Chapter Thirteen – It Was Just a Clone
The air tasted of ozone, burnt rock, and impending existential dread. Another volcanic golem, roughly the size of a small apartment building, met its end not with a whimper, but with a cataclysmic BOOM that sent shockwaves through the brittle ground.
CRACK-THUD-SHUDDER.
A giant boulder that was once its arm landed a few meters from the observing Korean hunters, kicking up a plume of ash that made [Baek Yoon-Ho] cough. Ahem. Cough-cough.
[Baek Yoon-Ho] watched, his golden eyes wide, as the dust cleared to reveal the Strange-Eyed Hunter already three golems down the line, his movements a blur of black and blue lightning. The casual, almost accidental nature of the destruction was what got to him.
"This is going to be painful to watch," [Baek Yoon-Ho] said cautiously, his voice a low rumble under the ongoing symphony of destruction. He observed another giant explosion caused by an incidental, backhanded flick from the hunter. It wasn't even a dedicated attack; it was like swatting a fly and accidentally causing a gas main explosion.
FZZZAP-BOOM! Another golem became a modern art sculpture of shattered stone and cooling magma.
In the end, he could only look at the President of the Hunter Association and ask, the words slipping out with a mixture of awe and frustration, "Sir, didn't you talk to him? Didn't he tell you his name?"
After a moment of thinking, watching this battle unfold, he began to genuinely wonder about the identity of this young man who could fight in such a manner. The style he witnessed was cold, calm, and calculable to an unbelievable degree. Every strike could be fatal. Moreover, the composure the Strange-Eyed Hunter possessed surpassed his apparent age by multiples. It was as if he was born for battle, a person who had never stopped fighting for a single day, as if he sought one thing only: power, and nothing else. These were the thoughts wandering the mind of [Baek Yoon-Ho].
Swish. Crackle. Thump.
President [Go Joon-Hee] answered with extreme calm, his own gaze also fixed on the battle unfolding before them. A swift, instantaneous teleportation. Plus, extremely sharp strikes and subtle manipulations resembling a deadly dance. Every fighting style was a vicious skill. Every blow aimed to destroy the opponent in one hit. Everything without delay, hesitation, or even a slight lag in the switching point between movements. Skill and ability so refined even the President had to admire it exceptionally.
But when he heard [Baek Yoon-Ho]'s voice, the President of the Hunter Association was forced to say, "No. He didn't tell me his name. He is of the cautious type. His manner of speaking, his description of places… he is trying to create distance between us. He is not peaceful. Rather, he is a person who fundamentally doesn't care for the concept of dialogue at this moment. It seems he's busy searching for something important. Furthermore, his information is very minimal about Gates. This makes me wonder if he's even from this world. It is widely known there isn't a person in the world who doesn't know what a Gate is at this point in time."
Whoosh… CRUNCH. A golem was bisected by a thin, precise line of lightning that left a glowing, molten scar in the earth.
[Choi Jong-In] responded to the answer he heard with a question of his own, while adjusting his red-framed glasses with a practiced click. He already had many preliminary guesses. He too was capable of understanding several things, being fluent in Japanese and many other languages, and he had understood what the President discussed with that teenage hunter.
"Sir, what you said is very accurate. Moreover, I myself have discovered several things. Namely, that these abilities, in my opinion with 100% probability, are not using Mana. He is using another type of power. And that power, when he uses it… I can feel a cold current, but it's much lighter than the energy used to cast a spell. Yet, at the same time, it is much sharper, purer, and vastly more destructive. Perhaps he is not only proficient in martial arts but also proficient in another type of energy entirely."
He paused at this point, his brow furrowed in thought. The sound of another distant explosion provided the punctuation. KABOOM.
He began to think if he should voice the explanation he'd found, but in the end, he decided to say it. The analytical part of him couldn't resist.
