"I live to serve Mistress." Said the black haired girl as her form finished forming, she fell to one of her knees in front of Elizabeth. This, of course, didn't surprise Elizabeth at all, for she had expected it to happen.
"What is your name?" Elizabeth asked the black-haired girl, her connection to her strong. She already knew everything that was to know about her, but even so. She still asked.
"This humble one doesn't have a name, I can be whatever you desire Mistress." Answered the Chloe Doppelganger.
"*Le gasp*!" Max, of course, gasped as he covered his mouth and stared angrily at Elizabeth, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY SISTER?!?!?"
This was met with a scowl from Chloe Doppel that made Max recoil as if someone had hit him with a sledgehammer, so all she had needed to do to solve this was make a Chloe Doppel to admonish him? This was not funny. What had been all Elizabeth's suffering to defeat him then?
"I am only showing you what the result of your actions would have achieved, nothing more, nothing less." Elizabeth said shaking her head, "As for you, let's see... Tell me as much as you can remember about yourself, and we will go from there."
The Chloe Doppel stood (While still glaring at Max) and nodded, she first looked at Elizabeth's Shadow Empress Regalia, then to Max's damaged suit and then to herself. She was...not really wearing anything, so she closed her eyes and seemed to focus for a couple seconds, as she was doing that the shadows surrounding them answered to her call and started climbing her body. Soon she was covered in shadows, and a mere second or two later she was now wearing an obsidian dress, one that seemed to match Elizabeth's armor, the girl nodded to herself happily and started speaking, "I have no memories of being in any form like this one before," And sure enough, started with a gut punch (To Max). "My first memory is of an empty void, nothing was there, no one besides me, and even that is doubtful for I was not even aware of myself there."
...Yikes.
"While spending an untold amount of time there I heard a siren song followed by a ray of light." Chloe Doppel said turning her eyes to Elizabeth, those eyes were full of worship, "From there I was reborn as a loyal servant for you Mistress."
"That's it? You saw a light and so you decided to worship this girl?" Max asked from the side confused, "That makes no sense! Even if she was the conduit for you to come back, she doesn't deserve worship like that! Only for what? A year? Half a year?!?!?"
Chloe Doppel scoffed at Max, "A year? Maybe if it was that, but I have been waiting the chance to serve OUR MISTRESS far longer than that." Aaand there it was, Elizabeth nodded as if she had expected that. "I have been roaming her sacred domain for eighteen years!"
...Well, that was longer than she expected.
"Awaiting with everyone else for a chance to prove our worth to our Mistress!" Chloe Doppel seemed more like a fanatic at this point than the original Chloe, it was...quite disturbing, but at least she could see the similar traits between this Chloe Doppel and Max, both had the same crazed eyes and frothing mouth thing nailed... For some reason Elizabeth thought that it looked better on Chloe Doppel than it did on Max though. "Can you imagine?!?!? How it felt being in the background, wanting to serve but with no way to do it?!?!?"
Chloe Doppel walked towards the chained Max and turned to look at Reginald, some communication must have happened as Max was lowered to the floor, put into a kneeling position, "You, a mere Human could never imagine the suffering we Shadow Dragons experience every second of our undead lives. Wishing to serve our Mistress but not being able to, cursing our luck for not being the one being summoned, awaiting our turn to enter the Dragon Eggs...CAN YOU IMAGINE OUR DESPERATION?!?!?"
Doppel Chloe kicked Max at this point on his stomach, making the mighty hero face plant into the ground, his chains letting him fall on his face and then tensing once again to prevent him from moving.
"And then you dare...YOU DARE TO PRESUME ABOUT OUR PAIN AS MERELY A YEAR?!?!?" Doppel Chloe was already screaming at this point as her (Very pointy shoe, because this crazy girl had decided to wear stilettos when she made her clothing) shoe was placed atop Max's head and she repeatedly she stepped on his head like a child on a tantrum, that...must hurt quite a lot.
"..." Max didn't say anything, or perhaps he couldn't speak with a face planted into the dirt?
"So as to answer your question," Doppel Chloe said stepping back and allowing Max to stand once more, or really, allowing the chains that tied him to raise him once more, his face full of dirt and the back of his head caked with blood, "I am loyal to our Mistress not because the time I spent wishing to be of use, but because she granted us a second chance to live, be it as a Shadow Dragon."
Doppel Chloe said raising her hand and summoning an image of one of her Shadow Dragons, "Or anything really. We live to serve our Mistress." Doppel Chloe said looking meaningfully at Reginald.
"...So...you aren't..." Max almost whispered his statement.
"I am who our Mistress wishes me to be, be it someone new or someone old. Someone she knew, or someone she wishes to know." Doppel Chloe's image changed as she spoke, first from Chloe Ashcroft to Alice, then to Elzbeth, to herself, to the new Chloe Starbright and even to Rossie and Rena.
Elizabeth of course took notes of those last two, and in the end she returned to the image of Chloe Ashcroft she had made at the start.
