The Game Before the Fall

Chapter 69: Heroics. (Part 1)

Chapter 69: Heroics.

I stared at my other self who had suddenly appeared, mystified by the experience and the strange sense of familiarity he exuded.

"Endi sends her regards. Now where's my daughter, where's Ria?"

"She's with Shin," I replied. "You..., you came from my world?"

"And now I'm back," he smiled.

Kazu stomped the floor again, "Excuse me! Hello? I'm here too."

"Yeah, I'll deal with you in a moment," the other me waved him off.

"Careful, the Old Man is-," I stopped mid-sentence as I noticed the Old Man still hadn't got back up. He was collapsed on the ground, limp against the broken theatre chairs. "How did you...?"

"It's a special technique, breaks down the bonds with their King and keeps them down long enough for you to end them permanently. He won't be getting- oh damn he's getting up."

The Old Man grunted to his feet, cracking his neck and releasing a sharp sound, "That was some punch." A perverted smile broke his expression, "Let's see you do it again."

Kazu who had been fuming suddenly screamed, the sound of his voice causing cracks to appear in the very space between us. As if the dungeon space was bleeding, deep maroon ooze seeped from the cracks, splattering to the ground like ichor.

"I'll break you myself and tear apart all your secrets then!" His crown burned brighter, and his eyes seemed to swell in madness as his lips distorted upwards. "Morgan, break him."

"Two is a bit much," the other me huffed and in an instant drew a pistol from his back, forcing the Old Man to dodge. His aim however wasn't the Old Man but me, the bullets accurately breaking the bindings on my body and the moment my body was free I charged at Kazu.

The demonic Archmage reacted as quickly as I expected and no sooner had I touched the stage floor did he sweep his arm towards me. The entire stage swelled like a wave and crashed into me, the ooze that now covered much of the room sticking to my armour. The ooze was like glue, restricting my movements and refused to be brushed off easily. My body was still roiling from the impact of using the Void and as I was swept up, I took the opportunity to drink a potion.

By the time I escaped, the conflict between the other me, the Old Man and Kazu was in full swing. I was impressed. His moves resembled mine but were far sharper. In terms of speed and power, it looked like we were even but the confidence in his movements, the way he predicted and repelled the Old Man all the while handling Kazu at a distance, it was nothing short of amazing. Still, I could see the sweat build on his brow. It was Kazu who was the problem. His control over mana and the dungeon itself made it hard to fight back at all.

I breathed deeply and aimed my body. Like an arrow. I repeated the mantra in my mind and fired my body, slamming my entire weight and force into the Old Man. His body folded against itself and slammed into the wall, but I knew he'd get back up.

"You handle Kazu!" I grunted and continued to hound onto the Old Man just as he pulled himself back together.

"You're fast," the Old Man chuckled as I swung my blade down towards him. "But I'm faster." His body snapped and in less than a blink of the eye he had appeared at my side, unleashing a kick against the heavy metal armour I wore. I grit my teeth and stepped into the blow, hooking his leg beneath my armpit and smashing down on it with my fist. A snap resounded but immediately it healed, shedding crystals as it did so.