Chapter 449: Kingdom of Sand

*****

"~Why does this always happen to me?"

"Huehue~. Come on, don't be shy. The only thing we have to worry about is making sure the sand doesn't get where it shouldn't."

"~How the heck do you say such long sentences while you're asleep?"

"You think I can't? Huehuehue~! We'll see about that!"

"~Hey, what's with that thing?! Seriously, let go of me already!"

Vrrrr!!.

"Ugh… ah!"

I opened my eyes, feeling excruciating pain all over my body.

I didn't understand what had happened.

One moment I was on a beach surrounded by all my girls in swimsuits and about to start the biggest group event yet, and the next I'm here, because I felt intense pain.

This feeling is familiar to me. It's that damn anti-fainting spell.

Elena usually uses it when, according to her, I don't wake up, but I know she only uses it when I've recently done something to make her angry.

'Huh? Wait, Elena?... No, before that...'

Still a little confused, I looked around. It was completely unfamiliar. It was a large room, whose walls were covered entirely in sand.

The ceiling also seemed to be covered in it, and I don't understand how it didn't collapse...

Anyway, it looked like we were underground.

The only reason everything was clear was because some sections of the sand—which were golden and gave off a soft light—allowed me to see everything clearly.

My gaze finally fell on Silvia, who was standing near me, and, for some reason I couldn't understand, she was blushing intensely and shooting me a furious glare—but the strange thing was that she wasn't looking me in the eyes.

And when I followed her gaze, I saw she was looking at my crotch, and sure enough, that bastard down there was at full power and about to rip my pants apart.

'Huh? What the hell just happened? What was Silvia doing to me? Was I violated?... No! Now I really have been violated by a pusillanimous coward.'

"Idiot! What kind of nonsense are you thinking? ugh! If you don't get rid of that thing, I will."(Silvia)

"＼(〇_ｏ)／ Hey, stop! Wait a second, I'm awake now, calm down!."

I saw Silvia swirling mana in her hand, intending to aim it at my crotch.

That definitely snapped me out of it, made the bastard disappear, and helped me remember what really happened.

When we were falling with the flying ship, it seems we entered what might be a test zone or a death trap.

It's not a legacy, but in a way—depending on whatever it is they're protecting—it could be even more beneficial than a legacy.

But putting that aside, something's strange.

'Hey, can you hear me? What happened? Did the connection drop again?'

I tried to connect with my main self, but for some reason, I felt like the connection was broken.

As far as I can remember, the moment that strange sensation began to wash over me, I returned to the main body to defend myself, but now I'm back in the doppelgänger.

I recalled the last thing I heard from the conversation between my main self and Qetesh—she said something about the connection and karma and how she would take care of it.

"Ugh, shouldn't I have trusted her?"

[And why is that, dear? Did I do something wrong?]

'Ah! What the hell? Why are you here?'

I heard Qetesh's voice, which startled me. I wasn't expecting that now that the connection was broken.

[What's the problem? I'm always inside you, deep down.]

'Hey, that sounded gross. Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you? No, that's not important right now. What the hell happened? What did you do? Why can I talk to you but I can't sense my main self?'

[Oh, that's because I cut the connection between us, dear. And before you get mad, let me tell you it was necessary. The administrator of this place was about to notice it, and if I hadn't, you were going to draw his attention. That wouldn't be very good, would it? Anyway, it's not that big of a deal, is it? And it was part of your request.]

'Well, if you put it that way… No, wait—to begin with, why did I go back to my doppelgänger?'

[Oh, that's because I realized there was a limit on the number of people per group, and, well, that way you could be in two groups. If you want to blame someone, blame the huge number of people I had to keep track of. Oh, and just so you know, I split myself too, so I might be explaining the same thing to your main self right now.]

Ugh, it seems like there really isn't any reason to get mad at her. After all, it looks like there were reasons behind it.

'Hmmm… actually, now that I finally have time to talk to her, isn't this the perfect opportunity to ask her a few questions?'

[Oh, darling, I really don't mind answering you, but I think the current situation is more important. There are more people here than I brought with me, haha!. I don't think that's your doppelgänger, is it?]

When Qetesh said that, I started paying closer attention to my surroundings again. There were a lot of people, but all my attention was focused on another "Chris" who was approaching Eira.

The moment I saw him, I didn't hesitate for a second: I got up and ran toward him.

"Ugh."

My body felt a little heavy and, for some reason, restricted. I felt that it was taking me too long to circulate the art, so I stopped trying, and it took me longer than I expected to reach him.

That gave the other Chris time to notice me coming and prepare for my attack.

I analyzed his stance, which, curiously, was that of the Art of Radiance. He was ready to receive my already-formed fist, extending his hand to block it with his palm.

But just before impact, I switched from a fist to an open hand and grabbed his.

"Ah!"

I yanked him with all my strength, shattering his stance... I seized the moment and grabbed his forearm with my other hand.

