NOVEL NEXT Chapter 400: That was too close…
The world lit up.
A torrent of golden-red flame erupted from his lungs, the Wyrm's Breath roaring forth like the wrath of a dying sun. It swallowed the ruins in a cone of annihilation, devouring everything in its path. The air ignited, molten cracks tearing across the ground.
The woman's laughter finally stopped.
When the fire died down, Damon staggered, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth. His throat was raw, his mana drained by the overwhelming release. Everything in front of him was burning.
And yet a single shape still stood in the smoke, unburnt, untouched. The young woman walked forward through the haze, a smirk tugging at her lips. Her hair fluttered in the heat, her eyes gleaming brighter than ever.
"Oh," she whispered, voice trembling with something like delight. "That… was exquisite."
Damon's heart sank. This was it. He simply had no other trump cards left in him.
Just as the woman's pale figure closed in, Damon's heart gave a jolt. A flicker of awareness pulsed through his mind. It was his shadow clone.
The duplicate had reached beyond the abyssal ruins and now lingered outside the shattered city gates, staring back at him like a lifeline. The skill's duration was almost gone, the thin tether connecting them trembling on the edge of collapse.
Damon's chest tightened. The shadows failed him once already. He used this method, only for her to rip him straight out like he was nothing. But this time… the clone is outside. Maybe it could work?
He didn't have the luxury of hesitation. A pair of slender white hands reached for his throat, their nails gleaming like razors. Damon bared his teeth and threw himself sideways, diving headlong into the nearest patch of shadow.
His mind screamed as he poured every ounce of willpower into the attempt. Take me to the clone! Outside! Now!
The darkness swallowed him whole.
From behind, the woman's laughter chimed, cruel and beautiful. "Didn't we already try this before?" she giggled, her voice brushing against his ears like silk. "Shadows belong to me, little brat. You can't—"
Her words cut short.
The instant her hand slipped into the shadows after him, something resisted. A barrier, thin but absolute, sprang up between her and Damon. It was the barrier that separated the abyssal zone from the outside world.
Damon's world spun. For a heartbeat, it felt as if his body was being torn apart and rewoven through threads of shadows. Then, with a soundless rush, he stumbled forward, out of the abyss.
His vision cleared, and in front of him stretched the broken outer plains beyond the city gate ruins. Behind him, the abyssal zone writhed like a living wound.
Damon staggered, staring at his own trembling hands. "I… switched places with my shadow clone."
Confirming his thoughts, a system notification flashed in front of him.
[Ding! Your skill proficiency in Umbra's Lesser Shadow Magic has increased.]
[Ding! You have learned a new skill]
Shadow Exchange (C-Rank, Active)]
Allows the user to switch positions with a shadow clone or marked shadow within range. Cannot be used if the target is destroyed.
Damon blankly read the skill description. So he actually ended up doing what he wanted to do. He hadn't escaped into the shadows. He had traded places with the one he had left outside
Inside, beyond the warped veil, the young woman had finally revealed herself fully. She stood amidst the crumbling ruins, her black eyes narrowed, her smile gone. For the first time, her beauty was laced with something else, an expression Damon hadn't expected.
Surprise.
"Father's legacy…" Her lips parted in shock, but then her lips curved again, slower this time, hungrier. She lifted her hand and traced a finger across her lips as if savoring a taste.
"You slipped through my fingers," she sighed. "But that only makes me want you more. Next time, little brat, there will be no escape." The shadows trembled violently, and then her presence vanished as if she had never existed.
Damon exhaled a long, ragged breath, every muscle in his body trembling from the gamble he had just pulled off. "That was too close…" He did not linger around there any longer, just in case that woman managed to find some loophole. He immediately used his Blood Hall system teleportation option and returned to Niera.
Only when he slumped on his throne was he finally able to relax. But it was short-lived. He could still feel the woman's prying eyes on him in every direction he turned. Even the shadow of his throne made him unsettled.
"What the fuck…" Damon dragged his palm over his face. Thankfully, breaking the weird mental space he was in, a group of people walked into the big hall.
"My lord, we have returned." Erin instantly teleported next to Damon and stood by his side with a smile on her lips.
"My lord, I am back too." Ellora naturally did the same and arrived at his side, just an inch closer to him than Erin was standing. The two of them started staring daggers at each other.
The others all looked way too exhausted and could only gawk at the two women as if they were monsters.
Damon laughed at the two idiots and shook his head helplessly. "Why don't you all go and rest for some time? We can meet back up again after some time?"
Kaelthorn and Riven immediately excused themselves. So did Sylvara, Meira, Phoenix, Blood Wraith, and Nevin. Only Kate and Mark remained. Mark then looked around at the three women, all now staring daggers at each other, and decided to get the hell out of there.
"Dude!" Damon called after him, standing up, but he briskly walked out of the throne hall and continued walking, pretending not to hear Damon.
Now, only Kate, Ellora, and Erin were left in the big hall. Two out of the three women were plastered next to him, and the third one started walking toward him with a grave expression on her face.
Damon started sweating. She was definitely going to kill him today. He flinched and braced for the worst slap as she reached closer to him, but unexpectedly, there was no palm coming for him.
Huh? Damon opened his eyes to look at Kate when she leaned forward and hugged him tightly. "Are you okay, you idiot? You look like absolute shit right now."
Huh? Damon blinked.
Kate smiled warmly. "You might be able to fool others with your goofy grin…" She paused, her gaze darting to the two women standing on either side of him, and then she continued, "I can see right through you… You are not fine. Can you take a break for fuck's sake?"
Damon froze in her embrace, his body stiff as stone. For a moment, the echoes of the abyss still clawed at his ears, the phantom sensation of slender white hands reaching out of the shadows to drag him under. But Kate's arms were real, warm, trembling faintly against his cold skin.
His throat worked as if he wanted to say something, but no words came out. Instead, he let out a shaky laugh, trying to brush it off. "You're imagining things. I'm fine. I always look like this after a workout."
Kate's hug tightened, her voice muffled against his chest. "Bullshit."
Damon smiled. "You are right. I could use a break, maybe even a vacation. Did you guys open the portal yet?"