So soon?
When did it grow stronger again?
Bern's pupils shrank. A cold shock crawled up his spine as he spun around—
Too late!
He knew it even before he finished turning. The incoming strike was already upon him. He gritted his teeth, blood surging as he prepared to unleash a hidden trump card—
Clang!
A metallic crash cut through the air.
Bern froze. The attack hadn't hit him.
A blade had intercepted it.
Black looked down, his claws halted mid-thrust by a long sword—though the weapon had bent like a sickle under the force, twisted nearly ninety degrees in the middle, as if its maker had confused sword-smithing with farm tools.
Phaga braced himself behind it, yanking hard on the warped blade as if he meant to reap Black like a field of wheat.
[Hahaha, amusing!]
But Black showed no fear at all. Instead, he burst into manic laughter, his upper body bending backward like a boneless creature. He arched until his skull nearly brushed the ground.
Not only did he dodge Phaga's horizontal pull in this grotesque manner, he even inverted his view, looking at Phaga's face upside down. A crazed grin split across Black's lips.
[Hahahahaha! I arrived too fast earlier and didn't look closely. I wondered who you were—turns out it's the Creator Himself!]
Hum!
Kunmutu retracted. At Phaga's thought, its internal intelligence activated autonomously, causing its entire form to shift. The upgrade gained from sacrificing Sacrifice No. 2 had made Kunmutu unimaginably powerful.
It restored its long-blade form in an instant, its W-Engine roaring. Nether Flames and Ether Substance surged across its surface as Phaga slashed down with full force.
Clang!
Black caught the blade barehanded. The long blade and his palm trembled, locked only a few inches from his face.
Phaga's gaze shifted to the Ether Substance seeping from Black's palm. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he murmured:
"Creator?"
[Hahahahaha—yes, you, my Creator!]
Black's laughter rang wild.
Bern launched a surprise attack from the side, ice-coated palm striking toward Black's abdomen. But Black had already sensed it and twisted violently. An Ether Crystal erupted from the space he vacated, stabbing straight toward Bern's face.
Bern jolted in shock and was forced to redirect his strike, smashing his palm into the crystal.
At the same time, Phaga didn't spare Bern a glance. He knew this was the moment Black was off balance. He pressed downward with everything he had, Nether Flames blazing across Black's palm.
[As expected of my Creator—utterly unconcerned with his allies!]
Black praised him delightedly, though the sweetness of his words hid a far more dangerous undercurrent.
Just as Phaga's momentum seemed unstoppable and the blade closed in on Black's face, the etheric activity in Black's body spiked violently.
Boom!
A pair of dark red wings burst from his back, Ether Substance flooding outward like a tidal wave.
Bern was instantly blasted away. Phaga, though holding his ground, gouged two deep trenches beneath his feet.
Suddenly, Phaga's scalp tingled. From the corner of his eye, he saw the tips of Black's wings had stabbed into the earth.
Damn!
His heart lurched. Phaga swung his blade diagonally to break free and launched himself backward.
[Inferno Override!]
With a thunderous bellow, Black's abdomen darkened to a deep purple. Countless Ether particles swarmed toward it, swelling it grotesquely within seconds—
Then, like an overfilled balloon, it burst, unable to withstand the power within.
BOOM!!!
The world-shaking explosion sent every vampire flying.
Bern—being closer—erupted dark blue wings and stabbed them into the earth. An ice-crystal barrier shot upward, anchoring itself in the torrent of Ether, holding firm like a pillar against a flood.
"Phaga..."
Bern ripped off the hood blocking his vision, pushing his crimson eyes as wide as they could go, searching desperately for Phaga in the endless sea of violet.
He had been at the center of the Ether surge. Could he possibly still be alive?
The thought forced itself into Bern's mind. He took a step forward, ready to dive into the torrent—
—but stopped himself at the last second, stomping the ground instead.
"No… he was chosen by the Elders. I'll trust him."
He muttered under his breath, then touched his earpiece, isolating Phaga's channel.
[Status report! If you're injured, speak!]
Three seconds passed. Silence.
