Only two arms remained, and the creature's attack speed and rhythm had clearly weakened. The deadly pressure it once exerted had now been broken.
Ren and Copper were no longer backed into desperate defense. Each took on one arm, controlling the battle with skill and survival instincts forged in despair.
And for the first time, a true opening appeared.
Ren dashed forward, steel flashing violently on his blade like lightning cleaving through darkness. A single slash tore the air apart, the third arm was sliced clean off, spinning in midair like discarded scrap metal before crashing to the ground with a chilling clang.
The sound of metal striking stone no longer startled Ren.
Copper still stood firm, both legs anchored into the stone floor like steel stakes. The shield in his hand trembled with residual force...but he didn't yield.
"One more hit!" he shouted, voice hoarse, but his eyes burned with a light like a spear piercing through the fog of despair.
Ren clenched his teeth, pouring every last drop of strength into his numb arms.
He could no longer feel his muscles...only the war drum of his heart pounding in his chest. Only the single target before him. Only the sword, an axe of judgment he had honed with blood and fear.
The blade surged forward, splitting the air in a thunderous arc.
And then...
Snap.
A dry, brittle sound, not loud, but it echoed through Ren's skull like a funeral bell, signaling something slipping out of place.
Every cell in his body clenched at once, battle instincts screaming like a cornered beast.
Ren froze, eyes wide, reflecting the cold glint of steel, a horizontal slash sweeping toward him, looking ordinary, even harmless at first glance...
But no. This was not a regular strike.
In that instant, Copper's steel shield—his unbreakable guard throughout the fight, was cleaved in half like shredded paper.
Ren raised his sword instinctively, bracing it across his chest, gritting his teeth to take the blow.
Clang—!!!
The sound rang like shattering metal, and in a flash, both of them were sent flying, bodies tossed like rags against the far wall before crashing down onto the scattered gold.
Pain exploded across his body.
His lungs couldn't draw breath.
His ears rang as though he'd just survived a blast.
No one spoke.
Only the slow, deliberate footsteps of... it.
The faceless knight, still walking forward... step by step, as if strolling between two corpses waiting to be finished off.
Its sword style... had changed.
Gone were the mechanical imitations of a mimic. Gone were the lumbering movements of a being burdened by four arms and golden armor.
Now... it was liberated.
As if the three arms severed weren't a loss...but a release. As if they had been chains, restraining something pure and primal within the creature.
And then, it lunged.
A stride as smooth as flowing water, the tip of its sword tracing a silent, razor arc.
No rustle of wind. No roar of fury. Only death, approaching in the quiet dance of something that had shed its humanity.
Its swordplay was fluid, graceful, decisive, almost beautiful.
No longer mere attacks, each slash was a dance step, each movement a gust of wind.
It was no longer a monster, but a swordsman.
A faceless swordsman stepped out from the very depths of reflection and haunting.
Ren rushed forward.
But unlike before, he was no longer facing a wild beast flailing four blades like an uncontrollable storm.
The opponent before him had changed, completely.
With three arms gone, the burden was lifted. Its movements became agile, flexible, and ruthlessly precise.
No loud noises, no wasted motion. It drifted like a ghost, golden body gleaming in a deadly dance.
Ren slashed, an overhead diagonal from shoulder to hip. A move he knew by heart. A strike that had slain countless monsters before.
But just as the blade touched its chest armor...Clink!
A gentle sword stroke, light as wind, fluid as water, rising from below... effortlessly blocked the blow. No force. No strength.
Only the certainty of knowing exactly what Ren would do.
Ren recoiled instinctively, but in that moment, it was already behind him.
A slash from the side. Ren twisted away, but the blade still drew a clean line across his waist like a scalpel.
-132
[HP: 292/700]
Pain.
Sharp pain. But not as sharp as the feeling of being stripped bare. Ren tried to counter, spinning and sweeping his blade in a fluid arc to close in.
But the attack...was blocked with ease.
Blocked, then reversed.
A movement smooth like a dance.
A slash aimed straight at the shoulder, Ren managed to raise his sword in time to block it, but the impact sent a numbing jolt through his entire arm.
-87
[HP: 205/700]
The monster retaliated immediately.
Its blade thrust forward in a curved trajectory, slipping perfectly through the gap in Ren's defensive stance.
