I open my eyes, and the first thing I see is myself. My glorious horns; my deep black and neatly combed hair; my alluring and intense stare; the charming, discolored, vertical line on my left cheek, a scar from my first monster village extermination; my well-proportioned but infuriatingly gentle-looking face; my shiny, ornate, metal Bastión armor; my dangerous-looking claws poking out of my gauntlets and boots; and my deliciously thick and lightly-armored tail.

Damn, I'm hot.

But that's not my reflection. While I let my narcissism go wild for a moment, the Other Me looks away and scans our environment.

"This is a mess," he mumbles anxiously.

I follow his lead and also take a look around. We're back at how Antreos Crea looked when we first arrived: a silver floor covered in a thin sheet of water and a white, distant mist to prevent us from seeing too far, except there's no elevator, and I'm not the only one who has been cloned.

The girls are in a line, flanking me on both sides, and they're all staring at their twins with suspicion. Alissa, Hana, and Yunia are on my left; and Lina, Roxanne, Ciel, and Aoi are on my right.

Funny thing is, I don't feel my connection with them, and since I'm not frightened like a little girl, I can only assume that this must be a dream. Though their presence is supposed to make me feel safer, in truth, it only annoys me because they're not supposed to be here, in my private little trial.

The golems and Gify are also here, but they're just staring at us from the sidelines, and they have no clones to deal with, so I guess they're just observers.

"Is anything ever simple with us?" I wryly question Other Me.

He smiles, but then he sighs and grumbles, "Yeah… I guess this is what we get for cheating."

After Legado, I have no patience for stupid "trials" anymore, so I immediately draw my shortsword and ready my kite shield, then I try to grow my tentacles, but for some reason, that spell is blocked.

Other Me is startled by my actions and takes a step back as he draws his own sword, then we spend a tense moment staring at each other, but the micro twitches he shows tell me that we're both frantically trying out all the spells we would normally have access to, and aside from [Heal], nothing works.

"We got nerfed," I hum with a grin, then I charge at him.

"Shit, I thought you'd try to do me, not kill me," Other Me casually replies as he parries my sword, then we exchange blows, aiming at each other's necks since it's the only part that's exposed.

I snort and pull back after probing his defenses. "Gayness is just not in our blood; you should know that," I emphatically state.

Other Me shrugs. "The girls have corrupted my mind."

I shake my head and focus on the now. Our melee skills are still there, and his are a perfect mirror of mine, so I have no clear advantage to exploit. That's like, an impossible scenario that never happens in real life, so how the hell am I supposed to approach this…?

Screw it.

I just charge again, and we exchange more blows. Maybe I can find an opening if I pay more attention to our-… no, his style.

"Could've at least allowed us to use [Telekinesis]!" I shout angrily.

"I know, right? We're so much more sluggish and weaker like this!" He wryly replies.

We even reflexively activate [Searing Blade] at the same time, almost as if we can read each other's minds.

Then I see a faintly green capsule surrounding him as his [Wind Armor] activates, and an arrow lodges itself in his right flank.

Alissa's intrusion into our duel angers me, but it's a nice way to shift the balance in my favor, so I laugh confidently as I press the attack.

Other Me almost immediately pulls out the arrow with a grunt and [Heal]s himself, but now he clearly has an MP disadvantage, so I could just go for a battle of attrition if I want to, but I don't…

"You sure you're paying attention to the right person?!" Other Alissa shouts, her harsh tone showing how incensed she is, and then I hear a shriek coming from my right.

I take a step back and see Original Roxanne clutching her flank, where an arrow is now poking out of her ribs.

BITCH!

"BITCH!" OG Roxanne shouts angrily and aims her staff at Other Alissa, then machine-guns [Ice Lance]s. I guess she doesn't have [Explosion] because that'd just be cheating.

I duck as the inaccurate salvo almost hits me, then I berate her, "Watch your fire, or I'll make your ass as loose as your aim!"

Other Roxanne calmly fires a few [Ice Lance]s of her own, and OG Roxanne's [Water Spirit] blocks them, but that's enough to get the crazy bitch to focus back on her.

OG Ciel cries as she runs towards OG Roxanne, ready to [Heal] our dear wife before she starts choking on her own blood.