[Good.]
Bern nodded slightly.
[How long until sunrise?]
[At most two hours, Uncle!]
The handsome man's voice answered.
[Understood. Everyone, eliminate the surrounding Ethereal Remnants. Then proceed as planned.]
[Yes!]
Wings flared, and the vampires scattered into the night.
At that moment, the Ether surge finally ended. And at its center stood a massive metal cocoon.
Black cocked his head, drifting forward casually with his torn abdomen exposed. He tapped the cocoon lightly, narrowing his eyes.
[This is…]
Suddenly, his instincts screamed. He shot backward.
The next instant, the cocoon split open. A vampire's clawed blade tore downward with terrifying force.
It never touched the ground, yet the asphalt beneath cracked into five deep fissures over ten meters long.
Phaga stepped out, wings spreading as he hovered above the ground, eyes locked on Black. Beneath him, the cocoon rapidly "melted," turning back into a long blade. Guided by the hilt in Phaga's hand, it fused seamlessly into place.
This was the upgraded Kunmutu—its functionality far greater than before.
Dozens of meters away, Black tilted his head midair, baring a smoky grin. His face was identical to Phaga's—handsome, yet twisted into manic devotion.
[It seems the Creator has gained some remarkable power since the day he crafted me.]
He cackled, unbothered by the absence of any Remnants nearby.
"Well, your ability surprised me too. I don't recall ever having that skill."
Phaga narrowed his eyes at Black's ruptured abdomen.
Though identical in form, their essence was different.
Despite being blown open, there were no organs—only emptiness and swirling black smoke.
[Because I am merely the Creator's creation—not the Creator Himself.]
Black laughed as he suddenly dipped into a gentlemanly bow. Graceful, refined—eerily like a noble vampire.
[I was born by imitating every word and deed of the Creator. I still remember your heroic form when you slew the Dead End Butcher. At that moment, I wished I could be as powerful as you.]
Straightening, some madness faded. A distant yearning shimmered in his eyes as he extended his hand toward Phaga. His fingers snapped shut, as if gripping Phaga in his palm.
[Fortunately, I am Doppelgänger-class—born with the ability to replicate others.]
[Thus, before the Creator left the Hollow, I replicated you without hesitation!]
[But I am not you!]
Black flung his hand down, meeting Phaga's wary gaze with pride.
[I saw your memories—your sorrow. That heart of yours, thriving though despised by the world, moved me, your humble follower!]
[The Creator is one of a kind! How could I become you merely by sharing your memories and appearance?]
His pitch rose again—desperation, devotion, obsession all spilling out. That identical face was already drifting further and further from Phaga's own expression.
Bern watched from afar as the fanatic preached his ideals to his god.
[I like the name "Black"—similar yet different. It means I was never you, and I can be unique.]
[But I had yet to find meaning.]
[Until the day this Hollow was officially named the Doppelgänger Hollow. Curious, I captured a raider and questioned him.]
[He said some ants I had once been too lazy to chase escaped, spreading tales of my crimes, describing me as stronger than the Dead End Butcher you slew!]
[But I wasn't that strong at the time! I was furious—these humans dared slander the Creator's might!]
So afterward, I killed every human I encountered. I wanted to erase every one of these slanderers until they abandoned the name "Doppelgänger Hollow."
But it backfired.
More people came to kill me.
Eventually, even the army.
Black scratched his head sheepishly using Phaga's face—strangely cute.
[So I grew to hate humans more. Slandering the Creator's strength was one thing—but some even blamed the Creator for the sins I committed.]
[Unforgivable!]
[Thus—I must grow stronger! I will go to Hollow Zero. I will find a way. I will leave this hollow!]
[I'll go to the human world and slaughter every last one of those who dare speak ill of the Creator!]
[This is my one and only ideal. Creator… bless me, and then—]
Suddenly, Black's wings snapped open. Ether surged violently behind him. In an instant, he appeared right before Phaga.
His right hand lifted high, infinite Ether gathering within it. He slammed his palm down.
[Live on in my heart!]
Boom!