Chapter 1350: Chapter 909 Water Mirror Demon

As it turned out, Duanmu Huai’s premonition was correct.

When they returned to the fork in the road, they saw another group of heroes carrying a Magic User, with a monk carrying a Dwarf Warrior, rushing towards them at a fast pace. Upon seeing Duanmu Huai and his group, the heroes paused briefly before they visibly relaxed.

“You guys are okay.”

“It looks like you’re okay too?”

Duanmu Huai carefully observed the four-person group in front of him.

“Pretty much.”

The Hero forced a smile and nodded.

“We encountered your… or rather, your clones in the corridor over there. Frieren’s magic couldn’t penetrate your armor, and then you smashed Eza half to death with a hammer, so we quickly fled.”

The Hero wasn’t foolish. After witnessing Duanmu Huai safely triggering traps along the way, which seemed nonexistent to him, they knew the Steel Warrior’s Defense was extraordinary. Thus, for safety, they first had their Magic User cast a spell at Duanmu, followed by the attack of the Dwarf Warrior.

The result was that Duanmu Huai completely ignored the Magic User’s magic, then knocked down the Dwarf Warrior with a hammer, prompting the Hero to make a decisive decision.

Flee!

It has to be said, it was the correct decision.

“How about you?”

“We also encountered your clones on the road over there. After defeating them, we thought you might be in trouble, so we came over to check.”

“I see … that’s not incomprehensible.”

Hearing Duanmu Huai’s response, the Hero showed a wry smile again, obviously understanding the implication. But… never mind, discussing it now is pointless.

“This makes us realize why no one has been able to conquer this Labyrinth; there is no enemy more troublesome than oneself.”

“It must be the doing of some Demon Clan or Demon Beast.”

The monk also put down the Dwarf Warrior he had been carrying and quickly began to heal him. Meanwhile, the Hero put down the Magic User he was holding; the latter steadied himself and then pondered for a moment.

“Maybe it’s the Water Mirror Demon.”

“What’s that?”

Duanmu Huai looked at the Magic User, who continued to speak.

“The Water Mirror Demon is a mythical creature from the age of gods, having appeared in the hero tales of the Sage Aveesh. It is said that the Water Mirror Demon’s ability is to clone those who enter the Labyrinth by reading their memories, duplicating their strength, skills, and magic power identically, making them perfect replicas.”

“I see.”

Listening to the Magic User, the Hero solemnly nodded.

“No wonder no one has been able to break through the Great Labyrinth so far, but… logically speaking, even so, there should still be a fight left in us.”

“That’s true, but what if the opponent can revive?”

“What?”

Hearing Duanmu Huai’s words, the Hero was momentarily stunned, then he looked up at Duanmu Huai who pointed towards the path they had come from —- there, the cloned heroes were already gearing up for battle.

“This is really… troublesome.”

Even the Hero couldn’t help but let out a sigh. Indeed, if it were just copies of themselves, they could have thought of some strategies to cope.

But what if the opponent could resurrect continuously?

Then……

“I fully understand why no one has been able to break through the Great Labyrinth.”

“Indeed, there’s no escape.”

Duanmu Huai deeply agreed and nodded again. This was the terror of the Water Mirror Demon; no actual enemies along the way, allowing adventurers to reach deep into the Labyrinth smoothly. However, here, they would face their own clones. Since both parties have equal strength, even if they managed to kill these clones, they would inevitably be wounded.

If it were enough to destroy the opponent, it would be fortunate. But unfortunately… these guys could also resurrect.

That’s quite the headache.

If you think about escaping, this is a deep part of the Great Labyrinth, and unlike a game where each level has a convenient Teleportation Portal, one could only turn around and run back amidst such circumstances… Well, no wonder no one can return from deep within the Labyrinth.

“So, how do we fight this thing?”

Duanmu Huai looked at the Magic User who thought for a moment.

“It’s said that the Water Mirror Demon itself has no means of attack and is a very fragile creature. As long as we defeat it, all the clones will disappear.”

“So we shouldn’t have come back, but should have continued moving forward?”

Duanmu Huai rolled his eyes, while the Hero chuckled.

“If you hadn’t come back, we might be dead here.”

“Thump… Thump… Thump…”

Just at that moment, a familiar heavy footstep sound came from the passage on the other side.

“Okay, what now?”

“I’ll handle that side.”

As Duanmu Huai spoke, he stood up with his War Hammer in hand.

“You sure you’ll be okay alone?”

Upon hearing Duanmu Huai’s decision, the Hero seemed a bit surprised.

“Frieren already mentioned that the Water Mirror Demon can perfectly copy each person…”

“No matter what, it can’t fully replicate me.”

As he spoke, Duanmu Huai looked towards the Dwarf Warrior who was receiving healing from the monk.

“You just mentioned that the clone knocked him over with one hammer blow, right?”

