Reoving my hands from the corrupted figure''s head, I watched as the hole in its forehead that I had made instantly healed.


    "LILLLY!"


    "IF YOU CAN HEAR US, SAY SOMETHING."


    Almost immediately, I dismissed my two daggers, extinguishing the light from the room and plunging it back into darkness.


    Peering through the darkness of the cave, I spotted Alya leading the main cast towards our direction.


    As the voices of the main cast members grew nearer and nearer, I was about to exin the n to Lily when another main cast voice caught me off guard.


    "I told you guys there was something up with that bastard, Ren."


    "Liam, have you finally lost it? Do you really think that he could do anything to her?"


    "Kevin, see, you''re doubting me now, but I swear to god, when we find Lily, and she says it''s something to do with Ren, you better get down on your knees and beg for my forgiveness."


    Staring at Lily with a deadpan expression, I sighed as I gestured toward the corrupted replica of me.


    Am I just that predictable..?


    Also, really, what vendetta does Liam has against me?


    Nothing good coulde out of the protagonist of the book having a grudge against me...


    Well, he should be pretty happy when Kevin has to get on his knees and apologize, right?


    As Lily turned her confused face to the corrupted figure, a sense of relief washed over me. I felt a strange sense envelop me as I stared at the figure.


    Staring at the corrupted figure, I ignored the strange feeling inside my body and instead thought.


    ''Walk and stand next to the girl.''


    The next moment, the previously lifeless and motionless corrupted figure took a step towards Lily and then another step.


    And just like me, the corrupted figure moved silently through the cave; however, that it didn''t quite have my stealth stat.


    Well, I can''t have everything, can I?


    Being able to create a clone that had the same exact powers and the same strength as me was just a dream... for now, at least.


    Though it would still be unnoticeable to an unawakened, Lily''s improved senses from being a D-rank allowed her to sense the figure''s movement.


    Every time the figure moved, it sensed a small shockwave through the floor, and since I was standing right next to Lily, she knew it wasn''t me.


    The main cast was also too far away for their movement shockwaves to reach us, so it had to be something else.


    Making sure the main cast was a suitable distance away, I summoned one small dagger, allowing only the tip of it to be covered in the blood-red substance.


    Lily, who was staring at me, slowly turned around, staring at the corrupted figure slowly moving towards her.


    Staring at the iing corrupted figure. Lily subconsciously took a step back before staring at me.


    Making sure that my voice didn''t leak out, I quietly whispered.


    "Well, all you have to do is convince that spirit that this version of me is stronger than Alya."


    Staring in the direction of the voices of the iing main cast, Lily took a moment before nodding her head.


    ...she took it better than I thought she would, didn''t she?


    I mean, she had just seen me bring an inanimate object to life... so shouldn''t she at least have some reaction?


    Well, considering our time situation, she was probably just ignoring that and trying to save Alya, but still epting it without any questions is insane.


    ...this was not going to be easy to exin after we escaped the loop... but I didn''t have to exin it in the first ce, so it didn''t matter!


    Slipping away in the darkness, I hid behind a rock and watched as the main cast approached Lily and the corrupted figure.


    I had to be trailing behind them in order to give my corrupted figure the correct orders, so it wouldn''t seem suspicious.


    Switching bodies with the corrupted figure would be a terrible idea right now, as I would basically just leave my body out in the open.


    Even if I hid my body somewhere, the spirit would probably find it eventually, as in the astral realm, everything was hallucinatory.


    In the spirit''s eyes, there weren''t any walls... everything was just transparent.


    It was basically like spirits had my eyesight, but unlike me, they could see through walls and other physical objects.


    Although the spirit couldn''t directly damage me due to it being in the astral realm, it could influence Alya to do something, so I wasn''t willing to risk it.


    As I extinguished thest light, the room, however, wasn''t plunged into darkness.


    Instead, a new light source emerged in the shape of the fire levitating right above Ruby''s hand.


    While I did want to inform Ruby of the current situation, that would just be impossible right now.


    Two people disappearing in the span of ten minutes would be far too suspicious to the spirit and Alya.


    I was also quite curious: would Ruby be able if it was me or not?


    Did the clone have the same desire burning inside me or not?


    I was also sure that Ruby wouldn''t reveal the identity of the corrupted figure even if she discovered it wasn''t me.


    As the cave emerged back into the light, the entire main cast paused upon seeing Lily... and Ren, or what they thought was Ren.


    However, that wasn''t what brought the most shock to them.


    Covering the corrupted figure''s face was Lily''s sweater, and Lily was on her tippy toes, seemingly trying to wipe something off his face.


    "Well... I have to give props for creativity."


    Staring at the scene in front of them in shock and silence, Liam was the first to speak, as he eximed. Dive into chapters on |empyr.


    "I TOLD YOU, WHAT DID I SAY? KEVIN, TELL ME WHAT I SAID. GET DOWN ON YOUR KNEES, NOW!"


    Kevin, with his mouth open, stared at the scene in front of him, ignoring Liam''s screaming.


    Breaking the silence, Lily stepped forward, leaving her sweater covering the corrupted figure''s face, and said.


    "I found him starving and thirsty lying against one of the cave walls."