Is it Wrong to Copy Abilities in Apocalypse?

"Give me all the artifacts and relics you have, and I will let you go."

Alex wasn't lying when he said that, and Karina could tell that as well; that was the reason for her head cooling down in an instant.

As for why Alex said that?

Well, he couldn't see a single artifact or relic in her storage; she had probably kept them somewhere else, and those things were Alex's motives from the start, so how could he leave without those?

The ability he was copying, was just a plus.

Karina, however, soon had her eyes sharpened.

She was not stable as she realized that even now, Alex wasn't killing her, but then she frowed.

"Let me go, or let me live?"

She wasn't so easy to fool, as she knew how her ability could be cheated as well.

If Alex said let her go, then just leaving her hand would mean he was letting her go, but that was not what she wanted.

She was calm, but that didn't mean that she was out of danger.

In this world, one was either a friend or an enemy; there was no neutral party in the world as it is now.

Alex wasn't her friend, so he was an enemy, and as a girl, she knew very well how bad the world could be for her if her enemy were to want to see her suffer.

She would rather die fighting than have that.

The most important thing was that Alex didn't strike her as the good guy, or more like, she couldn't even tell what kind of guy he was, and this type of person was the most dangerous one.

One wouldn't even know what kind of monster they are hiding inside.

That was the reason why the first thing that came to her mind when she was caught by Alex was to fight it out with him—even if it meant that she would die.

Now, however, she saw a chance and wanted to make the best use of it.

She was now sure that Alex had come here for the artifacts and relics she had.

'Is that why he wasn't killing me?'

'But what about his pointless lying?'

'Is getting the artifacts and the relics his only aim? Or is he after something more?'

Such questions kept popping up in her mind, which was working way faster than before due to the situation she was in.

*Grip*

Especially when she could clearly feel Alex's grip on her wrist only tightening, instead of answering her.

*Grit*

She could only grit her teeth in determination and anger.

'So, he never wanted to let me live—'

Her thoughts, however, were cut short as Alex finally spoke.

"Yes, I will let you live."

His words, cold yet assertive, made their way to her ears, his grip on her wrist loosening.

*Thud*

Karina's body relaxed on the ground, as she groaned a bit, trying to straighten her arms, sitting up straight.

"Only if you have more than 5 items."

She was about to add some more conditions, like not following her and all, but Alex spoke, knowing full well that she would try to play smart.

†ԋіѕ$-¢-на$ρ#τ&ε-я$-$ί&Տ-!

He didn't want to be forced to kill her—wasting all of the time he could've used to clear castles.

The moment he spoke, he could see Karina's body growing tense, and he knew that he was successful in diverting her attention to the topic she should focus on for now.

Karina, on the other hand, had her eyes widen in realization.

'I-I don't know how many items have been collected by now...'

She realized that she had yet to check up on the number of items collected until now, as that was supposed to be done hourly, and it hadn't even been an hour since the scenario started.

*Grab*

She could feel her color being grabbed by Alex raising her up on her feet before he stared at her.

"Lead me to the location."

He let out a cold series of words, making Karina more anxious than she was before.

'A-Are there more than 5 items collected yet...?'

She muttered inwardly as her feet started moving on their own, entering the same pathway she rushed out of.

'Please, let there be more than 5 of them...'

This was the only thing that went through her head throughout the path, and soon, they were out of the cave itself, moving to the right of the cave, causing Alex to frown. He finally realized why he couldn't find anything even with his mapping ability.

The items weren't in the cave in the first place; they were in a cave a bit far away from the one they used to stay in.

This cave was left unguarded, making it seem like the last place someone would hide such important things—the only ones that could help one pass the second scenario.

Alex didn't even have to look around in the cave as he found where the items were without much effort, causing his eyes to sharpen as a certain glint passed through his eyes.

His mapping ability was a good ability that let him know about the things that might be hidden from him, at least physical things, but there was one problem with the ability: It wouldn't be able to tell what was hidden.

All it showed was a grid-like image of the surroundings in an illusionary blue holograph-type image.

So, although he could see the items, and tell where they were, he couldn't make out what they were and how many were there.

All he could see was a cluster of blue masses hidden under a rock that seemed to be randomly placed together, but in reality, they were hiding in a deep hole below them.

*Step**Step*...

He stepped forward, leaving Karina confused, but as he saw him moving toward the exact spot where she was going to take him, her eyes widened in shock.

'How did he know?'

Right now, all Karina cared and wished about was that the number of items was higher than 5.

She was ready to die fighting, but that was the case when she had no other choice left, as right now, she could still see hopes of surviving; even her skill pointed out that there was a chance, but it kept fluctuating.

It was as if it couldn't perfectly tell what would happen, as if there was a variable that could change the whole game.

Hope really made humans fickle, as the woman who was standing confidently, ready to die, was now praying to her god to help her.

[The Flame of Sacrifice is asking the fortune-bringers and luck-bringers to bless his followers.]

Even her god was calling in favors for her, as he knew that if she were to survive, she would surely shine brighter than before; Karina had potential after all.

*Baam—Clatter*

It was then that Alex kicked the slabs covering the hole away, his eyes scanning through the hole, squinting, trying to make out how many items there were when his eyes fell on a particular item.

'Is that...?'

He just stared at it for a while before he realized something.

"You will survive."

With a frown on his face, he muttered, and Karina, who heard his words, widened her eyes.