Kopii ran lower and lower until he reached the eighth floor.
"We killed him on this floor, remember?"
"Shut up. You're distracting me."
"From what?"
Tap tap tap tap.
"Finally."
Drawing his sword and getting into a fighting stance, they eagerly awaited the next fight.
"I know that sound. Come on, Kopii, I bet you'll lose control again."
"You know I will too, so what's the point of this stupid argument when we both know the outcome?"
He lunged at the approaching ants.
"Yeah, that's true, but why not? Why are you so boring? Take a page out of my book, and maybe you won't be so pathetic, I emphasize – maybe. " But seeing Kopii ignore him again, his zeal diminished slightly.
Killing each approaching ant, he finally felt the joy that his guess was correct, a joy he hadn't felt in a long time. He no longer felt all-consuming hatred, but the thirst was still there, although minor.
"Looks like you lost."
Picking up the magic stones, Kopii smiled.
"Alright, alright, you can take everything I have, which is… let me think… oh yeah, I remember, I have nothing."
"No, you're wrong."
"Well, how could such a perfect creation as myself be mistaken? Do tell."
"You have a voice. So give it to me and never speak again."
"Hphahahahaha."
A loud laugh echoed in Kopii's head.
"What's so funny?"
Descending to the ninth floor, he asked.
"And why do you think I'll give you my voice?"
"You said yourself you'd give me everything you have."
Kopii frowned.
"Well, I changed my mind, now I don't want to give you anything."
"What? That was the condition of our bet. No one twisted your arm."
Killing a warlike shadow, Kopii asked.
"So what, Kopii, I changed my mind, and if you don't like it, then force me to do it, oh, right, I remember, you can't do anything to me." Seeing Kopii fall silent, he continued, a mocking tone creeping into his voice: "Did you seriously think I would do it if I didn't want to? Or did you think that just because we share the same memories, we're the same?"
"Shut up."
"Shut up? He was taken aback. No, no, Kopii, do you think that if you act honestly, I will too? Remember the sparring match with Raven, when you told him he won? Why did you do that? You could have just stayed silent. Remembering that every time just drives me crazy."
With each word, his voice grew louder, until it turned into a scream.
"Remember those slavers? You thought you had completely lost control back then. You should have killed them all, but you just beat them up, and as long as you keep doing things like that, you'll always be a simple failure."
With each word, Kopii's jaw clenched tighter and tighter.
"Or when you met Goda, you could have killed him in one blow, but you didn't. You're held back by your feelings, and as long as they restrain you, you'll never become the strongest."
"Shut up."
Kopii shouted, unable to bear it any longer.
"And what do you want!? Do you want me to be like them? To become the same scum as them, who would walk over heads for their own benefit? Do you want me to be like that?"
"Yes, Kopii. You have to be like that if you want to be the strongest."
"Shut up."
Kopii shouted, hitting the dungeon wall.
"You'll never understand me."
"No, Kopii, you understand perfectly, you understand me better than anyone. After all, you and I are one and the same."
"Shut up."
"No."
"Shut up."
Clutching his head, Kopii cried out.
"Shut up, shut up, shut up."
"Hey, are you okay?"
Hearing a strange voice, they both fell silent. Catching the gaze at the source of the voice.
"Adventurers," Kopii thought, rising from his knees, examining the group. "All women," Kopii noted. There were only two of them.
"Yes, I'm okay."
But their wariness of him did not diminish. Kopii could understand them, anyone in their place would have acted the same way at such a sight.
Kopii just stood there, doing nothing, and just looked into the blue eyes of one of the women. But he felt their tension growing with each second.
"AAAA aAA."
The voice in his head screamed, causing Kopii to jerk unconsciously. Their grip on the sword was so strong that their fingers turned white.
"Okay, I'll go."
Scratching his head, Kopii walked away, without taking his eyes off them.
"Why did you do that."
Kopii said when he was far enough away from the adventurers.
"You should have seen your face. Ahhahahaeaee"
Kopii frowned; he spoke as if that conversation had never happened.
"Why are you silent, Kopii? Are you going to ignore me again? Ai-yai-yai, weren't you taught manners by your parents? Forgot, Kopii, they abandoned you."
But Kopii continued to ignore him, he didn't care about anything related to his parents. After all, why think about those who simply abandoned him.
"Hey, hey, hey, KO PII. Are you offended by my words? I understand, I understand, the truth is not always pleasant, but what can you do about it."
But seeing that Kopii continued to ignore him, he fell silent, and they spent the whole of the next day in silence.
"It's already dark," Kopii thought, leaving the guild and heading home.
"Hey, hey, you heard it, right, Kopii, the Loki Familia will be back soon."
Kopii's eyes narrowed at the voice, he thought he had already disappeared.
"So what."
He sighed, whispering.
"And the fact that she will continue looking for you. Ahhaha, I'm looking forward to meeting her."
"She's already forgotten."
"No, no, Kopii, we both understand that the information you told her caused such violent reactions. So I'm sure her desire will only intensify. Just imagine the rumors that will spread: the Sword Princess is chasing after some boy."
"Don't exaggerate. At our next meeting, I'll just tell her that my friend asked me to say that, that's all."
"Don't think it will be so easy, Kopii, don't forget that your buddy is dead. But that is…"
"Shut up."
Interrupting him, he said raising his tone. No matter how hard he tried to accept it, any conversation about Raven brought him only pain and regret.
"Woah, woah, aren't we angry? Ai-yai-yai, bad boy. Seeing Kopii's silence, his mood subsided, he wanted to somehow dispel his boredom, but as always, he ruins everything. Hey, stop ignoring me."
A cry of indignation echoed in Kopii's head.
"I don't care."
"Well, alright, where did I stop?"
At that pace, Kopii reached home, and his voice in his head did not stop for a second. He undressed and lay down on the bed.
"Oh, Kopii, remember how we fell into the hands of the Amazons, back when you ran away like a coward? If I were you, I would have fucked them all. Why did you refuse to do that? It was even free."
With each word, Kopii's irritation grew. He covered his head with a pillow in hope of never hearing that voice again.
"Just imagine, so many beautiful girls surround you, and they all adore you. It's just a fairytale. You just ran away." Disappointed notes sounded in his voice.
Kopii's irritation reached its limit, squeezing the pillow so hard that, without noticing, he tore it.
"How much longer can this take."
Kopii cried out indignantly, looking at the torn pillow, it only added more anger to him.
"Blah blah blah. All you do is talk. Can you just shut up for a second? Just be quiet." He said through gritted teeth, picking up the remains of the pillow.
"Just imagine how much they would have taught us."
Ignoring Kopii, he continued, which only brought Kopii out even more.
"Are you mocking me!!! Shut up!!!"
Kopii shouted, the more he listened to him, the more he hated him.