Chapter 65

Neverending Wars (IV)

Doppelgangers.

In some ways, doppelgangers were one of, if not the weakest monsters created by the Descent. They couldn't use magic, didn't have any physical prowess, and were almost worthless in a direct fight. However, in far more ways, doppelgangers were one of the most dangerous and horrific disasters that would ever strike a particular place.

Ethan had lied both to Elijah and Michael–he had absolutely no way of discerning whether someone was a doppelganger or not. The creature itself said the truth–its abilities to mimic human behaviour were perfect, as it wasn't mimicking so much as it was being a human. That was what made them monstrous–nobody could discern who was a doppelganger. Whenever a group, be it large or small, recognised that it had a doppelganger in its midst, it would fall apart… every single time. The reason was simple: trust was completely broken.

Initially, people tried the tricks–distant memories, things 'only a specific person would know'... but none of it worked. Doppelganger inherited everything from whatever it consumed–memories, instincts, behavioural tics, manner of speech, even their personality. Ethan himself was also tricked… all the way until he noticed that Elijah wasn't on the plane. Michael… wouldn't have made that blunder. If anything, he would have gone out of his way to bring Elijah along. Why had the doppelganger not done it? Ethan… didn't know.

It was impossible to know–perhaps it was simply an error in Ethan’s judgement, and Michael would have done the exact same thing, or perhaps it was something else entirely. However, even with that, Ethan elected not to act on it. He had to wait until his suspicion was perfectly confirmed. That was why he had Ronald and Layla run away and hide. He would only have one chance to hunt the monster–a single slip-up that he’d try to manufacture. That was the entire point of the conversation–trying to stir and steer the conversation in strange and almost erratic directions. And it happened–when the doppelganger threatened him with Layla. It was confirmed. Michael was dead… and in his place was a monster.

Ethan himself was shaken. In truth, he had neither the means nor the desire to tangle with the doppelganger. In some ways, even less than his desire to contend against that monster hellbent on ending humanity. It was a hopeless fight; the doppelganger wasn’t strong or fast or nimble or capable of using devastating magic. But its mimicry was perfect. Or, well, almost perfect. But the clues… weren’t really ‘clues’. What stirred the pot wasn’t Ethan’s impeccable perception, his ability to notice things others missed… it was something much sadder than that: his paranoia.

Ethan was simply incapable of trusting another person. Not ‘incapable of trusting them a lot’ or ‘fully’, but at all. It wasn’t a helping tool so much as it was the sickness of the mind. Perhaps, in some existential way, his paranoia allowed him to dock the doppelganger, but it also disallowed him from living a normal life. Even if his inner faculties could process the world logically and come to a most likely scenario, it didn’t matter. His paranoia, his distrust, it was far more powerful in his psyche.

Because he didn’t trust Michael on any level, he scrutinised every one of the man’s actions. And, in its midst, he noticed some strange things: the hurry, the desperation that seemed almost paradoxical to how the man presented himself. Strange occurrences that seemed almost too perfect to not have been staged. For a long while, he suspected Michael was wholly behind it–it was a ploy to lock him down, to control him, to make him work for the army. In some ways, that would have been for the better. He was used to betrayal, used to people bleeding selfishness and greed, and used to dealing with it. But he wasn’t used to a doppelganger.

After all, if he’d let the beast slip through his fingers… it would vanish into the night and become invisible once again… but now with the added caveat that it would hunt Ethan. He’d never be able to trust anyone and, worst of all, he wouldn’t even be able to trust Layla. And that would have been the core of it all–the desire of every doppelganger: chaos.

They were like puppeteers watching their puppets move about in a desperate bid for salvation, but they were the Gods who got to make the last call. And it was never holy or forgiving.

“He he he. You? Thing? Provide chaos? He he h~~”

“A lot of it,” Ethan needed Michael alive. Especially now that he could ‘control’ the General. If the man died here, the army would collapse. The order would disintegrate, and eventually closing the Tunnel would become far too difficult, even for him. “After all, I caught you. How many times has that happened throughout history?”

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“He he he, six–six times, he he hlleell~~”

“Six? See. I’m rather special,” Ethan held the knife tightly. He couldn’t let it slip away. If it did… he couldn’t even imagine. No, he didn’t want to imagine. “So, you keep pretending to be who you are right now… and I’ll keep you far more entertained than you can even imagine.”

“He he he, doubt, doubt, doubt~~how could you entertain? How, how, how?”

“... I’ll slay your master and liberate you.”

