Extra Borne: Transmigrated Into A System Apocalypse Soulsborne Novel-Chapter 81 - 79: Unexpected Guests

The mist breathed. It twisted in slow coils around the open field, its cold touch seeping into the ground, curling between, and swallowing the distant treeline into a veil of gray.

Somewhere within, I moved. Or at least, my mist clone did.

Clang!

The sound split the air as Jess’s greatsword cleaved down, a burning arc of flame erupting from its edge, carving through mist. The blade should have struck true, should have split through.

But all it met was air.

A ripple ran through the fog, as my mist clone dematerialized an instant before impact. The weight of Jess’s swing followed through, her momentum twisting her midair..

But she adapted.

With an unnatural grace, her foot caught nothing but sky faster, stepping onto the empty air as though the world itself had bent to her will.

Omni-Directional Movement.

A second after, her body twisted, sword already following the motion, flames licking hungrily at the edges of the steel as it came swinging down again.

Fwoosh!

The mist clone reformed a step away, just outside the arc of fire, and in the same breath, its sword shot forward, a mist-laden edge cutting straight for her exposed side.

Jess smirked. She twisted her wrist,

Clang!

Her greatsword shifted midair, intercepting the mist blade at the last possible moment. Sparks scattered against the fog, embers fading into the gray expanse.

I watched through the mist. Analyzing. Calculating.

Jess adapted too quickly. Perfect..

That movement.. she’d read the clone’s attack pattern, accounted for its mist-like evasion, and retaliated in the same heartbeat. A normal fighter would have faltered. Hesitated. Given in to the natural laws of movement.

Jess was different.

She was a fighter honed in chaos and destruction, her instincts cutting through the uncertainty like a flame burning through darkness.

But she wasn’t the only one adapting.

A second clash rang out,

I shifted my gaze.

Across the field, Celia stood, the mist barely touching her form. Where the fog swallowed sight and blurred reality, her gaze remained sharp.. Eagle Gaze piercing through every deception, stripping the mist of its illusions.

And in front of her, my second mist clone.

Their swords met in a clash of elements.

Clang!

Celia’s frost blade pulsed with icy-blue energy, the cold seeping into the mist sword’s edge. The ground beneath them cracked as frost spiderwebbed outward, clashing against the curling mist, two forces colliding.

She smiled. A small, confident curve of her lips as she pushed forward, her blade twisting, applying pressure...

But the mist clone didn’t break.

Instead, it moved.

Like liquid smoke, it dissolved mid-clash, retreating in a swirl of gray before reforming at her side, sword already cutting down.

Celia didn’t flinch.

Her foot slid back, movement smooth, deliberate. Her blade twisted,

Clang!

Another perfect parry. The force of the impact sent a rush of cold spiraling through the air, mist curling away from the sudden drop in temperature.

She was watching. Calculating. The way my clone moved, the way it struck.. she was picking it apart, layer by layer, freezing it down to its core.

I narrowed my eyes.

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A test.

That was all this was.

A fight measured not in strength, but in understanding.

Jess, relentless, adapting to the unknown. Celia, methodical, stripping away the unnecessary, leaving only the truth.

A perfect combination.

But against me?

Not enough.

My mist clone took a step back. A single retreating motion. Then...

It slashed.

A clean, fast cut through the air... except this one wasn’t aiming for Celia.

The moment the blade moved, the mist around it shifted.

Condensed.

A slash not just of steel, but of mist itself, imbued with the force that made it absolute.

The attack shot forward, cutting through the very air, mist bleeding into the motion, turning the simple swing into something far, far more dangerous.

And for the first time in the fight...

Celia’s smile widened.

She had already seen it.

Before the slash had even fully formed, before the mist had twisted into its final shape, her Eagle Gaze had stripped the moment bare, dissecting the motion before it even unfolded.

Her body tilted, shifting effortlessly. A simple step, a subtle twist of her frame.. nothing wasted, nothing rushed.

The mist slash carved through empty space.

And then... silence.

The mist clone, recognizing its failure, let go.

It unraveled. Its form bled into the air, dissolving into the ever-present fog, leaving nothing behind but the endless, rolling gray.

For a moment, the battlefield was still. The mist swayed, curling around in a slow, intentional spirals, its cold touch seeping into the shattered open field ground where footsteps had pressed too deep, where sword clashes had left scars in the stone.

And then, out of the mist, I walked.

The gray peeled away from me, parting like something alive, reluctant to let me go. My steps were unhurried, calm, each one pressing into the ground, sending ripples through the lingering fog.

I smiled. Not wide. Not mocking. Just enough.

"Your efforts were good," I said casually.

Jess exhaled, lowering her greatsword, its edges still pulsing with flickering embers. The flames danced in the mist,

"You already have clones," she said, her voice even. A statement, not a question.

I nodded. "Yes."

A short silence. Then...

"That’s nice," she answered.

Her great sword dematerialized. leaving only her empty hands.

Celia followed suit. Her frost blade shimmered for a fraction of a second, its cold light refracting through the mist like fractured moonlight... then it was gone.

"It’s a nice ability," she admitted, tilting her head slightly. "For deception. And for overwhelming your opponent."

I met her gaze, watching the way her Eagle Gaze dissected everything, the way she still saw. Even now, as the fight had ended, as the battle had stilled, she was looking... understanding.

"Not just deception," I said.

I lifted a hand, fingers curling slightly. Mist coiled in response, twisting in slow, languid motions, answering my unspoken command.

"The clones aren’t just illusions. They fight, they think, they adapt. They aren’t independent, but they aren’t mere shadows, either."

Jess crossed her arms, shifting her weight slightly, considering. Celia watched, silent.

"You adapted," I continued, voice steady. "Faster than most would. The moment you realized the mist wasn’t just a veil but an extension of me, you adjusted. Jess, you cut through it with raw force, burned away my footholds. Celia, you picked apart the movements, stripping away unnecessary details, finding the core of my attacks."

Neither spoke.

I let the words settle, the weight of them sinking into the quiet that followed.

"But," I added, and the mist around me thickened, "there were mistakes."

Jess’s fingers twitched. Not out of nervousness.. Even now, even in a moment of rest, she was prepared to move, to react.

I gestured slightly, the mist dispersing once more. "Not many. Not major. But enough."

Celia’s gaze sharpened. "What did we miss?"

I tilted my head slightly, watching them both.

"You began adapting," I said, slow, measured. "You corrected your initial mistake on the first spar... But you still missed something important."

A pause.

Jess frowned slightly.

"You followed my pace," I continued. "You adjusted to me... But one thing you didn’t keep in mind was...."

Silence.

A shift in the mist.

Then,

"Nice fight there," a voice called out, smooth, calm. Amused.

I looked.....