The world did not simply go dark; it became a void. As Kael's voice echoed across the battlefield, a viscous, ink-like shadow surged from his feet, spreading across the scorched earth with predatory speed. Within seconds, every hunter caught within the radius was paralyzed, their bodies locked in a state of absolute stasis.
Takida and Argen were the only ones spared the initial lockdown—not by choice, but by the sheer force of their prior collision. Takida had been sent hurtling in one direction by Argen's shadow energy-charged punch, while Argen had been knocked back in the opposite direction by the elite hunters' desperate counter-attack.
As they both stabilized themselves on the outskirts of the black expanse, they looked back at the center of the Western Route.
The freezing effect of the dominion began to shift.
The hunters found they could move, but it was like wading through molten lead. Then, the true horror of the technique began. Beneath the feet of thousands of hunters, their own shadows began to warp and peel away from the ground. The silhouettes stood up, detaching themselves from the light, turning into faceless, jagged copies of the men they belonged to.
Argen stared at the scene, his crimson eyes wide with a mixture of awe and genuine terror. "T... That's complete madness... It's the Ultra Umbral Dominion!"
Takida, struggling to maintain his composure as his dark blue aura flickered against the encroaching void, gritted his teeth. "What is this technique?! This shadow energy density is impossible!"
Argen ignored him, cupping his hands around his mouth as he shouted toward the center of the dark hurricane.
"Kael! Are you out of your mind?!" Argen's voice was laced with panic. "That technique... it doesn't just drain your shadow energy it..."
Kael's voice cut through the freezing wind, sharp and desperate.
"Do you really think we can defeat this many hunters all by ourselves?! ... moreover I was about to do this before but you appeard and saved me but now..."
He coughed, a thin trail of dark blood leaking from his lip as the shadows drained him.
"But why give up before trying!" Argen roared back, his red aura flickering in defiance.
While the two were locked in their exchange, Takida was not idle. Far across the fractured landscape, he had dropped into a low crouch. A massive, recurve bow made of jagged purple shadow energy manifested in his grip. He drew back the string, a singular, spiraling arrow of concentrated malice forming at the center.
With a snap, the purple arrow tore through the air, moving faster than the speed of sound. It was a perfect shot, aimed precisely at the center of Argen's forehead.
Argen didn't even have time to raise his hand. But as the tip of the arrow touched the air inches from his face, the bracelet Mahito had given him erupted in a blinding, crystalline light. The purple projectile didn't just break—it ceased to be. It vanished instantly, like it got erased from the very fabric of existence.
Argen stumbled back, his breath catching as he stared at the artifact on his wrist. "What... what really is this bracelet?"
But there was no time for answers. Within the boundaries of the Umbral Dominion, the transformation was complete. Every single hunter's shadow had fully detached from the ground. They were silent, terrifying mimics of the soldiers, each wielding a blade made of absolute, light-eating darkness.
Then, the air around Kael began to crack.
Four jagged, circular portals of swirling obsidian opened in a square formation around him. From the depths of those voids, four distinct silhouettes stepped out. Unlike the faceless mimics of the hunters, these shadows radiated a crushing, ancient pressure.
The atmosphere grew heavy with the weight of ancient sovereignty. These four entities were not mere copies of the soldiers; they were the Primal Monarchs of the shadow realm. Each stood nearly nine feet tall, their forms solid and terrifyingly distinct. Atop their heads rested four unique, jagged crowns of shadows.
One stepped forward, gripping a wicked triple-edged sword that hummed with a low vibration. Beside him, another shouldered a giant axe that seemed heavy enough to cleave a mountain. The third coiled a shining black chain that pulsed with dark energy, and the last stood like an immovable mountain, resting a monstrous hammer on the cracked earth.
Takida, realizing that Kael had summoned his final trump card, decided he couldn't wait any longer. Ignoring the chaos for a movement, he vanished in a blur of purple movement, reappearing instantly behind Argen.
His fist moved at terminal velocity, a sonic crack trailing his strike as he aimed to shatter Argen's spine.
Argen, sensing the displacement of air, spun around with inhuman reflexes. He crossed his arms, the bracelet flaring briefly as he blocked the blow, but the force sent a shockwave through his feet.
