The four remaining B-Ranks attacked as a single, coordinated unit.
Brick charged from the front, his metallic skin gleaming under the chandeliers. Viper circled left, her hands dripping with corrosive acid. Cinder launched fireballs from the right, while Iron manipulated the decorative swords on the walls, sending them flying toward Kael like guided missiles.
"SCATTER!"
Kael threw himself sideways. A sword whistled past his ear, close enough to nick the skin. He rolled, came up on one knee, and raised his hand.
[AIR MANIPULATION: WIND WALL]
A barrier of compressed air intercepted Cinder's fireball, deflecting it into the ceiling. Plaster rained down.
"Fast little shit," Cinder snarled. She pressed her palms together, and a torrent of flame erupted outward.
"BRICK! NOW!"
The Juggernaut lowered his shoulder and charged through the flames, his Steel Skin protecting him from the heat. He was a freight train of metal and muscle, barreling straight for Kael.
Kael didn't dodge. He planted his feet.
[IMPACT ABSORPTION]
Brick slammed into him. The impact shook the foundation of the hall. Kael skidded backward, his boots gouging furrows in the stone floor, but he didn't fall. The force of the blow flooded into his body—and was instantly converted into raw energy.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
Impact Absorption Successful.
Kinetic Energy Stored: 85%
Temporary Strength Boost: +40%
"My turn," Kael growled.
He grabbed Brick's armored shoulders and headbutted him. The sound was like a hammer striking an anvil. Brick stumbled, dazed.
[LIGHTNING SURGE]
Electricity exploded from Kael's hands, channeling directly into Brick's metallic skin. The conductivity turned the Juggernaut's greatest defense into a liability. He screamed as the voltage fried his nervous system.
Kael kicked the convulsing man away and turned to face Viper.
She was already mid-attack, lunging forward with a dagger coated in green neurotoxin.
"DIE!"
[SWIFT STEP]
Kael vanished. Reappeared behind her.
His arm wrapped around her throat.
"Your poison doesn't work if I don't let you touch me."
Snap.
Viper went limp.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
Devour Successful.
Acquired Ability: Toxin Generation (Grade C-)
Experience Gained: 2,800 XP.
"VIPOR!" Cinder screamed. She launched another fireball.
This time, Kael didn't dodge. He caught it.
[AIR MANIPULATION: VACUUM SPHERE]
He created a pocket of vacuum around the fireball, starving it of oxygen. The flames sputtered and died.
"How—"
[INFINITE BLADE ARTS: TRACE]
A sword materialized in Kael's hand—a replica of the blade Iron had thrown at him earlier. He threw it with telekinetic force.
The sword pierced Cinder's shoulder, pinning her to the wall. She screamed, flames dying around her hands as her concentration shattered.
Iron roared, sending a wave of metal debris flying. "YOU'LL PAY FOR THAT!"
"SILAS!" Kael shouted.
Silas stepped forward from the shadows of the hallway. Her hands were raised, dark purple energy crackling between her fingers.
[CURSE: RUST]
A wave of entropy washed over Iron. The metal weapons under his control corroded instantly, turning to reddish dust. Even his own skin, enhanced by his Metalmancer abilities, began to oxidize and crack.
"WHAT DID YOU—AAAAHHH!"
Iron collapsed, clutching his rusting body.
Morgan Whitmore watched the massacre with widening eyes. Her composed facade cracked.
"What are you doing?!" she screamed at Silas. "I thought you were on our side! I thought you wanted a seat on the board!"
Silas's expression was cold. Empty.
"I made a deal with the devil," she said quietly. "And he's a better master than you ever were."
"TRAITOR!" Morgan's face twisted with rage. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a beacon. "You think you've won? You think you can—"
Kael moved.
He crossed the distance between them in three steps, his hand closing around her throat. He lifted her off the ground, slamming her against the wall.
"It's over, Morgan," he snarled. "Your guards are dead. Your money can't save you here."
Morgan's face was turning red, but her eyes...
She was smiling.
"You think... gasp... I came alone... with just them?"
Her eyes flickered to the shadow directly behind Kael.
"Kill him."
Kael's danger sense screamed.
He twisted, trying to throw Morgan aside and dodge—
Too slow.
A blade of pure darkness erupted from the shadows behind him. It sliced through the air with a sound like tearing paper.
SLASH.
Kael's vision went white with agony.
His left arm separated from his body at the elbow. Blood sprayed in a hot, crimson arc. The severed limb hit the floor with a wet slap.
"AAAAHHH!"
Kael staggered back, clutching the gushing stump. His regeneration kicked in immediately, but the wound was too severe, the damage too catastrophic. The cells tried to knit, but the bleeding was arterial.
"KAEL!"
Silas rushed forward, her hands glowing with healing magic. She grabbed his arm, trying to stem the flow.
The shadow on the floor rose.
It coalesced into a figure—a man wrapped in black cloth, his face hidden behind a featureless mask. He held a blade made of solidified darkness, its edge still dripping with Kael's blood.
SYSTEM ANALYSIS
Target: Shadow Guard (Classified)
Level: 189 (A-Rank Peak)
Class: [Shadow Assassin]
Abilities: Shadow Meld, Shadow Travel, Phase Shift, Shadow Constructs
Threat Level: LETHAL
"My my," the Shadow Guard said, his voice distorted and hollow. "You survived the first cut. Impressive."
Kael's vision swam. Pain radiated through his entire body.
System... status...
SYSTEM ALERT
CRITICAL INJURY DETECTED.Left arm severed below elbow.
Blood loss: 1.2 liters (Critical).
Regeneration: Attempting to seal stump.
Estimated time: 3 minutes.
