"Ugh… Ah… That hurts."
Snapping back to the physical world, the pain coursing through his body made Naoki groan involuntarily.
Though Arthur's power had activated, and the Holy Sword's healing had mended all his wounds, the pain remained one hundred percent intact.
(This reminds me of when I first met Manaka. Was every day this painful back then?)
[If you want, I can help you recall it more vividly.]
(No need, I'm not a masochist, and I was just reminiscing.)
Staggering to his feet, Naoki began searching for his other self—no, there was no need to search. Perhaps hearing his groan upon regaining consciousness, [Naoki] had already turned to face him.
Casually tossing Ayaka, whom he'd been holding, aside, [Naoki] stared at Naoki—practically risen from the dead—with a stunned expression, his eyes filled with intense disbelief. But almost instantly, that disbelief vanished completely.
What replaced it was—
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
A maniacal laugh, bordering on madness, echoed through the night cemetery. [Naoki] spread his arms, laughing uproariously as if celebrating Naoki's return: "Still alive? Still alive! You being alive is better than anything! The original! This is how it should be! One or two times wouldn't be enough! How could one or two times kill you completely? I should've realized!"
They were both Natsukawa Naoki, both aware of each other's abilities. Thus, they should've known that without reducing themselves to nothing—not even bones—without delivering a thorough, fatal blow, they could never truly die!
"This is what makes it interesting, this is what makes it worthwhile! If I could kill you that easily, you wouldn't be worthy of being killed by me!"
"Come on! Again! Let me kill you dozens more times! Hundreds! Thousands! Until one of us can't stand anymore! Until one of us never rises again! Until life and death separate us completely!"
(Hmm… Manaka, be honest with me, how did you craft the personality of 'my other self'?)
Naoki asked Manaka, feeling a bit dizzy. He didn't think he was like that, so why did the guy in front of him have such a personality?
[Who knows? I just infused a bit of Chaos Tide into his body. Maybe it's the result of your original personality deteriorating to the extreme.]
So, if he soaked in black mud, he'd turn out like this?
(I guess it's not strange if 'my other self' screams 'mass destruction,' but let's drop this topic for now…)
Spreading his arms and legs, flipping the middle finger at his other self, Naoki laughed: "Yelling so loudly, but not attacking. All bark and no bite—are you a chained guard dog? DAMN IT!"
"Then aren't you a dog too?!"
"I'm a wolf!"
*BOOM!*
Amid their mutual taunts, the distance between them shrank to zero. As fists capable of shattering the ground collided, the destructive shockwave swept through the entire cemetery. Including Ayaka, most of the ground was blasted and obliterated by their clash!
Huh? Ayaka?
Only then did Naoki notice the third party he'd subconsciously overlooked.
"Look where you're going, you bastard!"
In that split second, [Naoki] broke through his guard, kicking him with full force, sending him soaring!
[What are you thinking? You have time to worry about another woman?]
(Isn't she your sister?!)
Adjusting his body mid-air and using the momentum to land near Ayaka, Naoki grabbed her waist and lifted her. He didn't dare linger on the ground—touching down, he immediately leaped again!
*RUMBLE!*
[Naoki]'s pursuit followed swiftly!
Stepping into the massive crater beneath his feet, two fireballs suddenly ignited in his palms—
"Wasting your energy coddling that woman while fighting me all-out, you original!"
The rapidly expanding flames were hurled by [Naoki]. The moment they left his hands, the basketball-sized flames transformed into two small suns, dozens of meters in diameter, completely blocking the space in front of Naoki!
"All talk—"
Braking and halting his body, Naoki spun around, facing the two flying suns and kicking them.
"Noisy!"
*RUMBLE!*
A sea of flames, waves of fire, an explosive storm—the terrifying maelstrom born from their fusion erupted from the small suns when Naoki kicked them, blasting him and Ayaka even farther!
[Vixen, don't clash head-on!]
(I know—and stop talking to me! My other self is troublesome enough!)
[You—]
If Manaka had a stick, she'd have whacked him. How dare he call her troublesome? Ungrateful!
Using the impact to create a vast distance, Naoki quickly searched for a spot to set Ayaka down. Without time to catch his breath, he turned to face the fierce wind rushing at him!
Wind this time?
*SWISH!* *SWISH!* *SWISH!*
Thousands of tiny wind blades relentlessly slashed Naoki's body. Blood sprayed across him. In mere seconds, he'd become a blood-soaked man. If his clothes hadn't already been mostly burned off, he might still have a few scraps of fabric dangling.
(It's fine, the damage per hit is low, the Holy Sword can heal it, the overall loss isn't too great—)
*CRASH!*
A sudden punch mixed in with the raging wind abruptly cut off Naoki's thoughts. Hidden within the swift windstorm, [Naoki] seemed to split into thousands of clones, the sheer number of silhouettes momentarily dizzying Naoki.
(More complicated than the games I played…)
"What's wrong? Can't fight back anymore? This level's enough to make you kneel and beg for mercy? After getting a woman, you've become a drained shrimp!"
*BOOM!*
A sudden punch shot forward!
The raging wind around Naoki was instantly pierced.
Emerging from the gap, Naoki sneered: "Then aren't you a drained shrimp too? And why do you talk so much? Yelling while fighting—doesn't your throat hurt?"
"Beating you is fun!"
With an aura as if to cleave Naoki's entire body in two, [Naoki], descending from the sky, kicked downward.