A copyette general… Just looking at him was enough to show Dallion the difference between them. An air of confidence emanated from the copyette spanning millennia. Dallion could feel the weight of his opponent’s battles pushing him into the ground like a steel press. The outcome of any fight between the two was predetermined. A few months ago, Dallion would have tried going all out, believing his ingenuity might earn him a win. He had done the same when going against the chainling—doing so without much thought—as well as against March. Now, he knew better.

The harpsisword suddenly appeared without being summoned. She wasn’t in Dallion’s hand, but rather in her nymph form, holding the weapon he’d usually wield. That was an ability Dallion didn’t know she had, but he was thankful for it.

She’s not kidding around, Gen said. He too could see the determination within Harp, along with her desire to fight. After all, she too had been eons old. Maybe she and the copyette knew each other? Maybe they had met on the battlefield, fighting for different sides? When it came to imprisoned races, Dallion didn’t know much.

Nox, Dallion thought.

The crackling leapt on the ground in front of him, acting like a guard dog. While its size remained small, the cub had grown in level considerably. No one had seen what its level three powers included. Soon they would have that chance.

“You’re not from this world, are you?” Dallion asked, keeping up the music attack.

“Finally, someone to get it right,” the copyette replied, adding music to his words as well.

Dallion’s perception level allowed him to see the soundwaves clash, rendering each other harmless.

“That’s the rule beyond the Moons’ control—otherworlders attract each other. Back in my time, that was known. Now the Order has removed the knowledge from existence.”

“Has it added all the things about the Star as well?” Dallion said, in turn countering the copyette’s music attack. For some reason, his opponent’s music level didn’t feel as impressive as he had feared. It was definitely enough to affect someone, possibly cripple a semi, but definitely didn’t feel like being in the double digits.

“Nope, that definitely happened, although no one will tell you the truth about it. She knows,” the copyette addressed the nymph. A melody of sound came from her, surrounding the guardian like a shield. “The same happened to her.”

Don’t let him intimidate you, Nil said. Your state of mind helps determine the outcome.

That was true. The state of mind was an important part to victory or defeat, doubly so in a place in which thoughts gained form. No doubt the copyette’s appearance was sculpted specifically for that purpose.

Think of the slime guardian in the Dherma shrine, Dallion told himself.

“You must feel really stupid that you let me find you,” Dallion said with as much bravado as he could muster. “All those years hiding in the kitchen and you reveal yourself just like that.”

“Habit,” the copyette replied, not too concerned. “I’ve always disliked people making a mess in my domain.”

“You made the kitchen into your domain?”

“Now who’s being stupid?”

Dallion felt like biting his tongue. Any domain within the city would instantly be noticed by the city lord and possibly the Overseer. There was no way the copyette would risk that, and it was for the better. Considering to what degree he had upgraded his cooking utensils, a kitchen realm would be full of challenging guardians on the enemy’s side.

“You can avoid all this.” The copyette took a step forward, causing Nox to hiss. “I don’t want to hurt you, Dal. I just can’t let you know you’ve seen me. I knew you were from another world the moment you stepped in. All of us did. We’ve been through the same.”

“I didn’t try to conquer the world.”

“Give it time. Every race has made attempts. Now it’s humanity’s turn.”

There was a surprising note of sincerity in the copyette’s voice. Still, that only meant he himself believed it.

“You’ll only lose a few minutes,” the copyette went on. “In your mind I’ll have picked up the kaleidervisto and returned it to you.”

“Just like that?”

“Just like that.” Aspan took another step forward. “You can’t win. You only have one of your guardians and one familiar… the less useful one.”

Nox’s ears perked up as he let out an angry meow.

“You might have a chance with two, but not one.”

Dallion summoned his dartbow. On the surface, that was a poor move. The copyette, no doubt, could split into enough instances to render any ranged attacks useless. However, that wasn’t what Dallion was going for. His aim was to get a bit of practice before returning to the real world.

“I think Harp will do well enough,” Dallion said. “And so will Nox.”

“That would have been true if they’d have faced a blockhead warrior, but you seem to have forgotten your basics.” The copyette reached forward. Markers appeared in the air—they were purple in color. “My specialty wasn’t combat, it was magic.”

Fingers moved along the markers, creating a complex pattern in the air. Moments later, hundreds of ice spears emerged above the copyette, all darting towards Dallion.

COMBAT INITIATED

Crap! Dallion summoned a standard buckler, splitting into five instances. Thankfully, Harp was faster, leaping between him and the projectiles in one go. The harpsisword she held shattered the spears as they came, while at the same time a water shield formed behind her, blocking any of the fragments from reaching Dallion. Nox also took the opportunity to rush forward at the enemy, his speed almost exceeding Dallion’s perception. It was like watching the crackling disappear and appear a dozen feet apart, then leap at the copyette, clawing into its neck.

