“So it isn’t angels…” Zane said before beheading his opponent.
[Told you]
“Though there’s one thing that’s troubling me.” He dodged to the left, evading another enemy’s blade before he grabbed the sword, pulled him towards him, and snapped his neck.
“Did you have to make them look like me? Why would you even do that?”
[You know what they say, if you can beat yourself, you can beat anyone.]
Zane threw the sword of his recently slain foe towards an early version of him wielding the broken bronze sword he once had, piercing its head. After it fell and turned into light, he replied to Theta “Nobody says that.”
[I’m sure everyone says it.]
“Nope.” He replied before turning around and embedding his sword into the head of a version of him that was wielding a knight sword.
“Ghhh!Ghhh!!!” It gurgled blood as the sword was stuck in its mouth after cutting through its left cheek. It started to spasm violently as the sword dug through its spinal cord as Zane tried to bring it out the other side.
Once he was done, the top of the head and a good portion of the neck fell off, splashing him with blood before the body turned into light particles.
[This became pretty brutal…]
“You’re the one to thank for this.” He replied before wiping his sword with a cloth.
[And there’s more to go.]
“I know. Let’s go deal with the boss already.”
[That would be great 🙂 ]
…
*Clank clank*
Sparks erupted as Zane clashed with another doppelganger who was wielding a copy of his dwarven sword under a giant tree that stretched towards the heavens. This one was the hardest one so far and could single-handedly match him in combat.
He dodged a slash and thrust forward only for it to deflect his sword with its gauntlet, it then swung its sword towards his head causing him to duck before it tried to kick him in order to completely break his stance but it failed as he immediately charged forward, grabbed its foot and then threw it on the ground.
He then swung his sword in a downward slash, only for it to roll out of the way and stand up.
“You’re quite the tough bastard, aren’t you?” He asked the doppelganger.
“Look who’s talking, Theta really isn’t trying to make it easy.”
“Still talking as if you’re me, huh?”
“I’m pretty sure I’m the real Zane. After all, I’m the one with a personality over here while you’re pretty much a robot.” The doppelganger replied with a frown.
As Zane kept getting closer and closer to his destination, the Zanes he fought started acting less like NPCs and more like him. Some even fought against each other with each one claiming that they’re the real Zane.
Despite his lack of emotions, he somehow found it unnerving. In the beginning, he shrugged it off, but after fighting versions that were more humane than him, especially this one who showed signs of frustration, fear, excitement, and other emotions. He wasn’t sure anymore if he’s the real Zane or a fake. But this wasn’t the time to doubt himself, he had a fight to win and he’ll discover the truth once he beats this floor.
Zane took a deep breath and then swung his sword, releasing a fireball towards the doppelganger, which surprisingly shocked him and caused him to jump to the side.
“What was that!?”
“How can’t you know? It was one of the last boss’ attacks.”
“No, the last boss’ attack was… It was…?” The doppelganger froze for a second as it was trying to recollect its memories. Using this opportunity Zane charged and swung his blade, only for it to be badly deflected at the last second, causing it to redirect into the fake Zane’s shoulder.
At that moment, it should’ve backed away but it just stood there with its head lowered and shoulder bleeding while muttering under its breath.
It kept muttering and muttering, causing Zane to back away as even he in his current state found it creepy.
He could tell it wasn’t casting a spell due to the lack of a reaction from their surroundings, but still, he thought it would be best to take it out from afar just in case it was planning something or it happens to recover in order to defend itself.
He launched another fireball and it hurled towards the fake Zane, slamming into him and setting him on fire.
“Ah! AHHHH!” It screamed in a sickening voice which caused Zane to feel nauseated as he watched it burn from afar in case it had anything up its sleeve. The clothes and charred metal fell in strands as they melted into ink-black streaks while the smell of cooked flesh filled the air and left a bitter taste in his mouth. The screams of agony weren’t pleasant either as they filled his ears. In the end, the horrifying sight of seeing himself burning alive overpowered Zane’s emotion controls as he couldn’t take it anymore. He immediately beheaded his enemy to end its suffering before he crouched and started hurling on the ground.
After that he huddled down on the ground, held his head and kept shivering and panting rapidly before a heavy weight was forced on his mind, washing away all the emotions.
“That was horrifying.”
[It was. That was absolutely sick. Are you ok?]
“Well, now I am. It’s time to take down the boss and get it over with, shall we?”
[…Let’s…]
He shrugged as Theta replied in an unsure voice, as if she was rethinking a decision but he couldn’t guess which so he just ignored it.
He proceeded to the tree where he found an entrance gilded with gold.
[Are you ready, Zane? After you enter, you’ll face the final boss and once you win, it’ll finally be time.]
“We’ll join the ‘Legacy Wars’, huh?”
[Yeah… And I’m sure we will win.]
“Don’t you think it would be a bad idea to underestimate the other admins and their players before we even meet them?”
[I’m not underestimating them, Zane. I’m just sure that the other players haven’t had an experience half as hard as yours. You’re quite special.]
Zane shrugged and put his hand on the door. “We’ll see how special I am once we fight the others. For now, I have a boss to beat.”
[You do, now go.]
“Will do.”
After saying that, he passed through the door and was engulfed by a bright light…
