"What do you an you can’t predict their movents?" I asked Samantha over the phone.
"Four-star and five-star mbers of the Darkness have protection—so kind of ability that shields them from observation-related skills. Even my precognition can’t track them."
I felt a chill run down my spine. I already had a theory about who made it. It was the sa person who created those self-destructing marks.
The ssiah of Darkness.
This made things far more complicated. It ant Hazel was right.
They had a way to use mystic arts—magic, spells, or whatever they called it. That didn’t really matter. The problem was that it was a power that could be taught and copied by others, just like my cultivation.
I hated admitting it, but magic was far more powerful in the early stages.
Martial arts cultivation had a harsh learning curve. Progress was slow at first. Real gains only ca after years of effort, when everything finally stacked together.
Magic worked differently. It could boost a Seeker’s abilities right away.
While I was lost in thought, an idea ca to .
In movies, criminals always wanted to watch their plans unfold. That ant whoever did this was likely still nearby.
I disconnected the call and closed my eyes, shutting out the chaos around —the sirens, the pained groans of the wounded.
Normally, I could send out Qi waves to scan my surroundings. That thod had limits, but it was easy to use. Right now, speed had to be sacrificed. Control mattered more.
Instead of releasing one strong pulse, I sent out weak, overlapping waves that resonated with each other—like sonar bouncing through water. The technique required more precision, more patience, but it gave a wider range.
The waves spread outward, painting whole block in my mind. Buildings. People. Movent.
Then I found it.
In one of the buildings, there was a void. A missing chunk where my Qi should have detected a person but instead hit nothing. Like throwing sound into a black hole.
I rembered Samantha’s words: Four-star mbers have a way to evade detection.
For the ti being, I chose not to act. I was using my real body, so it would not look good if I suddenly teleported with so many people.
No. I needed to keep my composure and think this through.
The enemy was already hot on my trail, and I couldn’t give them any more reason to hunt .
At the sa ti, I couldn’t just let them slip away.
So, I headed towards a secluded place and teleported multiple tis to another building.
Once I was certain no one was watching, I summoned my ’Chase’ character.
I transferred my consciousness into it, leaving my real body hidden in a maintenance closet.
Through the clone’s eyes, I teleported to the target location and stayed hidden.
At the edge of the rooftop, I spotted a man in his forties. He wore a red, glossy leather coat over a black undershirt, and golden aviator glasses shielded his eyes.
He did not seem to notice , so I waited for him to leave, and reveal his hideout.
But then he drew a silver pistol from his waist and aid it at empty space. He pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Or so I thought.
From my position, flas flared up again on my building. He was toying with us.
Alright. Ti to kill this bastard. I could no longer stand by and watch while he slaughtered my bread and butter.
Just as I made the slightest movent, he suddenly turned toward my direction and smiled like a maniac.
"Got you, sucker"
All my instinct scread danger. I tried to teleport out imdiately—
Nothing happened.
The skill simply failed, like hitting a wall I couldn’t see.
I went with the next best thing and summoned my shadow.
Bang!
I heard the shot, but there was no bullet. My entire body just erupted into flas. Fire spread across like napalm, hungry and all-consuming.
Good thing I was able to form shadow armor just in ti. The dark coating took the brunt of it, but the flas clung stubbornly, eating through the layers until it vanished.
"Oh, that’s a cool trick, kid. Let see if you’re capable enough to make sweat."
The confidence in his voice irritated . But the fact that he could stop my teleportation was proof enough of his capabilities.
I didn’t waste breath on a reply. My spear materialized fully in my hand, and I channeled Qi through it, the weapon humming with accumulated energy.
swooosh!
I launched forward, closing the distance in one explosive step.
He pulled the trigger again.
bang!
This ti, the attack ca as shockwaves. The impact sent vibrations up my arms, which confused given how much physical strength I had.
More bullets followed. They were not strong enough to overwhelm , but they broke my montum every ti, no matter how I changed my guard.
I even tried to redirect the force. My body was stun for a split second, breaking the motion.
Whatever he was using relied on an ability that defied logic and rendered my strength useless.
If blocking was useless, then dodging was the only option.
I gritted my teeth and pushed my body forward, relying on pure speed to close the distance. Sothing was wrong imdiately. Each step felt heavier than it should have.
Still, I thrust my spear toward his chest. Wind and montum built into a powerful rotation.
"Nice try, kid. You’ll have to be more creative than that if you want to beat ."
He deflected the attack directly. Using the leftover force, he jumped back and floated in midair, smiling at .
’What are those things?’
My eyes caught strange symbols etched into the sole of his shoes and the magazine of his gun. They glowed faintly, barely visible unless I focused on them.
I swallowed hard as I realized the glow wasn’t just on him—the entire floor was shining the sa color.
’Shit.’
BOOOOM!
Flas erupted from my feet, so hot they lted the entire rooftop—rock and tal included. I stood up, shaping my shadow into a long pole.
All my clothes had burned away, leaving only the nano suit. Not even a floor boss had ever dealt this much damage to .
Yet in that attack, I had already used one of the three life-saving protections from my Aegis Armor.
"You survived that?" He looked surprised. "You’re more talented than I thought."
"I can do more than just survive." I gripped my spear tighter, and my shadow aura burst outward, swallowing the air around .
I expected fear. Instead, his grin stretched wider. He began clapping—like he just watched a magic show.
"Amazing. Really amazing."
"Kid, your power doesn’t just suit Darkness. You were born for it. So why rot in this pathetic guild? The world’s bigger than this place."
He extended his hand.
"Join us. I’ll show you how deep it goes."
"No thanks."
I took my stance and launched forward, closing the gap in a single burst.
With the tampered floor destroyed, I realized all my restrictions were gone too. No way I’d lose to a long-distance fighter.
"Teleportation is so elentary." He chuckled and vanished just as my spear pierced through nothing but air.
I landed on another rooftop, and he reappeared twenty ters behind .
"See? Such power is child’s play compared to our Leader’s magic. I was granted this power by him, and you could receive his blessing too, considering that you’re extrely talented."
I clicked my tongue in annoyance. This was probably the first ti I’d been this pissed off.
What the hell was happening? If a four-star was already this strong, then how powerful were the five-stars?
And the system really wanted to fight a group with access to magic like this?
Damn. They were basically a bunch of cheaters.
Not that I was any better with my system.
I steadied my grip on the spear, eyes tracking his every movent. He stood there, relaxed, like this was all a ga to him. That smug look on his face made my blood boil further.
"What’s wrong?" he called out, tilting his head. "Already hitting your limit?"
My jaw clenched. No. I wasn’t done yet. Fine. If he wanted to play with tricks, I would show him my full power.
"Let’s stop this for now." He raised his hand and gestured to the ground below.
I glanced down. Everyone was staring up at our fight, phones raised, recording everything.
A public spectacle. I couldn’t reveal all my trump cards with so many people around. Not only that, transforming into my werewolf form would practically be admitting that I was the one who killed the Senator.
He smiled, reading my hesitation perfectly.
"See? You’re smarter than you look. A fight like this. would draw the wrong kind of eyes, wouldn’t it?" His voice dropped lower. "But my offer still stands. When you’re tired of playing hero for people who’ll never understand how great you are."
He stepped back, slowly disappearing like a mist.
"You know where to find us."
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