With a Halo appearing on top of her head before it settled behind it, Erin unleashed one of her Halo Skills.
The Shadow Daggers I saw from her before grew numerous and started flying around her as if they came to life. Erin then pointed her finger towards me, marking me as the target of those blades.
A few seconds later, the Shadow Daggers as if acknowledging that order really lunged straight at me while leaving a dark trail of her energy.
Since I didn't have any orbs with me this time and my stats were sufficiently lower than hers, I had to make do with every skill and ability in my arsenal.
"That Halo, I knew for sure you'll fit in that Hidden Village full of shinobi."
She made it look like kunais, I wonder where she was drawing her inspiration when she created those daggers.
Right after saying that and before those daggers hit me, my body split to five with my main body disappearing from her sight. The cost of a few hundred units of Flux Energy somehow stung into me.
Phantasmic Doppelganger.
It only has 50% effectiveness which means those clones only have 10% of this Incarnation's stats.
Though each of them tried to dodge, they're too slow for it and all four of my created clones vanished just like that.
Ah. Those clones are too weak. A waste of 400 units of Flux Energy.
Well, what should I expect? They're only around 4 or 5 in Strength and Endurance. At least they achieved their purpose.
Thanks to those clones' sacrifice. I managed to circle around her. Without my sword here, I'm fighting her using a borrowed weapon.
"What shinobi? You monster, you're using that orb again!"
Erin shouted when the 4 clones vanished and she found out that none of those four was the real me.
Err… I'm also not the real me.
In any case, before she could react, I tapped her back with the sword I borrowed and left an Energy Explosion on it before retreating backwards hurriedly.
"No. I don't have the orbs with me."
When she felt my touch and heard my voice, she immediately turned around and tried to shake off the delayed Energy Explosion stuck to her back but it's all too late.
Boom!
Though it managed to explode on her back, the explosion only damaged her skimpy outfit revealing her smooth flawless back.
"You monster! Are you trying to strip me off?!"
Huh? How did she misunderstand it like that? This girl...
"The power's just weaker that it didn't get past your clothes."
"Don't explain it to me, idiot!"
And now she's being this unreasonable.
After saying that, another Halo appeared from her and she vanished from where she was. This time, she finally used her favorite Augmented Skill, the Shadow Concealment.
Err… it was already upgraded into a Halo. Its name has probably been changed.
The sky was already dark so this skill of hers will surely be more effective than normal, more so that it's already a Halo
Unlike before where she could be spotted easily if I focused on the surrounding energy, this time, I sensed three disturbances of energy which split up from where she was earlier. Like a clone.
Wait. They really were her clones but all of them became concealed. The question is… How strong will those clones be? A decoy or will it have an actual power? But I don't need to know that.
To find a counter to that, I searched through my arsenal of skills.
A few seconds later, I activated Energy Field and put on an Energy Shield before transforming into an Energy Incarnate.
I'm already a being made of energy so transforming into an Energy Incarnate only strengthened a bit of my control and senses.
However, that's enough. Controlling the Brute Energy in the surroundings, I made it into a whirlpool of energy which suddenly came into existence in the middle of the three disturbances that I sensed.
When the surrounding energy around those disturbances got sucked into the whirlpool, Erin's clones and her own concealed body who are currently dashing around me appeared.
"Daisuke! That's cheating!"
Seeing that her Halo was negated just like that, Erin couldn't help but took it as an injustice towards her. She stopped her tracks and looked as if she was already about to cry.
She then looked around and settled her gaze on Avelin.
"Avelin, help me take down this monster. Even if I'm physically stronger, it's like he has bottomless tricks he can pull out at any time."
Erin called for her who's joyfully watching us spar from the sidelines while sharpening her Greataxe.
That contrast of her somewhat innocent demeanor and her weapon choice though. It's destructive.
I should keep in mind to find better weapons for these two. What they have on them right now weren't even enhanced. Though it could be a conductor of their energy, it's a superficial enhancement unlike those I've seen in the World of Spirits and the Ancient Ruins.
Avelin looked at me first, like asking for permission if she could also join in. With these two teaming up, I don't know if my tricks will still work but I want to try.
"It's fine, Avelin. Don't hold back. Just don't kill this Incarnation, alright?"
I nodded at her and took a step back to maintain some kind of distance from them. I already turned off the transformation but I still have a lot of skills that I haven't used yet.
