Clang!
Evon’s laughter filled the air as she unleashed three more strikes on Jason, but Jason was able to deflect all three of them, and he suddenly pulled out another sword with his left hand and slashed across the air to try and cut her when she least expected it!
Slash!
But Evon was able to see the sword flying towards her, and at the very last moment, she managed to dodge it and flash away! Jason’s speed and reaction time were that of an SSS Rank, but even though Evon was weaker than him, Evon had developed her speed and reactions so that it was just as fast, if not faster than Jason’s! But Jason still couldn’t help but laugh, because even with the advantage that Evon seemed to have with her innate abilities, this had also given Jason another realization that he had overlooked all this time! Even though there was no mana, the innate abilities that were part of a creature’s DNA would still be available, like the Diamond Bears’ Diamond skin, the Iron Falcons’ Bladed feathers, and the Adamantine Ants’ Adamantine Defenses! All these things were still available, and since Jason was an Avaran who had the innate ability to absorb and integrate all these genetic features into his own DNA, Jason’s Avaran abilities were also available!
Woosh!
A spear suddenly lashed out towards Jason, and Jason reached out with his left hand to meet it! Jason’s hand was immediately covered in a silver armor from his Adamantine Gene, and Evon’s eyes widened when Jason suddenly turned toward her with the red eyes from the [Predator’s Gaze] attribute he got by consuming Moonlight Wolf crystals! The [Predator’s Gaze] added to Jason’s already quick reactions, and Jason was suddenly capable of following Evon’s movements like she was standing still! Jason brought up his hand and slapped Evon’s spear to the side!
Clang!
A metallic sound echoed through the area as Jason deflected the spear, and Evon couldn’t do anything as Jason’s right hand suddenly lashed out and cut across her body!
Slash!
Blood flowed into the air as an arm arced through the sky, and Evon’s wide eyes stared at Jason in shock as the pain from her missing arm tore through her body!
"RARRRRGGGHHHHH!! Pain! Pain! Pain! You hurt me! You hurt me! You’re not meant to hurt me! How dare you!? How dare you!? You’ve killed me! I’m dead! I’ll kill you—!!"
SLAM!
Jason’s feet slammed into Evon’s cheek and sent her flying across the air like a rocket! Evon slammed into the liquid shadow on the ground, and Jason lashed out to the right as a shadow suddenly appeared to try to attack him! Jason’s attack cut through the shadow, and he saw that many other shadows were quickly gathering around him to block his way! The shadows began to grab Jason’s legs, and they tried to hold him down to the ground, but Jason crouched and blasted off the hill with enough force to blow all the shadows away! Jason flew straight for Evon, and he pulled his hand back when he saw Evon getting up! Evon quickly pulled her spear back and threw it at Jason with a shout!
"DIEEEE!!"
BOOM!
The spear easily tore through the sound barrier, and a massive sonic boom echoed through the region as it flew for Jason! Jason grit his teeth as he coated his hand in the silver armor of the Adamantine Ant, and at the moment when the spear was just about to hit him, Jason shifted his momentum to the left and lashed out with his coated arm to grab the spear out of the air! Jason spun along with the momentum, and he let out a grunt as he pulled the spear back and threw it right back at Evon!
BOOM!
It was like Jason had just unleashed a fucking torpedo, and Jason watched as the spear flew true! Evon’s eyes had widened in shock when she saw Jason grab her spear out of the air, and when Jason threw it back, Evon knew for a fact that she would never be able to move fast enough to avoid that attack! In the split second just before Evon was hit, Evon felt a strange sensation filling her heart. It was quiet. Very quiet. There were no voices, no screams, no shouts, no arguments. For the first time in a very long time, Evon didn’t feel the vast emptiness that had taken control of her mind. Evon felt free.
And then, the spear struck Evon!
TWOOM!
BANG!
The spear tore into Evon’s chest and eviscerated her ribcage before ripping through her body and stabbing into the ground behind her! A massive sonic boom echoed through the air before the entire region went very silent! Jason landed on the ground a few meters away from Evon, and he looked on with a calm gaze at what his attack had done. Evon had been skewered like a fucking animal, and the spear was stuck in the ground in a way that kept her upright as she stared into the sky above. Jason walked up to Evon slowly, and Evon turned her head to look at him with blood running down the side of her mouth. Evon smiled at Jason, and at that moment, Jason didn’t see any of the madness he was used to seeing in Evon’s eyes. Her eyes were clear, and Jason could tell that her smile was genuine.
"Thank you for releasing me from this curse, and I’m sorry that you have to bear the cross now. Cough! Cough!"
A nasty cough made Evon’s body shake, and Evon took in a shuddering breath before she looked up and pointed a shaky finger towards the white sun in the sky.
"Beware of the sun, warrior. If you do not learn to control it, it will drive you to insanity."
Evon said all this in a low, raspy tone, and Jason took a step closer to try to ask her to tell him what the hell she was talking about. But before Jason could say a word, Evon’s head fell to one side, and the life left her!
Ba-Dump!
There was a beat that passed through the entire shadow world the moment Evon died, and Jason watched as the white sun in the sky suddenly came to life! The white tendrils flowing out from the sun lashed out towards the various shadow soldiers that had been fighting against Jason’s Legion, and the shadows all let out loud screeches as they were pulled up into the white light of the sun. Jason looked up at the sun as he felt a strange weariness coming over him. Evon’s last message played in Jason’s mind again, and Jason wondered if the sun she had been talking about was this one. The white sun continued to pour out its light as its tendrils flowed like gentle waves in the sky, and before Jason could dwell on his thought, he looked down at his hand as he felt his mana coming back to him!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
Various notification sounds echoed through Jason’s system, and Jason looked at the tab that opened.
——
The user has killed [1] SS Rank Demon
The user has gained the second attribute [Land of Lost Shadows] of the Arcane Art [Lord of Shadows].
——
[Land of Lost Shadows: This Attribute marks the user as the embodiment of the shadows and an enigma despised by the world. With this Attribute, the user will gain the ability to impose his own reality upon the world and create a reality bubble that traps the user’s enemies. Within this bubble, the user will gain two major advantages. [1] The user will gain the special skill [Shadow Soldiers]. [2] The user will gain the special skill [Absolute Rule].]
[Shadow Soldiers: This skill grants the user complete control over the shadows of any creature that is killed within the user’s shadow world. All shadows under the user’s command will be exactly [1] rank lower than their rank when they were alive.]
[Absolute Rule: While within the world of shadows, the user is the False-God of a nonexistent world, and therefore, the user will gain the ability to impose one rule upon the world that must be obeyed by everyone within it. Rules can range from small things like eliminating speech to impede spellcasters that rely on spoken words, to more complex things like the elimination of Gravity or Oxygen. But the user must remember that any rule imposed on the world will also affect him; therefore, the user must be careful while creating his rules.]