Chapter 14: Shadow-Following Panic

"Damn it all, what on earth is this thing?" Wang Yu planted himself before Avia, his eyes fixed warily upon the monstrosity that stared at her with such ravenous hunger.

There was no doubt this was the creature the priest had warned of, yet the question remained: why had it singled them out?

And it seemed to have no interest in Wang Yu at all, focusing its entire, grotesque appetite solely upon Avia.

"Wang Yu, it must be related to the Void. My right hand can touch it, but my left passes right through."

Avia whispered, her voice trembling with a fear that pierced through her attempt to alert the ever-vigilant Wang Yu.

Wang Yu nodded, his expression grim. He had already realized that his direct strikes were useless; his blade passed through the creature as if it were nothing more than a spirit.

But this was no mere ghost. Spirits were fragile things, lacking the sheer, unsettling malice that radiated from this entity.

Channeling the power of the Void, he coated his blade in its dark energy, hoping to bridge the gap between the physical and this ethereal nightmare.

Yet, as the energy surged, his field of vision constricted violently.

The sphere of perception that usually extended ten meters around him shrank to a mere five, and the monster vanished beyond his sight.

"Damn it, I haven't mastered these arcane arts long enough! Diverting energy to the blade just drains my own perception!"

Wang Yu cursed inwardly, lamenting the timing of his encounter with such a horror so soon after learning the wizard’s craft.

"Keep moving. Staying here will only be our death."

He held his sword high, stretching his limited arcane awareness to its absolute limit, his senses strained to the breaking point by the shifting shadows.

They could not remain here; to stop was to surrender to the encroaching night, a time when the forest would become far more lethal.

Whether they found the cabin or simply escaped the woods, any path was better than waiting for their own demise.

They pressed on, driven by the necessity of reaching the cabin in the woods.

Though Wang Yu had briefly considered setting the forest ablaze, the cost of such an act was far beyond their means.

Since the monster’s arrival, the forest had fallen into a deathly silence, save for the occasional, eerie wail of a forest witch that echoed in Avia’s ears.

It was as if the creature had devoured every sound, leaving only its own presence to feed Avia’s mounting terror.

A sense of helplessness washed over her—a paralyzing dread born from the knowledge that she could do nothing but watch Wang Yu take the brunt of the assault.

She carried a crossbow, but with only her left hand functional, she couldn't even aim, let alone fight.

She felt like a burden, a useless weight, even as she sensed the creature’s singular focus on her.

As a mage, she was powerless, unable to cast a single spell, and the frustration only deepened her despair.

She refused to be this way; she hungered for strength. If she could only reach the cabin and the academy, she would learn, she would grow...

Guilt and self-reproach tempered her fear, and she noticed the monster’s form flickering, growing more translucent.

But the moment her gaze locked onto it, the creature twisted its face into a hideous grin.

Its mouth split open, jagged, needle-like teeth extending from the corners of its lips all the way to its ears, its eyes burning with an unmasked, covetous hunger.

Fear surged anew, and Avia clung to Wang Yu’s back as they pushed forward.

The creature seemed to possess a form of teleportation; no matter how they moved, it remained a constant shadow.

The moment it vanished from her sight, it would reappear in the gloom of the trees just a few paces away.

In the thin, swirling mist, it manifested everywhere she looked.

One moment it hung upside down from a distant branch; the next, it peered from behind a boulder, or watched with malicious intent through the narrow gaps between leaves.

Realizing that Avia could touch it, the monster kept its distance, stalking them, applying a silent, invisible pressure that eroded her sanity, layer by layer.

Calm, stay calm, she told herself, but the malice that clung to them felt like a dark, supernatural force that no amount of willpower could suppress.

She remained on guard, her mind racing through every tome and legend, searching for a name, a weakness, anything...

They marched on, the monster flickering in and out of existence, a silent pact of movement that felt like a fragile, impossible truce.

When they passed through a particularly dense thicket, the creature vanished from Avia’s sight entirely.

This brought no relief, only a deeper, more suffocating terror.

When it was visible, she could prepare, but when it disappeared, it could be anywhere.

The tension in her chest tightened like a stone, her heart hammering against her ribs, a frantic rhythm that betrayed her composure.

As they squeezed through the tangled trees, every shadow seemed to harbor the beast.

The dark hollows between the leaves were bottomless pits of gloom. "Where is it? Where?"

She had prayed for it to vanish, but now that it was gone, she desperately wanted it back in her sight.

The fear of the unknown was a poison, making her jump at every shifting shadow.

