Chapter Twenty-Six ــ Your master deserves death for doing this
"Advance forward!"
The command left (Sung Jin-Woo)'s lips, cold and sharp as the crack of a whip.
The shadow soldiers encircling him surged forth like black stars shot from a galactic cannon.
Their speed was unseeable, a collective blur of inky motion.
In terms of ability, they were S-rank, and in a matter of seconds, they were using their bodies in the air to launch and attack up close.
The Shadow Knights lunged, wielding their sharp swords and unleashing several slashes.
SWISH-SHING-SHINK!
These slashes struck the air directly, piercing through and creating waves of pressure capable of destroying an entire building.
But the ninja before them was no ordinary opponent.
In one instant, he arrived in the middle of the knights.
Lightning erupted around him immediately.
ZZZRRRAPP!
These lightning strikes encircled the knights crafted from darkness.
"Lightning Style: Lightning Stars."
He transformed the electric currents into spheres of raw energy made from lightning.
These concentrated electricity balls exploded like stars of detonating light.
POP-POP-POP-BOOM!
The air filled with the intense, acrid smell of burning ozone and something more metallic—the scent of annihilated shadow-stuff.
The sound of the explosions, a series of concussive BOOMs, vaporized the shadows, thirty of the knight-type, in a single moment.
(Sung Jin-Woo) received a notification from the System and activated his revival technique.
"Shadows, arise."
His voice was a low chant, resonating with authority.
After that, he summoned the Mage-type shadows who had been preparing a magical technique.
Purple, explosive fireballs were generated.
Then, a massive magical circle was created above the entire island region.
The combined power of nearly all the mages, who were essentially S-rank, granted them a staggering level of magical might.
Each mage proceeded to materialize a storm of lightning in the sky.
This storm released waves of electric charges towards (Ochiha Sasuke).
CRACKLE-FIZZ-BOOM!
"Lightning Style: Lightning Current!"
(Sasuke) transformed his body into a form of pure lightning.
His image shifted directly into the sky with a CRACK of thunder.
"Lightning Style: Chidori!"
The ear-piercing sound of shrieking birds appeared, a thousand insane avian cries manufactured from lightning, surging towards the heavens.
The pressure of the air exploded between the purple lightning and the pure blue lightning, creating a sound like tearing fabric that shook the ground below and sent out waves of shock.
SKREEEEE-BOOOOOM!
"He is extremely dangerous," the Shadow Monarch analyzed the situation in a second, using shadow exchange to move.
FWOOP.
He retreated slightly from the shockwave, but his eyes remained fixed on the Uchiha in the air, who was confronting the storm in the sky.
"Too fast. Too smart. Too skilled. And a close-quarters fighter who doesn't retreat or block."
This was the assessment he had formed from the first moment of the beginning, when (Ochiha Sasuke) had struck him directly and thrown him into the wall.
Such skill... even with the power of the shadows he possessed, he hadn't been able to notice the punch until it had already reached the wall.
If he hadn't reinforced himself at the last moment using his energy, he would have sustained significant damage.
(Sung Jin-Woo) drew his black cutting daggers, the metal whispering with a soft shing as it left its sheaths.
He then ordered the shadows to rush in and surround (Ochiha Sasuke), while the Mage shadows focused on distracting him by launching intense, concentrated magical attacks.
In this battle, his role was to study the enemy.
He wasn't rushing into a direct attack, but instead adopting a precise military approach.
He would use his shadows now to learn all of the opponent's capabilities before making his move.
[Alert: A massive increase in pressure is detected around the User.]
His eyes widened.
Suddenly, (Sasuke) appeared before him.
The Shadow Sovereign's reaction wasn't fast enough.
The surroundings beside him, the very rock and debris, exploded.
KA-BLAM!
His body was sent flying through the air.
But at the very last moment, he managed to generate a wall of shadows that protected him.
THUD.
At the same moment, the strongest Shadow Knight appeared.
His right hand, (Igris), thrust forward and parried the shockwave coming from the lightning explosion generated by (Sasuke)'s face.
CLANG-SHOOOOOM!
"It's madness. (Igris), attack him directly. I will take the rear attack."
The shadow soldier lunged without hesitation upon hearing his monarch's orders.
It was a single moment.
(Igris) was at the National Level, and in the moment of his movement, he shattered the pressure created by (Ochiha Sasuke)'s thunder wave.
This directly caused the release of a surge of purple energy that exploded across hundreds of meters, creating a colossal explosion.
BOOOOOOOM!
(Igris) became directly in front of (Ochiha Sasuke) in an instant.
"You are different from the other shadows, aren't you?" (Sasuke)'s voice had an ominous tone, cold and analytical.
"The one who uses you, that wretched being... I will make sure you get a good ending."
(Igris) sensed a strange pressure coming from behind.
An attack from the rear—several explosive lightning-infused kunai, complete with seals around them.
FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH!
The knight, thanks to his superhuman reflexes, dodged the first strike coming at him from behind and jumped, putting several meters between them.
But (Sasuke) didn't leave him alone for long.