"A-rank," Sylara's voice cut through the haze in his mind. "Kael, you have to run. He's A-Rank Peak. The gap in power is insurmountable. His mana density is fifty times yours. One more hit and you die."
"No... No more running," Kael gasped.
He ripped a strip of cloth from his shirt and tied it around his stump, pulling it tight with his teeth. The bleeding slowed.
The Shadow Guard tilted his head. "You're still standing? Interesting."
He moved.
Kael barely saw him. The guard was a blur, his body dissolving and reforming with each step.
[DARKNESS STEP]
The assassin appeared behind Kael, blade slashing for his spine.
[STEEL SKIN]
Kael's body hardened. The blade struck—but instead of cutting through, it skidded off the metallic surface with a shower of sparks.
"Oh?" The Shadow Guard sounded amused. "A defensive ability. How quaint."
He attacked again. This time, his blade shifted, becoming intangible. It passed through Kael's steel skin—and solidified inside his shoulder.
"GRAAAH!"
Kael dropped to one knee. Blood bubbled from the new wound.
"Kael!" Silas screamed. She raised her hands.
[CURSE: BINDING]
Dark chains erupted from the floor, wrapping around the Shadow Guard's legs.
The assassin glanced down. "B-Rank curse magic. Cute."
He dissolved into shadow. The chains fell through empty air. He reformed three meters away, completely unharmed.
"Is that the best you have?" he taunted. "The gap between B and A isn't just levels, child. It's a fundamental difference in existence. I have condensed my core. I have survived the Lightning Tribulation. My mana is denser, my techniques faster, my very being superior to yours."
He raised his blade.
"Let me show you."
The Shadow Guard's form blurred. Suddenly, there were five of him, surrounding Kael and Silas.
[SHADOW CLONES]
"Which one is real?" they whispered in unison. "Can you tell?"
Kael's heart pounded. His breathing was ragged. His left arm was gone, his shoulder was bleeding, and his mana reserves were draining fast.
Think. THINK.
"Fire," Sylara said urgently. "Shadows cannot exist without light to cast them. If you remove the light, he has nowhere to hide. But if you create too much light..."
Kael's eyes widened.
Fire removes shadows.
He understood.
"SILAS!" he roared. "BIND HIS SHADOW! NOT HIS BODY—HIS SHADOW!"
Silas's eyes widened. She'd never tried to curse a shadow before. But she understood what he meant. If the shadow was bound to the ground, the guard couldn't merge with it.
She slammed her hands onto the floor.
[CURSE: SHADOW ANCHOR]
Purple runes flared across the ground, targeting the dark shapes cast by the chandeliers.
The Shadow Guard felt it—a sudden weight on his feet. His connection to the shadows weakened.
"What—"
"NOW!"
Kael opened his mouth.
[DRAGON'S BREATH]
A torrent of white-hot flame erupted, not at the guard, but at the walls. The curtains ignited. The wooden paneling caught fire. Within seconds, the room was blazing with light.
The Shadow Guard's clones vanished. His body became solid, tangible—trapped in the harsh, shadowless illumination.
"NO!" he snarled. "You think fire can stop me?!"
He lunged, his blade raised for the killing blow.
Kael didn't dodge. He stepped forward.
[BLOOD MANIPULATION]
The blood pooling on the floor from Kael's severed arm rose up. It formed into dozens of thin, razor-sharp needles.
The Shadow Guard's eyes widened behind his mask.
"What—"
[NEEDLE STORM]
The blood needles shot forward, piercing the guard's body. They didn't do much damage—his A-Rank physique was too durable—but they did something far more important.
They drew blood.
The guard's own blood was now outside his body.
Kael's eyes glowed.
"Got you."
[DEVOUR: BLOOD ROUTE]
Instead of devouring the guard's body, Kael devoured the essence in the blood. A thin stream of red energy flowed from the guard's wounds into Kael's mouth.
The Shadow Guard staggered. His movements slowed.
"WHAT ARE YOU—"
[LIGHTNING BOLT: MAXIMUM OUTPUT]
Kael poured every remaining drop of his mana into a single attack. The electricity surged through the blood still coating the guard's body—blood that was now connected to Kael's devouring ability.
The guard convulsed. His shadow constructs flickered and died.
And then—
Silas was there. She had retrieved Kael's severed arm from the floor and, with a twisted surge of determination, used her curse magic to turn it into a weapon.
[CURSE WEAPON: LIFE-DRAIN BLADE]
She drove the severed, cursed limb into the guard's chest.
The A-Rank assassin gasped. His body began to wither, his essence draining away.
"Impossible... I am... A-Rank..."
Kael grabbed the guard's head.
[DEVOUR]
The Shadow Guard screamed—a sound that echoed in both the physical world and the spirit realm. Then, he collapsed into dust.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION
DEVOUR SUCCESSFUL.
Target: A-Rank Shadow Assassin.
Experience Gained: 50,000 XP.
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
LEVEL UP!
Level 66 → Level 71!
Acquired Abilities:
Shadow Meld (Grade B+)
Shadow Travel (Grade B)
Shadow Constructs (Grade B)
Phase Shift (Grade A)
Kael fell to his knees, gasping. His mana was empty. His body was broken. But he was alive.
He looked up.
Morgan Whitmore was standing by the door, her face pale with terror. Her trump card—her invincible A-Rank guardian—was dead.
"You..." she whispered. "You monster..."
Kael tried to stand, but his legs gave out. The blood loss was too severe.
Silas caught him before he hit the ground.
"Rest," she murmured. "I'll handle her."
But even as she spoke, Morgan was backing away.
"This isn't over," the heiress stammered. "I have resources. I have allies. You can't—"
She turned and ran.
Kael watched her go, his vision blurring.
Let her run, he thought. She'll make a better meal when she's terrified.