"Don't kill each other!" The two Linas creepily shout in sync.

"Why the hell not?!" I shout back at them.

"What do you think will happen if we kill half of what makes us whole?!" OG Lina exasperatedly replies.

And I shrug. "Hell if I know."

But that just makes her angrier. "Exactly!"

"Perhaps 'defeating' the other should be enough," Other Lina calmly wonders.

"Fine…" I hum, then I turn back to Other Me. I'm surprised that he didn't attack while we talked, but I guess he was also interested in watching the chaos unfold.

"NOW!" OG Alissa shouts, and Other Me's attention turns to his right as she casts [Mesmerizing Butterflies].

I waste not a second before I lunge and slash at his throat, reopening that old scar we got in Rabanara's slums.

He's still far from being "defeated" as he simply raises his shield and activates [Wind Shield] to push me away while he uses his other hand to [Heal] himself.

But my MP advantage has greatly increased.

At least I think so because [Sense Soul] is also blocked…

It'd be so messed up if he had more MP than me.

"HAHAHAH!" OG Hana laughs euphorically as she fights Other Hana, completely unconcerned about us.

But I don't have time to interfere in that fight as I hear the shrill sound of swords clashing on my left.

OG Alissa is fighting against Other Yunia, and my fox c-m sl-t definitely doesn't have the skills to hold back the evil elven queen. It also scares me how silent the two were before they started exchanging blows.

Other Me suddenly lunges and forces me to use [Wind Shield] against him, and though he doesn't score a hit, he still prevents me from just rushing to help OG Alissa.

But then OG Yunia comes to help her, and the two Alissas and Yunias engage in a foursome.

"Keep her occupied!" OG Alissa orders, then turns her focus back to me.

"Ahn~…!" Aoi's sensual, powerful, double voice echoes in the open air, and both Other Me and I stop to look at her.

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OG Aoi is under Other Aoi while their tails do each other, though Other Aoi is clearly in a dominant position.

"The hell are you two doing?! Help me fight!" I order, exasperated.

OG Aoi glances at her other self and gives me sad eyes. "But-…!" She tries to make up an excuse, but my glare shuts her up immediately.

"Do you really need to fight someone to 'defeat' them…?" Other Aoi seductively insinuates.

Other Me and I share a look. No damn way are we doing each other into submission.

"At least put up some resistance…" Other Me reads my mind, and we both frown concernedly.

"You're being useless…" I scold OG Aoi, and she gives me a wounded look, but it's quickly replaced by anger as she starts wrestling with Other Aoi.

"You're being an ass," Other Me scolds me.

And I bark back, "You're being too meek. This is a trial, not a damn wet dream."

"Fair enough…" He hums as he calmly deflects Alissa's sneaky arrow, then we engage each other again.

An [Ice Lance] suddenly flies past us and towards our left, making my stomach sink.

I see Alissa raise her bow to defend herself, and the lance is diverted by it, but the momentum behind the thick clump of ice is still massive, so it pushes the bow back so hard that it hits her in the head, knocking her out cold.

"BITCH! YOU ALMOST KILLED HER!" I roar angrily at Other Roxanne and charge her before Other Me can get in the way.

Her [Water Spirit] is tied up in a fight with OG Roxanne, so she tries to stop me with [Fire Wall], but my armor's [Rainbow Shield] is enough for me to jump through it without a problem.

She doesn't have enough time to cast another spell, so she feebly raises her staff, and I cut it in two with [Searing Blade], then I stab her in the gut and twist the blade.

"RAAAAGH!" I shout reflexively as something extremely painful hits me in the back.

I pull the sword out and attack whatever is behind me, but my blade is diverted by Other Ciel's glowing glaive, which is now enchanted with [Judgment]. Damn stupid spell doesn't even need to touch my flesh to damage my HP.

But then Other Ciel shrieks as an [Ice Lance] goes through her chest from behind, then she slumps forward and falls face-first onto the water.

"DON'T KILL ANYONE!" The Linas shout, still stuck in a staring contest even though neither of them can use [Cursing Magic].

I deflect Other Me's blade and notice OG Roxanne also slump forward, three arrows sticking out of her flank.

SHE FUCKING-…!

