Chapter 134 Fight Yourself!
Somehow, Nial thought that it was quite easy to talk to the God of Darkness.
But he was not sure if that was because he was just talking to the Fragment of the God of Darkness, or because the Darkness God was dead.
Maybe it was something entirely different that allowed him to remain calm.
In the end, the reason didn't really matter, and it was more important that he figured out what exactly was going on.
Nial had entered the darkness portal because he wanted to become stronger.
Knowledge was power as well, which was why he wouldn't complain about receiving important pieces of information.
And almost all the information the Fragment of the Darkness God told him was highly advantageous to help him figure out more about himself and the Universe in general.
The fact that Gods were the culprits in the creation of the dungeon portals was something he understood now quite well.
Apparently, the weaker dungeon portals were meant to enhance Jundra's planetary core and surface, so that it will accept mana much faster.
They wanted to artificially awaken the planetary core of Jundra in order to let it create mana itself, and to be stronger.
This was a great plan but the issue lay in the fact that there were simply too many impatient Gods that were vying to gain supremacy over Jundra even before the planet was ready to endure the might of stronger beasts.
"And why would they even bother about Jundra? I mean, there should be quite a few planets that are more interesting than our planet?"
The more he heard, the more confusing everything seemed to him.
[I think explaining it right now would only further confuse you. Maybe a comparison would make it easier…
If you pick up something flawed, it will never be perfect, right? If a vase breaks, it is not possible to return it to the original state! In that case, what if you create something from scratch? The answer is quite simple- as long as you work tirelessly to fix your mistakes, perfection will be the final result!]
Nial just nodded his head as if he understood everything.
His senses were still feeling odd because the only thing he could hear was the voice of the deceased Darkness God.
Meanwhile, his other senses simply felt nothing except an empty void around him.
Fortunately, this sensation didn't remain for long as something wondrous happened.
Dark energy currents swept through his entire body, shrouding him for several seconds.
An icy cold reached every single cell within his body before the dark energy currents separated from his body.
They gathered in one spot, turning into a huge ball of darkness.
However, it didn't take long before the ball of darkness began to change its shape.
Within a single minute, a human being was formed.
It began to walk around and suddenly started to exhibit various types of movement sequences, which caused Nial to focus on the being intently.
"Is that…me?"
Nial couldn't help but feel a little bit flabbergasted as he perceived every single trait of the being in front of him.
Its movements were exactly the same as his own. This was not only confusing, but it caused chills to run down his spine.
The only difference between the two of them was the fact that his doppelganger was able to wield the dark energy all around him!
[Your primary Trial of the Gods is to overcome yourself and defeat your Darkness Doppelganger! There is no time limit, and you cannot die here, so fight with all your might!!]
The first Trial didn't sound complex, but Nial knew that defeating his Darkness Doppelganger was everything but easy.
Not only was its physique constructed to be on par with his own body down to the last detail at that, but it was also wielding the very same weapon, and efficiently controlling dark energy.
Nial even presumed that it was able to use the black Miasma from the Curse [Hodur's Heir].
With that in mind, the fact that he would be able to evade death in the Trial was relieving.
At least, it allowed Nial to try his best without the need to pay attention to any kinds of injuries he was bound to sustain.
This was pretty nice, which was why he simply nodded his head and was ready to fight the Darkness Doppelganger.
He had only six days left to finish the Trial, otherwise, he would miss out on the lessons at the Teradan military camp.
And the fact that he was not even in the military camp would arouse suspicion as well as attract the interest of too many people.
Even if the sisters had asked Nial to attract the attention of others, and become the strongest, he felt uncomfortable telling others about the fact that he had an 'Innate' ability.
But that was only normal because the Odyssey seed was far from being considered an ordinary holder of his Innate affinity!
Furthermore, not even the Originals' association had been able to detect the Odyssey seed, let alone the [Mana perception] Innate ability!
If others were to figure out what was going on, things would only become more complicated, and Nial wanted to avoid problems for now.
He wanted to focus on becoming stronger as quickly as possible, which meant that he had to give his all!
After all, he didn't know how long it would take before existences like unrestricted Giganodes would reach Liondra, and his family!!
The sole thought about reuniting with his family was enough for Nial to give his all, and fight until he found them.
[I forgot to tell you something. It won't be possible for you to leave the Trial before you defeat the Darkness Doppelganger. And as already mentioned, If you stay here for too long, my Fragment will slowly devour you as well.]
