After translating the infernal text on the door, Roy was even more confused.
Eloresha scratched her head. "Does Daddy need to push the door again?"
"Is that how it works?"
Roy, skeptical, tried pushing the door. Unlike the stone gate at the entrance to the Tower of Babel, this one wouldn't budge, no matter how much strength he used. It didn't even give the slightest feedback, as if the door was fake or fused with the surrounding space.
"That's weird. This door doesn't seem to open," Roy said, rubbing his wrist. The complete lack of resistance felt off.
"Let take a look," Alma said, placing her hand on the door and probing it with her powerful ntal energy.
She quickly pulled back. "There's so kind of strong magical protection on this door."
"Alma, can you distort the magic with your abilities?" Roy asked, recalling how she'd shattered Asmodeus's magical ring before. If she could break this door's protection, they might get through.
"I'll try," Alma replied.
Unfortunately, the creator of the Tower of Babel wasn't so easily outdone. When Alma tried to warp the door's protective magic, a powerful surge of energy blasted her back. Roy reacted quickly, catching her to protect the child in her belly.
Child: This is a total disaster!
"It's no good. My powers aren't strong enough to break the door's magic," Alma said.
"So, we need to pass so kind of test to open it," Roy mused, starting to piece things together. Pushing the stone gate at the tower's entrance likely tested strength, climbing the endless stairs tested endurance—now, this must be a test of skill.
Could the statue be the key to this test? But how?
"You two, step back to the doorway. I don't want to accidentally hurt you," Roy instructed.
Alma and Eloresha obediently retreated, and Roy approached the statue, touching it. Instantly, he felt it absorb his energy, coming to life.
As expected, the statue transford into an exact replica of Roy—sa size, sa appearance—and attacked. But Roy was ready, dodging effortlessly. The statue then returned to its original position, motionless.
"What's the deal here?" Roy muttered.
From the doorway, Alma had a sudden idea. "Roy, maybe you didn't give it enough energy? You might need to pour in more!"
"How much more? All of it? Wait a second…" Her words sparked a realization. If the statue was ant to test skill, it would need to be an even match to truly challenge him. That ant giving the statue half his power to fight a version of himself with equal strength.
Fighting… myself?
Would the statue also copy his skills? Roy decided to revert to human form before touching it again, thinking it might make things easier.
No ti to overthink—do it!
Roy touched the statue again, this ti letting it drain his energy continuously. Watching his physical stats plumt on his system panel was a strange sensation. If only the statue wouldn't attack while he was doing this.
To keep the energy flowing, Roy had to dodge its attacks while maintaining contact. Finally, when his stats were halved, the statue glowed gray and beca fully animated, moving with fluid precision.
Roy checked his stats: Strength 60, Agility 48, Constitution 76. The sudden drop left him feeling off-balance, but there was no ti to adjust—the other Roy was already attacking.
Its eyes glowed faint blue, and it teleported in front of Roy, throwing a punch.
"Damn it!"
Roy blocked with his arm and swung back, but the other Roy teleported behind him, landing a kick to his back. The damage wasn't severe, but it left Roy scrambling.
The statue had perfectly copied his skills, including his transformation abilities. Roy shifted into ghost wolf form, countering with explosive speed, but an invisible fist struck him from the side—a soul stand's sneak attack. The other Roy didn't stop, transforming into demon form and nearly flattening him with a leaping strike.
Roy used teleportation to gain distance, then shifted into demon form too. The transformation boosted both Roys' physical stats back above 100. Realizing the other Roy's combat instincts were as sharp as his own, Roy grew cautious.
The fight beca a stalemate. Every skill Roy had, the other Roy had too. Every transformation he used, it matched. Neither could gain the upper hand.
Roy started to worry. He hadn't eaten properly in a while, and his stamina wasn't at its peak. A prolonged fight could wear him down, letting the other Roy outlast him.
This won't do—I need a change!
Gritting his teeth, Roy pulled the Leviathan Axe from his inventory. To his shock, the other Roy produced an identical axe. It could copy his weapon too?
As Roy reeled, the other Roy hurled its axe like a missile. Roy dodged desperately, and the other Roy recalled its axe with a gesture, using the Leviathan Axe's retrieval function.
It even copied the axe's abilities?