"..." Doppelganger's twisted expression mellowed ever so slightly, its bulging eyes turning normal. There was discerning intellect within them. The creature wasn't super-intelligent by any means–in fact, in some ways, it was kind of stupid–but it had self-awareness and the ability to recognise its own existence. "You? Slay the Master? Ke ke ke ke~~impossible. Weak, weak, so weak.”

“Yeah, I’m too weak to do it right now,” Ethan said. “But give me six months. Only six months. I’ll show you, then, the brilliance of me.” Could Ethan defeat that monster within six months? Not a chance. In fact, even if he was given a decade, chances were fairly slim.

Though the monster’s Level was never properly deciphered, most guesstimates put it at around 350. The first human to ever reach that Level? It happened in 2046, just two years before Ethan returned.

The reason why Ethan asked for six months was simply to delay the absolute chaos that Michael’s death would cause. He could put in some fixes until then to minimise it, killing the doppelganger before it expired. Even just mumbling out that he’d face that thing was beyond bold. He could still recall it–the horrors inflicted and the sacrifices made just to finally kill that thing. In the end, around 15 million people died either directly by the monster’s hands, or indirectly as sacrifices to kill it. Even before Ethan’s return, only 2 other non-Terror monsters managed to eclipse that number.

“Ke ke ke. Six months? He he he, okay! Slay master in six months? Interesting, ke ke! He he, stupid, interesting!” it wasn’t just a word-of-mouth sort of a promise–it was a system-binding one, prohibiting the doppelganger from running rampant and forcing it to behave exactly as Michael would for the next six months. However, the fact that the monster didn’t ask for any counter-measures against Ethan proved that its intellect was… not particularly great.

Ethan released it and the doppelganger's countenance vanished, leaving behind… Michael. The same man that Ethan had known for a while. It was quite a shame that he died, but such was the nature of the world.

“Right. How did James also come along?” Ethan asked. “I mean, the body you took before.”

“He’s a puppet body,” ‘Michael’ said. “Didn’t you notice he was silent?”

"..." Ethan… didn't. In the end, luck played the greatest role in his managing to capture the creature. So many things and inconsistencies still slipped through his fingers that he was rather angry with himself. But he was still just a human–his perception, sharpened though it was, was still limited. He'd already strained his thoughts by having to think about too many things at once, but it seemed like he'd stretched them too thin. It was time to consolidate.

“I’ll explore the city alone,” Ethan continued. “We’ll proceed with the same plan. You always stay in the rear and stay alive no matter what.”

“We might fail,” ‘Michael’ said. “Guardian of this place… smells strong.”

“...” Ethan wanted to reply with ‘I know’, but he remained silent. “We’ll figure it out.”

He departed for the city, using the cover of the night to easily sneak in. The tall structures were awe-inspiring even when embossed with darkness, but Ethan didn’t pay any mind to them. The greatest obstacle to clearing this Tunnel through this route was the ‘Guardian’. It wasn’t the Emperor or the Empress but a Knight from their Order.

The reason the Tunnel was cleared quickly the last time was because the group within went the ‘report to the Empire’ route; the Empire, in turn, sent out that Guardian alongside ten other Knights who decimated Altukeen’s entire force within less than four hours. Because of this, however, the party in question barely received any rewards. Thus, in their resentment, they very publicly regaled the tales of the Tunnel as well as the Guardian’s skills.

Ethan wasn’t necessarily confident in killing the man in a direct duel, but there was always the other option: assassination. Though his talk about ‘critical points of failure’ with Michael was partly in an attempt to draw out a mistake to confirm the man had become a doppelganger, he already knew that the Guardian was that critical point–without him, the city’s strength would fall off considerably, not to mention the panic that it would cause. It would provide at least a chance for the march to eke out some success, but it all hinged on Ethan’s ability to assassinate someone that he had very limited and vague information on.

In his past life, he would have never done it–never risked an assassination with such limited info and intel. But in consideration of the changes that the world was unfolding–such as spawning two field-level Tunnels in quick succession well before they should have spawned, he recognised that he'd have to accelerate his plans. As such, this was a risk that he'd have to take. In the worst-case scenario, he'd simply lead the Empire's forces to the Altukeen's camp and let them battle it out for the scenario to end, simply closing the Tunnel.

However, there was still a chance he might succeed, however little. As such, he snuck toward the central building of the city, the bulging centre where not only the Throne room was located, but so were the chambers of most important figures, including the Guardian. The night was still young, and he stalked past the lazy guards in silence. His prey… was close.