Afterward, the voice turned quiet for a moment, leaving a dumbfounded Nial behind, just to add,
[The flow of time within my domain is also different. Your brain might not understand it yet because it might feel a little bit weird, but one hour on Jundra is equivalent to 5 hours in here!]
Nial felt like twisting the neck of the already deceased Darkness God when he heard his first comment.
However, upon hearing the words the voice added, he calmed down in an instant.
'That means…I have around 30 days before the Teradan military camp starts again…That's more than enough!!'
Even if Nial was not confident to defeat his Darkness Doppelganger right now, by 'sacrificing' his life over and over again he was pretty sure to find a tactic to defeat the stronger version of… himself!
Taking his own time limit into consideration, Nial took a deep breath before the Viper spear manifested in his hands.
Wielding it properly, a large amount of mana was circulated through his body.
He focussed most of it on his lower body and was able to catapult himself several meters ahead.
His speed was high enough to reach the Darkness Doppelganger in seconds.
However, the moment he reached it, Nial understood that he had grossly underestimated the might of the Darkness Doppelganger.
Blasting a wave of dark energy towards Nial, the Darkness Doppelganger seemed to merge with it.
Just a moment later the dark energy swept through Nial, only for the Darkness Doppelganger to manifest behind him.
Nial was able to sense all of this, but even before he could think about evading the attack that was bound to be initiated, the dark energy currents around him shackled him down.
The strength behind the shackles was not especially high, but it was more than enough to restrict Nial for more than a second.
And this was more than enough for the Darkness Doppelganger to thrust his spear at him
Nial's heart was pierced just a moment later, and he slumped to the ground, dead.
A fountain of blood spurted out of Nial the moment the Darkness Doppelganger retracted the spear.
In seconds, a puddle of blood formed below Nial, only for him to start twitching as he began to breathe once again.
It was almost as if time began to rewind as the blood around him slowly seeped back into his body.
Even the hole in his chest was mended once again.
Not even a full minute had passed before Nial was able to get up from the ground.
"Well, I'm still alive, but it hurts like hell…"
It was like he was in a death simulator where he died a thousand deaths but somehow survived miraculously, just for the pain he felt from being pierced through the chest to remain within him.
Nial was definitely not a fan of this, but instead of complaining, he chose to accept the pain.
Taking a few deep breaths, Nial prepared himself to fight once again.
Even his mana had recuperated entirely, which was quite helpful considering that he would have to fight hundreds of battles.
At least that was the number of necessary fights Nial had come up with before he was able to fight the Darkness Doppelganger head-on.
Maybe it would be more or fewer fights, but that did not matter right now.
Wielding the Viper spear in his hand once again, he pierced out.
Simultaneously, he led mana inside the Curse [Hodur's Heir], which resulted in black Miasma being released in an explosive manner.
His entire body was shrouded in black Miasma.
It accumulated around his spear, which he pierced out at once.
The moment he pierced out with the Viper spear, the compressed black Miasma was released explosively, as if a dam had broken.
Nial knew that he wouldn't be able to block this attack, not with his current strength.
As such, the Darkness Doppelganger shouldn't be able to survive the attack either!
Unfortunately, it was necessary for the attack to reach the Darkness Doppelganger in order to injure him.
Releasing the exact same attack Nial had fired, his opponent mimicked his move causing the compressed black Miasma from both sides to devour one another.
They grew weaker and weaker, followed by the dark energy intertwining with the Darkness Doppelganger's black Miasma!
Through this, Nial's compressed black Miasma was overwhelmed and devoured.
It strengthened the fused state of the dark energy and the black Miasma of the Darkness Doppelganger, just to envelop Nial.
The moment it touched him, the dark energy Miasma began to eat away his skin, flesh, organs, and even bones as fire would consume tinder.
This was the worst feeling had ever perceived in his entire life.
It made him feel as if he was being eaten alive, by millions of tiny leeches at once.
The time it took for the dark energy Miasma to decay him in his entirety was less than an entire minute, but this minute was the worst in his life.
After he died, his body was reconstructed within a minute once again.
However, this time he was unable to stand up or to even breathe properly.
He was just lying on the ground and trying to feel his entire body again.
"Just what the hell is going on here…" He mumbled after five minutes passed.
His mind was a mess, and before he could react the Darkness Doppelganger loomed over him, and thrust the spear it was holding.
'What the hell?! Why can't I have even a moment of respite???'
**
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