After that, I have no idea how long I held Ayane’s cold body for.
“Mr. Abel... What...” Cain said as he came running over, most likely after finishing his own battle. He understood the situation at once.
“You’ve been through a lot, Mr. Abel,” he said sympathetically. “But it’s okay. I’ll erase these memories for you. After all, you’re not meant to stop here. You’re supposed to become stronger than anyone else,” he said mysteriously, placing his hand on my head and activating his magecraft as I listlessly kneeled on the ground.
In my current emotional state, I’d more likely be a burden during our fight with the Demon King than anything else. Before I knew it, my consciousness had faded to black.
✦ ✦ ✦
Oh. I finally remember. This entire time, something had been nagging at me—why hadn’t Ayane been counted as one of the Great Four, despite having traveled with us? Because she’d died during our travels. And it’d all been because of my own weakness.
“Shikigami Magecraft, Ninth Form: Spider!”
In the next moment, Ayane had restrained my limbs with her shikigami’s spider’s silk. The magecraft it used didn’t seem especially strong, but its true purpose was to slow its target.
“Shikigami Magecraft, Finale: Dragon!”
I see. This is Ayane’s ace in the hole. It’s a very well-constructed Dragon Shikigami. It was over ten meters long, and I was almost certain that it’d be impossible to avoid getting hurt, no matter what Defensive Magecraft I used.
“Checkmate, Sir! Any last words?”
Last words, huh? Yeah, I’ve got a few. If this is the real Ayane, then I don’t think there are enough words in the world to convey everything I want to say to her.
“You’re not the real Ayane, are you?” I locked eyes with her and asked this explosive question.
“Huh...? Are you okay? I’m me—bona fide, good ol’ Ayane. Nobody else would be able to corner you like this!”
It’s true that the person before me is a perfect recreation of the Ayane I knew, down to her appearance, voice, and magecraft. The accuracy is frightening. I’m honestly surprised that it’s possible to even recreate someone this faithfully.
“Don’t lie anymore. The real Ayane wasn’t this weak.”
“Heh heh. You trying to knock me off my game? Not happening! I always keep my cool. The person who used to chase you, always trying to catch up—I’m not her anymore.”
It makes sense that a fake wouldn’t openly admit that they’re anything but the real, genuine person. No more talking, I guess.
“Is that so? Then how about I give you some proof,” I said.
After analyzing her magecraft, I used Negation Magecraft to get rid of it. It’d taken quite a bit of time, but I’d succeeded at the very last second.
My Negation Magecraft activated, and at once her barrier broke as if a glass shattered, resulting in all the shikigami she’d been commanding reverting back to regular origami.
“What? How...?”
Seeing all of her magecraft be negated morphed her face with disbelief. This hadn’t been in her calculations at all. In order to use Negation Magecraft, one needed to be able to perfectly analyze their opponent’s spell and then create the exact inverse magecraft of it. Such a thing was usually impossible if one was seeing a spell for the first time.
“I know every last bit of your magecraft. After all, I’ve watched you for more than a decade.”
I knew everything, from how her magecraft was composed down to her bad habits. She was the comrade I’d spent the most time with in my past life, and that was exactly why I could analyze her Shikigami Barrier at an unbelievable speed.
“Sorry Ayane. Thank you for everything.”
If Ayane had still been alive, this was what I’d most wanted to tell her. But that was a wish that couldn’t be granted. The real Ayane had been killed without a chance for me to say anything, not even goodbye.
“Really? Now you say that? That’s not fair...Sir.”
Maybe it was just my imagination, but I could’ve sworn I heard Ayane mutter something, tears in her eyes.
Soon after her body cracked, crumbling into dust that disappeared into the wind.
Hm. It seems that I didn’t even need to attack her.
The weakness of a perfectly created imposter was that if they realized that they weren’t the real person, it’d create a paradox too powerful for them to survive.