...….
"I still don't understand why we didn't attack earlier, Shadow One. Is there a particular reason why we didn't get rid of the target as soon as he won the Outer Sect Competition?"
Shadow One glanced at Shadow Two before turning his cold, emotionless gaze back to the boy they were trailing behind.
"It's because we must know exactly what it was that has caused his power to spike so much all of a sudden," Shadow One said after a moment of thought. "And to do that, we need to preserve his life a little longer."
"I see. Then we shall do just that," Shadow Two's tone was indifferent.
"For the glory of the Black Tiger Family," he added with an expression befitting something akin to a zealot.
"For the glory of the Black Tiger Family," Shadow One echoed, his voice just as differential. With that their figures disappeared into the shadows, blending into the bustling crowd and vibrant streets of the Yang Sect.
'I wonder how I should go about losing those two guys behind me…?'
Azmodeus had been pondering over this question for a while; however, nothing exceptionally special came to mind. He lightly shrugged his shoulders. "Guess I will stick to the old-fashioned way," he muttered.
Following those words, his figure blurred as he darted into an alleyway off to the side of a sushi restaurant with a bright neon sign.
"!!!" "!!!"
Both Shadow One and Shadow Two immediately noticed the disappearance of their target and sped up in the direction where he had disappeared.
Just as they turned a corner and reached the end of the alleyway, a sword gleam materialized out of thin air as an ethereal blue figure wielding a sleek sword emerged from the void.
"!?!?" Shadow Two noticed this from the corner of his eye and reacted just in time, narrowly dodging the sword slash that was aimed at severing his head.
"Tch." A soft clicking of the tongue echoed out as the illusory blue figure faded into the land of non-existence just as quickly as it had appeared.
Clang!
The sound of metal hitting a hard surface sounded as an Eastern-style sword fell to the ground.
"!!!" Shadow One's eyes narrowed as he glanced at the sword with mild surprise.
'Isn't that the sword that the winner of the Outer Sect Competition was awarded??'
However, before he could delve any deeper into his thoughts, another blue illusory mysterious copy of the attacker materialized from thin air. This was followed by another sword being thrown through the air from an unexpected angle in the wide alleyway.
"!!!"
This time around, there wasn't merely one single illusory figure, as two more sparkled into existence right alongside it, each holding a lowest-ranked dagger and a sword.
"It seems like the report on the boy's abilities are far off the mark. In addition to that, his strength far exceeds the Late Pulse Condensation Realm combat power that he was rumored to possess," Shadow Two remarked in a calm voice.
Shadow One heard what his comrade muttered and thought over any potential countermeasures. After a moment of figuring out what they should do, he responded, "Get into the Pincer Formation. We must corner the target until he comes out from wherever he's hiding."
He just couldn't trace out where these attacks were originating from, and the blue illusory figures proved to be helpless in leading him back to their source. So, in the end, the only option they had was to whittle down the energy reserves of their target before locating his main body and striking him down.
Shadow One realized this, and Shadow Two also grasped it after listening to his friend's suggestion.
So in response to the unforeseen circumstances before them, both of the cloaked shadows vanished from their initial position before reappearing on two different sides of all three of the illusory figures.
SLICE! SLICE!
They slashed through the air with their poison-coated daggers a few times, effectively cutting through all three of the illusory figures!
Bzzzt…
However, in the very next moment, their eyes were left wide open as the energy that had been sustaining the three illusions immediately dispersed, releasing a blue mist into the air.
"???" "???"
Both Shadow One and Shadow Two found their peripheral visions engulfed as everything around them transformed into a hazy blue smokescreen!
"What the hell-!?" Shadow Two exclaimed, but before he even got the chance to finish his words…
SHING!
A crisp, unsheathing sound echoed as five razor-sharp, black-and-silver blades came flying towards him from five different directions!
"!!!" Realizing that he couldn't evade all five of them at once, Shadow Two tried to leap out of the way and dodge the incoming strikes.
However…
SHING!
Spurt!
Another blade — of far superior quality with a sleek design — pierced through his tough skin before sinking deeper into his side!
"!?!?"
Shadow Two was still trying to understand what was happening when the pain suddenly hit him all at once. Along with the pain came a few clots of blood that left his mouth. He instantly knew that the strike had undoubtedly injured many of his internal organs.
Tap!
He desperately leaped away from his spot, trying to escape from the area, but…
SLICE! SLICE!
Four more swords found their way into his back in quick succession and four consecutive gaping, bloody wounds were made in his body!
"Blegh!!"
He violently spat out blood while looking in horror at the five different swords lodged in his body. All these swords were shredding most of his internal organs and pushing him to the brink of death.
'I'm going to die…'
As a trained professional, Shadow Two knew when an injury would be fatal. With his knowledge, he knew that at the rate he was going, his life force would drain away into nothingness in less than five minutes.
It was this fact that led him to resort to using his final move…
|Shadow Cleaver|
An ability was silently enunciated by Shadow Two as a shadowy blade formed from thin air, and with its arrival, his strength was given a significant boost!
"…"
Azmodeus watched the pitch-black tendrils of energy being emitted from the slightly shorter, cloaked figure. A grin spread across his face as he thought, 'Looks like I have found my next Trait.'
With this thought, he cycled a few more of his Mirror Mirages away from Shadow One and redirected the majority of them toward Shadow Two.
...…