Supreme Husband System! & Supreme Wife System!

Chapter 165: The central layer again

After dinner, everyone except Sierra went to their tents to rest.

Sierra and Esma took over the watch that night. They have already fully mastered the situation and found an effective way to withstand the dangers of the night. In previous days, they were also on duty, but then Nemo or Eulalia was with them, who acted as additional protection in case of unforeseen circumstances.

There were no diamond-ranked beings among the beasts that attacked the camp that night. But the biggest relief for the band was the absence of doppelgangers among the overnight guests.

For Sierra and Esma, dealing with beings below platinum rank was a piece of cake. They only had to spend a little of their energy on this, but otherwise they didnʼt even let the beasts get closer than 50 meters to the camp, so as not to interfere with the rest to rest and gain strength.

Esma used her mastery of the water element to create a large-scale spell that covered a vast area around the camp.

Tiny, barely discernible particles of water hovered in the air, sensitively detecting the slightest movement of silent beasts, even those with the ability to deceive the Soul Force. No beast could escape from Esma, and anyone who dared to disturb her inevitably met with a sad end.

Sierra, unlike Esma, was almost native to the darkness of the night. She seemed to melt into the darkness, becoming an invisible reaper that took the lives of all the beasts that tried to attack the camp.

On the morning of the fourth day, after a hearty lunch and packing up, the group finally decided to move to the central layer.

All the participants, including Sierra and Esma, felt some excitement. None of them had ever been to the central layer before, when there was a Temple in the Forbidden Zone, and Sierra and Esma had not been to such places even in his absence.

There was no clear line, no markings indicating the boundary between the layers. The group, not knowing if they had crossed it, confidently walked forward, heading towards the very heart of the Forbidden Zone.

Soon, in less than an hour, everyone realized that they had already entered the central layer. Everyone, without exception, not only Idan, felt the oppressive pressure of the Energy of Madness, which, like a huge wave, crashed down on them.

If last time only Idan could feel this energy, now its concentration was so great that everyone felt it and realized how slowly it affected them.

Idan seemed a little calm, as his body was already filled with this energy, and the extra energy could not affect him. It was only because his bloodline absorbed most of this energy that it didnʼt affect him much.

Last time, Idan managed to contain some of the madness. However, if he didnʼt use his bloodline, the madness energy wouldnʼt be able to affect him.

At that moment, their contracted Doppelgangers came to the aid of Idan, Arabel, Nemo and Eulalie. They began to absorb the madness energy that entered their hostsʼ bodies, and thus negated the negative effect of the madness energy.

For the Doppelgangers, the energy of madness was their own element, which gave them strength and caused some reckless thoughts restrained by the contract.

The Forbidden Zone itself did not perceive the contracted Doppelgangers as separate beings, but considered them part of the power of those who had signed a contract with them.

Now, thanks to the help of their Doppelgangers, the band felt a little more confident.

As for Esma and Sierra, although the energy of madness had some impact on them, it was not as critical as for the others, whose rank was below ”Diamond”.

After walking a little more under the oppressive atmosphere of the Central Layer, which was significantly larger than last time, the group finally encountered what everyone feared — Perfect Doppelgangers.

Six Perfect Doppelgangers appeared in front of them, one for each member of the group. They were all smiling amiably at the group.

The doppelgangers of the group, seeing their fellows, smiled back. Then they separated from their masters and stood aside, allowing them to fight the Perfect Doppelgangers on their own.

The Perfect Doppelgangers were familiar to most of the group members. Although they didnʼt want to fight them, rules were rules, and they needed to test them before being allowed access to the center of the Forbidden Area where the Temple appeared.

”Itʼs just like last time: one opponent for each!” — Eulalia announced, paying attention primarily to Sierra and Esma.

”Hmm!” said Esma, stepping forward, and one of the Perfect Doppelgangers stepped towards her.

Esma immediately rushed to the side with her rival, realizing that it was better for her and her rank to stay away from the others, so as not to inadvertently touch them in the heat of battle.

Sierra came out next, and as soon as her opponent was determined, she also left the general group, dragging her opponent with her.

Then all the other participants, having chosen their rivals, also split up and began their individual fights.

Nemo, Arabel and Idan, just like last time, had no difficulty quickly defeating their opponents. They have improved their skills significantly over the past few days, which has helped them succeed in the fights.

During the battle, Arabel even used her transformation into a Valkyrie, which incredibly surprised her doppelganger. When she realized the sudden change in her rival, she fell into a stupor. Taking advantage of this, Arabel quickly gained the upper hand over her doppelganger. Just like last time, it turned into a black slush and soaked into the ground, disappearing without a trace.

Nemo, unlike the previous time, had a little more difficult time, but Izzyʼs help gave him a significant advantage over his doppelganger. In the end, he also emerged victorious.

As for Idan, it was only because of his unique ability to exchange stats with Arabel that he was able to gain the upper hand once again.

None of the group members restrained themselves in battle with the opponents, knowing that they could not be destroyed.

Eulalia had the hardest time of all.

She lost last time, but she learned a lesson from it. In recent days, realizing that they might encounter Perfect Doppelgangers again in the central forest, she experimented a lot with her abilities, trying to find a way to defeat the Doppelganger.

And her efforts have borne fruit, albeit with great difficulty.

If not for the help of her Doppelganger, who absorbed the energy of madness and neutralized its negative effect, Eulalia probably would not have been able to successfully resist her opponent.

Soon Sierra and Esma appeared, who also successfully dealt with their opponents.

However, for greater security, Sierra and Esma were checked using code words to make sure they were real and not Doppelgangers.

The groupʼs fears proved to be unfounded. Sierra and Esma turned out to be real, not Doppelgangers.

After dealing with all the enemies and resting for a while, the group went to the very heart of the Forbidden Zone, where the famous and impregnable Temple was waiting for them.