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ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 525 Part 1

ShangriLa Frontier Chapter 525: An Orchestra Just For You PART 7 Part 1

「………………」」

「UWOOOAAAHHH!?」

The two golden swords come right at me in an attempt to throw my head off my shoulders. Fortunately, I manage to block the attack with my own dual swords, and the clashing steel sends myriads of sparks all over the place.

However, this clash leaves me a little bit off balance. And the other “me” saw that as a chance and did not fail to capitalize on that almost right away. “Me” breaks his left sword away from me and twists its wrist, rotating its sword and aiming it at my neck once more, making sure that its right sword had me locked firmly in one place.

「Kuh.」

I managed to avoid that attack as well, but this time by the skin of my teeth. And a thin line of damage was still painted at the edge of my neck, shaving my HP just a little bit. Does that mean I was too slow in my evasion? No, it’s just that the other “me” saw another opening and did not fail to use that opportunity.

From this position, I could have easily gone on the offensive myself, making a counterattack by slashing at it from down below. However, that was just a bluff on my end. The real attack was coming from my left hand that was now free and in which the Duxaram sword materialized. With it, I wanted to slash the other “me” right across the chest and then follow it up with a pierce attack with the sword’s butt.

However,

「…… You’ve got to be kidding me!」

At that moment the other “me” let go of its golden swords as well, switching its weapon at a pace that could have only been called inhuman. In the next moment, the same Duxaram sword appeared in its hand as was in my own hand, slashing against my own sword slash and making a slight noise as if the steel was singing. Seriously now……!? It can switch its weapons as well!? Isn’t that an overkill……!?

「…………」

「Gufuah!?」

I can feel a powerful roundhouse kick landing in my side, and immediately after that another attack follows, this one easily scraping off about thirty percent of my HP bar. I found myself to be short of breath and unable to breathe for a moment, but it was not something that would leave me stunned and unable to act. So I used that chance to roll away and put some much needed distance in between the two of us, at the same time switching my current weapon to Aradval Rebuild.

On the other hand, the other “me” equips itself with a pair of steel gauntlets that completely engulf its arms all the way to the elbows. Ahh…… Yes, now I see it. So, it’s the opponent that completely copied the player’s own equipment, huh? So that’s how it is. And if that’s the case……

「This, this is bad…… This is very, so very bad……!」

We trade a few blows like this, and I can come to a certain conclusion from all this. And it’s that the status of the reproduced “me” seems to be higher than that of my own. I lose to it in terms of speed. I lose to it in terms of power. And those small things only serve to further increase the gap that is in between us, making this fight more disadvantageous for me.

This thing is really strong…… Not to mention that it tends to fight in the same way I do, and is able to replicate my every single move. Now way…… seriously?

「WHEN!? HOW!?」

I know that the technology behind ShangriLa Frontier’s system is great and all that, but it shouldn’t be possible to replicate the player’s playstyle so well, right!? Or maybe it is!? Is such a feat even possible!?

「Now way…… It actually managed to use Trace AI…… on me?」

Trace AI. The newest achievement in the Artificial Intelligence technology field that recently even managed to completely replicate the brain of Kyogoku’s grandfather, Ryuguuin Fugaku. It’s a really impressive technology. It is not something like an attempt at transcribing the soul of the traced individual, because that sounds just idiotic and would never be considered realistic by any standards. But it is a technology that analyzes the means that the traced source takes for certain situations and enables movements that are as close to the real thing as possible.

I don’t really want to admit that this is the case here, but the other “me” over there seems to know way too much about my favorite moves and maneuvers for that theory to just be a lie. Even if its battle style was really similar to mine by some strange miracle, it would still not explain why the other “me” was able to read all of my moves so perfectly.

「Not to mention that also all of my weapons have been completely reproduced here……!」

It would be bad if the other “me” started to brandish Aradval Rebuild all of a sudden. I mean, that weapon is basically a giant killer. But the fact that it managed to arm itself in my Scorpion Gauntlets is already bad enough. This is really…… Yeah, a really shitty situation that I am currently in right now. No matter how you look at it, it’s a perfect copy of mine, both equipment and performance-wise. Also, it would be really nice of that guy if he just stopped staring at me in silence like that all the time. Say something! Now, about my situation…… I pretty much know what to expect here, but if I’m not careful enough, I can easily take a crystal pillar up my ass before I will even be able to notice what is going on.

「………………」

「Alright, and there it is! A motion!」

This should be my chance to hold my own ground! In a hurry I take out Dis Pater shield and the Sword of the Prismatic Light. This should give me a better way around the battlefield than Aradval Rebuild, who at the current moment would turn out to be extremely incompatible with what I was going to do. In terms of both responsibility and mobility my current setting is much better, because it allows me to put some distance in between the two of us and actually control what is going on. Now it will be mostly a game of wait and see.

As if it was the sign to start, the other “me” creates a bunch of crystal pillars and uses them to shield itself from me, as well as putting some distance between us that would be difficult to traverse at the current moment. And then it started to close in on me from the left at incredible speed! Alright! Time to defend!!!

「Wait, what the fuck!? This is stupid! So, are you telling me that this shit managed to copy the accessories that I have equipped as well as the magic that I have learned so far!?」

That thing was most definitely the “Instant Transfer: Apport”, a teleportation magic that moves instantly to a certain range in the field of view…… and I haven’t even mastered that magic myself yet! But that being said, it was for sure sitting inside one of the gemstones embedded in my Lapistella Star Cloak.

Hey, hey now! This shit is no longer hitting the recreation levels! We are jumping head-first into unimaginable territory here! But how!? Just how far can this system imitate the player!? And just what can be done here for me to actually verify that? And how can I do that in a way that the copied “me” won’t decimate me completely?