Chapter 26

Very little time has passed since the beginning of the confrontation between the couple and their doppelgangers, but they have already begun to realize that if this continues, they will lose.

They hadn't slept or rested much in recent days, and they were mentally exhausted, and it played against them. Unlike them, their doppelgangers acted like machines, showing no signs of fatigue. They perfectly copied their movements and could easily resist them.

When the couple wanted to retreat, the doppelgangers would immediately block their path, blocking their escape route. They moved and intercepted all their attempts to escape.

The couple began to panic, and their pace faltered. They started missing punches and failed to dodge several times, getting slashed. The doppelgangers, seeing how the couple began to panic, finally changed their expressions and began to smile eerily.

For Idan and Arabel, that smile was like a reminder of the first rabbit they killed. It seemed to them that all the monsters of this forest loved to play with their prey, and these doppelgangers were no exception.

However, what really surprised Idan and Arabel was the System's silence. When the couple realized they couldn't win, they immediately turned to the System for help, but it didn't say a word. It was as if she had given up on them too.

Despair began to grip Idan and Arabel. They didn't want to die, but they weren't going to give up until the very end. Gritting her teeth, Arabel tried to turn the situation around and made a desperate attempt to attack Idan's doppelganger. At this time, Idan asked the System to transfer his stats to her. But even this request was not answered by the System, and what they were counting on, as in previous battles, did not work.

Idan's doppelganger, being in excellent shape, easily dodged Arabel's blow. After he avoided the attack, he kicked Arabel in the side, sending her flying towards Idan, who was distracting Arabel's doppelganger at the time.

Arabel suddenly appeared, knocking Idan off his feet, and they both rolled on the ground. In surprise, Idan dropped his sword, but when he tried to pick it up, his doppelganger was already standing next to him and stepped on the sword, not allowing him to reach it. Then he kicked Idan in the face with all his might.

The blow was so strong that Idan almost lost consciousness. For a moment, his vision blurred, and he felt a sharp pain on his right cheek and a metallic taste in his mouth. Several of his teeth were knocked out.

Arabel's doppelganger also appeared next to her and hit her on the head. The blow was so powerful that it almost knocked off the ghost mask she was wearing.

The couple was defeated, and both of them couldn't find the strength to stand up, let alone face them.

They were on the verge of despair and anxiously awaited the next actions of their doppelgangers, not noticing how the clearing began to fill with fog.

It was only when the doppelgangers turned away from them and noticed the fog that Idan and Arabel noticed it too.

The fog, as if realizing that it had been noticed, rapidly filled the entire clearing, and its density became so dense that Idan and Arabel, lying down, could only see the silhouettes of their doppelgangers standing side by side.

These silhouettes began to move, and soon they disappeared from sight, disappearing into the mist.

Idan and Arabel could only hear the sounds of the battle taking place in the fog. Then they heard explosions and a crackling sound, reminiscent of the crackle of lightning from movies and videos.

After a while, something round fell in front of Idan and, with a crack, pierced into the ground.

Looking closer, Idan recognized the object as a round shield that crackled with sparks. When the shield pierced into the ground, the sparks disappeared, revealing a round shield with sharp edges soaked in blood. At that moment, next to the shield, with a thud, something round fell to the ground and rolled towards Idan.

Idan, recognizing the head of his doppelganger in this object, crawled back from it in fear and bumped into Arabel, who had only recently regained consciousness after hitting her doppelganger on the head.

She also flinched in fright when she saw Idan's head in front of her, and hit the real Idan with all her might, thinking that he was his doppelganger, and the head belonged to the real Idan. It was only when Idan spoke to her through a mental link that she stopped. She was embarrassed, but she didn't apologize for it.

They couldn't see anything because of the fog. The sounds of fighting stopped from the moment the round shield fell in front of Idan.

The fog began to dissipate, revealing a terrible picture in front of the couple.

The bodies of the doppelgangers of this couple were in terrible condition. Idan's doppelganger was missing not only his head, but also both his arms. Arabel's doppelganger lost his right arm, and her body was split in two. The whole clearing was covered in blood.

In the midst of this chaos, there was a man wearing clothes very similar to those of adventurers. His face was hidden not only by a hood, but also by a bizarre mask that seemed to have a life of its own and was constantly changing its shape. In his left hand, he held a short sword soaked in the doppelgangers' blood.

When the fog had completely cleared, the stranger raised his right hand, hidden under his cloak. At that moment, the shield stuck in front of Idan trembled. Then it flew out and flew at the stranger with great speed, attaching itself to his right arm with a thud.

Idan and Arabel realized that this man in adventurer's clothes had saved their lives. But they didn't know if he was friend or foe.

Pulling himself together, Idan decided to thank him.

"Thank you for saving our lives! If it weren't for you, we would have died today. I do not know how to thank you for saving our lives, but I promise that we will do it!" said Idan with sincere gratitude.

"I am also very grateful to you for saving our lives! I promise that we will definitely repay you for this together!" Arabel echoed, also with sincere faith that they will fulfill their promise.

The stranger, having heard the words of gratitude, did not answer anything. He returned his sword to its scabbard and was about to leave, but suddenly stopped, turned around and motioned with his left hand for them to follow him.

Idan and Arabel exchanged glances, spoke quickly, and, lifting their wounded bodies, followed the stranger. At that moment, they could not have imagined that this meeting would become one of the most important memories in their lives.