“Whew. It’s a good thing I used an Identical Golem…” The small voice of a girl rang out.

Ana was smiling as she drew closer to a petrified Maro.

Even though she was supposed to have been destroyed by the devastating storm that Lydia shot at her, Ana looked very much alive.

And that was because the attack never reached her.

‘Only an idiot would put themselves in harm’s way—especially when against an unpredictable opponent!’ Ana smiled to herself.

The one who had been engaging in battle with the Demon Lord a while ago was not her, but a lookalike Golem.

Ana had been controlling the Golem from a distanced, and her Automatons were also instructed to obey the Golem.

It made for a convincing show—which was what the girl was after.

By doing so, Ana got enough information from her target, and once the time was ripe, she acted swiftly.

‘Everything worked out well, I guess…’

Ana drew close to the Demon Lord of Blanc, staring at the being inquisitively.

Even though she knew to maintain caution, the young girl couldn’t help herself.

‘It should be safe enough now… but I can’t be too careful.’

Her three Automatons were on standby, ready to react if things ever got awry.

It was a shame that her experimental ‘Ultimate Automaton’ was thrashed, but it simply showed how powerful a Demon Lord was.

Her experiment had been a valuable learning experience for her.

“I should get the samples I require and then finish things up…” With that, Ana took some tools from one of the Automatons who delivered the items.

Transparent test tubes were grasped by the girl, and she began to collect samples of hair, blood, flesh, etc. from the suspended being.

“Interesting…” Ana murmured, using Magic to observe the vials she had.

Even though the Demon Lord could take on the form of anyone, she never expected that the change would be so deep.

Even down to the cells, the samples she acquired from Lydia’s current state were exactly the same as Maro’s.

‘She really did become him!’

Well, Ana figured that would have been the case. Why else would the Demon Lord have responded to the protocol from earlier?

“I would also love to have samples when she’s in her base form…”

Comparing and contrasting samples were necessary for progress.

Unfortunately, Ana doubted the Demon Lord would let her gain access to her body so freely.

The only reason she had come this far was because she transformed into Maro.

‘But, I really need those samples!’

Exasperated, the little girl sighed, trying to find the most optimal solution to her predicament. No matter how hard she tried, there was only one way out.

‘I’ll have to get those samples… by force!’

Lydia of Blanc was a troublesome foe—and Ana had seen some of her capabilities. But, she would be a fool to imagine that everything she saw was all her opponent was capable of.

“Still, as long as I prepare adequately, I should be able to get what I need…”

Another problem that popped up was the fact that her earlier trick wouldn’t work again.

The Demon Lord would also be wary of turning into Maro, since doing so would compromise her.

In all likelihood, it was more logical that Ana would be the next target of Lydia. She would kill and transform into her to access the device.

‘If I had enough time, I would have also made a duplicate of myself… sigh, this sucks.’

In the end, she simply had to get what she required by taking matters into her own hands.

Was it dangerous? Yes!

However, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Ana realized she was at a big risk, but, she couldn’t back out now.

‘As long as I can prepare properly… victory should be mine!’

************************

“U-uh…?!” Lydia stirred to life as she finally regained consciousness.

She was still in her Maro form, but something felt a bit different.

Her body didn’t feel the same as before, but that wasn’t the most important thing.

“You…!”

The girl who was standing before her, dressed in a lab coat and donning glasses, was smiling as Lydia glared.

She seemed to be looking elsewhere, but her three Automatons made it clear that surprise attacks weren’t going to work.

The more Lydia thought about it, the more confused she became—concerning her situation, and the girl called Anabelle Frederick.

‘How is she still alive?!’ Lydia thought to herself.

She definitely burned the girl to a crisp and destroyed her completely.

Even her Trump Card, the Automaton she employed, was destroyed.

‘I think I got dizzy for a moment after she said some strange words, but I’m alright now… what really happened?’

Lydia was not in a stable mental state, but she hadn’t forgotten her mission. Her eyes momentarily darted behind and she saw the structure she was meant to destroy.

Using Maro’s body would have been optimal, but it didn’t seem safe any longer—considering the girl was able to interfere with it somehow.

“What did you do, human?” Lydia asked, staring at the young girl, who was slowly approaching her.

“You’re up already? Good. I think now is the perfect time to tell you.”

‘Up already? How long was I out for?!’ Lydia’s boggled mind struggled to process the information.

Swiftly, she returned to her original state—her blank white form.

Apparently, adopting Maro’s identity was risky.

“The ‘Maro’ you consumed wasn’t the real one. It was an identical clone I made. It’s the same as the ‘me’ you defeated not too long ago.”

“What?!” Lydia couldn’t believe what she was hearing.

She had been fooled this whole time!

“I implanted memories as data into the Maro specimen, but the version of me you fight was a Golem—so it was being remotely controlled.”

Lydia was still palpitating in shock. A Demon Lord like her was being toyed with by a mere kid?!

“The Clone you absorbed has protocols embedded in it. That’s how I was able to control you when you transformed to Maro.”

It sounded absurd, but Lydia couldn’t deny that she had lost grip of her senses for a moment, after Ana said some strange words.

‘Just how many more protocols exist?’ The Demon Lord wasn’t certain.

One thing was for sure, though.

‘I underestimated her. If I’m to complete my mission successfully… I’ll have to go all-out!’

*****************

A

/N

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