Chapter 53 - Prominence
I arrived at the summit much sooner than expected.
The surroundings were a landscape of nothing but snow, and despite being on the verge of a decisive battle, it felt almost silent.
Kana and the others must still be on their way here.
Or have they already finished climbing and are lurking somewhere?
Since I don't possess any perception-type abilities, I can't perform a search.
I ask Kana, whom I brought along, to use Life Perception.
"How is it? Do you sense any presence?"
"...No, but."
She has a terrible scowl on her face.
There is zero trust. Our relationship is maintained solely through force.
There is a high possibility she is lying.
If I don't get her to open up a little more, I won't be able to be certain of the information.
"Come to think of it, Kana, how did you ever come up with the method to multiply people? Normally, no one would think of something like this."
"...?"
I try to strike up a conversation with whatever topic comes to mind, just to get her talking.
"No, I understand the principle. But no one would ever think of testing it on actual humans. Even if you had knowledge of science experiments in your head, it's impossible to link that to a living human being. Have you been thinking about this kind of thing all this time?"
"...In that world... weren't you... taught...?"
Kana seemed perplexed.
Was there really such a confusing element in my question?
"Taught?"
"Weren't you told... that this was the method used to create people from other worlds in the first place?"
"What do you mean by that?"
Kana tells me as if it were nothing.
"You split Earthlings, copy them. And then, one of those copies was brought back and multiplied to become the people from other worlds, right?"
"...What is that. That's news to me."
"Hmm? It seems the world Nakamoto-san was in was quite unkind, so maybe you weren't given much information."
As if the conversation were already over, Kana crouched down.
"I-I'm done. I've given up."
"Given up on what?"
"...I won't resist. In exchange, don't kill me or Yuta."
"I know. It's a promise."
With eyes looking toward somewhere far away, Kana whispered, "About twenty of us are coming."
"That's a lot."
"You multiplied them again, didn't you? Knowing you. Even though it's all useless anyway."
When I turned my eyes toward the mountain path, footprints were appearing one after another on the snowy road where no one should have been.
It was worth the trouble of choosing a mountain covered in snow. Concealment would be meaningless here.
Kana and the others realized this as well, as they began to cancel their Concealment one after another.
"You shitty old man!"
One of the group, a Kana wearing a red muffler, screamed at me with a demonic expression.
The Kana slumped down beside me has become completely submissive, yet that Kana still has her fighting spirit intact.
Even though they are the same person, is it possible for them to be this different just due to a difference in experience?
"Do you understand?! There are twenty of us! Even if your stats are a little over ten times mine, we have the advantage like this!?"
"You won't know until you try, will you?"
I approach the swarm of Kanas, treading heavily through the snow.
"Stooop it already! It's impossible! The other world that person was in is totally different from where we were! There's no way we can win against someone who fought in a place like that!"
Behind me, the Kana who had raised the white flag raised her voice.
She was likely trying to give her best advice to her clones, who were about to engage in a reckless battle.
However, it would not be heard.
"Don't say such ridiculous things with my face!"
Screaming, the muffler-wearing Kana unleashed magic at her other self.
A light bullet fired from her palm pierced through Saeki Kana's shoulder. The Saeki Kana who had become my Party Member.
It was an act of punishment against a traitor.
But that was nothing more than a harbinger of destruction.
[Hero Keisuke has visually confirmed the injury of a minor within the party]
[Unique Skill "Fatherhood" has activated]
[For 180 seconds, stats and skill multipliers are upwardly revised, and status ailments are nullified]
[HP +1000%]
[MP +1000%]
[Attack +1000%]
[Defense +1000%]
[Agility +1000%]
[Magic Attack +1000%]
[Magic Defense +1000%]
[Skill Multiplier x10]
"What foolishness. The gap in combat strength that I worked so hard to close has widened again."
I will end this, at least without pain.
I took a high stance and infused magical power into my right hand.
I generated a Light Sword at maximum output and expanded it.
With its multiplier enhanced, its total length reached dozens of meters; it was no longer a sword, but a pillar of light.
The world was filled with white light.
It was as if another sun had been born above our heads.
"What is that..."
I slowly swung the sword down toward the trembling group of Kanas.
"I didn't hear about this...! I didn't hear about something like this...!"
Whoosh.
With a roaring sound, the pure white prominence swallowed the pitiful victims.
"No, no, noooooooo! Noooooooo!"
The snow evaporated, leaving the mountain slope bare.
In the silent space, system messages flowed indifferently through my field of vision.
[Keisuke Nakamoto has won the battle!]
[Acquired 200,000 EXP]
[Acquired 20,000 Skill Points]
"Is it over?"
I descended the mountain, taking the surviving Kana with me.
Together with the one and only Kana who survived by showing me her submission.