The night somehow became clearer after the lightning strike as if nothing had happened before. The dark clouds dissipated like a mist and the heavy atmosphere that engulfed the area vanished.
But, Acht couldn't care less about this revelation since he had all his mind on following his target that went into the forest.
He could see his silhouette as it jumped from one tree to another agily. His speed was slower than before since he didn't have time to treat them and ran away immediately.
"You're such a fucking coward! Stop running away like a headless chicken!" Acht tries to provoke him so he halts his steps and fights him. But, it didn't seem to work since he didn't even look back.
It seems that his pride is nothing in front of preserving his life. That made Acht's already bad impression of this copy go even lower. It hit rock bottom.
Acht didn't want to keep up this chase since it would exhaust him too so he had another idea in mind.
He took a look at his device to pinpoint his exact location. Then, he grabbed the nearest branch he passed by. As it was hard to see that clearly in the darkness coupled with the speed of the copy. So, Acht didn't throw it with the intention of hitting him, but for a whole other reason.
*SWISH*
His arm muscles contracted greatly and his veins popped out as he threw the pointy branch. It flew like an arrow and hit the place right beside the copy.
Seeing that, he unconsciously jumped to the side and continued running.
Acht took another branch and threw it at him and then another one and another one after it in a successive fashion. Every time, the copy had to jump in another direction and continue running.
After 30 minutes or so. The two of them reached a rather clear area in the forest. It seemed as if someone deliberately cleared all the trees in that area for some unknown reason.
That was when they both heard a sound not so far away from their position.
"SSSSSSS!!!" The sound was ear-deafening, to say the least. It was by far the strongest growl Acht had ever heard since he came to this world.
So, before his feet took a step into that area, he decided to not recklessly charge in there and potentially risk letting that copy escape.
As for the latter, he just continued running, not bothering with the danger lurking close to him. It was when the monster was already close enough to feel him that he woke up from his stupor.
He was running hysterically so he didn't bother with his surroundings that much. That was why when he heard the loud cry of anger, he tried to change his direction and escape. But, he was too late for that.
The monster had already reached him and jumped out of the bushes, revealing its huge frame in its full glory.
The monster appeared to look like a snake. No, it was indeed a snake albeit it was 10 times bigger than the biggest snake on earth.
Its body was so long and thick that it didn't even seem like a body but more like a tank. It looked at the copy with its emotionless eyes as it hissed slowly, revealing a tongue that was longer than Acht.
The copy knew he was in some deep trouble when this predator appeared. It wasn't that he couldn't beat it, but the fact that Act could be somewhere watching him fight the snake and waiting for the best opportunity to appear made him shiver.
'Fuck! What should I do? Think! Think!' he hurriedly looked around for anything that could help him but nothing came into view.
He even tried to look for Acht and maybe try to change the monster's aggro toward him so he could escape. But, the boy's stealth abilities were top notch so finding him in this forest is like finding a needle in a haystack.
So, he had no other choice but to fight the snake and kill him as fast as possible.
Immediately, a fight ensued between the copy and this behemoth of a snake.
Acht just sat down nearby and waited for the perfect time to catch that slippery bastard. He knew that any mistake could potentially make him run away and even reveal himself to the snake. What is meant is that it could turn into a disaster really quickly.
So, he watched the fight carefully. The copy was obviously the one with the higher hand in this fight since he was stronger than the snake. But, because of its armor-like skin, he couldn't effectively penetrate it to do lethal damage.
But, he was smart enough to concentrate on one single point of the snake and keep attacking it.
So, eventually, he was able to crack that skin open to reveal its soft insides. From that point on, the fight became way easier and he was able to make the snake lose a lot of blood.
Because of the huge loss of blood, the snake became unable to move so it laid down, dying slowly as it looked at the copy who was more than delighted but also worried about its death.
Then, with a huge smile of relief, he intended to escape the place.
'I can do it!' he said to himself, trying to ease up his worries. He was sure that even if Acht jumped out of his hiding and attacked him, he could easily evade him.
"Hahaha! You fucker! You won't be able to kill me! You may have won this time, but I'm still alive! And I will always be after your neck! You fu-" as he was about to end his speech. A shiny thing appeared in the sky.
His eyes were naturally drawn to that shiny light. His pupils squinted to the size of a needle as he tried to discern the origin of that thing. It was way too shiny for a star so he didn't think of it as such.
The shiny light kept on getting bigger and bigger at an alarming speed. It was closing up on him. When he was aware of that fact, the light was now extremely close to him and it was impossible to dodge.
*BAM*
The shiny object hit him directly and crushed him to the ground.
Acht watched this scene with a calm look, then he shifted his eyes to a particular place. A small smile bloomed on his face and he said with a calm tone.
"Good job, Tania."
Hearing her name, the girl appeared out of the bushes with her usual expressionless face. Her eyes never left Acht's face for one second. It was as if she didn't bother with the fact that she probably killed the copy.
'I guess my plan worked.' he thought to himself as he jumped from the top of the tree.
It wasn't a coincidence that Tania was there when the fight ensued between the snake and Acht's doppelganger. Acht had used those branches he threw as a way to guide the copy into the exact place he wanted him to be. The snake's appearance was out of his calculations but it would've worked either way.
The only problem with that plan is what Tania's course of action will be. She could've just thought that it was Acht and didn't attack him or maybe even confuse the two of them and attack the real Acht by mistake.
But, Acht had a good idea of Tania's character and so he trusted that she would do what he wanted. He didn't know why he thought so but he followed his guts nevertheless.
What Acht didn't know is that was the first time he fully trusted someone other than Dia. He didn't think about it much since it wasn't that important, but he was capable of doing something that he thought was impossible before. As minuscule as it was, he was indeed starting to change slowly.
Anyway, the two of them walked to the copy to inspect the body and see if he died or not. Tania didn't question him about the situation and the origin of this copy of his.
She had a blind trust in Acht and she knew that everything he does is right so all she had to do was follow him quietly.
The object that hit the copy was actually a huge crystal in the shape of an arrowhead. This crystal looked particularly sturdy and almost unbreakable.
"Your crystal element sure is amazing to watch." He said to her as he took a look around the crystal.
She felt her heart's rate accelerating and her mouth unconsciously smiling at his praising words. Even the smallest of compliments coming from him was like a god-given gift.
Then, their eyes shifted to the body laying down under it.
Unfortunately or not, the crystal didn't hit him in a lethal place. He was able to move a few centimeters to the side so it hit him in the legs rather than his upper body parts.
But, he didn't think about the fact that having shattered legs is not different than being dead since he wouldn't be able to move.
"I kill him?" She asked Acht from the side.
"No, let me do this. I have already tolerated his existence enough."
Then, Acht approached him and pulled out his sword.
*Swish*
He then unhesitatingly plunged his sword into his heart with a swift move.
But, as his sword was almost close to his chest, Acht's hands suddenly froze in their place and a slightly surprised look filled his face before it disappeared completely. He then made a small chuckle.
"Tania, could you go back to the cave first. I have something to deal with first before I kill this bastard." He suddenly said out of nowhere.
Tania didn't refuse and simply nodded her head before walking away.
When he was sure that she was far enough. Acht stood silent for a moment before he muttered in a quiet tone.
"When are you going to show yourself, Oh great goddess?"
(A//N: Sorry for not uploading a chapter before reset today. Had to deal with some stuff. Anyway, I wanted to ask a simple question. Would you like me to start uploading three 1k chapters or continue with the two 1500+ word chapters daily?)
PS: there will be another chapter 2 or 3 hours later :)
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