Shadow Eyes and Xanor stood back-to-back, utterly spent. Dust and the acrid stench of burnt buildings clung to the air. Their armor was scored with countless white claw marks. Before them, the Wendigos closed in, their icy breath fogging the already dim light.

​"How many minutes more, Shadow? I'm nearing my limit," Xanor asked, his voice strained, a genuine confusion clouding his exhaustion.

​"Five more, give or take," Shadow Eyes grunted, her dagger a blur as it cut open a leaping Wendigo. The beast's carcass turned instantly dropped dead on the ground.

​Her gaze swept over the relentless tide of monsters. Her mind was racing, calculating the spiritual toll of her ultimate move against the near-certainty of being overwhelmed. She made her decision, the last, most desperate one.

​"Xanor," she said, her voice dropping to a low, intense whisper. "Stay close to me. Right now."

​Xanor, recognizing the severity in her tone—a sound he hadn't heard before—moved instantly, pressing his back against hers, his short-hafted battle-axe raised defensively.

​Shadow Eyes took a deep, shuddering breath, a tremor running through her gauntleted hand. She raised it slowly and placed a single finger on the center of her forehead, her eyes—visible through the slit of her helm—closing in concentration.

​"Shadow Soul-Destroying Formation!"

​A violent, invisible pressure radiated outward.

​BOOOOM!!!

​Sunny snapped his head back, his eyes fixed on the sky. The clear blue expanse above the stronghold was instantly devoured by darkness. A colossal, blood-red eye, miles wide, opened in the swirling chaos. Scarlet lightning—the color of ruptured veins—forked and struck the ground randomly, turning the air electric.

​"God Wolf! This is my Bloodline skill! Let the cost be on my own blood!" Shadow Eyes yelled, the power coursing through her body overwhelming her senses. She didn't hesitate, driving every last reserve of her spirit energy into the attack.

Beneath her helm, two thin, crimson trails of blood began to flow freely from the corners of her eyes.

​BOOOOM!!

​{Warning!!}

​{Attack on Master's mind and soul detected.}

{Attack have been neutralized.}

​BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

​Sunny watched, stunned, as the Wendigos suddenly staggered. Their unnatural speed vanished; their eyes went dull. In moments, every one of them dropped to the ground, dead. Their monstrous bodies shriveled, turning an unnatural, brittle white.

​"What…?" Sunny muttered, his surprise turning to a grim fascination.

​He saw the spectacle of death: wisps of white, tormented smoke—the very souls of the Wendigos—flew out of their bodies, drawn by an irresistible force. They funneled directly into Shadow Eyes's armored form, which pulsed with a brief, dark light. Her internal attack stat spiked violently.

​{Warning! Mate is in danger.}

​"Ah!"

​Sunny's head snapped up. His heart constricted. Josephine, who had been watching the battle, suddenly dropped to her knees, clutching her head with a choked sob.

The mental backlash of Shadow Eyes's unique soul-targeting attack had found a way past her defenses and was assailing anyone nearby with weak spiritual defenses.

​'System! Stop it!' Sunny yelled internally, gritting his teeth.

​{I am powerless, Master. The skill targets the fundamental essence. Only physical separation can stop the continuous mental damage.}

​Sunny quickly created a gateway beneath Josephine, and before she could utter a word, she fell inside, the portal closing instantly behind her, disappearing from the planet.

​"Why aren't you down yet?! Anyone lower than me in rank, anyone with a soul less hardened by death, must fall under my Shadow Soul-Destroying Formation!" Shadow Eyes shrieked, her voice rough with pain and disbelief.

​Sunny ignored her, and slowly moved his gaze around the courtyard. Even the Wendigos that had managed to escape from Josephine's attack were dropping once more, their essence drawn to her like moths to a dark flame.

​"DIE!!"

​Fueled by the stolen energy and her own bloodlust, Shadow Eyes exploded forward, her enhanced speed blinding. She appeared before Sunny in a blink and delivered a straight punch, an attack amplified by the souls of thousands.

​BAM!!!

​BOOOOM!!

​A shockwave of pure concussive force erupted from the collision point, a sharp, deafening sound that ripped through the air. Xanor and all the scattered, inanimate bodies of the Wendigos were slammed meters backward. The remains of the nearby mansion, already weakened by the fight, groaned and then collapsed into a pile of rubble from the sheer pressure.

​"Huh?"

​Shadow Eyes's forward momentum ceased completely. She was stunned, her enhanced, soul-crushing fist stopped dead—it rested innocuously in the center of Sunny's palm. The black iron of her gauntlet was slightly dented.

​"He... he caught my enhanced punch?" she muttered, the shock momentarily overriding the blood-debt of her skill.

​"You call this an attack?" Sunny's voice was low, laced with contempt, but also a hint of grudging respect for the power she wielded.

​He let go of her gauntlet and executed a lightning-fast, bone-shattering side kick. The blow connected squarely with her chest plate. The air rushed from her lungs as she was sent hurtling backward.

​BAM!

​Shadow Eyes smashed heavily into a retaining wall, the impact throwing up a plume of dust and cracked concrete. The force of the kick was so precise and overwhelming that her helmet was knocked loose, rolling away. Her face, however, remained concealed by the black cloth of her ninja mask.

​{DING!}

​{Ellen killed a half-heavenly rank warrior: gained 5,000 Exp.}

​"Huh?"

​Now Sunny was genuinely stunned. The sudden system notification was jarring, completely unrelated to his immediate fight.

'She killed someone? Is she in danger? No… If it's serious, Jinx and Star would have reached out to me. Is this a delayed notification?' He pushed the thought to the back of his mind. The opponent before him, demanded his full attention.

​"Are you okay?!" Xanor asked, scrambling to his feet and rushing toward the impact zone where Shadow Eyes lay stunned.

​But before he reached her, an unseen, unknown attack struck Shadow Eyes, sending her flying backward again, tumbling like a rag doll.

​"…What the—?"

​Xanor was frozen, watching in horror. Sunny hadn't moved a muscle. Yet, more attacks—blow after rhythmic, crushing blow—smashed into Shadow Eyes's body... Her body finally went limp, and she collapsed on the ground, utterly unconscious. The stolen spiritual energy began to dissipate from her form.

​"Did…" Xanor slowly turned to Sunny, his face a mask of horror and disbelief.

"He didn't make another move, then why the continuous attacks?" He asked himself, his mind reeling.

'God Wolf… Does his attacks leave a wound that keeps giving damage?' He thought, staring at Sunny like he was a demon from hell.

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