"Sir, I feel this young man isn't from our world at all. It seems he is searching for something or a place called the 'Land of Fire' and the 'Elemental Nations.' These places certainly do not exist on Earth. I am completely certain of my words. Even if such places existed, it would be impossible for them to be hidden well enough that he couldn't find them on his own. And he cannot be suffering from amnesia; he acts with full wisdom. Additionally, he doesn't ask existential questions, he asks about places. This simply means he knows he is not from this place, that he is lost in a different region."
The end of [Jong-In]'s speech felt momentous, so he concluded, "Perhaps, Sir, the only way to understand this person is to obtain information about the place he came from, or find a way to return him in a manner that would allow him to go back to that place. I am certain only with this can we ensure this powerful hunter works for Korea."
The end of his words resembled those of a businessman who realizes there is a big deal and a huge value that must be paid to obtain shares of the company he wants. But at the same time, there was a hidden warning in his words: the information about the rival company he wants to buy is completely hidden. Therefore, everyone must be cautious before starting to purchase anything from that company.
Sizzle… pop. A glob of lava landed near their feet.
[Cha Hae-In] was observing the combat process, having tuned out the conversation between the three men. She was staring, utterly transfixed, at the black-haired hunter and his exceptional fighting skill. Each strike was mixed with thunder and was massively deafening, devastating. The giant golems' combat power reached an S-Rank level, higher than hers significantly. Even being S-Rank herself, she couldn't feel she would be able to withstand three of these volcanic giants at once.
Of course, she had gripped her weapon—a sharp sword with a slender blade—and had begun to imagine the scenario. She even used her senses and her exceptional olfactory ability to determine her chances.
Sniff. Sniff.
She analyzed the scent of ozone, molten stone, and the strange, cold energy emanating from the hunter. In the end, she sighed. The gesture indicated that the only chances she could have obtained were at least one percent for a chance of survival against this massive horde of monsters.
"But perhaps that person can survive, can't he? Maybe even win."
[Cha Hae-In] shook her head for a moment, remembering that strange person who possessed the ability to use shadows. The person who possessed teleportation techniques was different from the teleportation she was seeing now. Where the black-haired one now teleported from each statue he destroyed to the location of another statue… The teleportation technique of [Sung Jin-Woo] used shadow abilities. She remembered that scene when he teleported in front of her that time. It was similar, but the black-haired youth felt faster using this method.
Using her instincts—and for her, her instincts were always correct—her hidden ability to determine the strength of her opponents, enemies, and allies was her greatest asset and the thing she trusted more than anything else in any battlefield or battle.
But retreating from some thoughts, she remembered several glimpses and some strange things while watching this fight the Strange-Eyed Hunter was waging against the groups of volcanic giants, who were strong enough to easily destroy an entire residential district.
"Why do I feel as if his unique scent has become in two places at the same time? As if the person fighting has split into two, and not just one person? Why is this feeling haunting me? I must definitely be suffering from a problem, or perhaps there is a mystery happening at this moment that I don't know."
Her confidence in her ability to sense scent—and even sense energy through scent alone—was an exceptional ability. It largely prevented her from staying directly with people who possessed the same rank or even slightly less, because it always made her feel dizzy. But the scent of energy coming from the youth was pleasant and, at the same time, threatening. Yet, she was able to enjoy existing beside it, as happened during her time with [Sung Jin-Woo]. Therefore, she had come to appreciate her ability more over time, even if there were drawbacks that made her life somewhat unpleasant.
At this moment, [Cha Hae-In]'s sensible mind worked to determine one thing: how could his energy divide into two parts?
She began to measure the level of difference between the person fighting with super speed, sending explosions with every punch while evading blows strong and fast enough to make S-Rank hunters retreat…
Whoosh. Dodge. ZAP!
She evaluated all the energy from the one who was fighting, plus the other part of the energy which was heading somewhere with great speed.
Her eyes narrowed. She stared intently toward the castle that was filled with volcanic lava, plus the presence of a volcano behind it. That castle was definitely the final boss's castle.