"OUT OF MY WAY!" OG Yunia bellows and pushes Other Yunia back, trying to get to Other Alissa before she can do any more damage.

Other Ciel stands up, the hole in her chest completely gone, and I grit my teeth in anger as Other Me keeps me occupied while Other Ciel runs away.

"GOLEMS, HELP!" I shout in desperation.

"We're not allowed to," the useless trio stoically answers.

Then an arrow hits Other Me from behind, giving me the opportunity that I needed.

"RAAAH!" I roar in rage and press the attack, scoring a [Shield Bash] that pushes him out of the way, then I chase after Other Ciel.

"Stop crying and [Heal]!" OG Alissa berates OG Ciel, who just cowers in fear.

My angel is healing both OG Roxanne and OG Alissa, but we're still at a disadvantage while OG Hana and OG Aoi are each stuck in a useless wrestling match with their twins.

But then Other Alissa uses OG Alissa's distraction to put an arrow in my c-m sl-t's chest, and OG Ciel starts crying again, too afraid to actually join the fray.

THAT'S IT! FUCK EVERYTHING!

An [Ice Lance] flies past me and hits OG Yunia in the back, making me seriously consider killing Other Roxanne just to keep her from messing things up even further.

But neither of the Yunias seem to have [Precognition] as OG Yunia fails to dodge an arrow to her shoulder, and Other Yunia doesn't notice me coming to tackle her before it's too late.

In my desperate attack, I miss Other Yunia's throat, and the sound of metal clashing against metal resounds throughout the battlefield as we're tangled in a mess of limbs, then we roll so far forward that we even trip Other Alissa too.

My sword falls out of my hands, and desperation sinks in, so I draw a dagger and grab Other Alissa, then I press the blade against her throat and shout, "NOBODY MOVE, OR I SWEAR, I'LL SLIT HER THROAT!"

Everyone stops moving and turns their heads towards me.

"Do it before she kills me!" OG Yunia pleads as Other Ciel holds her down against the floor with her boot while OG Yunia desperately grips the glaive's blade.

"You know that you don't need to do this. We're not supposed to kill each other," Other Yunia calmly states.

"I'm not losing this damn trial just because you're all useless!" I bark back.

Then I feel a horrible pain in the back of my neck and instantly lose all feeling in my arms and legs.

I drop the dagger and fall on my knees, then I sense the golems' presence and mana coming from the wound in my spine.

"DAMN TRAITORS!" I roar in rage, then Other Me shoves a blade into my throat.

Suddenly, my perspective changes, and I now find myself holding my sword again, staring down at Other Me.

The phantom pain makes me gasp, and I release my weapon as I step back, then my hands go for my throat, searching for the wound that isn't there.

The rage I was just feeling almost instantly dies down, and the sounds of Other Me choking on his own blood bring me back to reality… well, this "fake" reality.

I pull the sword out of his throat and throw it away along with the dagger, then I pull him towards me and [Heal] his throat, taking care not to touch the dagger in his severed spine because the hateful eyes he's giving me tells me that he's still a danger.

But the moment he has his vocal cords back, he starts spitting hate, "Because you failed to contain me, I could've killed the others if I wanted to. You're lucky that I was merciful." And I begin considering stabbing him in the throat again to keep him quiet.

Other Aoi makes OG Aoi orgasm… no, we were in our "Others'" bodies. OG Aoi is the one doing the dominating, and she's having a lot of fun while doing so.

The Hanas continue to fight, but the golems and OG Lina disarm Other Hana, then OG Hana puts her twin in a chokehold.

The sounds of the Aois doing each other put OG Hana in the mood, but Other Hana is surprisingly not into it, and OG Hana isn't willing to commit the Sin of R-pe, even though this is a dream.

The Other girls begrudgingly stand down and throw away their weapons now that the golems have joined the battle and Other Me… no, Evil Me has been subdued.

"Y'all damn suck!" Other Hana growls as she thrashes about, then OG Hana tightens the choke hold to make her pass out.

I hug my hateful, angry twin and caress his hair while he repeatedly spits and calls me gay. Though I don't want to fuck him, I do feel like I can't just treat him like trash.

He's me, something I created, my worst traits given life.

