Sometime later…

Halo arrived at the eerie atmosphere, covered in dead and gnarled trees, which had their roots emerging from the ground and snaking through the soil.

His two-day journey from the Mirror Steppe wasn't as unpleasant as he imagined. He was deemed a hero at some point as he casually slaughtered three Perverted Sinners that crossed their path.

Now, he stood before the only flourishing tree around, the one holding the Dark Saint. Normally, she would have interrupted his thoughts long ago to mock him or say something sarcastic, but he'd been standing there for quite some time without hearing a word from Saint.

This made him a little paranoid. He feared what might have happened to her… maybe she'd died from hunger or boredom, since the tree was still standing.

He got a little closer.

"Saint?"

He called out.

But he was met with silence.

"Don't tell me you are dead…"

The moment words left him, an excited voice echoed in his mind, coursing relief down his spine.

"It's you, D… you are alive!"

Halo's expression darkened. This wasn't the first time Saint had called him D, but having her mention only that felt weird to him. Still, something else nudged him.

"Why did you wait that long to speak?"

He couldn't see her face, but the excitement was evident in her voice.

"I should be asking you. I can't read your thoughts, and I wasn't willing to expose myself to the wrong person."

Halo frowned.

"What do you mean? If you can't read my mind, then how are you talking to me at all?"

Saint gave his words a beat.

"Well… Black Mirror counters actions. It can reply to almost anything, even when I can't read you. Your mind's too calm for anything to leak out, but what you say is more than enough for me to respond to."

The moment she finished speaking, Halo didn't waste a second. He summoned his sword and cut the tree down in one swift motion.

The moment it dropped to the ground, the bronze screen appeared before his eyes.

***

[ Congratulations! You've slain an Assassin. ]

[ You've received a Sin Fragment: manipulation. 151/10000 ]

[ Your intelligence has increased. ]

***

He was caught off guard for a moment. He hadn't once imagined Saint as an Assassin, but he hardly dwelt on that. He reluctantly went through all the processes each kill came with and decided to clone her once he was done.

***

[ Would you like to summon a clone of the fallen? ]

Price: 12 Sin Fragments.

| Yes | No |

***

'Yes.'

As soon as the words echoed in his mind, he watched the tree's shadow disjoint itself from the source.

Next, the shadow began to gain form, coalescing into a neatly shaped female with cascading silver hair that reached her waist.

Its body was drowned in pitch-black shadow, so deep it erased every facial feature except for those burning, pupilless white eyes.

The moment the transformation was completed, Halo dug into his sack and tossed Saint a few clothes he'd gotten for her.

"I got you a mask too."

He also tossed her a black mask with rich golden stripes.

"I didn't expect you to think this much about me…"

Saint said, her white eyes narrowing slightly.

"Well, I did…"

Halo watched in confusion as she put on her clothes. He'd expected her to be slightly taller, but she barely reached his shoulders. Still, the clothes he'd gotten her fit perfectly.

He couldn't risk having her expose her skin since her body was made of darkness now… the black turtleneck covered her neck, a belt clung tightly to her small waist, and black boots covered her feet.

"I thought you were a Knight… I remember you saying something like that."

Saint turned toward him, her silver hair covering the mask and making her glowing white eyes barely visible.

"No, I never said that. I've been here for a year. You really thought I'd be a Knight? I am the Dark Saint for a reason."

"I think you did. You talked about never becoming the strongest Knight in this region. Did you forget?"

Dark Saint shrugged her shoulders.

"That doesn't mean I was a Knight… well, now I'm neither. I am tier-6 now."

She adjusted her mask.

"I was anxious I wouldn't be able to use my ability as your clone, guess that was a waste of nerves."

Halo wanted to know what she really felt about being his clone. She'd lost her humanity now, and her sense of smell or taste was a distant memory. Still, he'd been waiting for this opportunity to finally understand his clones and why they made him uneasy.

"What do you mean by tier-6?"

Dark Saint glared at him, confused.

"Let me guess. You had Sin Fragments to spare, but you were too stingy to actually use them?"

One glance at Halo was all she needed before shaking her head in disbelief.

"I've got a bronze screen, though its interface isn't the same as before. It shows ranks from Tier-9 through to Tier-1, and it splits them into two paths: Growth and Humanity. I stand at Tier-6 in Growth, and Tier-3 in Humanity."

Halo's expression darkened.

"Humanity? What does that mean?"

Saint locked eyes with him for a moment.

"I can't say for certain, but from what I see on the interface, here's the gist: Ability, Rank—subdivided into Growth and Humanity—Master, and an Energy Limiter."

She glanced through her mind for a moment.

"Look at it this way… every time you clone someone or something, a fragment of yourself, combined with their own consciousness, forms their being, their mind, and their body. As they grow stronger, they become more human in essence as well."

Halo frowned. He began to understand the uneasiness that had been stirring within him for more than a month now. It was because of his Sin Fragments, but also his clones, they were taking his humanity away.

"If you keep making clones, you might lose yourself along the way. Be careful."

Halo sighed and began massaging his forehead in frustration. His Flaw was eating him alive each day, each kill had its own threat, and now his clones were no exception.

"Cloning humans shouldn't be an issue, though. We already have human traits. I'm at tier-3 for humanity, but Sinners might start at tier-9. Trust me, that toll will be heavy on you."

It clicked for Halo. His bizarre sensations had started after he cloned two Beast Sinners, Tough and Sunday. He was just fine before that. Still, something didn't make sense.

"So… at the highest tier, are you guys going to have emotions and actual human flesh?"

Saint walked toward a bent tree and touched it.

"I think it only works on touch, taste, and smell. I can barely feel the tree, but… even a living corpse would appreciate it."

This still didn't explain why he felt something toward Light, was it because it was a clone of himself?

Before he could conclude, he felt something unusual and turned to Saint. It was just a casual stare, nothing intense, and he could tell she was annoyed at him.

"What's wrong?"

"You can feel that? Then once your clones get higher in rank, you'll probably start getting them better. They might even end up sharing their thoughts with you."

He didn't know whether to rejoice, but losing his humanity wasn't pleasant. Still, there was a lot he had to catch up on.

"Tell me about the hero."

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