Roy's expression grew grim. He was facing an opponent with his exact stats, skills, and gear—one that made almost no mistakes. He'd never encountered anything like this. Fighting head-on was a losing ga, so he seized a chance to retreat from the room.
Instantly, the other Roy reverted to its statue form, and Roy's stats returned to normal.
"Roy, you okay?" Alma asked, concerned.
"I'm fine. Let eat sothing, and I'll take it on again."
His regular food was gone, but he still had so special items—food Hannibal had made as an apology. Mary had given Roy most of her share, and Elizabeth had handed over hers too, his last reserves. Roy pulled out a mysterious tentacle and started chomping.
"Go, Daddy! You can beat it!" Eloresha cheered, practically a one-girl pep squad, minus the pom-poms.
The tentacle filled Roy's stomach, restoring his energy. But he didn't rush back in. He needed a plan. The statue copied his skills and weapon perfectly. Without a strategy, the outco wouldn't change.
How do I deal with this thing?
Thanks to his 110 mory stat, Roy could replay the fight in his mind like a video. Analyzing it, he noticed sothing: the other Roy's attack patterns were predictable, like a pre-programd AI. It prioritized certain abilities, only switching to others when those were unavailable.
It wasn't truly intelligent—it fought by a set algorithm. Roy hadn't noticed earlier because its attacks were so relentless, leaving no ti to think.
"Maybe I can set a trap," Roy muttered.
Alma noticed his smile. "Got an idea, Roy?"
"I'm getting there. We'll be through that door soon, but I need a little help from you."
Roy pulled out a tal plate, sketching on it, then asked Alma to infuse it with a massive amount of ntal energy. With preparations complete, he stepped back into the room and touched the statue.
As his stats drained to half again, round two began.
As predicted, the other Roy started in ghost wolf form, lunging with explosive speed. Roy was ready, unleashing Dark Touch—14 black tendrils enveloped the statue. It reacted instantly, teleporting behind him for a sneak attack.
Roy entered bullet ti, dodging in the slowed world and continuing his assault with Dark Touch. Teleportation couldn't be used consecutively, so the other Roy retreated, shifting to demon form for a brute-force attack—exactly as Roy expected.
Roy retracted his tendrils, transford into Nephilim form, and engaged in a brutal lee using energy materialization. Both used Blood Frenzy to boost their strength.
After trading blows, the other Roy, likely off its skill cooldown, prepared to teleport again. It seed programd to prioritize movent abilities—ghost wolf's speed or teleportation.
Roy was waiting for this. He'd once used the Binding of Veltra, a magic circle that sealed a designated area, shredding anyone using spatial movent within it. It had worked against the Slender Man and even the Underworld Archmage. It was perfect for enemies who loved teleporting.
Roy had drawn a Binding of Veltra on the tal plate, with Alma's ntal energy keeping it prid for activation. Even if the statue copied the plate, it wouldn't matter—Roy just had to avoid teleporting.
The first teleport confird the statue's pattern. When it tried a second teleport, Roy activated the Binding. The other Roy's body tore in half. As a statue, it didn't bleed, but the damage caused a glitch, leaving it unsure how to proceed.
"Now it's my turn!"
Unlike the Underworld Archmage, the statue couldn't recover from being split. Roy seized the mont, combining Dark Touch with chaos energy beams to finish it off. The statue reverted to its inert form, unresponsive even to touch.
"It's over," Roy said.
"Daddy, you're aweso!" Eloresha rushed in, hugging him.
With the duplicate defeated, the magically protected door swung open, revealing another spiral staircase.
"No way—more stairs?" Eloresha deflated, even though Roy was the one climbing.
Thankfully, this staircase was shorter. Roy, carrying Eloresha and Alma, soon reached a new room. Pushing open the door, they found a lavish audience hall, a red carpet stretching from the entrance to a golden throne at the far end. The throne was empty, save for an ornate scepter embedded beside it.
Roy studied the room. This seed to be the top of the Tower of Babel—no other doors or stairs leading up.
"Daddy, there's no way to the upper levels of Hell!" Eloresha said, noticing the issue.
Roy frowned but held onto a sliver of hope. "Let's check out that throne."
A few steps in, a sharp voice rang out. "Halt, intruders!"
chanical succubus card.
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