Kingsland Arc Chapter:36 - The Swarm Of Shadows
The air grew heavy and cold, a palpable sense of dread descending upon the group. From the deepest corners of the forest, black mist curled and solidified, giving birth to silent, grotesque figures. Shadow Phantoms—motes of darkness with no discernible features, only a hungry void where faces should be.
Miya: "What's happening? The temperature just dropped twenty degrees."
Kaelen: "I've never seen anything like this. They're not beasts, not spirits. Just… shadows."
Freya: "Everyone, protect each other! It's going to be a tough fight."
The first wave of Shadow Phantoms lunged forward. Lamus and Chou met them head-on, their swords a blur of steel. The phantoms shrieked—a sound like crumbling stone—as they were cleaved apart. The phantoms seemed to dissipate into black smoke, but before the smoke could clear, they reformed, whole and hungry, their numbers replenished.
Lamus (frustrated, panting): "What the hell are these things? They just keep respawning! We're not getting anywhere!"
A sudden, chilling wave of bloodlust washed over the group, so intense it felt like a physical blow.
The mist clung to their skin like ice, each breath a struggle against the pressing cold. Every strike that landed seemed to make the dark thicker, heavier.
Freya's eyes scanned the battlefield, her gaze piercing through the churning chaos of shadows.
At the heart of the maelstrom, she saw it: a colossal figure, cloaked in living darkness. It stood a head taller than any man, its armor a solid construct of solidified shadow. Two points of crimson light blazed from its helm—eyes that burned with ancient hatred. The Shadow Legionnaire.
Freya: "That thing! That must be the leader! We need to defeat it if we want to win."
Kaelen: "So he's the one summoning these things. If we defeat him, all of these will get eliminated."
Chou (his grip tightening on his sword): "But how? We can't even get close. They're a wall of darkness."
Freya: "We have to make our way to him. Rafaela and Miya, stay in the center. Support us with your magic. We need to create an opening."
Freya raised her hand, a sphere of pure, crackling light forming in her palm. The orb of Solar Flare streaked through the air, a miniature sun hurtling toward the Shadow Legionnaire. It hit the Legionnaire's chest with the force of a battering ram, a blinding explosion of light that should have incinerated it.
But when the light faded, the Legionnaire remained, utterly untouched. It didn't even flinch.
The Legionnaire didn't move, yet the red in its eyes pulsed in time with each phantom's strike, as though they fought to the rhythm of his will. "Not even the faintest shift of posture — as if the attack had been nothing more than a breeze."
Just then, a guttural roar echoed from the trees. The ground trembled as two colossal Spectral Beasts—lupine nightmares made of swirling spectral energy—crashed into the group, disrupting their formation.
"The floor cracked under their weight, dust falling like ash from the roof."
The impact was like siege engines hitting the line — soldiers scattered, the air trembling with every spectral roar.
Kaelen and Freya were forced to turn their attention to the larger threats, with Yue Xin providing cover fire.
Kaelen (shouting over the chaos): "Yue Xin, get its legs! I'll take its head!"
Yue Xin (her hands glowing with a soft, green light): "On it! Vine Lash!"
From the floor, thick, glowing vines erupted with astonishing speed. They wrapped themselves tightly around the Spectral Beast's ethereal legs, digging in and holding it in place. The creature howled, struggling against the magical restraints, giving Kaelen the opening he needed.
He leaped into the air, his sword crackling with Wind Blade magic, and plunged it deep into the beast's neck. The creature dissolved into a plume of white smoke.
Meanwhile, Chou and Lamus were surrounded, the Shadow Phantoms pressing in from all sides. The phantoms' strikes, though weak individually, were constant, leaving small, stinging cuts on their arms and legs.
Chou (roaring, his blade engulfed in orange flames): "Ahhhhh! Inferno Slash!"
A wave of fire erupted from his sword, incinerating a dozen phantoms at once. The heat scorched the air, but the phantoms' smoke instantly coalesced to form new ones.
Lamus, watching his junior, felt a surge of pride and competitive spirit.
Lamus (grinning fiercely): "I can't lose to my juniors! Raging Cyclone!"
Lamus spun, his sword a vortex of silver light. He carved a perfect circle of death, and a dozen more phantoms were shredded into nothingness.
They had bought themselves a few precious seconds of breathing room.
Freya (her eyes on the Legionnaire): "This is our chance! Kaelen, Lamus, with me! Everyone, now!"
They charged forward, a desperate push toward the center. Freya launched another barrage of light spells, carving a temporary path through the phantoms. But the moment their feet crossed the threshold, the shadows swirled and solidified, trapping them once again.
They had no choice but to form a tight, defensive circle. Freya, Kaelen, Chou, and Lamus formed the outer ring, a wall of steel and magic. In the center, Miya, Rafaela, and Yue Xin channeled their power, ready to support and heal.
Kaelen (gritting his teeth as he fends off a phantom): "This is a meat grinder! We're not making it out of here at this rate!"
Chou: "Just keep cutting! They have to run out eventually!"
Suddenly, a phantom, leaner and faster than the others, slipped through a gap Lamus was defending. It lunged, its shadowy blade aimed for the group's weakest point.
Rafaela: "Yue Xin, look out!"
Chou: "No, Yue Xin!"
The world narrowed to a single point of shadowed steel. Yue Xin's eyes widened as the blade slid between her ribs, her breath catching in a silent gasp. Rafaela's scream was the first sound to break the spell
Yue Xin!" Rafaela's scream shattered the chaos.
"No!" Chou's voice cracked with raw anguish.
Rafaela, her face a mask of horror, dropped her healing spell and rushed to her friend. Kaelen watched, his mind screaming.
Kaelen (in his mind): No, Yue Xin has been stabbed! But I can't help them! If I move back even an inch, these things will break through and overwhelm us all! What do I do now?
As panic and desperation started to take hold.
Then, shattering through the cacophony, a voice like thunder echoed from the darkness—deep, primal, unyielding.
"LEO!"
Something... or someone... had arrived.
[To Be Continued]