For a heartbeat, no one moved.
The shadow creature stood before them, sword raised, that inhuman smile carved across its face. The cold blue glow of its blade reflected in their wide, horrified eyes.
Then—
“MOVE!”
Soraya’s shout shattered the paralysis.
Flas erupted from both her hands as she thrust them forward.
FWOOOOOM!
A roaring torrent of fire surged ahead, swallowing the creature whole. Heat washed over the forest, warping the air itself as the blaze drove the darkness back for dozens of ters. Skeletal trees glowed orange, their shadows dancing wildly.
“Did... did you get it?” the Association mber gasped, hope slipping into his voice.
The flas faded.
Smoke curled upward in slow spirals.
And there it stood.
Unhard.
Not a single scorch mark marred its shadowy body. Not even a scratch.
The creature tilted its head slightly.
Amused.
Then—
Flash!
One instant it stood at a distance—
—the next, it was directly in front of Soraya.
Her eyes widened.
The shadow blade ca crashing down.
CLANG!
Rihan lunged in from the side, slamming his sword against the descending strike. Sparks of blue and white exploded from the impact. The blow barely shifted the blade—but it was enough.
Enough to save her.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, SORAYA?! MOVE!” Rihan roared.
Boom!
At the sa instant, Afraan attacked from behind—razor-sharp wind slashes screaming through the air as they tore toward the creature.
SHRIIIIIIP!
Soraya and Rihan retreated instantly, falling back toward Afraan without hesitation. They regrouped, forming a tight formation without a single wasted movent.
The wind blades passed through the creature’s body.
As if slicing through mist.
It didn’t move.
Didn’t flinch.
The red core in its chest pulsed once.
Thump.
Then again.
Thump.
The pressure in the air thickened, pressing down on their chests, stealing breath, sinking into their bones.
The creature straightened.
Its blue eyes burned brighter as it lifted its shadow-forged sword.
That faint, chilling smile returned.
“WERAN SE REVENNA.”
Then—
Flash!
The shadow creature vanished.
And reappeared right in front of them.
Its sword swept sideways in a rciless arc, cutting through the air with a shrill scream—straight for the Association mber’s neck.
SHRIIING!
But unlike before—
They were ready.
“NOW!”
BOOM!
Soraya hurled a massive fireball forward. It roared like a living inferno, its blazing mass tearing through the darkness straight toward the creature’s crimson core.
The heat exploded outward—
Just before impact—
Flash!
The shadow creature vanished.
The fireball blasted through empty space and detonated against distant trees.
KRAAAASH!
Flas burst skyward, reducing skeletal trunks to burning shards.
And in the sa instant—
It reappeared.
Right in front of Soraya.
Her pupils shrank to pinpoints.
The shadow blade lifted—
Cold blue light flashing—
—but it never fell.
SHRIIIIIP!
Afraan’s wind blade ripped forward, compressed air screaming as it carved through the forest like an invisible guillotine, aid directly at the glowing red core.
For the first ti—
The creature reacted late.
Its body twisted unnaturally—
Flash!
It vanished again.
And reappeared—
Directly in front of Afraan.
But this ti—
Rihan was already there.
His sword was mid-swing the instant the creature materialized.
Steel howled through the air, aid straight at the pulsing core.
The smile on the shadow creature’s face shattered.
Its blue eyes widened.
Too close.
Too fast.
With a violent backward blur—
WHOOSH!
—the creature barely escaped.
Rihan’s blade missed the core by less than a breath, passing so close that sparks of red light burst and scattered across the darkness like shattered embers.
Tsssss—
They hissed as they faded.
Silence fell.
Just for a fraction of a heartbeat.
And in that stillness—
The tension beca suffocating.
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