Chapter 85: Don’t use your skills!

Chapter 85: Don’t use your skills! The noble clans gathered in the dimly lit room, smiles spreading as they received the good news. "The Administrators are dead, and our man tampered with Grace’s car," the leader said, bursting into gleeful laughter. "I didn’t expect the plan to work so well. It’s just a matter of time for the population to reduce, and that’s when we come in." The leader continued with a confident gleam in his eyes. The rest nodded, their expressions filling with anticipation. Now all the heads of Administrators and Grace are dead, they can control the lower personnel and deal with the unrest. "After two weeks, we’ll take over and restore order," the leader announced, signalling the end of the meeting. They got up in groups of twos and threes, discussing among each other with wide grins or loud boasts of their success this time. They had no idea how gravely they’d erred. Their celebration would turn to horror, for it was always easier to invite the devil than to cast him out. ..... Selina glared at her doppganger, fear creeping in. In a burst of anger, she lunged forward, grabbing its hair, but flinched as it yanked hers back in response. Selina tried every dirty trick she knew, but the replica read her moves flawlessly and countered with precision. It made her feel like she was fighting her real self and not something that looked like her. She released its hair and moved backwards; with a grimace on her face, she rubbed her aching scalp, feeling she had lost some strand of hair. Selina looked at the thing that looked exactly like her and her heart trembled with anger. She had come this far—the last test before she got her egg. Why doesn’t this thing drop dead already? "Boom!" The sound caught her attention and she looked towards the left arena to see Cadien facing off with his second. Their golden-covered hands moved in a flurry of strikes, each one scraping against the other, sparks flying as a sharp metallic sound echoed. Selina’s gaze moved her further right to see the huge man, controlling tiny needles towards its opponent, which its opponent replicated seamlessly. Her gaze darted everywhere around the room and she broke out in a cold sweat. When she turned back to her doppelganger and swallowed in relief, grateful for her weakness at this moment. In her past life, she had only served as a healer on her husbands’ team—nothing more. So her combat skill is ’Zero’ and she found nothing wrong with it. It was better to heal others and be protected than go to the forefront of battle and die foolishly. Shaking off the distracting thoughts, Selina focused on her opponent, calculating which attacks might work without being mirrored. She lunged with a weak kick to its thigh, cheeks burning from the pathetic effort—then flinched as it clawed at her face instead, not mimicking her move at all. Her eyes lit up, and she punched the replica’s neck, her fist going numb, a short cry escaping her lips as her doppganger sank it’s teeth into her shoulder. Her eyes welled up, but her gaze remained firm. She hadn’t come this far to leave without the egg. With a loud cry, she kept on punching on his throat, while it retailed by biting harder into her shoulders. Blood soaked her clothes, her knuckles raw and aching. With gritted teeth and tears streaming down her face, she kept pounding its throat until it finally snapped to the side. Her wrist was raw and bleeding, her shoulders drenched in blood as she gasped for air. "Ahahaha..." She laughed through her tears. Finally, something had gone right after her rebirth. Her body shook as memories of everything she’d endured washed over her. After some minutes passed she regained her composure and wiped her tears. She covered her palm against her injured part, and a white light shone on the bite mark, closing up the wound. She did the same for her fist, healing her knuckles, as good as new. She sat down and watched the rest fight to the death, making no move to share her discovery. And let them battle it out until they found the right way to defeat their doppelganger themselves. After some minutes passed, the mechanic’s voice echoed through the arena. "Competition ended, sending number 5 out of the arena." The rest were momentarily distracted by the voice, they glanced around to find Selina’s arena empty. And knew she was the one sent out. ’How was she able to defeat something that could copy their attackers to the tee?’ this question flashed in each of their minds as they turned back to their opponent. Cadien paused, his eyes narrowing in thought. He wasn’t quick to resume the attack, his mind racing with thoughts. It took a minute and his eyes flashed. To test his thoughts, he slapped it across the face, but it retailed, swinging a gold-hardened leg to his ribs. He dodged, flipping backwards as the attack grazed his side, leaving it numb. "Don’t use your skills!" Cadien shouted, rubbing his side before launching another attack. Their eyes lit up at his words, and they adjusted their attacks—though their personal skills slipped in now and then, too deeply ingrained to suppress completely. While they fought, Selina stood by the pillar, clutching the egg. She was alone, surrounded by glowing, hovering pillars. Her heart skipped a beat as she imagined the worst scenario of them dying in the challenge. Her heart raced at the thought of them perishing in the challenge. A chill ran through her as she pictured herself trapped here alone—forever, or until someone else came through the warp gate. And she was instantly filled with regret; she could have just told them how to fight their doppelganger. "Please win." She muttered in a hopeful plea as she pressed her face on the egg. Two hours passed, and their figures appeared one after the other, carrying a huge egg in hand. Selina’s hanging heart dropped, she had never been happier to see them. They ignored her waiting patiently for their master to come out. Immediately Cadien’s figure appeared, and the pillar crumbled to dust. Cadien spared Selina an indifferent glance before turning to his people. Seeing they were complete, "let’s go." He left these words and moved towards the space belt entrance. When they entered, the suction force pulled them upward; they held their eggs firmly in their embrace as they floated for a while. They emerged from the warp gate into the familiar dungeon corridor. With eggs in hand, they moved swiftly and carefully—none of them eager to face a monster in their current state. Luckily, the dungeon monsters hadn’t yet adapted to the sudden changes of the dungeon. They were slowly waking from their hiding places, or Cadien and his team wouldn’t have left unscathed. The space users opened another tear in space and they passed through while putting on their oxygen mask. As they approached the wall marked with the Oasis City sign, another space tear opened—and they stepped through. Going through the last space tear they appeared in the entrance of the City. Cadien frowned as he looked toward the city. Something was off—deeply wrong.