novelraw Chapter 95: The Shadow Void
Chapter 95: The Shadow Void
Chapter 95
Axel knew the moment he thought about it that using any umbra skill in front of this many people would change everything.
The second he touched the umbra core openly, everyone would know. A shadow ability on top of infernal abilities meant only one thing. It meant that he had the Dual Mutation.
Dual mutants never stayed unnoticed.They were almost celebrities everywhere they went and Axel had managed to stay under the radar long enough by hiding behind one power set.
But right now, hiding was probably going to make him lose.
Infernal power alone was not enough. Drax was too slippery. If Axel wanted to win, he had to accept the risk.
’If I’m winning this,’ Axel thought. ’I’m using everything!’
The problem was simple. Drax was invisible. Umbra Step needed shadows. It needed timing. It needed a target.
Drax appeared again, a few feet in front of him with the dark golden sword pointed straight at Axel’s chest.
"Give up already," Drax said calmly. "Forfeit. It’ll look better than this." His eyes narrowed slightly. "You are not my match."
Axel snorted. "If you’re tired, just say so," he replied. "Stop cutting corners."
Drax smiled, then he vanished.
This time, Axel didn’t wait.
The moment Drax disappeared, he dashed forward to that spot and slashed his sword through the space Drax had just been standing in. The blade met something solid.
Drax’s invisible body slammed into the ground, skidding across the arena floor. He was still unseen, but Axel knew he got him.
Axel didn’t pause. He activated Ruin Echo silently and stabbed the sword into the ground near where Drax had landed. He pulled it out and moved back just as the delayed blast went off.
"Ahhhh!"
A scream cut through the noise as Drax flew backward and crashed onto his back. This time, his invisibility dropped. His body shimmered and became fully visible again.
Axel took a deep breath.
"Now it’s my turn."
< [Umbra Step Activated] >
A thin shadow stretched from Axel’s feet, crawling across the arena floor like liquid ink. Thousands of eyes watched as Axel stepped into it... and vanished.
The entire Nexus Field went silent. Even the commentator stopped speaking.
Up in her private viewing area, Dasha froze and her mouth slowly fell open.
Drax stood up, spinning around, confused. He looked left, rght and then behind him.
He was so confused and distracted that he never noticed his own shadow was moving.
It stretched outward, peeling away from his feet and Axel emerged from it in a burst of motion, with a Hellrand Slash already coming out if the sword.
The slash tore into Drax’s back and sent him flying across the arena again. He crashed hard, rolling several times before stopping.
Axel didn’t stay put. Oh no.
< [Umbra Step Activated] >
He sank back into the shadow instantly.
Dasha turned sharply to Kade. "Is it possible," she asked slowly, "for someone to awaken a second ability long after the first?"
Kade shook his head. "No," he said. "Not normally."
The commentator’s voice came roaring back to life.
"IT SEEMS WE HAVE TWO DUAL MUTANTS IN THE ARENA!"
The crowd exploded in cheers seeing The Red Imp performing magic.
Drax lost it.
"FUCK YOU AXEL VAELON!!!" His face twisted in anger as he shouted and hurled his dark golden sword straight at Axel. At the same time, two black spheres formed beside him and shot forward, tearing through the air. Before Axel could even fully react, Drax created another sword out of thin air and sent that flying too.
Four attacks sent all in less than five seconds. The crowd roared as the arena lit up with motion.
Axel’s body moved on instinct. He twisted to the side, rolled forward, ducked low, and barely slipped past the second blade as it sliced the air where his head had been. One of the black balls skimmed past his shoulder, close enough that he felt the pressure drag at his clothes.
The commentator was already losing his mind.
"THIS IS INSANE! DRAX TAN IS GOING ALL OUT! FOUR ATTACKS AT ONCE! HOW IS THE RED IMP STILL MOVING?!"
Axel landed on his feet just in time to see Drax appear out of nowhere.
Right beside him, a fist came flying straight for his face.
< [Shadow Clone Activated!] >
A shadow version of Axel snapped into existence between them.
Drax’s punch connected with the shadow and there was a loud crack. Not the sound of shadow breaking but the sound of bone.
"FUCKKK!!" Drax screamed as his fist bent at an unnatural angle and he staggered back, clutching his arm.
The arena went dead silent for half a second.
Then the commentator yelled AVAIN almost choking on his words.
"WAIT! DID THAT SHADOW JUST TAKE THE HIT?! THAT WAS SOLID! THAT WAS A SOLID HIT!"
Axel stared for a brief moment, stunned.
’It’s solid...’ he realized.
A grin spread across his face. He didn’t waste the opening.
Axel lifted his hand and fired two Infernal Bullets in quick succession. Both shots slammed into Drax’s torso, burning into his side and shoulder. Drax grunted and stumbled back again.
"UNBELIEVABLE! THE RED IMP IS PRESSURING DRAX TAN! THIS IS NOT WHAT ANYONE EXPECTED!"
Drax straightened slowly, his breathing was now heavy. Then his body shimmered and he vanished. Invisible again.
The temperature in the arena shifted as black spheres began forming everywhere. In total, there was 30 black spheres. One after another, they launched toward Axel from all directions.
Axel ran like hell.
He dodged left, jumped right, slid under one attack and twisted away from another. The spheres kept coming, faster and faster. His legs burned. His chest tightened. He could feel himself slowing.
’This won’t last!’ Axel thought.
Then he stopped. He slammed his foot into the ground and came to a sudden halt. In one motion, he drove his sword straight into the arena floor.
< [Ruin Echo Activated!] ]
Axel leapt backward, leaving the sword there, just as the delayed explosion went off.
The blast swallowed the space around the sword in a booming wave of force. The black spheres vanished mid-flight. The pressure shook the arena walls. Drax’s assault stopped and smoke and dust filled the air.
Without a second thought...
< [Umbra Step Activated!] >
A shadow opened beneath him, wide and deep and Axel fell into it.
****
Inside the shadow, Axel floated.
The feeling still felt wrong and still unsettling like the last time he was in it. It was like being trapped inside a silent void. No sound, no ground, just darkness that was stretching endlessly. The only reason he didn’t panic was because he knew he chose to be here and because he was in control.
Axel turned around and the arena appeared around him like a window. He could see everything. He saw Drax standing there, turning in circles with a new sword raised.
Something else caught his attention.
Drax’s body wasn’t normal. It looked like glass. Light was passing through him and his shape shimmered faintly... it was distorted.
"He’s currently invisible,’ Axel realized.
But from inside the shadow void, it didn’t matter.
Axel could see Drax clearly even while he was invisible.