Born in Blood

In rapid succession, the fake dimension clanged with sharp noises.

It was like dozens of blacksmiths working together in the same small forge.

That's how loud and fast the sounds were produced.

As the fight went on, Liam realized that any move he did, the Copy… well, copied it.

It was like fighting a mirror.

Any time Liam made a change in his fighting style, his Copy did the same.

At one point, Liam ordered out his Blood Bonds.

His Black Hunter Spider lurched out of his Inner World along with the Death Wolf and Apex Hawk.

On the Copy's side, the same three creatures popped out and hashed it out.

Promptly, the beasts killed each other off, and both parties decided that it took away too much blood from them.

Right after, Liam changed his Breaker into the Black Blade during a mid-swing at the Copy.

But the Copy erected a sphere of crystalized blood as a defense.

Liam easily cut through the sphere of Rank 3 middle-tier blood. 

His odachi's sharpness was not a joke.

The sphere was sliced into a thousand pieces. 

But the Copy was already back to safety.

Liam flicked away the flakes of hardened blood on his sword and looked at his fake clone.

"I wouldn't have run to safety like that," Liam laughed at the Copy. "Even as a 'perfect' imitation, you're lousy."

The Copy laughed loudly. 

'Is that how annoying my laugh is?' Liam thought with furrowed brows. 'No wonder I don't laugh.'

Tendrils of darkness gathered around the Copy in an instant.

Slowly, they began to take a human form.

Clones.

3 Shadow Clones, to be exact, had formed beside the Copy.

With a smirk on his face, the Clone suddenly sank inside the shadows.

Liam scoffed and did the same. 

3 Shadow Clones formed beside him, and all four of them started to sink into the earth.

The Sea of Darkness was as cold as ever, rippling with the slightest movement.

Inside, Liam could feel the tiniest waves rippling towards him, feeding his senses with information.

The Triumvirate Body's senses were sharpened to an amazing degree beneath the water.

The Shifter Octopus was a sea creature, after all. It belonged to the water. No matter what kind.

Despite this, Liam couldn't sense which one was the real Copy and what was a Shadow Clone.

The reason was fairly simple.

The Triumvirate Body could sense heat and see color in different ways.

It was basically a thermal vision ingrained into Liam's skin.

But even thermal vision could be fooled. Snakes, lizards and other reptilians could never be seen by it.

Thus, all Liam had to do was make his body incredibly cold, which was entirely possible with his new body.

This was what the Copy was doing, too.

However, the 6 Shadow Clones were visible to both of them.

Liam's 3 clones scattered in different directions.

They too could swim through the Sea of Darkness.

When the clones separated from Liam's body, they still had the Inkshadow Tattoos on them, after all.

Liam felt the Copy's 3 Shadow Clones doing the same.

One to the left, one in the middle, and one to the right.

But the Copy itself was hidden away.

Everyone swam at the same altitude.

Usually, the Sea of Darkness was incredibly vast and wide, but the fake dimension had restricted their battlefield greatly.

Liam's Shadow Clones and the Copy's Shadow Clones began to fight!

All the while, they were hidden, waiting for an opportunity.

Liam's clones weren't afraid of getting damaged.

They were intent on killing the Copy's clones as fast as possible and clearing the waters.

Liam was silently inching forward, too, clearing away the waters to find the Copy.

Violent ripples spread from the Sea of Darkness.

Liam's Shadow Clones kamikaze'd themselves into the Copy's.

All six of the clones crumbled apart!

At the same exact time, Liam felt a ripple different to the rest.

With his Black Blade, Liam sent a series of slashes forward!

SHING!

But just like always, the Copy did the same.

It sent slashes towards Liam from the other side, forcing him to emerge from the water to dodge.

Like so, both of them were above ground once again.

Neither of them had any wounds. Not a drop of blood dropped from them.

The Copy smiled.

"You do realize that you're fighting yourself, right? Anything you think of, I'm thinking of it too," he said.

"But there's a glaring difference."

The Copy paused.

Liam frowned, but remained quiet.

The Copy's smile broadened, and he laughed out the next words.

"I have no mental energy or 'Ora' limitations!"

Silence.

Liam's eyes widened when he realized what the Copy was saying was true.

His aura never regressed despite all that fighting.

Both his mental energy and core 'Ora' were as though he hadn't fought at all.

A moment later, 3 more Shadow Clones formed to the Copy's sides.

Silence again.

Only the Copy's unsettlingly and maniacal laugh could be heard.

"All I have to do to win is survive until you're broken and beaten down!"

"Then, I'll take your place in the world!"

"Maybe I'll find a woman or two?"

"It's boring being all alone."

"This place is constricting enough."

"You were right. I'm not like you personality wise. But everything else is the same."

"And what a crappy personality you have!"

Liam lowered his head with a dark expression.

Hate and rage emanated from his figure.

His sword had become the Breaker Blade again, and the hilt was nearly crushed under his insane grip.

The Copy smiled and took slow steps towards Liam's figure. His clones did the same.

Liam didn't react.

His head was still down, an umbral darkness clouding his face.

At once, the clones and the Copy lurched at Liam!

A quiet grin formed on Liam's lowered face.

Right as the sword was about to split apart Liam's head, volatile red energies buzzed all over him, condensing to a single sphere three times the size of a basketball.

The Copy's eyes widened in shock.

It couldn't copy chaos.