And with all my strength—which I struggled to muster—I lifted him for a brief moment and slammed him hard onto the ground.

Bang!

"Ugh! Eira, help…"

Crack!

He tried to call out to Eira for help when he saw how quickly I'd subdued him, but I didn't give him that chance—I raised my foot and stomped down on his jaw in such a way that his neck twisted violently and dislocated.

And then, just to be sure, I lifted my foot again and stomped on it once more, and I didn't stop until it stopped moving.

This must be one of those tests or traps where the gods use clones of people.

The gods love clichés and enjoy that kind of bullshit test—where people might end up killing each other out of doubt and insecurity.

"Hey… what was that? You—why did you do that?" (Eira)

I heard Eira's confused voice behind me; maybe she thought it was my doppelganger. I turned around, shrugged, and explained what was going on.

"Well, that thing isn't mine. It's made by this place, or… wait, is that another Silvia? Or is Elena here too… hiii?"

'Hey, what the hell, Qetesh? Why the hell are they here?'

While I was explaining things to Eira, I couldn't help but take a closer look around me. At a glance, there were more than a dozen people.

I was already surprised to see another Silvia, but when I saw other faces I hadn't expected, I immediately asked who could be responsible for them being here.

[What's going on now, dear?]

'What do you mean, 'What's going on now'? Why are they all here?'

[Well, you said you wanted the girls to be together, right? You didn't specify very clearly, and they have some ties to you too, don't they? Hehehe.]

'Damn it, you did this on purpose. Deep down, you're still the same little bastard as always. I swear that when I find a way, I'll give you a body and get my revenge for everything you've done.'

[Fufufu!, darling, that sounds great. If someone as masculine and yet as beautiful and sexy as you does it, I have no complaints. Hue~ I can't wait for all that insatiable lust to descend upon defenseless little me and destroy me. Fufufu, it'll be quite the experience.]

'What the hell! You've really lost it. Ugh… it's not worth arguing with you right now.'

Yeah, it was better not to argue with this strange, unknown Qetesh. More important was figuring out how to handle the situation.

Aside from Elena, Selene, Cordelia, and Aurora, who were on the other side of the room, there were also Rowyn and her sister, Wen-sempai—though there were two of them. The point is, there was also someone I hadn't expected to see, and that was Ophelia.

Yes, Ophelia.

Throughout the entire incident—and ever since I'd replaced her—I'd sealed her inside the dimensional stone, just as I'd done with David.

Ciel looked at me doubtfully when I brought her there, completely bound by my binding technique. I really don't understand it. He didn't look at me that way when, days earlier, I'd brought David.

But that wasn't important. What mattered was that, while my main self and I were busy maintaining the facade with Aeloria and handling matters before setting sail, Number 2 had taken care of many things.

Among them was freeing David and Ophelia, both of whom were clearly bound by a confidentiality agreement. Although I never revealed my true appearance to them, it was better to be safe than sorry.

I suppose that, like everyone else, they were dragged into this, since labor was needed, and I don't think anyone had time to wonder why they were there and not on the expedition.

When I looked at her and our eyes met, it worried me a little, so I looked away immediately.

I'm going to assume it's a coincidence, since, in fact, they were all looking at me—the one who had just killed his clone, which, now that I look again, has begun to turn to sand and crumble away…

But the most important—and terrifying—thing for me were two others, or rather, four, because each one had a clone, and they were none other than Evangelin and Celentine.

I saw the two Celestines staring at each other; both looked ready to attack.

On the other hand, the two Evangelines were just looking at each other hesitantly, although their bandages make me wonder if they're actually looking at each other.

"Just so you know, I'm the real one."(Silvia)

Just as I was starting to worry about how those two big problems had doubled, the Silvia I had seen first—and the one who had woken me up—came up behind me.

I jumped, got into a fighting stance, and confronted her.

"How do I know what you're saying is true? You violated me earlier, and Silvia would never do something like that."

"You're the idiot who almost… Ugh!. Fine, What do I have to do to prove I'm the real one?"(Silvia)

Yeah, this is going to get complicated. I didn't hesitate to get rid of my duplicate.

If I'd waited any longer, maybe that clone would have gotten backup and complicated the situation.

But now, with the other clones...

'Well, for now, it's best to group together those of us who don't have duplicates and then figure out what to do about those who do—preferably eliminate the real Celestine and make it look like a human error, and with Evangeline, I could…'

[Haha! Darling, that's a funny thought, but before you flesh out your plan any further, there's something you should keep in mind. You know, there were nine people per group, and even if we set aside the duplicates, there are more than that here, aren't there? Haha! You shouldn't trust anyone, including the kitten right next to you.]

"Shit!"

Now I have to look at my cute and tsundere Eira with suspicion.

It seems the situation is more messed up than I thought.

Those damn devious gods—I don't know who they are, but if I find out they replaced any of my girls with a pile of sand, I'll put them on my personal blacklist.