MEDIUM WOUND

NOX’s health has been reduced by 10%

Dallion blinked, wondering whether the rectangle hadn’t made a mistake. The copyette should have been the one that had been wounded. Moments later, the reason became apparent. The body lost all texture, reverting into slime that melted away to the ground. A short distance away, another instance of the copyette emerged.

“It’s the ground!” Dallion shot a bolt directly beneath him. The bolt bounced off, like a pea off a pan. Thankfully, the copyette hadn’t reached that section yet. However, Dallion noticed a faintly shimmering patch slide along towards him. Reloading his dartbow, he shot in the direction.

As expected the patch reacted, dispersing moments before the projectile could hit it.

“Be careful, he’s got copies all over the place.” Dallion’s seer powers helped him see some of the nearby spots, but that wasn’t particularly helpful. This was how copyettes fought—they created slime clones of themselves and then blended them in the surroundings. Still, wounding one of those instances should have had some effect… but according to the red rectangles, it hadn’t.

Another spell was completed, this time causing a wave of water to appear from the ground, and furiously head towards Dallion. The moment he saw it, Dallion leapt up. His action was followed by a horizontal slash strike from the nymph.

Line slash? Dallion thought. Just how many abilities do you have?

The invisible line struck the water, slicing it in two and causing the top half to crumble on the lower in a large spontaneous splash. There was no time to celebrate, however. The copyette had already completed another spell, summoning a large serpent of fire next to him.

How’s he doing so many spells? Dallion asked. Doesn’t he need mana or something?

Magic requires stamina as everything else, Nil replied. Given how wasteful he is, he’s probably not worried about running out soon.

Any idea how I stop him?

At this point your only chance is with music.

I don’t have my harpsisword.

You still have your harp, dear boy. Use it.

Using a harp in battle… It had been a while since Dallion had used it alone. As he had mastered new skills, he had resorted to using more and more unique combinations, pretty much ignoring the purely combat effects of music. It had become more of a support skill when talking with people, or at best as a booster when fighting guardians.

Music is the most powerful skill you currently have, Nil went on. It might not be as strong as magic, but it’s quite close.

In Dallion’s mind, time froze. The confidence of having four physical skills made him want to find some strange combination that had been tried before and surprise the copyette. So far, that was the way he had defeated the vast majority of his opponents. Resorting to music alone seemed so quaint.

It’s the best move, Gen said. You know that. If you didn’t neither would I. Besides, it’s been a while since you used music alone. With all those points on the skill, you must have learned some good tricks.

Dallion smiled. Leave it to his echo to give him a kick in the ass while cheering him up. Unsummoning his buckler and dartbow, Dallion landed on the ground. Once he had, a lyre appeared in his hands. Blue markers appeared all over the copyette and its clones. It seemed that the emotions were not in a single body. While most were in the humanoid form the copyette used to cast spells, the spots on the ground had all the negative ones—sadness, anger, regret. Now, it was time to add a few more.

Dallion played a chord. Two new sets of markers appeared, unlike anything that had happened before.

Nil? Dallion thought. I don’t remember reading about this.

It’s because you’re using both hands, the echo replied in rushed fashion. You can reread the scrolls later. Now get to playing!

A new cluster of ice spears appeared as the copyette finished another spell. As before, they targeted Dallion, though this time they didn’t follow a straight line. Even so, the nymph was fast and skilled enough to keep any from hitting their target. At that precise moment, Dallion continued with a second chord.

His fingers moved along the strings of the lyre at the exact moment as they were supposed to. The only difference was that this time he was doing it with the fingers of both hands. Sound linked to the copyette like invisible strands. For a moment it almost seemed like this would freeze the enemy, though before that could happen, the humanoid body of the copyette melted and another one emerged from the ground. Clearly, it wasn’t going to allow itself to be affected as easily.

New magic markers appeared, forcing Dallion to increase the pace, playing two chords per second. He no longer bothered with small subtle changes of character, directly going for crippling doubt and confusion. However, each time a chord would play, the copyette would change shape. For a split second, that provided the nymph with enough time to go directly at the copyette’s human form with a series of spins and slashes. The edge of the harpsisword slashed through the slime, reverting it to its original form, and this time dealing a minor wound. In return, though, several blades sunk in her own body, causing twice as much damage. As much as Dallion didn’t want to admit it, the copyette was more than a match for Harp, even with Nox’s and his assistance. A new solution had to be found.

Nil, what’s the difference between music and magic? Dallion asked all of a sudden.

What do you have in mind? The echo knew this wasn’t the time for complex philosophical discussions, just as he had faith in Dallion to come up with something relevant.

Can I use music to disrupt magic?

No. They are different skill groups and cannot affect each other. However, time is a common factor. It takes time for a spell to be completed, same as a chord. During that time, the copyette must have an actual form.

Interesting to know, but that wasn’t what Dallion was going for. Still, it gave him an idea. For it to work, though, he was going to have to get closer to the copyette.

It’s never just a single skill, Dallion thought and played another chord.