Chapter 1208 (2/2)

But I need you, self that might have been. I need you to make sure that a sad, sad man isn’t able to escape his own karma.

It was at that moment that Vualla’s consciousness had been shoved to the side by that brutal cold. Those tendrils of darkness stretched outward and seized her limbs and joints. It was jerky at first, but soon the darkness had complete control of Vualla’s body, ignoring her desperate struggles to recover control. Gritting her teeth, Vualla could only watch as her body surged forward to meet four Nether Gatekeepers with stiff strides.

Needless to say, the initial conflict didn’t go well. Even if the darkness could suppress her movements, it couldn’t truly empower her body very much; it basically just had control of Vualla’s own strength. So she had been quickly pushed back, dealing with attacks from too many directions in a body poorly controlled by darkness.

Perhaps out of habit, to ease the burden, the darkness had stretched a tendril out into the air, slowly gathering the energy of death from this chaotic field of battle and pulling it toward itself. And in that moment, Vualla had drawn on every bit of strength that she could manage and smashed her Willpower against that stretching tendril. Instantly, Vualla knocked away the energy it had gathered. It dispersed into the air, returning to the swirling maelstrom of darkness.

The darkness-Vualla was so surprised by the interference that she let Vualla’s body get smashed backward by an attack from a Nether Gatekeeper. Why?

I believe I made my feelings on this subject clear. Vualla refused to budge.

We will die otherwise. Your Randidly Ghosthound will be quite sad to see you gone.

Even so. I… I’m willing to die for this Path. I can be strong without stealing life from others.

It is absolute nonsense to try and hold your own life hostage to threaten me. I have taken control of your body already. There is nothing you can do to stop me.

Vualla couldn’t resist the laugh that was bubbling up out of her chest. It was your own words. You need me. Not the other way around. I don’t understand what is going on with you… but I won’t just let you desecrate my choices. This is my body.

The darkness had considered that for several long moments. While the discussion was going on, darkness-Vualla had been focused on defending herself but was largely smashed back and forth by the strikes of the Nether Gatekeepers. Due to the pressure, she had to constantly give up ground. If she gave up much more, some of the average Aether soldiers would become involved.

And then the darkness spoke again, with an answer that surprised Vualla.

...fine.

Vualla’s body seemed to shiver and then she had stepped forward and swung her fist. This time, Vualla could see how the darkness controlled every minute detail of her body. True to her reputation as the most ingenious manipulator of energy in the history of the System, the darkness-Vualla created destruction just from the mechanical movements of her body. When the punch smashed into the Nether Gatekeeper in front of her, it was strong enough to knock the Nether Gatekeeper backward.

Again the darkness controlled Vualla’s body like a puppet, but the direction and application of force was so close to perfection that suddenly Vualla’s body seemed to have transformed into something that she didn’t recognize. Yet the darkness binding her body didn’t reach for the death energy again; it was content just using her movements.

Perhaps Vualla’s shock had been extremely obvious because the darkness answered her unanswered question. It is not that I agree with your decision. But we… are one and the same, bound by the same karma. I can certainly… respect your wishes while I use this body.

Then the darkness had controlled Vualla to look upward. Besides… my existence is just… one half of this. The other portion of myself is already utilizing the grand formation that I created along the frontlines to accomplish our goals. But you will be glad that she is because without that strength, we would not stop Eliot.

Vualla’s body shook, even through the darkness’s control as Vualla heard the response and could sense the truth of it in their intimate connection. Eliot… my brother…?

Then a surge of sadness and confusion ran through Vualla even as she was aware of her body methodically beginning to push back the surrounding Nether Gatekeepers.. But he’s… did Ileot copy him too…? I should have remembered… he already died long ago. He’s already-

With every movement, the darkness grew more adept at controlling the force through Vualla's body. Her sharp image of physical destruction running through her muscles got stronger and stronger. As it became more dominant in the fight against the Nether Gatekeepers, the darkness hummed and seemed to be considering something.

...I suppose there is no harm in this truth. Our brother Eliot truly did die all those years ago… but not before discovering his true strength. He was always a boy interested in fantasy, did you remember? Locked in his room, devouring books. Until the day he was forced to follow in his brothers’ footsteps and fight on the frontlines. There, at the moment of his death, his desires morphed into an extremely twisted image. With the full realization that he would die, he gave himself another chance; he duplicated his life and became Ileot.

He… copied himself…? Vualla frowned. Then why did he copy me now? And why didn’t he say anything? And these other copies-

The darkness had shaken itself softly. You are missing the terrible symmetry of his power. Eliot, and Ileot Swacc after him never simply duplicated people. Ileot Swacc’s game is duplicating entire worlds.