"No!! Stop that!" Argen screamed, his eyes darting toward Kael and the Dominion. He knew the cost of this summon was too high.
But Takida was relentless. Sensing Argen's distraction, he dropped low into a predatory crouch. Before Argen could stabilize his stance, Takida drove a concentrated punch straight into Argen's stomach. The impact was like a battering ram; Argen was dragged back across the stone, his boots sparking against the debris, until he finally lost his balance and collapsed into the dirt.
The scene was a nightmare of mechanical efficiency. Because the hunters were trapped in the temporal sludge of the Dominion, they couldn't even process their own deaths. In perfect, haunting unison, their shadows begun their movements, they raised their obsidian blades, and swung in a singular, flawless arc.
Thousands of heads fell at once. The sound was not a roar, but a wet, synchronized thud as the bodies slammed into the ground, turning the Western Route into a graveyard of the elite in a single second.
The four crowned Monarchs turned away from the carnage, their massive forms towering as they drifted back toward Kael.
Takida stood frozen, his face pale with a terror he had never felt before. "W... what just happened?" He whispered, his purple bow flickering and fading. "Thousands... in a second?"
Kael stood at the center of the corpses, a triumphant, weary smile on his face as he looked up at the darkened sky. But the celebration was short-lived.
The four shadows looked at kael.
The Shadow with the Giant Hammer suddenly swung with a violent, earth-shattering force. The head of the hammer slammed into Kael's left side, sending him hurtling through the air. Before he could even hit the ground, the Sword-wielding Monarch flickered into his path, his triple-edged blade poised.
With a sickening squelch, the sword stabbed deep into Kael's chest, pinning him in mid-air.
"AAAAA!!" Kael's scream ripped through the silence, his eyes turning a frantic, bloodshot red.
The Hammer Monarch didn't stop. He stepped forward and brought the massive weapon down again—not on kael, but directly onto the hilt of the sword embedded in Kael's chest.
CRACK.
The hammer strike drove the sword completely through Kael's torso. Another strike followed, the sheer concussive force shattering every rib in Kael's body and tearing a gaping hole through his chest. The momentum finally tore him loose, and he was hurled across the battlefield like a broken doll.
Kael skidded through the dirt, his blood painting a long, dark trail until he came to a rest just a few steps away from Argen, who was struggling to push himself off the ground.
Argen looked over, his eyes wide with horror at the mangled state of his friend. Argen was trembling with the aura of these four shadows.
Despite the gaping void in his chest and the sound of his shattered ribs grinding together, Kael forced his broken body to stand. He swayed on his feet, a ghastly, trembling figure held together by sheer willpower. He turned his head slowly toward Argen, his face a mask of crimson, yet that defiant smile still remained.
"I'm... leaving... the rest to you... Commander!" Kael's voice was a wet rattle, bubbles of blood bursting on his lips. "Cause... without sacrifice..."
He never got to finish.
The Shadow with the Giant Axe appeared behind him like a flicker of moonlight. Without a sound, the massive blade descended in a vertical blur of obsidian. The strike was so clean and so powerful that it didn't just kill him—it bifurcated him. Kael was sliced into two perfect halves from his head to the earth.
His remains slumped into the dirt, the dark blue and red aura of the battlefield finally beginning to still.
Argen didn't look away until the very last moment. He closed his eyes tightly as the sound of the axe meeting the ground echoed in his ears. A single, hot tear slipped down his cheek, cutting a path through the dust and grime.
"...Victory isn't possible," Argen finished the sentence in a whisper, his voice trembling with a mixture of grief and a newfound, terrifying resolve.
The four Crowned Shadows stood tall over the remains of their summoner, their jagged crowns glowing with a cold, malevolent light as they turned their faceless heads toward Kael's remains ignoring every other things.
Takida, watching the spectacle from a safe distance, let out a low, sadistic whistle. A sickening grin stretched across his face as he admired the carnage.
"Wow..." Takida mused, his eyes gleaming with dark delight. "That's absolute fun. What a magnificent slice."
To Be Continued...
""Samarei01""