As if to confirm her worst fears, as they passed beneath a canopy of leaves, Avia glanced upward and saw a twisted, grotesque face hanging directly above her, wearing a wicked, mocking smile.

Seeing her look up, the creature’s maw—bristling with fangs—widened, and it dropped from the branches, plunging straight toward her head.

Avia froze, paralyzed by the sudden, visceral explosion of terror that bypassed her reason and seized her very limbs.

She stood rooted to the spot, watching the basin-sized mouth descend, the creature’s nauseating grin looming larger with every heartbeat.

At the final second, a blade cut through the air. The Void energy gathered on the edge of the sword collided with the monster, erupting in a small, violent shockwave.

The creature’s descent was shattered, and it tumbled to the ground beside her.

Wang Yu hauled Avia behind him, his sword raised, his eyes fixed on the monster as it scrambled to its feet in a sickening, disjointed motion.

"This isn't like you, Avia. You’ve kept your cool before; why not now?"

Wang Yu’s voice was steady, though he noted her strange paralysis—she hadn't even tried to dodge, despite her bravery when facing the Obi-Wan.

"I... I’m sorry," she gasped, catching her breath.

His words made her realize how wrong it felt; she shouldn't have been so utterly incapacitated by fear.

Wang Yu watched the creature, its limbs twisted at impossible angles, its joints seemingly inverted as it flipped itself over, its head rotating a full hundred and eighty degrees to face him.

Given that it was a patchwork of forest witches stitched together, such movement was perhaps to be expected.

It had appeared out of thin air, without a sound or a trace, manifesting directly above her.

Wang Yu felt a surge of wonder mixed with a deeper, sharper caution; such strange abilities were always the most lethal.

Realizing Wang Yu was the obstacle, the monster bared its teeth, grinding them together with a harsh, metallic rasp.

Its long, sharp claws raked the earth and stone, emitting a shrill, grating sound.

In an instant, the creature vanished, slipping out of Wang Yu’s limited field of vision.

Unlike Avia, Wang Yu did not panic; panic was a waste of energy. He waited, silent and still.

As he had expected, the creature returned.

Just as before, it appeared out of nothingness, without warning, manifesting directly behind him, back to back.

Almost simultaneously, the talons hovering in the air descended, and the giant maw, lined with dense, serrated teeth, lunged for Wang Yu’s neck.

He had anticipated this; even an attack appearing from thin air could not evade Wang Yu’s reflexes.

Ripple energy replaced neural impulses, transmitting the brain’s commands in an instant, and his body moved with high-speed precision: an elbow strike!

His sword-wielding arm retracted sharply, the Ripple energy coalescing with void power at the point of his elbow.

Well-trained muscles drove the powerful limb, delivering a brutal elbow strike that slammed into the junction where the monster’s gaping maw met its neck. "Boom!"

The creature flew backward, its neck seemingly shattered, lying motionless on the ground—only to vanish entirely the next moment.

Wang Yu arched a brow; what kind of bizarre ability was this? Appearing and disappearing from nothingness, it was utterly strange.

How could any tangible entity possess such a nature—or ability—of existing and then instantly ceasing to be?

There was no time to ponder; the monster reappeared, its crushed neck seemingly nothing more than an illusion.

It clung to a large tree beside Wang Yu, its neck completely unscathed.

Its limbs coiled and then exploded with force, launching it at high speed toward Wang Yu’s left side—the side without his sword.

And this time, using the leverage, the monster’s speed was even greater than before.

Its jaws stretched wide, the grotesque, sickening internal structure visible even to Wang Yu’s inner eye. His sword was too slow, so he used his hand to block!

Gauntlets were a fine thing; if he had possessed the old knight’s armor while dueling Obi-Wan, he could have used his armored fists to parry a lightsaber, or blocked it directly with his palm!

Whatever this monster was, it would taste his fist first. Clenching his hand, he struck out, his armored left fist, wreathed in void energy, slamming into the creature’s face.

This time, he could even see a spray of sharp teeth flying out as the monster was sent reeling again, black fluid splattering everywhere before it crashed into a tree trunk.

The monster slumped to the ground, limp, as if it had completely lost the capacity to fight.

Yet, the next instant, it vanished again, causing Wang Yu to frown deeply. This ability was becoming far too troublesome.

A peculiar sensation drew Wang Yu’s gaze to his left fist, where something seemed to be moving beneath the gaps in the iron plating.

A quick glance revealed that the "Blade of Night" mark was shifting as if it were a living thing.

The grotesque, giant eyeball pierced by the ornate blade was struggling frantically for reasons unknown.

