[Vol. 8] Chapter 137: Blade of Shadow
"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!..."
Two shadows clashed in an instant, then quickly separated again. They landed on the ground and returned to their physical forms.
"......"
Shadow stood up and turned to look at her opponent. Her disguise had faded automatically when she merged into the shadows. Her face remained cold and expressionless, but her wrist, waist, and legs were now covered with over ten wounds of varying depth.
Her tight black battle suit, made of highly stretchable fabric, had been cut open by blades or stabbed through, and dark red blood was dripping from the wounds.
The worst cut almost chopped off the arm she was holding her sword with. Even though she had barely dodged in time, blood was now pouring from the deep cut, showing bone, and her condition was clearly affected.
She didn’t even need to look. Just by sensing it during the fight, she could tell her opponent was completely unharmed.
Just one exchange, and the difference in power was clear.
Even so, the injured Shadow Guard girl did not show the slightest fear or panic. She simply stared at her opponent with a serious look and slightly furrowed brows.
"Why do you know the Shadow Guard’s secret technique, [Shadow Fusion]? This skill is extremely hard to learn and requires a special physical condition, along with outside support and environment. Even most of us can only study it but can’t fully master it. It’s impossible for this skill to leak out. Who taught you?"
"Heh~"
Compared to the battered Shadow, her opponent had not taken a single scratch in their fight.
But after such an intense clash, the disguise of “Violet” naturally faded, revealing her true form.
And even Shadow, usually calm and emotionless, was slightly surprised and shaken when she saw what was underneath.
The figure wasn’t even human. In fact, it couldn’t even be described as “human-like.” It was a completely unnatural creature, something truly strange.
It looked like a tall creature walking upright, similar in size to Shadow, but it had no arms, legs, or head.
Instead, its entire body was covered in thin, sharp tentacle-like limbs, like a tree growing thousands of branches from its stump. It had no hands, no face, no eyes. But it somehow clearly sensed everything around it. Each of those tentacles acted like powerful weapons or flexible limbs.
Just like how the [World Sustainers] were not mentioned at all in the Shadow Guards’ intel files, this weird creature was something even Shadow had never seen or heard of before.
Maybe... it didn’t belong to this world.
As that unsettling thought floated through her mind, the monster spoke again.
It didn’t seem to care that Miss Shadow Guard was staring at it. Its long tendrils moved slightly, and a cold, mocking voice, neither male nor female, sounded from somewhere.
"That weak little skill of yours, how dare you call it a secret technique? Stealing it? Don’t flatter yourself. I just watched a few of your friends use it, ate them for good measure, and now I can use the technique way better than you, the so-called ‘ace’ of your unit. Where I come from, this level of power would be considered third-tier at best."
"You short-sighted humans… You have no idea how far behind you really are. If it weren’t for that annoying barrier around your world getting in the way, with how weak your so-called ‘civilization’ has become, your kind would have already been swallowed up by the hungry monsters from other worlds. Got it?"
"...Is that so."
Maybe it was because she was surprised by the monster’s strange appearance and powers, or maybe she had already learned enough and didn’t feel like wasting time with small talk, either way, Shadow didn’t say anything more.
She quietly reached behind her and grabbed a second short, thin sword that she always carried on her back but had never used before.
Seeing her slowly pull the blade from its sheath with a serious expression, the “tentacle monster” on the other side opened its mouth to mock her again, ready to laugh at the foolish girl for still trying to fight, not realizing the huge gap in power between them.
But then…
The air in the dark forest suddenly froze.
Darkness… had arrived.
It was deeper and heavier than the night. Pure, silent blackness that seemed to come from beneath the light itself.
In just a moment, this darkness covered the entire trial field known as the [Gate of Ghosts], like a god had waved their hand and brought down their kingdom. The tentacle monster’s voice stopped immediately.
As Miss Shadow drew the short sword, her other weapon, a longer sword she had been holding, suddenly turned into a flash of light and merged into the short blade like a bird flying home.
At the same time, her short gray-blue hair began to change rapidly, turning completely gray, the same deep gray color as the short sword.
But this wasn't the typical gray color you'd see from people like "Mr. Dead Soul" or "Hongyan" in the Western Kingdom of the Ancient Spirit Realm.
This gray was far deeper and more powerful, as if it represented some mysterious truth that could not be explained in words.
This was the color of Shadow.
A terrifying force much stronger than anything Miss Shadow had shown before, stronger than anything present in the battlefield, exploded out from the short sword like a storm crashing over mountains and oceans. It was like a strange shadow eating away at the world itself, covering everything in sight!
Even the strange tentacle creature, whose origins were unknown, screamed in shock, completely losing its calm. All of its sharp tendrils pointed straight toward the ancient, gray short sword now held in Miss Shadow’s hand.
“A... a divine weapon?! Is that a Primordial Artifact?! Hey, wait a minute, this is insane! Why are you suddenly pulling out a Primordial Artifact?!”
Its tentacles stood on end like fur bristling in fear. Feeling the sword’s overwhelming power to swallow the world, its voice was now full of panic and rage.
“Impossible! No way! You—you're just a weak human, the lowest kind of mortal! How could you possibly have a Primordial Artifact?!”
“The Primordial Artifact cannot be used by anyone who isn’t recognized by it. Since the world was created, the number of times it has appeared and matched with a compatible user hasn’t exceeded a hundred. How the hell did I run into one now?! Ah, I get it now, it's a fake… This has to be a fake! You’re just trying to scare me with it, aren’t you!!!”
Miss Shadow didn’t respond to the monster’s panicked shouts and angry insults. Her black eyes were still cold, but now they seemed endless, like a deep, silent pool of ink.
She calmly looked at the short sword in her hand. It was as if a giant shadow had risen behind her, a ghostly figure also holding a sword, silent but full of power and authority.
“You bastard! I don’t believe it! Even if you got lucky and really have a Primordial Artifact, you’re still just a mortal—!”
“Blade of Shadow: Phantom Edge.”
Without any flashy moves or warning, the girl holding the short sword suddenly turned into a blur of shadow.
The entire [Gate of Ghosts] trial space seemed to tremble for a moment.
Darkness, deep as death, sliced across the sky like the scythe of a grim reaper. The overwhelming power of the sword left a long trail of distortion in its path, flashing and twisting in midair.
"Shhhk!"