In the next moment, (Igris) looked up, but an attack from below tore through the earth.
"Lightning Style: Earth Star!"
KRA-KOOOOOM!
A lightning bolt erupted from the ground, covering an area of one kilometer and rising like a pillar hundreds of meters into the air.
(Igris), who was below this explosion, used his strongest technique.
"Dueling Style: Comet Star!"
This attack transformed the Shadow Knight's body into a star of black shadows.
It exploded in a clash with the flash of lightning.
CLASH-BOOOOOOOM!
At a far distance, the S-rank hunters and the National Level hunters felt the ground shake violently.
In the following moment, a flash of purple and blue exploded simultaneously in the sky.
FWAAAAASH!
"What kind of madness is this?!" one hunter yelled, his voice swallowed by the roar.
As he said this, the pillar of lightning rose into the sky and exploded amidst the clouds.
KABOOOOOM!
Not only that, it sent out a shockwave that reached even the distant hunters, who had to extend their arms to block the oncoming torrent of air.
WHOOSH!
"This won't end well! Won't the other National Level hunters stop them?!"
Another hunter was asking, looking from afar, trying to spot one of the known National Level hunters—(Thomas Andre), (Liu Zhigang), or even (Go Gun-Hee).
This hunter was well-informed, but he found them all simply watching that explosion, their eyes vibrating slightly as if they were thinking about something, and none of them moved to utter a word.
(Cha Hae-In), along with (Choi Jong-In) who was beside (Yoon Ho), had immediately retreated.
Their instincts told them that interacting with this explosion would cause them damage.
The lightning pillar piercing the earth collided with the purple-black comet, and when they clashed, it sent out a wave of comprehensive destruction.
CRACKLE-BOOM-SHATTER!
"Damn it, is that young man really this strong?" (Choi Jong-In)'s eyes were shocked.
Behind his gaze, amidst his turbulent feelings, red currents of dust swirled from the distant battle.
The sight of the comprehensive destruction was enough to make him shudder when he thought of his old memories.
Just a few days ago, he had invited this hunter to join his guild.
Now he didn't know if he should call himself a fool for trying to show off his power in front of this all-encompassing devastation.
"You're right. This is truly insane," (Yoon Ho)'s voice resembled an annoyed growl as he moved his gaze, trying directly to see anything.
Unfortunately, his vision was blurry.
Even with his power to transform and heightened instincts plus his other senses, he was only able to see the flash of the last explosion which had caused all this destruction.
But on the other hand, the hunter who had joined the Shadow Monarch's guild, (Cha Hae-In), was unable to believe the power she was seeing.
She had expected the person she had feelings for to possess immense power, but she hadn't believed it was to this extent.
She had seen the shadow soldiers, but she hadn't thought that the knight she had defeated, (Igris), had been going easy on her.
He had never used any of his true power.
And she was able to sense that the owner of that strike was not because she could see the fight clearly, but because her instincts told her so, and her sensory abilities confirmed it.
Even the style of the strike resembled what she had seen, but it was much stronger.
Hundreds of times stronger than what she had witnessed last time.
In the middle of the explosion, (Ochiha Sasuke) increased the electric current.
The thunder explosion had been blocked by the sword strike (Igris) had delivered, which resembled a comet.
At this moment, after deflecting the lightning pillar that had pierced the sky, he spun with immense speed and high agility.
His movement resembled instantaneous teleportation.
SHWIP.
"You really are different from the other shadow soldiers," (Sasuke)'s voice held a note of praise for the skill.
He was a swordsman; he could tell from the first moment he had seen this shadow soldier, who wore different attire from the other knight-type shadows.
The person wielding that sword was very distinctive and possessed sharp skills.
"I feel you are trapped in this form. I will free you and end this torment."
These words were the last (Ochiha Sasuke) spoke before transforming into a flash of lightning.
He himself collided with the shadow soldier (Igris) dozens of times in the air.
CLASH-CLANG-CLASH!
Each strike was a style more graceful than the last.
These clashes largely transformed into dueling skills, where the flowing techniques of (Ochiha Sasuke), who used devastating skills consisting of numerous close-range attacks filled with electric lightning and explosions, met their match.
(Igris)'s style was more graceful.
He managed to evade these explosions in moments using his instincts, but he was injured equally with each time he parried a strike.
Even without focusing, the Shadow Knight knew he was weaker in terms of raw power than the (Ochiha Sasuke) before him.
But he did not hesitate.
He lunged more fiercely and increased his power until his dueling skill equaled the skills of the Last Uchiha, causing a cold look to appear in the Uchiha's eyes.
"Your master deserves death for doing this. I will uncover how he did it, and how he summoned these gates, or what his specific relationship is with those gates."
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End of Chapter.
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A note from your (dust-covered and awe-struck) narrator:
The island's tourism board is officially out of business. We've got lightning pillars, shadow comets, and a property value that just hit absolute zero. Igris is putting up a stellar (pun intended) fight, but Sasuke's on a mission. Do you think Jin-Woo's strategy of studying his enemy will pay off, or is he about to learn a very painful, very electric lesson? Drop your theories in the comments below!