Ch 362: Holy Crap! I’m Seeing Things! Speak Of The Devil… Part 2

Time rewound again, the perspective shifting to Grey’s side.

After Grey entered the Second Cave, his initial path was similar to Bal and Nia’s—extremely narrow at first, barely allowing passage for a person. He held a Magic Light Source and walked forward, encountering only endless darkness and rocks along the way.

“I wonder what will appear.”

Grey muttered softly, continuously using Detection Magic to explore the path ahead since entering. However, for some unknown reason, the distance he could detect remained only ten meters ahead.

Grey continued walking forward, his pace not fast, prioritizing steadiness.

“I wonder how Nia is doing.”

As soon as he said this, Grey heard a familiar voice. He quickened his pace, following the sound forward. After walking for a few minutes, he saw a light ahead, illuminating a familiar pink-haired Fox.

“Nia? What are you doing here?”

Grey asked as he approached. As he prepared to turn off his Detection Magic, he noticed something unusual.

“Hmm? Grey?”

The woman, whose appearance was extremely similar to Nia, turned her head after hearing Grey’s call. She looked at Grey with a puzzled expression.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’d like to ask you the same. Aren’t you in Passage One? This is Passage Two, the one I took.”

“Hmm? I’ve been here all along.”

Hearing this, Grey immediately retreated and raised his Longbow.

“You’re not Nia, who are you?”

The woman pointed at by Grey’s weapon became even more confused. She slowly approached Grey, saying as she moved closer.

“Grey, what’s wrong? I am Nia.”

“You say you’re Nia, then what evidence do you have to prove your identity?”

“Evidence? Should I recount our encounters up to now?”

“That’s not evidence. After all, since you can appear before me in Nia’s form, you can certainly replicate her Memories.”

“Then how am I supposed to prove it?”

“Humph, so you’re not Nia. The real Nia is very firm with me.”

As he spoke, Grey prepared to shoot an Arrow. He had aimed at the woman’s vital point, if it truly was a vital point.

Suddenly, a series of hurried footsteps came from behind Grey. The footsteps grew closer, and Grey panicked a little.

“Tsk… trouble never comes singly.”

Just as Grey was about to turn around, he heard a “Get out of the way” from behind, and a pink fox spirit darted past him, directly charging towards the Fake Nia in front of Grey.

“What’s going on?”

Grey watched the two people fighting, his eyes somewhat bewildered. Fortunately, the battle was one-sided. The new Nia, wielding a Greatsword, took advantage of Fake Nia’s inattention and delivered a horizontal slash, eliminating her.

“Whew, that scared me. I thought you were going to be captured by that Monster.”

The new Nia planted her Greatsword in the ground. After wiping the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve, she placed the Greatsword on her back and walked towards Grey.

“Grey, are you alright?”

The new Nia looked at Grey with concern and quickly walked towards him. But Grey still did not put down his Bow and Arrow.

“Don’t move!”

“Eh?!”

“Explain why you’re here. I don’t recall contacting you.”

“Passage One was a dead end. I reached the end, found no way out, and turned back to find you.”

“Then why didn’t you use the Bracelet to contact me?”

“There’s interference here. Try it yourself if you don’t believe me?”

Grey activated the Bracelet and spoke into it.

“This is Grey, please respond if you receive this.”

Silence. A silence with no reply, and a silence where he could hear his own Heartbeat.

“Alright.”

Grey relaxed his battle stance, but he still held his Longbow.

“Keep your distance. I still can’t trust you.”

“Okay, okay, I understand. Should I accompany you?”

“You walk ahead, I’ll follow.”

“Alright!”

The Nia in front of him seemed fine, but Grey felt something was off. So he pondered as he followed Nia.

“Nia, do you remember what you were doing before you came here?”

“Why are you asking that?”

“Just asking.”

“Of course I remember! I’m a Divine Child of the Fral God Kingdom, although this Divine Child identity feels almost worse than not having one.”

“Then do you remember the day Bal and Phia got married?”

“I remember, of course! That was my Brother’s important day. Oh, come to think of it, it’s been over a year since they got married, and we’ve been married for half a year.”

The two chatted casually as they moved forward. After walking for an unknown amount of time, the Nia in front of Grey suddenly became alert, turning to look behind Grey.

“Something is approaching!”

Grey immediately raised his Longbow, but he still didn’t dare to expose his back to this Nia.

“Stay away from my Grey!”

A golden Lightning bolt shot out from beside Grey. In an instant, Grey could see that it was actually a person, someone who had undergone Divine Possession and possessed some Divine Power.

The lightning bypassed Grey and struck Nia directly, a sense of reassurance washing over Grey. The battle was a one-sided annihilation; soon, the golden lightning defeated Nia.

“Stop, Nia.”

Grey went to stop Nia’s final blow. At this moment, the real Nia was standing on Fake Nia, her Greatsword glowing golden.

“What are you doing?”

“Let me blindfold myself first. After all, this person looks too much like you; even if it’s fake, I can’t bear it.”

“Childish.”

Grey closed his eyes. The feedback from his Detection Magic formed an image in his mind, and he could clearly see what was under the real Nia’s feet.

Seeing Grey close his eyes, the real Nia raised her Greatsword and struck down on the already dying Fake Nia.

“Say whatever you have to say in Hell. There’s only one reason for your death: disguising yourself as me to seduce Grey.”

“Grey… save… save me…”

Fake Nia still didn’t give up. She reached out weakly towards Grey, saying this as she looked at him. But a fake is a fake after all; Nia ended Fake Nia’s life with one strike.

“She’s dead. Do you want to take a look?”

“Tsk, that heartless tone. You’re definitely the real Nia.”

“What are you saying! I specifically came here to help you!”

“So what exactly happened?”

“Why don’t you open your eyes and face me directly? Facing away feels strange.”

“Ah? Oh.”

Grey opened his eyes. He didn’t know when he had turned around, so he turned back to face Nia.

“Tell me, what happened?”

“Wait, let me test if you’re really Grey first.”

Nia approached Grey with her Greatsword raised, and Grey panicked. One of the world’s hardest things to prove was happening to him: proving that you are yourself. Of course, the other questions were how to prove you’re not insane, and how to prove your parents are your parents.

Nia walked to Grey’s side and hugged the trembling Grey.

“Eh?”

“Be quiet.”

“Oh.”

Nia deactivated her Divine Possession. She nestled in Grey’s arms, rubbing against him. Nia’s Scent wafted into Grey’s nose.

“I was so worried about you.”

“Mm.”

“After all, you’re the one with the lowest Martial Prowess in our Home.”

“…”

“After discovering the Illusion, I immediately left my passage and came to find you.”

“Mm.”

“It’s a good thing you’re okay, or I would regret it for the rest of my life.”

Grey didn’t know how to react, so he reached out to touch Nia’s head. Nia felt the warmth of Grey’s hand and hugged him tighter.

“Ugh! Nia… a little… tight…”

Seeing that Grey was about to suffocate, Nia quickly let go. After resting for a while, the two talked about what had happened to each of them and continued to explore forward.