With the two of them teaming up to fight this Incarnation of mine. I experienced first hand these two girls' growth in strength and their teamwork.
Oftentimes, Avelin will distract me while Erin will go to my blindside. Due to that, I could do nothing but to keep dodging and blocking them. Throwing in the skills at the right time to escape any predicament. Avelin also showed what she got from the Thornhog Beast Core she was absorbing. A great enhancement to her strength that at each step, the ground beneath her was turning into dust.
Unfortunately, that was still not enough to catch me.
Due to this sparring session with them, I determined that I'm quite good at running away. Despite the difference in strength, the two couldn't land a clear hit on me.
This is really in line with what I wanted to achieve. If I'm strong enough, I'll defeat the enemy quickly but if I'm on the weaker side I'll frustrate them by defending and dodging to wait for an opportune moment.
That will be the case if there's no one I could support with me. Just like this time. But if there were, I'll support them to defeat the stronger opponent.
In this kind of intense sparring between the three of us where Erin and Avelin kept trying to corner me, half an hour has passed instantly.
"Alright. I lost. My energy reserves are almost empty. I'm consuming more energy than the passive regeneration I have just to dodge you two. I might disappear if I ran out of energy. You don't want that, do you?"
When they saw me stop and raised my hand as a sign of giving up, the two girls also stopped in their tracks.
Erin appeared discontented though.
"Ugh. But I haven't punched you in the face yet, Daisuke."
Eh? Why did I deserve that?
"Come here then, I'll let you punch me. We still have around 18 hours where we can be together, it's a shame if I leave prematurely."
And my real body might suffer there. It will go to the 4th world in around 12 hours so… It will be bad if my stats got slashed by half because of me dying here.
"Instead of a punch, Erin, let's just stay with him. Daisuke is already this strong. We'll challenge him again when his real body comes back here."
With that statement from Avelin, Erin eventually gave up on her annoyance due to not being able to touch me during our sparring. Instead, as repayment for that frustration, she told me to pamper her like how I pamper Avelin which I granted her throughout the night of my stay here.
None of the two slept since they wanted to really savor the few hours that we will be together. They asked me questions about what I experienced in the next world I went to and I also did the same. Both of them have their own fair share of stories even if they're almost together.
During the morning, I finally met Old Man Reol. Like the two girls, he was also surprised by my appearance. When I revealed that I'm just an Incarnation of my real body, the Old Man sighed and muttered 'As I thought.'
He guessed that I already surpassed him in strength. But still, he's thankful for that tip I gave him before.
And he also sighed when I told him that Erin and Avelin will have a high chance to surpass his current strength soon.
Just like us, Raiden hasn't been summoned back here for more than a month already that's why Old Man Reol still has no idea about Transcendence. When I revealed that to him, his eyes glowed with a hopeful glint. It's like he finally found what's his next goal now that he reached the Emperor Realm.
After that, the Old Man told me the real situation of this world through his perspective. The disturbance in the East and North where the barbarians there killed each other. Of course, because of the Corrupted.
He was only waiting for Raiden to finally deal with the large tribes and unite the Desolate Plain under one banner. That's why he's trying to decimate any Dark Beastmaster's camp that will be discovered.
After informing him of everything he needed to know and be wary of, I left his tent to spend the remaining hours with the two girls again.
One day is too short but at least, I got to see and spent the time with the two of them.
"Daisuke. Come back soon, okay? We're all waiting."
Avelin was a bit teary-eyed as if I will be gone again even after I told them that I now have the ability to call them or send another Incarnation. She still wants to see and hold onto my real body after all.
"Don't forget what you told me about cancelling the 2-year ultimatum, you monster. Before the craziness fills this world completely, I want to bear and raise our child."
As straightforward as ever, Erin told me what's on her mind. Her eyes were determined to make that a possibility.
Upon hearing that, Avelin followed-up by pointing at herself as well, telling me that she also wants that.
"Un. I won't forget that. Everything that happened here will be merged with my memory after all. Grow stronger but keep yourselves safe, alright?"
After saying that, the last seconds for the duration of this Incarnation started its countdown.
Seeing me off with their most beautiful smile, the two couldn't hold it and let a tear streak down their faces before my vision went dark.
[The duration of Support Incarnation has ended.]
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