"I have no memories of those people, but I am confident that if their [Souls] are around, our Mistress could give them to me to better serve her wishes." Doppel Chloe spoke with certainty. Elizabeth wished she had that degree of faith in her own abilities. "But since no [Soul] was given to me while making this body, whatever she wished to prove it was achieved the moment I was born. Be it the fact that she can make this new body for us or the fact that the [Soul] she called for no longer exists on this plane."
Yeah...Elizabeth had guessed that from the start.
"Was I of use Mistress?" Doppel Chloe said turning to Elizabeth, the madness and crazed look no longer there, only one of worship.
It made Elizabeth feel things she wasn't sure she wanted to feel at the moment.
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"Yes," Elizabeth answered, then turning to Max Elizabeth said, "So, what do you think? Think you could have achieved this?"
That was of course a mean thing to ask, for Elizabeth could achieve this because she already had the souls of Terra Invicta to kickstart the process, it was thanks to those that she was able to turn the souls of the damned that [The Shadow Tide] had into her servants after all.
"...no." Max said almost in a whisper, that wasn't good enough for Doppel Chloe who kicked him between his legs to make him speak louder, "NO I COULDN'T ACHIEVE THIS!"
"Hmph, better you mutt." Doppel Chloe hmphed...Elizabeth could swear that if the original Chloe did that, it would look cute, but seeing Doppel Chloe wearing a gala dress and those stilettos doing it...
Look! Even Max was weirded ou-----Why is he salivating?
"...Okay, that is good enough. So name...name...name...." Elizabeth turned her bimbo powers to over nine thousand and carried on as if she hadn't noticed what was happening with Max, "For now you will be Mordred."
And so she decided on that, she wasn't quite sure why that particular name, but it felt fitting.
"This humble one will strive to make this name worthy." Doppel Chloe said.
"Oh right, also that form, change it." Elizabeth added, "I was just making an example, so you can customize your figure to whatever it feels fitting, you don't need to remain as that."
Two different things happened at once, first of all, Max's face flashed with panic and disappointing, and Mordred's face seemed too caught on that and she smiled evilly at that.
"As you say Mistress, will there be a problem if I only…customize it to look different while keeping some parts of it?" Mordred asked, she was paying attention to Max's reaction. What was this girl planning?
"Do as you wish," Elizabeth answered, she really didn't want to pay too much attention to this Minion. Elizabeth was already regretting indulging on the creation of it. Perhaps making the example hadn't been the correct answer.
"As you say Mistress." Mordred answered with a smile, turning to Max she added, "What will you do with this one? If you have no use for him I am sure we can find something for him to do at the Shadow Haven."
…Max? On her Shadow Haven?
Elizabeth couldn't help but shudder at the idea.
"We will not be having him there." Elizabeth answered shaking her head, "No. We will leave him here for someone from the [Nine Stars] to pick him up."
"A shame." Mordred said shaking her head, "I will return and wait for your summon then Mistress."
And like that Mordred was engulfed in a burst of black flames and disappeared, this girl was too dramatic!
Also she was evil! She would stick her to Aura, surely two evil girl doppelgangers couldn't be a problem…Surely.
"What will you do with me then?" Max asked, still kneeling on the ground.
What to do indeed, her original plan had been achieved, the only remaining thing would be to retreat…
"Send the retreat order, all the minions are to return to the Shadow Haven." Elizabeth said to Reginald, "Also make sure Rena returns to the base and gets treated for any wound she suffered."
That last bit was important, Elizabeth wouldn't put beyond Rena to have fought without a care in the world about her body, that was a no-no.
"As you wish Mistress." Reginald answered while from his back two round birbs made of lightning manifested, "Relay the message of Mistress at once."
And before Elizabeth could even question what the hell was happening, the two birbs of lightning bursted and shot far away. What the hell were even those birbs?
"It is done, the shadow armada should start retreating." Reginald said from the side, Elizabeth shook her head and was planning on releasing her shift.
If not because something stopped her that is. What stopped her?
"STOP AT ONCE!" The thunderous voice of someone who shouldn't have managed to breach arrived.
It was a man wearing robes of similar to the ones Aura liked to use, the robes of Izanami.
"Identify yourself, allegiance, name and dispel any hostile spell, skill or magic in the area!" The man seemed to be eyeing Max from time to time as nine strips of paper hovered around him.
Elizabeth could feel serious amounts of Mana on those strips of paper, she wanted to say a funny joke or something to see if the man could be calmed down, but decided against it. And so, for now she just focused on answering the questions, happy that she hadn't decided to release her shift just yet.
"The Shadow Empress, Student of The Mystic Powers Institute. I guess you could say I am a [Villain]?" Elizabeth answered with a shrug, "Either way, as of now, I am doing my public service duty by detaining and restraining someone who has been going around willy-nilly murdering my brethren. I assume there isn't any problem with doing that?"
The man hovering there narrowed his eyes and grabbed one of the strips of paper floating around himself, "In the name of [The Elementalist] I call upon a favor, Divine Mana guide my pledge. All who are in this area must answer the truth!" The man then ripped the strip of paper, and Elizabeth felt a wave of [Prana] settle in the area.
