Arise From Weakness (OC/ Male Reader x Arifureta)

(S3) Chapter 78 True Heart

No one's POV

As the blinding light began to fade, Nhazul realized he was alone, before sighing.

Nhazul: So we got separated, huh? Well, I figured we would.

Of course, predicting this outcome didn't make Nhazul any happier about it. Furrowing his brows, he examined his surroundings.

Nhazul: Looks like it's a straight path.

The corridor in front of him was two meters wide, two meters tall, and made entirely of the same reflective ice the maze had been. There was nowhere to retreat. The gate he'd arrived through faded away, turning into a normal ice wall. Upon turning around, all Nhazul saw was himself. He returned his gaze forward and started walking down the narrow corridor. It was clearly meant for only one person to pass through. All around him, reflections of himself walked in cadence with his gait.

The corridor didn't turn or fork at all, and
after a few minutes, Nhazul found himself standing in front of a massive pillar of ice. It stood in the center of a large open room, connecting the heavens and earth. Its upper and lower sections were wider than the rest, making it look like a tree of ice had taken root. There were even little branches and leaves splitting off from the upper end.

Nhazul: This is still the only path, huh?

Muttering to himself, Nhazul strode over to the giant ice tree. Like everything else in the labyrinth, the ice tree was perfectly reflective.
He stared at his reflection, seeing his fashion choices thrust in front of him like this, made him sigh.

Nhazul: ...-_-... Didn't realize how much black and grey I was wearing until I stop and thought about it... Still look cool though.

As he continued to look at his reflection, Nhazul soon began to chuckle to himself, turning away.

Nhazul: Though if Hajime was looking at himself, I'm sure he's being brought to his knees.

???: Are you really worried about him? You should worry about yourself.

Nhazul: You finally showed up, huh?

Nhazul narrowed his eyes and looked back. His reflection glared at him. Though the real
Nhazul had his back turned. his reflection was still facing frontwards inside the ice tree.

Negative Nhazul: I should have known that wouldn't spook you. Or should I say, spook me?

Nhazul: Of course not. I've already figured out what the theme of this labyrinth is. That, plus what Amanogawa said earlier gave me all the clues I needed to figure out this was what
was coming next.

Though he was talking to his own reflection, Nhazul was unfazed. The Nhazul in the mirror grinned and asked,

Negative Nhazul: And what theme would that be?

Nhazul: You're me, aren't you? You shouldn't even need to ask.

Negative Nhazul: Oh no. I might be you, but I'm not all of you. But you figured that out too, didn't you?

Nhazul: Obviously.

The Nhazul within the mirror was a fictional Nhazul. He'd already experienced something similar in the Haltina Woods.

Of course, back there it had been monsters pretending to be Yue and the others, but he already knew labyrinths read the data of those who challenged them and were capable of creating copies. The fake's earlier assertion that he wasn't all of Nhazul just supported his hypothesis. Namely that the fake was another one of the labyrinth's trials. Meaning that even if he was speaking with a carbon copy of himself, Nhazul still needed to answer to advance further.