The cave went silent for a few moments.
"…tch."
Until a barely audible click of the tongue interrupted it.
"Was my acting really that bad?"
Aesir Blackwood scratched his head with a disappointed look on his face, as if he truly didn't expect to get found out.
"I mean, did you even try to hide yourself?"
Damien's words were the final blow.
"Hey, I did my best, okay?! It's not like I was born to be an actor or something. Fuck, that profession isn't even profitable anymore!"
Damien's eyes widened. This manner of speech…was definitely not what he expected.
Though, he didn't find it surprising.
Aesir Blackwood was a different being than the Director, after all.
"This is my first time seeing a clone in real life."
"Well, as a clone, this is my first time seeing a perverse genius like you in real life too, so I guess that's something."
"You're quite the annoying guy. Are you really the Director's clone?"
"Tch! I'm the one who gave you all the information to find this body. Who else would I be?"
"So you know it yet you still pretend like me guessing your identity was something mind-blowing."
"K-kuhum! My mana is still regenerating, so leave me alone for a bit."
Damien rolled his eyes. Aesir Blackwood wasn't anything like what he expected to find when he got here, and it wasn't just a matter of personality.
Rather, Damien only realized Aesir's identity in the final few moments before he voiced his assumption.
Clones were a strange thing. There were many different forms of cloning and puppeteering that appeared in Grand Heavens Boundary over time, but the "best method" was always a position left unoccupied due to the sheer variety of techniques and their pros and cons.
The method the Director used was arguably one of the best, but also one of the riskiest.
'Aesir Blackwood…he is a true human through and through.'
Aesir Blackwood was born from a mother and father rather than a test tube. He lived a normal life as Aesir Blackwood likely for the majority of his childhood.
However, his true identity was that of a clone, a piece of the Director's genetic structure, mana, and soul that was implanted into a fertilized egg.
By the time Aesir turned 18, the memories started flooding in,
By the time he was 20, his identity was already established.
Aesir was a living clone who shared consciousness and memory with the Director, but wasn't completely under his control.
He had the freedom to move as he pleased as long as he didn't violate the Director's overarching will.
This was the same reason their personalities differed so much. Even as a clone, Aesir Blackwood was sentient and aware of how important identity was for a person.
He prioritized his own ego over the Director's, and while this led them to constantly clash, their goals were aligned and these clashes were merely on the same level as those between a parent and child.
'What an interesting method. Aesir can act similarly to a Nox Avatar, but with his autonomy, the Director doesn't have to put his full attention into control. This allows them to move independently and accomplish double the work with half the effort.'
Damien glanced over Aesir's body. Even the man's status window was revealed to him, indicating his level.
"4th class, huh. Weaker than I expected."
"Shut up already. If I wasn't a 4th class, I wouldn't even be able to interfere in this war."
"You won't be able to interfere anyway if you keep getting yourself locked up like this. Isn't it embarrassing?"
"Oi, brat. You picking a fight?"
"And if I am?"
Aesir glared at Damien, but in the end, scratched his head and turned his eyes to the floor.
"Fuck, that old man won't let me."
"So much for autonomy."
"You little shit…!"
"Hahahaha!"
Damien shook off his laughter and turned away.
"In all seriousness, the situation isn't good right now. I don't know how much has been transmitted to the academy, but…"
Aesir shook his head in denial. "The situation is actually far more favorable for us than it has ever been. The battlefield on Throh has developed well, and since you were able to finish up here, we've gained an advantage over those scummy invaders for the first time in a few years."
Damien smiled wryly. "Is this the so-called 'lost the battle, won the war' expression? It doesn't feel too good when you're part of the former side."
"You are saying you lost the battle?" Aesir's brows shot up in surprise.
Damien sighed.
"It's best if you see for yourself."
Grabbing the now semi-recovered man, Damien teleported back to the surface.
And Aesir's jaw dropped to the floor.
***
The recovery efforts on Calypto were progressing smoothly.
Most of the enemy forces were dead, and though the planet's atmosphere was corrupted, the internals of all starships present in its vicinity were perfectly fine.
Everyone that could be evacuated was evacuated, and everyone who needed to be killed was put down.
It wasn't a celebratory time.
It took almost an entire week for the processes on Calypto to end, and the forces present there evacuated as soon as they could. After joining up with the forces stationed in the planet's orbit, they didn't move anymore.
Everyone needed a moment of rest.
Too much had happened for them to move into action again immediately.
But compared to the regular soldiers and cadets, Damien's exhaustion was multiple times worse.
Aesir had already left to speak with Park Jinho many days ago. As the Director slowly filled himself in on the situation through his clone, Damien was laying down on a comfortable bed, his eyes closed and his arm over his face.
'It's been so chaotic that I feel like dying.'
He'd gained a lion's share of benefits over the course of this war, but he'd almost lost just as much. Perhaps his physical body was perfectly fine, but his mental exhaustion was so great that he wanted to drop dead for a few years to recover.
'But I don't have the freedom to do that.'
There were still many things that needed to be done.
'I need to have another talk with Baek Woojin, check up on Tyler and them, check up on Zara, facilitate Calypto's purification until it's over, make sure Aesir doesn't do anything stupid until we get back to the academy, comprehend my new powers so I can efficiently use them…fuck, I don't even want to continue listing.'
The constantly changing chain of events forced Damien into a pit of loose ends like he'd never experienced before.
While some were permanent like his identity being revealed to the Saint Emperor, he needed to make sure the things he could fix remained fixed.
'I should start with Baek Woojin, since I'm still not 100% sure that the brainwashing took full effect. After that, I can…you know what, fuck this.'
Damien's body disappeared from the bed, only rematerializing when he arrived in a different world entirely.
He flashed away, traveling millions of kilometers in an instant as he made his way to a specific area of the world.
It was a paradise for fairies, a place where nature ran rampant to the point where it was almost unnatural.
Throughout these fields, bell-like laughter would intermittently resound as children ran around playing with the spirits and plants.
And among them…
Was one far more special than the rest.
Her eyes turned as if she sensed his presence.
The smile that lit up her face was enough to melt away any fatigue.
"Big brother!"
She shouted in joy as she barrelled towards him.
Damien smiled softly as he gently caught her and dispersed her momentum.
'Just for today, I think a little relaxation should be allowed.'
