Danmachi: Clones System

Sorry for the lack of chapters. I'll be posting this fanfic more frequently again.

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"Aizen, do you feel like someone's watching us?"

Chen, Aizen, and Berserker had arrived on the 25th floor not long ago. As soon as they stepped onto the floor, they began to feel an ominous presence.

"Yeah, I feel it too," Aizen replied, glancing around, a bit uneasy. "Could it be a monster?"

"No, I don't think so," Chen said. "Should we alert the master?"

"Hold on, not yet," Aizen stopped him. "Let's wait a bit first."

The three of them were standing along one of the paths near the main waterfall. There weren't many places to hide, which made it strange that they could sense someone watching them without seeing anyone—be it human or monster.

They stood silently for a moment, scanning their surroundings.

Then, four figures appeared all at once.

They were surrounded.

Two came from the left, and two from the right. With such limited space, there was nowhere to run. Still, they felt confident in their strength. Chen, Aizen, and Berserker were energized.

The four attackers weren't particularly strong physically, so when the clones used gravity magic, they were able to pin them down easily.

The men were crushed against the wet rocks and began to scream in pain as their bones snapped one by one.

Aizen coldly approached the two who came from the right while Chen and Berserker went for the ones on the left.

Aizen grabbed one of them by the hair and looked him straight in the eye.

"Who are you? Which Familia do you belong to?"

Aizen still didn't fully understand the concept of Familias, but he knew that these "Familias" were after them—and his master.

"Go to hell, you disgusting monster," the man spat with a grin.

Without hesitation, Aizen slammed the man's head into the ground with all his strength.

The man was durable.

The rock shattered, but he was still alive—and still smiling.

"If you won't talk, I'll rip off every one of your fingers, one by one. How about that? Or maybe all your teeth?" As Aizen threatened him, the man kept smiling.

Suddenly, his companion lunged at Aizen—but before he could land a hit, flames engulfed his body.

He ran around in a panic, looking for water, but found nothing. He collapsed and died a few meters away.

Aizen looked at him coldly.

"You want to burn to death too? I hear it's extremely painful." He said this to the man, who was now visibly shaken after watching his friend burn alive.

The man looked toward his remaining two companions and saw that they had already spilled everything. Berserker and Chen hadn't needed to do much to extract the information.

Realizing he was no longer useful and likely about to be killed, the man screamed and lunged at Aizen, hoping to escape. Even with multiple broken bones, he believed he could do something.

But things didn't go as he'd imagined.

As he stood up, his vision flipped upside down.

"?" He didn't understand what had happened. His head hit the ground—and everything began to fade.

'Did I just die? I didn't even get to do anything…'

That was his final thought before his consciousness vanished forever.

Aizen left the man's body behind and walked over to Berserker and Chen.

He saw the two other men kneeling, trembling in fear, and asked, "Did you get all the information?"

"Yes," Chen replied, and Berserker nodded.

SWOOSH!

"Then I'll take the EXP."

Berserker swung his magic sword, and the two men's heads flew off.

"Hey! I wanted that EXP too!" Chen complained, but Aizen ignored him.

"Next time, you can have it. Now start talking. What Familia were they from? Are there more of them nearby? We need to inform the master."

"I'll contact the master right away. But first, we have to get out of here as quickly as possible," Berserker said.

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POV: Zane

As I made my way toward the 26th floor, I received a mental link from one of my clones. It was Berserker. I hadn't heard from him in a while, so I was surprised.

'What is it, Berserker?'

[We have a problem, master.]

'A problem? What's going on?'

[We were attacked on the 25th floor. They're members of the Loki Familia.]

'What?' As soon as I heard that, my heart started racing. 'Are you sure they're from the Loki Familia?'

[Yes, master. That man named Finn is here too. He's the one who spotted us and sent his subordinates to attack. We're retreating—we don't know if we can take him head-on.]

I think I understand what happened.

Finn underestimated my clones, which is why he sent his men after Berserker. Now he's probably going to come after my clones himself.

[Who's with you right now?]

'Chen and Aizen. Just the three of us.'

Is it worth risking myself for just three clones? They are strong ones… but I think it's better not to head back up.

'Just run. Head to the 26th or even 27th floor if you need to.'

Damn it. I should've guessed Finn would be one of the adventurers sent after me.

He's going to be a pain to deal with.

He can identify my clones easily—just like Ottar can.

'I need to go deeper and get away from Finn. I need to find a spot inside the dungeon to serve as a hideout or base. If the Xenos can find a place to hide, I can too.'

So, I contacted my nearby clones and told them to descend to the 27th floor.

We moved as quickly as we could, careful not to fall into the waterfall.

Once we reached the 27th floor, we found some very narrow paths.

After walking through a few of them for a while, I started searching for a place that could serve as a base. Sometimes, hidden rooms can be found.

The clones helped with the search, and after a while, we finally found something.

It was Rock Lee's group that found a suitable spot.

They discovered a hole in the wall, and behind it was a spacious room.

We broke through and went inside.

In total, there were around 30 clones with me.

I opened the skill shop and spent 5 points to purchase the "Earth Magic" skill.

After acquiring it, I sealed the entrance as best I could. Then, I turned to face the others.

"It's finally begun. The war."

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patr eon.com/ZhangYe

Next chapters: Chapter 71 - Shadow. / Chapter 72 - I want people to be paranoid. / Chapter 73 - Suspicion.