It was…weird, it felt as if the [Prana] was corrupted, or tainted…But not in the same way as the Shadows from Max had been, no…It was closer to…Putrid Mana? Either way, Elizabeth didn't like the feeling of this Prana at all.
"I ask again, is your name really [The Shadow Empress]? Are you really only detaining this man for those alleged crimes?" [The Elementalist] asked, Elizabeth felt as if the [Prana] wanted to cling to her, as if the thing was just waiting for her to violate the [Divine Order] that was embedded into it.
She also felt as if her [Heart] wanted to purge, devour and show this cheeky [Prana] who ruled here. But decided to ignore that Desire. "I did not lie." Elizabeth answered, "My current name on this form is indeed The Shadow Empress, and I did stop the man who carried the name of [The Shadow Tide]. I really was planning on sending him to the correct authorities for his crimes."
[The Elementalist] then turned to Max who was still chained, and to Reginald who stood there proudly and covered in her divine lightning…
"State your name Civilian." [The Elementalist] said turning to Max.
He just scoffed loudly and spit in [The Elementalist] 's Direction, Reginald narrowed his eyes at him and released a lightning shock towards the chains, even though Max's didn't scream or react, Elizabeth and [The Elementalist] were aware that it had happened.
"Maximilian Windsor, Shadow Attuned Villain. As of a few hours ago I went by the name of [The Shadow Tide]. I am responsible for the death and removal of at least 200,000 deaths in the last couple of months." Max answered, at least he was somewhat aware of how many people he made suffer.
"It is 358,941 deaths," Reginald said from the side, making both Elizabeth and [The Elementalist] turn to look at him.
"Name?" [The Elementalist] said, turning his attention to Reginald.
"Reginald." Was all that Reginald answered, Elizabeth for a second thought he would also use the Starbright last name.
"A Lightning Summon? No. You are closer to a Shikigami; I can assume the summoner is the one on the other side of this Minion, then? Either way, it must be someone powerful to be able to restrain an S-Tier Villain with the help of…A student." [The Elementalist] said turning to Elizabeth, he very sagely didn't state the tier that Elizabeth was.
"So can I assume you have come to take him?" Elizabeth asked, and before [The Elementalist] could answer, Elizabeth raised a wall of Shadows in front of her and Reginald (She made sure to not cover Max).
*Crash!*
For a human-shaped projectile had come crashing in their direction, neither Elizabeth nor Reginald were hurt, of course, but [The Elementalist] winced as he had needed to burn other of his paper strips to protect himself and Max.
"Sorry about that…Shadow Empress." Jenna said landing a few seconds after the projectile came flying in their direction, "They brought [The Monk] to restraint me and then [The Elementalist] used one of his talismans to sneak past, I managed to catch on him when he burned the second Talisman and came as soon as possible."
"…Jenna Lewis." [The Elementalist] said turning to Jenna, "Did you need to hit him that hard?"
“…I’m okay….” Came a muted voice from the crater, a black hand barely doing the okay sign from within the crater.
So this meant that there were two of the Nine Stars here…Plus two other.
"When someone comes barging without being invited of course they don't get special treatment, Oda Ryuuji." Jenna answered, Elizabeth heard the sound of crystal breaking and…nothing else. No new memories flooded her mind or anything since she didn't really know much about the man called Oda Ryuuji.
"…Are you sure you weren't under the influence of external forces Civilian?" Oda Ryuuji ignored Jenna and turned to ask Max that.
"Hahahahahahahahahahah" Max for his part only laughed and tried to spit again, but a single glare from Reginald made him swallow that and turn to stare at the man in question, "Of course not, everything I did was by my own volition. If someone could affect me to make me do anything I didn't want, then that would be [The Mother of Monsters]."
That seemed to be the answer they didn't want to hear. As [The Elementalist] sighed, "Fine…" And plucking another of his paper strips he ripped it in two and from the remains of the talisman a white sphere manifested, "[High Heal]."
This sphere turned into an arrow that shot straight at the human projectile, "Hieeeee…" And from there the [Monk] walked out, his clothes ripped and damaged here and there, but his body seemed to be fine. "As always, you are a menace to fight against [Juggernaut]."
Jenna just snorted and ignored the rib at her.
"I assume you managed to achieve what you wanted Shadow Empress?" And asked this of Elizabeth.
"Yeah, they can take it away. I have no need of him anymore." And on that tone Elizabeth nodded to Reginald.
"As you wish Mistress." And like that Max was released from his chains, he didn't attack or said anything, instead just nursed his wrists.
"Well? What are you waiting for?" Max said turning to [The Elementalist] and [The Monk], "If you aren't going to detain me then get the hell out of here."
Elizabeth didn't want to deal with this at the moment either, "We will take our leave then, Reginald. I'll see you later." And on that note Elizabeth focused her shadows and took a single step, "Shadow Step."
That was enough to teleport away from the site back to their base. Finally they had dealt with this, now…now she only needed to talk with Beatrice. Easy.