrong?" I asked so I could confirm what my suspicions were. Honestly, I already know what she's about to say, but I need to hear it directly from her.

Yuki responded with her brows furrowed in confusion. "I recall having a fight with this woman in the past. She was the captain of the elite naval squad. But she was murdered by my own two hands..." she trailed off as her grip on her katanas tightened. "I have a vivid memory of everything! Having her blood splattered on my hands was a memory I could never forget. So, why..."

Ah, I knew it...

"Calm down, Yuki. That's not the woman you fought because that's a replica."