She muttered, unbelieving, while finding an explanation. "Impossible… That energy… I feel it heading towards the castle at an insane speed. An unbelievable speed. At the same time, it's almost undetectable, as if it's protected from sensing. If not for my distinctive ability to sense energy scents, I wouldn't have been able to sense the existence of that energy rushing toward the final boss of the dungeon."
Sniff-sniff. Focus.
She also heard the voice of President [Go Joon-Hee] asking calmly, "What is going on? Have you discovered something specific?"
The two hunters, [Baek Yoon-Ho] and [Choi Jong-In], stopped talking and looked at their fellow hunter with the scent-sensing abilities, waiting for an answer.
All eyes on [Cha Hae-In].
She looked at the Strange-Eyed Hunter, who was elegantly stepping on the head of a collapsing golem, and said, her voice laced with bewildered certainty, "This person… how can he be in two places at the same time? Is that possible?"
Record scratch.
Well, not literally, but the mental effect was the same. The three men heard these words and looked simultaneously at the Strange-Eyed Hunter, who was now finishing off the last giant with a strike resembling an electric comet. It distorted the space before impacting the ground, causing a seismic shockwave.
CRRACK-BOOM-SHAAAAKE!
Finally, the Strange-Eyed Hunter stopped. His eyes were looking toward the castle.
And he said, his voice carrying clearly across the suddenly quiet battlefield, "It seems he has arrived. I will obtain the information from you, and then I will dispose of you."
The Japanese words heard by the four were incomprehensible to the two who couldn't understand the language. But for President [Joon-Hee] and [Jong-In], the meaning of these words was terrifying.
Because it meant that somehow, this hunter before them could be in two places at the same time. And all of this was happening right before their eyes, and they hadn't known a thing. If [Cha Hae-In] hadn't said that by coincidence at this moment…
[Uchiha Sasuke], after sending a shadow clone to capture the Dungeon Master while he trained his Rinnegan techniques on manipulating and transitioning space, had spoken in a rare moment of quiet, drawing on memories coming from his clone in that other place. And at that exact same moment…
RIIIIP-CRACKLE.
The four hunters watched as the space around the distant castle shattered. Not metaphorically. A visible, purple-tinged fracture appeared in the air high above the volcanic fortress, accompanied by a sound like tearing reality. SKREEEEE—POP!
That meant the Dungeon Master had been defeated. In a strange way. But the four now knew the hunter before them had done it in a way they didn't understand.
And at the same time, [Sasuke], who had been standing perfectly still before them for the last ten seconds, finally moved. He turned his head slightly, a puff of ash rising from his shoulder. Poof.
He spoke, his voice flat, bored, and dripping with a disdain so profound it could curdle magma. "Interesting. Who are you, you wretched beings, to decide such things?"
He paused, letting the weight of their utter ignorance and his absolute superiority hang in the sulfurous air. Then, he delivered the punchline.
"It was just a clone."
Poof.
With a small, almost polite sound of dispelled chakra, the [Uchiha Sasuke] standing before them dissolved into a wisp of faint, purple smoke.
Leaving four of South Korea's most powerful S-Rank hunters standing in a field of demolished volcanic golems, covered in ash, smelling of ozone and humiliation, staring at the spot where a mere afterthought had just soloed an S-Rank dungeon's army.
The comedy was so dark it absorbed all light. The punchline wasn't even for them; they were just the bewildered audience to a punchline delivered to an unseen dungeon boss. By a clone.
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Author's Note:
Well,there you have it! The ultimate flex: clearing your schedule by sending a copy of yourself. We hope you enjoyed the show, and that your sense of self-worth is still intact!
Dear readers,what did you think of this chapter? Did the clone reveal shock you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! Your feedback is the real treasure, better than any S-Rank magic stone.
❤️😊
See you in the next chapter,where we pick up the pieces of four very confused egos!
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