"Huff… huff…"
Even for a Hollow whose reiatsu was compressed and refined like Sombravida's, chaining multiple high-level techniques in succession placed an enormous burden on his core.
If Jekain had attempted the same level of output repeatedly, his spiritual structure might already have collapsed from exhaustion.
"…Two left."
Using the lingering dust as cover, Sombravida executed a short Sonído retreat, widening the distance. His breathing steadied as he forcibly regulated the flow of spiritual pressure inside his body.
He needed seconds.
Just seconds.
BANG!!
The enemy had no intention of granting them.
Before the dust fully settled, Paramon burst through it with explosive Sonído acceleration. In an instant he appeared behind Sombravida, his massive arm swinging toward Sombravida's lower back.
CLANG!!
Sombravida twisted mid-air and blocked with his injured right claw.
The impact was catastrophic.
His arm bent backward unnaturally as Hierro strained under the force, and the blow launched him through the air like a projectile.
Against a power-type Adjuchas, using an injured limb to block was suicidal.
But losing one arm was preferable to losing both.
Sombravida was still flying backward when his left hand clenched.
Reiatsu condensed.
The Sky-Splitting Greatsword reformed.
The blade snapped forward toward the final subordinate.
Shadow Dance.
Pale gold light flickered across Sombravida's body as the spatial structure around him fractured.
He appeared beside the Adjuchas at an impossible angle.
First strike.
The knockback effect activated.
Second strike.
The body twisted mid-air.
Third strike.
Trajectory broken.
Sword arcs burst from multiple spatial vectors, carving from angles the target could not defend.
The Adjuchas attempted to raise its guard—
Too late.
Sombravida's blade pierced through its chest.
The stored kinetic shock of Shadow Dance detonated.
Dozens of internal wounds ruptured simultaneously.
Blood erupted like a pressurized torrent as the body fell lifelessly toward the ground.
"Huff… last one—"
BOOM!!
Paramon's attack arrived.
The instant Sombravida's focus broke, Paramon descended like a meteor and slammed him downward.
The impact broke the sound barrier.
Sombravida shot toward the earth.
The ground exploded beneath him.
"Bala: Shockwave!"
Paramon compressed dark-red Bala into flattened ovals and layered them with shockwave force.
They fell like artillery.
Each impact cratered the ground.
Sombravida, at the epicenter, was driven deeper into the forming basin.
"Damn you — die!!"
Earth-yellow reiatsu gathered around Paramon's arms.
He raised both fists and plunged downward.
Core Collapse Strike.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
The impact shattered the terrain.
A violent spiritual pressure storm erupted skyward.
A mushroom-like shock plume expanded outward like a miniature nuclear detonation.
Within several hundred meters:
trees were obliterated
• sand liquefied under pressure
• Gillian and lesser Hollows were vaporized instantly
The shockwave flattened the forest into a dead zone.
"Hah… hah…"
Paramon hovered above the devastation, breathing heavily.
Unlike Sombravida's refined reiatsu structure, Paramon's power output relied on overwhelming volume rather than compression. The chain of techniques had taxed his reserves.
But to him, the cost was worth it.
All his subordinates were dead.
But their killer was gone.
"That bastard… was tough…"
He looked over the ruined battlefield.
Everything was gone.
He would have to rebuild from nothing.
"After EsSombravida… only Whisperwind remains… Gatmont… blind fool… the murderer stood before him and he never saw it…"
He considered reporting to the alliance.
Then dismissed the thought.
An isolated lord was prey.
A weakened territory was an invitation.
"…No. I rebuild first."
He turned to leave.
"If I'd absorbed that reiatsu… I might have reached peak Adjuchas…"
"Who told you… I was dead?"
The voice came from behind him.
Like a verdict.
Paramon spun around.
A pale-gold column of reiatsu surged from the crater, piercing the sky.
The pressure alone chilled his spine.
"How… HOW are you alive?!"
Sombravida stood within the shattered basin.
He was injured.
His right arm hung twisted and partially shattered.
Muscle tissue had ruptured across his torso.
Fragments of hardened armor plating were cracked and missing.
Blood coated his legs and back.
But his spiritual pressure…
…had not diminished.
"Impossible… impossible…"
"Nothing is impossible," Sombravida said calmly.
"Your subordinates are gone."
"…mine are not."
He pointed.
Nearly a kilometer away:
Nel and Jekain stood ready.
Above, a bat-like sensory Adjuchas circled silently, scanning for reinforcements.
At Sombravida's feet, a pangolin-like subterranean Hollow emerged, its spiritual pressure dangerously depleted.
It had tunneled beneath the battlefield and deployed a protective anti-membrane barrier, absorbing the majority of the core blast.
The technique had saved Sombravida's life.
But the price had been severe.
Its reiatsu was nearly exhausted.
"How… when…?"
"From the moment I signaled," Sombravida replied.
"They moved."
"To avoid detection, they remained one thousand meters away."
"That distance is the threshold between safety and exposure."
"I removed your sensory unit first for this reason."
He raised his left hand.
The greatsword reformed.
"Without detection… suppressing reiatsu is enough to disappear."
"To be honest, if I had taken that final strike directly…"
"I would be dead."
He looked toward the pangolin Hollow.
"My companions do not fail."
"The anti-membrane technique is rare among Hollows."
"A divine defensive method."
"Lost to suspicion and solitary survival."
"A pity."
"Anti-membrane…" Paramon whispered.
A flicker of memory passed behind his mask.
Something long forgotten.
Sombravida lowered his blade.
"…Enough talk about warrior honor."
He pointed the sword forward.
Nel and Jekain launched forward simultaneously.
Ceros rained from above.
Sombravida struck from the front.
Exhausted and alone, Paramon could not resist.
Minutes later, Paramon collapsed at Sombravida's feet, his body broken and drenched in blood.
Sombravida shook the blood from his blade and pressed the edge against Paramon's mask.
"Last words?"
Paramon breathed heavily.
He knew.
This was the end.
After a moment, he spoke:
"If… you can…"
"…kill Gatmont."
"You are more fit to rule this forest."
Sombravida blinked in surprise.
"Flattery to beg for mercy?"
Paramon laughed weakly.
"If I had led… as you lead…"
"…perhaps they would not have died."
"…perhaps partners… instead of tools…"
He exhaled slowly.
"In another life."
"…Devour me."
"Let my power become yours."
"I want to see… how far you go."
Sombravida went still.
He had heard words like these once before.
Long ago.
From a companion in a weaker age.
Silence stretched.
Then he raised his blade.
As it fell—
his voice slipped out beneath his mask.
"…Fine."
Visit patreon.com/ShiroTL for more chapters.