Matched to the inch…
It wasn't fighting with muscle.
It was fighting with memory.
Remembering every one of Ren's movements. Every inertia. Every attack angle. Every defensive reflex.
Ren stepped back, breath ragged. His heart felt like it would explode inside his chest.For the first time since entering this world...
He felt like he was losing, because he was understood too well.
That monster, the faceless knight, wasn't just strong...
...It was a distorted reflection of Ren himself, stripped of all hesitation, fear, and mercy.
It was the shadow he once chased.
And now, it was trampling over him, one step at a time.
The monster lunged again, each footstep sounding like the drumbeat of death.
Ren could see his own twisted face reflected in the golden mirror-mask, emotionless, cold, inhuman.
He clenched his teeth, slid back to dodge the oncoming slash...but too late.
Boom!!
A direct kick to the chest.
Ren's body was flung backward like a thin leaf in a firestorm, crashing into the stone floor with a thunderous echo.
He barely had time to recover...
Crack!!
The steel hilt, heavy as a sledgehammer, smashed down on his skull. Not to kill.But to break his spirit.
Ren's vision darkened. The whole scene blurred under a red mist. A high-pitched ring filled his ears, no other sound could be heard but his erratic heartbeat and fractured breathing.
He collapsed, one knee slamming hard into the floor.
His hands still gripped the sword, but they trembled violently, as if they could let go at any moment.
And in front of him, the monster simply stood there.
Saying nothing.
Showing no emotion.
Just a mirror, reflecting a Ren that was broken, tattered, and on the verge of shattering.
A shadow that no matter how many times he pierced, would never disappear.
Then came the finishing blow.
The blade rose high, light gleaming along the cold steel spine like a dead moon, then came slashing down like a crescent of judgment, aimed directly at Ren's throat.
A single strike to end it all.
But....
Clang!!
A harsh, ripping sound tore through the air, Copper's sword appeared as if from nowhere, intercepting the deathblow.
The impact was so fierce, sparks exploded between the blades, accompanied by a compressed gust that scattered gold coins across the stone floor.
Copper gritted his teeth, twisted his wrist, and knocked the enemy's sword aside.
"Damn it, you're not dying here…"
He immediately pulled Ren back, one hand dragging him by the shoulder, the other quickly producing an HP potion, shoving it into Ren's hand.
"Drink it, Ren!"
His voice was hoarse, gruff, but his eyes held a rare flicker of worry and sincerity, an emotion Copper wasn't even sure he had ever shown anyone before.
"I'll try to create an opening… all you have to do is cut off that last arm." Copper paused for a second, something behind his eyes looked like he was holding down a painful decision, then spoke, softly but firmly.
Ren looked up at him. The HP bar on Copper's interface was nearly touching the death line.And still… he had given Ren his last healing potion. Without hesitation.
"You'll die…" Ren whispered, his voice barely audible.
Copper only smiled. A faint, crooked smile, like a passing breeze on a battlefield of ashes."Yeah… but I've still got that."
He lightly tapped his chest, right over the hidden revival charm tucked beneath his steel chestplate.
A rare, one-use item.
Not everyone had the courage to trust in it.
Without another word, Copper charged forward.
His speed and resolve surged like an arrow loosed from a bow drawn to its absolute limit.
Ren's eyes widened. He understood immediately. Of course… that charm. The one that gave Copper two lives.
"Terrifying…" Copper muttered, raising his shield against a flurry of razor-sharp strikes.Steel clashed and sparked in a burst of light. "That thing… it's copying his fighting style… I didn't expect… you'd be this strong."
There was no jealousy in his voice.
Only awe.
And a quiet belief, that Ren was the one who could finish this.
…But even so.
Even with belief.
Even with the revival charm.
Even after using his life as bait...
Copper was struck down.
His steel sword, and his will...weren't enough to stop the monster.
It didn't roar like a beast. Just one sword strike, simple, clean, sharp like a razor slicing through air.
A diagonal stab from the stomach up to the shoulder, driven in deep, to the bone.
Ren's eyes widened.
It all happened in a blink.
The sound of metal scattering.
Copper gritting his teeth, stumbling forward a few more steps, ignoring the blade impaled in his body.
"D-dammit… it's not over yet." His voice faltered. Virtual blood burst out like shattering red pixels, flowing along the golden-lit floor.