Other Alissa is short-sighted, Other Roxanne is reckless, Other Hana is selfish, Other Ciel is cowardly, Other Lina is indecisive, Other Aoi is meek, Other Yunia is heartless. All are traits we have that could take over our personalities if we let ourselves go.

Why am I the only one whose "other" is kind of evil, tho?

I'm left hanging since I forgot that there's nobody else inside my mind right now, so I sigh tiredly and pat Evil Me's head.

"Ewww…! Stop touching me!" He groans, but I just snort. "Can we go back already…?!"

"Alright," I hum, then I'm suddenly blinded by a strong flash of light.

I blink repeatedly and groan, feeling a bit nauseous, then I slowly recover my sight, and the color purple fills my view.

"Is everyone alright…?" I ask through [Bind], and the girls all answer with positive groans.

After a minute, I've recovered enough to be able to properly see, and I notice that we're back in reality, exactly where we were when we killed the golden Symbol; it's just that the illumination is purple instead of blue.

I unsteadily stand up, then I make my way over to Alissa and pull her into a tight hug. Our minds are so in sync that we even un[Equip] our armor so that we can feel the warmth of each other's bodies.

Evil Me threatening to kill Alissa was traumatizing, but it was also a huge failure for me since I allowed it to happen.

Neither of us needs to say anything. We just want to overwhelm that horrible experience with love, and the other wives join us for a warm group hug.

Gify suddenly pops onto my head and activates her massage, which is just the thing we need to soothe our wounded hearts, but it makes our legs turn to jelly, so we all sit down and form a cuddle puddle.

Roxanne also gets some special treatment from me because I added to her trauma by stabbing her right where the Symbol of Hate once did.

With Alissa on my right, Roxanne on my left, my tail around Alissa's, and Roxanne's around both of ours, the only thing missing is my gloomy loli on my lap, but she's giving our other wife the "hugging doll" treatment, so I'll get some of that later.

"I didn't actually get stabbed, though…" Roxanne quietly corrects, and we all start sharing our memories of the fight.

Indeed, I stabbed Other Roxanne, not the OG, but while it was a horrifying sight for her, she still received a total of four arrows in her chest, then suddenly found herself in the body of Other Roxanne, who had a gaping wound in her belly.

"Sorry… even though it wasn't the real me who shot you," Alissa guiltily whispers.

Alissa shot a lot of people, and both Roxannes almost killed someone…

And the reckless demon in question cringes as she explains, "Alissa wouldn't have died from that [Ice Lance]… I think… I wasn't in that Roxanne's body until Wolfy got stabbed."

Ugh, let's not get into this.

I just stop the girls right there before they can start the apology orgy. It's nobody's fault that things went so badly for everyone. We were all under some sort of mind-altering effect that clouded our judgments, not to mention that we didn't have [Bind] to help our coordination, so it's best that we let our minds rest before we start dealing with what happened.

But hurting my wives and seeing them getting hurt reminded me of something very important.

"I love you all…" I whisper through [Bind], and my mind suddenly becomes noisy with their responses, almost making me regret starting the love spiral. Almost.

Then we ignore the fact that we're inside a dangerous dungeon and share some loving kisses, though we hold ourselves back to not start an orgy.

It doesn't last long as a minute later, the purple illumination gradually returns to white, then the mist begins to disappear, revealing the incredibly bumpy landscape before us.

Huge valleys, damaged plains, magma pools, active volcanoes, long trails of solidified rock, burned or dried patches of nature, random sources of water, bogs of poisonous-looking water, long ice pillars, intermittent lightning bolts, falling twinkling holy lights, and wandering spheres of darkness, all spread out without rhyme or reason. The view is colorful, but also chaotic, and unlike how the current world looks, nature hasn't dominated almost everything, so it's only in certain places that the ground has enough nutrients to sustain plant life.

This seems like a nice place to explore and grind some monsters for XP, but before we can begin, one of the maids back in the embassy taps the summoned bird I left there, trying to grab my attention.

There's a letter for me.

I sigh and open a [Gate] back to the embassy, then I quickly retrieve the letter and return to the girls, but its contents both puzzle and startle us.

Deciens Cleinias Alkimeonids has invited me for some afternoon tea to have a friendly talk about his disrespectful son, little Alki. The location of his home: the upper levels of the Throne, reserved exclusively for imperial royalty.