"They all disappeared just like.... Hatsuko…" Ichika was trembling a little as she remembered something that happened some time ago. She must have remembered the day when I was teleported by that weird rock.
Even though Akemi is a dragon, I couldn't feel her presence at all. It was as if they were erased from existence.
"I'm sure they're okay, besides they have Akemi by their side." I tried calming Ichika down.
I have a guess that this was the challenge of this floor. We all were teleported somewhere in order to complete this dungeon's floor. So there's a high chance that this kind of thing happened to the others as well.
"I hope they're okay… I don't want anyone else to..." Ichika's family was killed by me and right now her memories have been changed. I don't deserve to receive her feelings, knowing what I actually did to her.
"Are you okay?" She suddenly asked as she was looking at me. She had these pure eyes on her face, who has never experienced any chaos or hate.
"I'm fine, but why are you asking?" We continued walking as I asked her. Ichika averted her eyes from me then quietly said. "N-no, it's just… you looked lonely just now…" Her eyes were blocked by her hair, making it hard to actually see her expression.
"Is that so?" I replied to her as we continued walking forward, and somehow she was being really quiet. But when I thought that something was strange, my hand was wrapped in warmth. When I looked down, I saw Ichika holding my hand. She had her fingers intertwined with mine, showing her intentions of not letting me go that easily. She bashfully averted her face away from me once again without saying anything.
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We've been walking around this place for some hours, and still haven't encountered any monsters or a way out. Ichika has been walking by my side quietly while holding my hand the whole time. Our hands were getting a little sweaty but still, she never let go of my hand.
"It's getting a little dark…" I could see perfectly fine in the dark, but for Ichika it was a little hard. She tightened her grip as we continued going deeper into this cave, and the only sounds we could hear were our footsteps.
"Huh, Hatsuko look!" She suddenly reacted when we saw something bright coming towards us. It looked like some kind of light which was becoming much bigger within the split of a second. "W-wha?!" But I immediately pulled her towards me, the moment I realised that that light was actually coming towards Ichika. If I saw that correctly, then it was probably a fireball.
"H-Hatsuko…" She looked up at me as I was holding her against my chest. Even though it was dark, I could see her face blushing a little.
"Are you okay?" I asked after I let go of her, but she still had trouble understanding what happened. "Y-yes!" She responded back to me. "But what was that?" She wondered as we were looking from where that fireball came from. But when I tried finding out who shot that fireball, I was a little surprised.
"Ichika?" Some meters away from us was an identical copy of Ichika. She looked and wore the same clothes as Ichika that was next to me. I used materialization to light up the place a little with its glowing effect, so Ichika could also see that.
"That's… me?" She immediately recognized her doppelganger that was coming towards us. I think I understand what this floor was about. A copy of someone that will attack its copy while our goal would be to defeat them.
"H-Hatsuko!" She called out to me with a determined look on her face. It seems like she realised as well what her challenge was on this floor. "Please leave this to me!" She took some steps forward in order to defeat her doppelganger and immediately shot a fireball back at her copy. But the doppelganger managed to protect itself with a barrier.
So the doppelganger's skills are the same as Ichika's?
"If you need help, let me know." I told her just in case something happens, but I'm sure that Ichika will manage to defeat the copy. I took a step back so I wouldn't get between their fights. "T-there's no need!" She formed a long bow of fire and started shooting continuous arrows to that copy, pushing it back even though it had its barrier activated. But that copy wasn't going to stand by and receive any more attacks. Just like Ichika, the doppelganger created the same weapon like her and counterattacked.
"Hya!" One of the arrows grazed Ichika’s face before she could use her own barrier. I could see that she was in pain but I didn't want to interfere with her battle yet. Another reason that I didn't help Ichika was because of how she used her own healing skill simultaneously while protecting herself with her barrier.
The doppelganger stopped shooting fire-arrows at Ichika after noticing that they weren't affecting her thanks to the barrier, that's why it changed its tactics by setting its own hands on fire, then charging towards Ichika.
"Heh?" Ichika was surprised after her doppelganger managed to crack her barrier when it started punching. Each of the doppelganger's punches were like a bullet that could even melt iron with its fire. And in the end, it didn't take long before Ichika's barrier was finally destroyed, allowing her enemy to get into range for hand to hand combat .
Even though she couldn't dodge her attack, Ichika didn't give up no matter what. While slight burns could be seen on her hands, she covered herself on fire as she blocked her doppelganger's punch.
"I-I'm not d-done yet!..." And while trying to endure the intense burning fire, she punched her copy, sending it several meters back. Ichika didn't want to let her doppelganger recover with its heal skill, that's why she immediately charged after her copy. The doppelganger tried blocking it with it's barrier, but Ichika managed to break through until she crushed the doppelganger's face to pieces.
"Haa… ha… I… did it!" She looked back at me with a proud look on her face. But even so, her skin was burned a little, causing her to lose balance. "Hatsuko?" But before she could fall into the ground, I managed to catch her.
I gently leaned her body near mine as I looked at her. "You did well." She smiled when I said that to her.
"Hehehe…" Her face had some burns as well but they disappeared when she started healing herself back into its perfect form. But thanks to that, most of her strength was gone. That's why I decided to carry her until we could find a way out.
"I'm sorry about this…" She apologised as I was carrying her on my back. "...because of me, we're gonna fall behind…" She also added.
"Are you saying that I'm incapable of walking and carrying someone at the same time?" I jokily provoked her.
"N-No! That's not what I meant!" She panicked a little as she was trying to explain.
"Relax, I'm just joking... For now you should take a rest." She tightened her arms around me and rested her head on my shoulder when I said that. I could feel her breasts against my back, also her nice smell which was filling my nose.
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It took another hour before I could find a way out of this long cave. The outside of the cave was a massive square white room with basically nothing in it. But after a few seconds, several gates appeared where everyone was coming out from. Akemi was with Demonica, Shiro was with Hina, and Chloe was with Angela.
"Seems like everyone made it safely ." Akemi said as we were grouping up. No one was injured at all. Ichika was also awake and immediately rushed to Hina and hugged her. Chloe was also the same since she was worried if any of us was injured.
"Did everyone else also fight their own doppelganger?" I asked since I wanted to know what happened after they were teleported.
"Yeah, for me it was a piece of cake!" Akemi proudly responded back to me.
"I was surprised when someone like me and Angela attacked us…" Chloe also responded while thinking about it. So everyone got to fight their own doppelganger, but what about me? Does this dungeon know that I can't get any stronger?
But my question was answered when another gate appeared, allowing someone to come to this room.
"Is that… Hatsuko?" Chloe looked at my doppelganger which was quietly coming towards us. It's eyes were glowing green as it had a transparent green katana out.
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Autor-san, will there be more chapters with auto-haunting turned on, and other POVs (mainly sister)?