100\% Drop Rate: My Special Ability is Perfect Replication

"Oh. Did I hit a nerve?"

"Your entire attitude is hitting a nerve. What’s wrong with you? Why are you making it so easy?"

Vi’s eyes widened as she realized her act wasn’t deceiving Faust.

He scored and pointed a hand forward.

’Instance Replication.’

’Instance Replication.’

[You have removed the Blood Feud effect]

Vi’s golden beam surged from his hand, right back at her. She barely seemed surprised and just raised her hand to stop the attack.

But then the massive golden beam disappeared into one of his Narrow Paths.

"What?" Vi said.

Faust rushed her, not giving her time to think. No matter how all-knowing Vi pretended to be, her Schema wasn’t all-knowing.

She knew some of his memories, but not all.

He dodged between the jellyfish tentacles as they slammed down, chasing Vi, but she just rose on one of the tentacles away from him.

"What did you just do—"

The golden beam finished traveling its path. It returned with a blinding glow that illuminated the entire dark world for a second.

Right in Vi’s face.

Faust used Instance Replication twice for a reason.

First, he replicated Vi’s attack, which he decided could travel a long time without losing power, making it perfect for Distance-Damage Amplification.

His second replication was a skill he copied from a certain somebody.

The golden beam consumed Vi and her jellyfish. The unique spell fusion of hers could absorb spells and throw them back at her enemies, but it had to have a limit.

He amplified the beam to its limit and almost instantly regretted it.

The golden beam was entirely concussive magic energy, so when amplified, it punched through the air, creating cascading booms.

The air rippled outward and slammed into Faust like a brick wall. The curtain of rain was parted in an instant.

Faust slammed through a tower before using Unknown Trespasser to escape the force.

In this form, he was weightless, detached completely from the world. He leapt through the air, phasing through the billowing winds and friction to land on a floating staircase.

’I can pass through anything but I can still stand...’

Ignoring the strange feeling, he glared up at the throne room.

His plan was twofold. The golden beam was supposed to destroy Vi and the magic circle powering the flight of the castle.

Or at least the magic circle.

Instead, Vi had somehow diverted the replicated attack. Now its golden light was retreating over the black sea.

’She did that before with my Water Dragon. A skill that allows her to change the direction of spells?’

For someone whose entire skill set was built around revenge mechanics, Vi was very keen about blocking magic.

He shelved that for later.

Her jellyfish must have used all its strength stopping that attack. It was gone, taking its silver glow with it.

The throne room had been decimated by Vi’s ice and fire attack. It still had around seventy meters of rock, but the walls had been blown away.

The golden light of the magic circle floating over it illuminated Vi’s kneeling form.

It floated like an island in the rain with the dark sea so far below it.

Faust landed on the small island, glaring at Vi, whose hands had been burned from deflecting the beam.

"That hurts..." Vi hissed. "You’re really angry at me, aren’t you?"

"If you aren’t going to fight seriously, can you just die?" Faust said blankly.

Vi put on a bitter smile and dodged the question. "I targeted you with my Schema, but it was removed. You replicated Thalia’s Absolution, right?"

He had removed Blood Feud, so he was healing now, thankfully.

But Vi also began to heal too, albeit far slower. She stretched out her hand, and the air warped around her arms.

Steel armor similar to the ones she used to make her puppets appeared around her burnt arms. She hissed as the cold steel met her charred skin but smiled after.

"You’re a Slipnark," Vi complimented, then she added, "That’s a type of predator in my world. They lay a trap with every attack."

"I don’t care about your world and history. Die." Faust stared blankly at her. "If you’ve already given up, just let me win."

Vi opened her mouth and closed it a few times.

Faust strode forward to finish this. But a yellow line flashed in his vision as Pathfinder predicted movement toward his neck.

Faust jumped back just as Drekar surged from the shadow, slashing at Faust with a ragged cry.

The assassin didn’t look so good. His cloak had been cut and torn in many places, two arrows were stuck in his back, and blood stained his body.

"No..." Drekar gasped, "don’t take a step forward."

’Dash.’

Faust flashed in front of Drekar, driving his foot into the assassin’s belly.

Drekar shot back like a cannonball, bouncing off the ground so hard it cracked. Vi caught him before he slid off the floating rock.

"Sorry Drekar, you’re a bit too pitiful to face me now," Faust said. "I’m also sorry you have such a pathetic excuse for a master."

Vi held Drekar in her arms, running her fingers over his injuries with a pained look.

"I’ve always wondered: why didn’t she use her Schema when they came for her?" Faust said carefully.

"I noticed no one else used their Schemas, except Mario, the Farseer, the only one that might have been permitted. So you were exiled for using your Schema in a fight..."

"What I don’t understand is why you didn’t use your Schema to save Nems?"

Vi froze, turning to him. She looked like she barely recognized the name, but it still invoked so much.

Faust shrugged his shoulders. "I’m just saying, if you were going to use it, why not use it to save her? Instead, you used it to avenge her. It’s been confusing me."

Drekar looked at him weakly. "Boy, if you’re looking for Vi’s rage, you’ll regret finding it."

But Vi wasn’t listening anymore.

She rose to her feet slowly, leaving Drekar on the ground, setting a terrible gaze on Faust.

Her eyes were blindfolded, and yet Faust felt the intensity.

"There’s your passion," Faust murmured with a small smile.

The golden circle clicking away above them boomed loudly and sent up a beam to the sky.

The bitter taste of salt in his mouth grew worse as he saw a portal open over them.

On the other side, Faust could see Novice Village #1 sprawled below.