SHADOW KING'S RETURN

Chapter 7

BOOOOM!

A massive collision split the sky over Arcadia with a deafening boom. The tip of Leon Hart’s golden spear struck Barak’s black, scaly palm, creating a shockwave that shattered the windows of buildings within a radius of several kilometers.

All the frightened eyes on the streets suddenly looked up, staring at the battle in the sky with wide eyes full of hope.

“Look up!” shouted a Hunter from behind a barricade of vehicles, waving his arms high in the air. “That’s Captain Leon Hart!”

“The Captain has finally stepped in!” replied another Hunter beside him, his voice trembling as he held back tears of relief. “We’re saved! The Captain will definitely defeat that monster!”

However, those cheers of hope did not last long.

Amid the blazing air, fine cracks began to appear along the shaft of Leon’s spear of light. The man in the white robe closed his eyes for a moment, channeling all the mana within his body until the veins in his neck bulged taut. Cold sweat trickled down his temples.

“Charge!” Leon roared in a thunderous voice.

Dozens of golden magic circles burst open rapidly behind his back. In a matter of seconds, hundreds of golden spears of light shot sharply toward Barak like a meteor shower tearing through the night.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

One after another, a series of blinding flashes erupted, searing the giant’s chest and shoulders. Thick black smoke billowed high into the sky, obscuring the fifty-meter-tall monster's entire form.

The Hunters in the streets raised their fists into the air, swelling with pride.

"We got it!" they shouted amid the city’s commotion. “The Captain’s attack landed perfectly!”

"We did it! That monster must be destroyed!"

However, a deep, rumbling laugh echoed from behind the thick plume of smoke billowing into the sky one that shook the very core of everyone who heard it.

"Is that... all it takes?" Barak’s cold laughter cut through the people’s euphoria below him.

The giant stepped out of the smoke unscathed. The black scales on its chest remained intact and gleaming, as if the rain of hundreds of light spears had been nothing more than a gentle breeze.

Leon Hart’s face turned deathly pale. His hand, gripping the spear’s hilt, trembled violently.

“Impossible…” Leon whispered hoarsely, staring intently at the figure before him. "That attack didn't even leave a scratch?"

Barak slowly raised one of his massive hands into the air. Ancient black mist gathered rapidly in his palm and condensed into a massive, dense spear shrouded in wild red lightning.

"The God of Shadows..." Barak murmured in a low, death-bringing tone. “...has taught me how to kill.”

He swung his arm, hurling the black spear through the air.

Booom!

Leon hurriedly summoned his remaining mana and wove a five-layered golden light shield in front of his chest. However, the moment the black spear touched the shield, it shattered and scattered like thin glass struck by a hammer.

CRASH!

Leon’s body was violently hurled across the sky and slammed into the wall of a high-rise building, causing it to collapse into a pile of concrete rubble. Warm blood trickled from the corner of his parched lips, staining his torn, dust-caked white robe.

A suffocating silence instantly engulfed the entire Hunter Association. There were no more cheers. Their strongest captain the main bastion upon whom the entire city’s hopes rested had fallen with a single counterattack.

Amid the ruins of the Obsidian Building, Kai stood frozen at the edge of the collapsed structure. He clenched the fabric of his dirty jacket as he stared at Leon’s body lying amid the building’s rubble.

“Darius…” Kai whispered softly, his breath caught by an overwhelming sense of guilt. "If this keeps up, this entire city will be destroyed."

Darius, kneeling beside him, bowed his head deeply. The sound of his iron armor’s hinges rang out cold and heavy.

"Only His Majesty has the authority to stop this," Darius replied softly. "But your soul's power hasn't fully recovered yet. Fighting now will only destroy your human vessel.”

Kai gazed at the dark night sky, witnessing the people below running about in suffering. For the first time in his ordinary, impoverished life, he felt entirely responsible for the disaster tearing Arcadia apart.

Suddenly, a flickering shadow appeared before Kai’s eyes.

System alert!

Shadow General: Barak has detected the presence of the Shadow King’s aura.

Shadow Core synchronization has increased to 10%.

New skill unlocked: Shadow Command (Soul Command).

Before Kai could read the description of his new ability, a rumbling sound shook the air once again.

"My King..."

The black-scaled giant slowly lowered its massive body. Barak dropped his knees, which were as tall as buildings, onto the asphalt of the highway. He rested his giant head on the ground before the ruins of the Obsidian Building.

All of the remaining Hunters, the soldiers behind the barricades, and even Leon, who was trying to crawl out from under the stone rubble, stared in disbelief.

The terrifying monster that had just leveled the military defenses and toppled the city’s strongest Hunter was now bowing submissively, paying homage to someone behind the old building.

Barak slowly raised his head. His two giant red eyes stared straight ahead, piercing the dust shrouding the Obsidian Building’s ruins.

"I...have found you," said Barak, his voice trembling with deep respect.

Every Hunter in the Eastern District reflexively followed the direction of the giant’s gaze. Hundreds of pairs of eyes turned toward the upper floors of the Obsidian Building in unison.

Leon Hart, still kneeling and clutching his broken ribs, shifted his blurred gaze to the same spot.

"Who...?" Leon whispered. His lips were bloodied, and his golden eyes narrowed in confusion. "Who exactly is this person he calls king?"

CRASH!

Just as the question hung in the air, the remaining part of the Obsidian Building’s main wall collapsed under the pressure of the wildly surging mana aura. Concrete dust soared high into the air before slowly being swept away by the night breeze.

Kai Ashborn’s figure was exposed to hundreds of pairs of eyes that stared at him doubtfully. The young man, wearing a shabby, dirt-caked jacket, stood alone atop a cracked stone ledge.

Kai froze, feeling the gaze of hundreds of people filled with confusion, fear, and prejudice upon him. Just as he was about to take a step forward to face the giant before him, the sound of creaking rifle hinges and heavy boots thudding echoed from behind him.

“Don’t move, Kai Ashborn.”

That cold, sharp voice cut off his breath in the nighttime silence.

Kai glanced slightly out of the corner of his eye. Dozens of fully armed hunters from the Hunter Association’s special execution squad had breached the rear passageway and surrounded him in the ruins. The muzzles of their high-caliber firearms and offensive magic circles were active and aimed directly at the back of his head.