“Correct.”

“That is exactly the problem.”

Duanmu Huai clenched the War Hammer and swung it forward.

“If it had been my strike, none of you would have even left a corpse behind.”

With these words, he strode down the corridor.

“Leave this side to you to handle, I’m going to take down those blocking the way and then kill the Water Mirror Demon.”

For Duanmu Huai, it was that simple.

Indeed, perhaps the Magic User was not wrong, but Duanmu Huai did not believe that the other party could perfectly replicate himself.

The reason was simple: he was a deity.

And no matter how powerful the Water Mirror Demon was, it was still just a mortal.

Just like previously with Aulaura, a mere member of the Demon Clan actually dared to measure the soul of a deity, only to fall before Duanmu Huai even took action.

It was the same with the Water Mirror Demon. Whether it belonged to the Demon Clan or was a Demon Beast, thinking it could replicate a deity was sheer folly.

Thus, what it replicated was nothing more than inferior imitations.

Just like this.

“Thud……thud……”

Watching the uncolored replicas of himself, Ogis, and Zhenjiling appear, Duanmu Huai silently raised his War Hammer.

“Die.”

Then, he dashed forward in a leap, while at the same time, another Duanmu Huai also charged forward; both raised their War Hammers and swung them fiercely at each other as if they were mirror reflections.

The only difference was that Duanmu Huai’s War Hammer was ablaze with black flames.

“Bang!”

The two War Hammers crossed each other, smashing into each other’s heads. Duanmu Huai’s iron hammer with black flames shattered the opposing helmet and completely obliterated the head inside. Meanwhile, the replica’s War Hammer hitting Duanmu Huai’s helmet only caused his body to sway slightly.

Following that, the beheaded replica’s body fell to the floor and began to disintegrate and vanish.

“Swoosh———-!”

Simultaneously, the replica of Ogis leapt up and extended a hand to cast threads that twined around Duanmu Huai’s arm, but Duanmu Huai simply jerked back and directly pulled the airborne Ogis towards him, then smashed her body into pieces with a punch.

Immediately afterward, a burst of brilliance shone.

“Boom———-!!!”

Zhenjiling raised his Cain Launcher, and his figure vanished in an instant, but just at that moment, the clouds of smoke from the explosion burst apart. Wielding the Thunder Hammer roaring with lightning, it heavily smashed into the wall. The next moment, between the War Hammer and the wall, the shattered body of Zhenjiling appeared out of thin air and then began to disintegrate.

“You see, it’s this simple.”

Unscathed, Duanmu Huai strode out from the ruins of flames and smoke, grabbing his War Hammer and retracting it.

“It’s impossible for mortals to defeat a deity; unfortunately, demons fail to understand this principle.”

While speaking, Duanmu Huai continued walking forward.

There was nothing much to say about dealing with the Water Mirror Demon. Just as the Magic User said, the Water Mirror Demon itself had no combat capability, so Duanmu Huai simply smashed it with one hit of his hammer. After a moment, the Hero and Ogis along with Zhenjiling passed through the gateway and came before Duanmu Huai.

“I never expected you to destroy the Water Mirror Demon so quickly.”

“It wasn’t troublesome. Rather, you guys seem a bit in disarray.”

“Because Frieren is tough to deal with.”

While saying this, the Hero looked at the expressionless Magic User beside him.

“We still don’t know you well enough, it seems.”

“I think it’s quite alright.”

The Magic User didn’t seem to have any reactions to the Hero’s sentiment.

“But actually, it’s quite strange.”

Duanmu Huai shifted his gaze and scrutinized the hall before him–this was where the Water Mirror Demon resided, filled with various treasures and mountains of Gold Coins, and even many weapons. Nevertheless, setting aside that this might be what the Water Mirror Demon gathered from the adventurers who died previously, what mattered most was the door at the back end that Duanmu Huai had already checked; that door indeed led to the other side of the mountain range.

Looking from afar, one could indeed discern the traces of the Demon King Palace.

Then here comes the problem.

“According to the legend we heard previously, it was the Dwarves that built the labyrinth to obstruct the Demon Clan from entering their city, right?”

“That is correct.”

The Hero nodded.

“But why does it now seem that this labyrinth is more like it was made to prevent adventurers from passing through?”

Duanmu Huai narrowed his eyes, staring at the distant door.

“Do you think there is something wrong with the dwarves’ tale?”

“After all these years, who knows what the original situation was, but I just find it a bit strange……”

Speaking of this, Duanmu Huai pondered for a moment and turned to face the Hero.

“We plan to continue forward, what about you?”

“We need to go back first to report that this passageway has been cleared.”

The Hero didn’t seem to be in a hurry at all.

“After all, we haven’t completed our mission yet.”

“……… Then I wish you good luck.”

Not having a teleportation spell really is troublesome.