244 SHADOW MINION
"You can't be sure about my identity with that alone? I just recognized a familiar face," Dassa protested again.
"There are other clues, the entire magic code in your body … which are familiar to but also very different from Dassa's magical codes. You are not Dassa. There's only one reasonable explanation," Leo explained before adding, "Dassa's body has been possessed by another player or entity."
"How can that be?" Sujira asked.
"Its possible. In certain situations, dead players are revived by the System to possess the body of the dead player and continue the game", Petunia speculated.
"Hahaha," Suddenly Dassa's laugh pierced the chamber, echoing with an intensity that made everyone freeze in place.
"What the hell are you laughing at?" Petunia asked.
"Who are you?" Leo questioned Dassa.
Dassa laughed before replying, "Who I am does not concern you."
"You wont be laughing once your body is merged into the Jade Throne", Yun-Yun informed her.
Dassa looked around her as her body was being pulled into the throne.
"Idiots! Do you really think you can crush me and trap me here so easily?" she sneered, her voice dripping with mockery.
"What's her problem? Denial?" Sujira asked, raising an eyebrow at the outburst.
"Hahaha…"
Yun-Yun's expression suddenly darkened with unease. "Something's wrong with her fusion into the Jade Throne."
"What do you mean?" Leo asked, his voice tense.
"Idiots, this dungeon shall belong to me eventually. You may think you have won today but this is only the beginning", Dassa screamed.
"Something is different with her body, she's incomplete," Yun-Yun said suddenly.
"What do you mean?" Petunia asked.
"Hahaha, now you realize you can't trap me in here," Dassa laughed.
Leo quickly brought up his control panel, his mind flying over the interface as he checked Dassa's codes again. "Her codes seem regular. What's the issue?"
"Calling her 'incomplete' isn't accurate," Yun-Yun corrected. "It's more like… she's a doppelganger."
"A doppelganger?" Leo's eyes widened as he scrolled through the data. "Wait. Are you saying she's a clone?"
"Hmnhh," Dassa murmured, worry began to form in her mind.
Leo quickly scanned the magic codes again and noticed something minor but unusual in Dassa's code—small deviations from the data he'd captured when she was at the Inn of Travelers.
"She's not the same person as when I checked her at the inn," he muttered. "There's a difference in their codes."
"Who are you?" Sujira demanded, glaring at Dassa.
Dassa smirked. "You can call me a doppelganger or a shadow minion. Once I die, my soul will return to my host. There's nothing here that can hold me even if you kill my body."
"A shadow minion?" Sujira's tone turned grave. "Only powerful beings like the Godmother of the Temple of Hera could summon such powerful magic."
Leo frowned. "What exactly is a shadow minion?"
"It's a perfect replica of the original," Sujira explained. "Powerful mages use this magic to send copies of themselves on dangerous missions. If the doppelganger is destroyed, the memories return to the original."
Yun-Yun stepped forward, her voice urgent. "We can't let her leave. She knows too much about us already and we can't allow our secrets to be exposed outside of this chamber."
"Damnit, we should have sucked her dry before talking to her", Petunia added regrettably.
Dassa chuckled coldly. "There's nothing you can do to stop me. With a single thought, I'll be gone. But for now, I'll stay and make your lives miserable. Hahaha…." Her laughter echoed menacingly.
"Who the hell are you?" Leo demanded again.
Dassa laughed. "Now, I'll take my leave—with all the secrets you so foolishly revealed to me about this fucking place. This throne shall be mine eventually, you just hold it for me now."
Dassa's body began to glow ominously as she activated an inherent curse meant to kill her instantly, allowing her soul to return to her original body.
"She must not die or else her soul would return to her host," Yun-Yun warned.
Leo didn't say a word.
But moments passed, and nothing happened. Dassa's laughter faltered, replaced by confusion.
"Why won't I die?" she screamed, her voice shaking with rage.
Dassa tried to kill herself using the kill curse on her body because by doing so, her soul would return to her host bringing all her knowledge and memories she experienced here back with her.
But for some reason, she wouldn't die.
"That's because I won't allow you to die," Leo replied calmly.
"No! That's impossible! Not even a God of Sin could stop me killing myself with my curse!" she shouted.
Dassa's body is cursed with a termination curse which could take her own life at any time.
"Do you remember when I touched your chest at the inn?" Leo asked. "Well, I did more than just touch. I rewired the codes in your suicide curse, redirecting its activation to my control. When you split from your true self you obtained the same codes including the rewired suicide codes. No matter what you try now you can't activate it."
"No!" Dassa's screams grew frantic as the Jade Throne consumed her body and soul slowly, pulling her into its depths.
"No…."
"You're not going anywhere now," Sujira said coldly. "Shadow minion or not, you'll remain trapped here forever."
Dassa's voice echoed one last time, filled with despair. "No… this isn't possible!"
The chamber fell silent, save for the hum of the Jade Throne, now fully integrated with the being that had dared challenge its hold.
"Is that it? Did we capture the shadow minion finally?" Sujira asked.
"Yes," Yun-Yun replied to her.
"What about the original Dassa, would she come here to rescue the shadow minion?" Petunia asked, her gaze shifting between the others.
Sujira replied thoughtfully. "Knowing that her shadow minion didn't return, it's unlikely the original host of Dassa would continue the mission herself. Those who use Shadow Minion magic are extremely cautious. They avoid taking unnecessary risks and wouldn't endanger their true selves in any mission."