The tentacles, though carved from steel, writhed and coiled like flesh, attempting to pull the ornate blade from its center.

But the blade emitted a faint halo, suppressing the restless evil with absolute finality...

What did this mean? Wang Yu pondered rapidly, and a thought was simultaneously transmitted into his body, carried by the Ripple energy to his brain.

"Void, suppression."

That was the gist of it. Wang Yu’s heart stirred; the Blade of Night gauntlet had such a function?

It seemed to be thirsting for "stamina" to trigger something, and the catalyst for this change appeared to be the monster he had just punched away.

With this in mind, Wang Yu looked at the monster, which had suddenly reappeared behind a large rock, completely unharmed.

The blow he had landed earlier seemed to have never happened; the creature had sustained no damage at all.

Now, it wore a malicious grin, hiding in what it believed to be Wang Yu’s blind spot, creeping closer before lunging out once more.

Having failed twice, Wang Yu decided to try a new approach.

Prepared, he aimed at the beast-like creature as it scrambled toward him on all fours. He sheathed his sword, opened his arms, and braced himself as if to embrace the incoming monster.

With a sudden burst of strength, he pressed his hands down, meeting the creature firmly and pinning its two arms.

The monster tried to bite Wang Yu’s hands with its jagged teeth, but with its arms held fast, it could not execute the maneuver.

The monster’s strength and speed were not immense—not as difficult to handle as Obi-Wan—but its ability to heal instantly and appear and disappear at will was far too eerie.

If this became a war of attrition, one mistake would be Wang Yu’s undoing, while the monster could simply try again. This was dire. Wang Yu decided to test the intent in his mind.

He channeled his internal Ripple, and the energy, laden with "stamina," poured into the gauntlets. The armor accepted the offering without hesitation.

Wang Yu clearly felt himself growing weary, but at the same time, he saw the blade embedded in the monster-eye within his gauntlet begin to glow with a dazzling light.

The pierced, grotesque eyeball struggled one last time in defiance before going still, turning into a lifeless object.

The ornate sword that had suppressed the eye seemed to become more exquisite and real, and the power originally used to hold the giant eye began to overflow, coating the exterior of the gauntlet.

The monster’s arms began to burn, emitting black smoke, and it started to struggle, flickering as if it intended to vanish.

But for some reason, held fast by its arms, the monster could not disappear and could only writhe in agony.

With a grim smile, Wang Yu gripped the monster’s arms and forced them directly toward its own head.

"Crunch," the sound of snapping bone echoed like grinding teeth; the monster’s arms twisted.

Held by Wang Yu and unable to break free, immense force was applied to the creature’s skull.

The monster’s grotesque expression grew increasingly frantic, a deep, raw malice directed squarely at Wang Yu.

Ignoring it, he increased the output of his stamina, and the power radiating from the gauntlets grew even more intense.

He could see the monster’s bones deforming and its flesh twisting; the constant black smoke indicated that parts of its body were being vaporized.

Maintaining the pressure, indifferent to the creature’s malevolent glare, he crushed and pulverized its head bit by bit. Wang Yu looked more like a deranged serial killer than a hero.

"Splat..." The headless, armless corpse of the monster fell to the ground. This time, the damage could truly be called "grinding bones to dust."

Wang Yu stood panting; the power granted by the gauntlets was indeed miraculous, but the stamina cost was staggeringly high.

Had he been an ordinary man, he would have collapsed by now. With the bonuses from his willpower and constitution, he was holding up well enough to continue fighting.

"Avia..." Wang Yu had just begun to speak when the monster’s corpse vanished once again.

His vigilance spiked instantly. The monster had reappeared from thin air for the umpteenth time.

It stood not far from Wang Yu, a mocking smile on its face. Its strange posture and unscathed body seemed to ridicule Wang Yu’s incompetence and absurdity.

Expressionless, Wang Yu turned to face the monster. There was no fear in his heart, only gravity.

He bared his teeth; this thing was truly troublesome. He might have to try something else...

He loosened his limbs, letting the fatigue affect his performance as little as possible. Why fear? No matter how bizarre, Wang Yu would not panic.

"Wang Yu, knock me out!"

Just as Wang Yu decided to try other means, such as changing how he utilized his secret Ripple energy, Avia, standing beside him, suddenly shouted.

The girl’s face was still etched with fear, but through that fear shone a thread of resolve.

Doubt flashed through him, but this was his companion’s decision—trust! Without a moment’s hesitation, Wang Yu formed his hand into a blade and struck the back of Avia’s neck.

(Thanks for reading, this is my greatest motivation, haha.)