67 67 – A Corpse
Raymund kept asking Elise to stop, but the woman kept destroying the corpse. The dog’s barking didn’t affect her either.
“You really hate them, don’t you?”
Only that voice managed to make Elise freeze. She lifted her face, and her eyes widened again.
“Holy shit….” Raymund hissed, at a loss for words.
The sound of footsteps from iron boots echoed in the place, accompanied by the crackling of the surrounding flames. A woman walked up to Elise. She had long black hair, pale white skin, and fiery yellow eyes.
She wore dark armor on her chest and shoulders. Meanwhile, her body was covered in a black leotard-shaped bodysuit. Yes, she is wearing the same battle outfit as Elise, but in a different color.
It was because that woman was Elise in another version.
The dog kept barking fiercely at the woman, but she suddenly collapsed.
“Don’t worry, she won’t die.” The dark Elise stopped in her tracks and spoke as Elise looked at the dog. “She just fainted.”
“W-who are you?” Elise asked with trembling lips, surveying the being in front of her from top to bottom. After all, the woman’s appearance was very similar to hers.
“Why do you hate your father and mother, Elise?” The dark Elise paid no heed to that question. “Weren’t they the ones who raised you? Why did you kill them?”
Elise clutched her head, wincing in pain. Her eyes glanced at the corpse of the being she had just killed, but she saw nothing. The corpse had disappeared. “T-they weren’t my parents… They were just imitators.”
The dark Elise chuckled, starting to walk around Elise. “No, no, no. I mean, why did you set your house on fire when your parents are still inside?”
“Elise, what exactly happened?” Raymund couldn’t help but ask.
“No… That’s not true.”
“Okay, I’ll ask something else.” The dark Elise shrugged. “When summoned to another world, your scars were gone, right? Maybe it’s a trait after death. Then, you forget what happened? Your father likes to beat you and your sister, right? Well, because he is like that. This is worsened by the harsh treatment of your mother. He’s jealous of your physique, right? Well, they’re both crazy parents.”
“Shut up….” Elise squeezed her head harder.
“Because you couldn’t take it anymore, you did that. After making sure your parents are locked in their room, you douse your own house with gasoline at night. After that, you brought out Tony, your brother, who was still sleeping. You remember? You were laughing when you threw that lighter!”
“Shut up!!! That is not true!!!” Elise started to shed tears.
The dark Elise stopped walking. “However, you miscalculated. Tony doesn’t hate your mother. Your mother loves your little brother very much, unlike you. So he ran into the fire to save your mother.”
Elise’s hands drooped. She lifted her face, which now had an expression that looked like a hungry beast.
“Then you ran into the fire to save your little brother, the only person you care about.” A smile formed on Dark Elise’s mouth. “Actually, you survived, but your burns were too severe, so your life was lost on the hospital bed. You forgot…. Ah, you’re in denial about doing that…. You pretended to forget and convinced yourself that you were holy by not wanting to kill people. And finally, your mind believes the lie, even though your hands are dirty.”
“Argggghhhh!!!” Elise stepped forward while swinging her sword.
The dark Elise pulled out her sword from her back and blocked the attack. Sneering, the dark Elise kicked the female warrior, forcing her to roll backward. Elise can immediately get up and attack again.
The sound of the two swords clashing continued to echo. They were evenly matched in attack and defense. Neither of them had managed to injure their opponent yet.
The dark Elise does a charging thrust. Elise managed to dodge, but her stomach was cut and bleeding, though not too deep.
Then, the fight continued.
“Shit.” Raymund cursed. He didn’t know if it was because the magic energy of Elise’s armor had run out or because it was useless against Elise’s dark attacks. What is clear, this situation is very dangerous. “Please, just listen to me for a second, Elise.”
But all Elise did was attack her opponent.
“Just admit it, Elise.” The enemy laughed, blocking Elise’s umpteenth attack. “You are a murderer! Not only did you kill your parents, but your younger brother too!”
Elise roared, delivering an increasingly uncontrollable attack. His opponent laughed again and just blocked.
“Tsk!” Raymund huffed in annoyance. He had been trying to calm Elise all this time and provide a strategy. However, Elise didn’t listen and continued to attack like a madman wielding a stick. At this rate, the female warrior would really lose stamina.
So, he had to find another way.
Elise blocked her enemy’s whirlwind slash. Because the attack’s impact was quite strong, Elise’s body flew and landed near the fire. The female warrior screamed in pain as her back was hit by the flames, then she slumped to the floor. Luckily, she managed to put it out, though her back was now covered with sizable burns.
“Ugh…” The female warrior could see her evil twin walking towards her, grinning.
“Why are you still in denial, Elise? This will all be easier if you admit that you are a murderer.”
While growling like a beast, Elise tried to get up with incredible difficulty.
“Your little brother is still alive, Elise!” Raymund shouted.
Elise gasped and looked up, causing her evil twin to stop and raise an eyebrow.
“Sorry if I kept this a secret from you.” Raymund sighed. “I didn’t want you to think about your little brother’s condition to the point you can’t concentrate on the missions. Well, I didn’t know your life history, but I know the condition of everyone closest to you.”
Elise’s chin dropped. She looked at her evil twin again.
“The thing is, this mission is different, Elise. If you die here, your soul will be destroyed too.” Raymund continued. “So, you have to win against your shitty twins. Perhaps, after this, you can meet your little brother again some other time.”