Raiden could sense it; it was him. But why would their opponent create a version of him for them to fight?
Raiden didn’t have long to think before his eyes widened in terror. His shadow was right in front of him, staring at his face with its devilish expression unmistakable.
It all happened so fast that none of them saw the shadow move, only discovering it before Raiden in the next instant.
Raiden instinctively attacked, but the shadow easily evaded without taking a step. What came next was its fist connecting with Raiden’s gut as it grabbed his shoulder, forcing him to remain motionless.
Though gentle, the strike felt like a concrete ball had been driven into his gut. He coughed out blood as goosebumps rippled across his skin, his eyes darting around in confusion despite the devastating pain.
Noelle activated her domain in an instant, and the shadow immediately began struggling to move. Its hand fell from Raiden’s shoulder, forcing it to remain still.
Raiden seized the chance and created distance between himself and the shadow, clutching his stomach as he dropped to one knee. Aeris ran over to heal him.
MK’s red eyes lit up instantly, his golden aura forming into a massive hand as he gestured toward the shadow, wrapping it in a tight grip.
Freya’s flames blazed as she dashed toward the shadow with a determined scream and struck it across the face, but it simply continued wearing its menacing expression. Noelle also followed with a strike of her own.
What came next was a barrage of strikes aimed directly at the shadow’s head.
As they fought, Raiden was being healed while trying to process everything. The shadow took every attack they threw at it. Clearly, Noelle had created a rule that it couldn’t move, but nothing happened to the shadow—it was as if the strikes had no effect whatsoever.
Raiden’s eyes widened in realization as he rose to his feet, pulling away from Aeris’s grasp.
"Stop!" he called out. They all paused mid-strike and turned to him.
Raiden let out a sigh and began massaging his forehead. If the shadow was him, then it was probably thinking like him. So all he had to do was put himself in the shadow’s position. If he were in such a situation and knew their attacks wouldn’t have much effect, then he would take them head-on until they were all exhausted and the domain broke.
He lifted his head and met the shadow’s menacing expression with an even more daunting one of his own.
"You have to leave it to me."
Noelle looked at him in confusion, while Freya and Aeris simply stepped out of the domain.
"This is practically me, and the best person to fight me is me." He turned to Noelle. "Just set a rule where it can’t leave the domain and leave everything to me."
Noelle sighed, shrugged, and placed her aether between her lips. MK released the shadow as well, leaving just the three of them within the domain.
"Let’s see what you are capable of, Raiden." He murmured in excitement and dashed toward it.
Once within reach, he struck, but the shadow easily dodged. This only deepened Raiden’s resolve, his twisted smile growing wider. He turned invisible instantly, and using the momentum from his failed attack, he propelled himself forward and drove his leg into the shadow’s gut, sending it sliding backward.
Just like Raiden, it had instincts, so it reacted just in time to reduce the impact. But due to Raiden’s Soul Condemn ability, its body began fluctuating.
Raiden smirked. "Just like I suspected, it’s Jack against Raiden."
He concentrated his mana into his legs, and before the shadow could readjust from the previous attack, Raiden had already closed the distance. He slammed his fist into its chest, the impact tearing a hole clean through its torso.
However, the shadow acted through the impact and grabbed Raiden’s hand. Raiden’s teeth gritted in an instant—he knew he was in trouble, but the shadow’s devilish smile grew darker instead.
It slammed its leg into Raiden’s ribs, forcing Raiden to turn visible in an instant. He couldn’t react in time to block the strike completely and had to absorb the full impact since the shadow still gripped his hand tightly.
He felt his ribs give way, but he knew his regeneration would take care of it. He pushed through the agony and struck with his remaining hand, tearing the shadow’s twisted smile clean off, leaving only its eyes.
At that moment, it was as if they shared the same mind. What came next was Raiden and his shadow exchanging strike after strike, sharp sounds echoing across the distance as dust filled the air. Their movements were barely visible, leaving the others, especially Noelle, in shock.
They remained motionless, Raiden coughing up blood after each blow he took, yet euphoria coursed through his entire body as he began laughing. From the sparks in his shadow’s eyes, it was clearly laughing along with him.
Each of Raiden’s strikes tore through the shadow, gradually erasing it. Before long, the shadow was completely obliterated.
Raiden dropped to his knees while the others remained frozen in confusion. However, after a sharp glance at Raiden, Noelle deactivated her domain and moved toward the carriage.
While Raiden breathed slowly and steadily, waiting for his body to be completely healed.
[NEW ABILITY UNLOCKED: MOON DRAGON’S VEINS-5%
—You now possess the physical and territorial dominance of Ash. This grants super strength, darkness dominion, scale armor, and spiritually based attacks."
[CURRENT STATUS: NUMBER 6 : LEVEL- 0/100 XP.
DRAGON MANA POOL: 920/ 5000
PHYSICAL STRENGTH: 335
SKILL PROFICIENCY: ACTIVE 2
—Linked Familiar: WHITE DRAGON
—Bond Type: Sealed Pact.
—Bond Type: Binding Oath.
—Bond Type: Binding Oath.
—Bond Type: Binding Oath.
—Bond Type: Devotion Pact.
—Heart of Dragon: 35%
Moon Dragon?—he remained quiet for a moment as he tried to understand, but his vision within the darkness slowly became somewhat vivid.
Then he sighed and smiled as he stared at the blue screen. He had known better than to dwell on the mysterious Ash at that moment.
His smile deepened. He had never known it would take such intensity and brutality to fight himself. Yet as he remained there, his expression shifted once again.
The shadow was him, but it wasn’t him at all. Its devilish smile meant nothing, and each of its strikes felt blunt like ordinary attacks. It was as if the shadow was created based on how others perceived him.
"This isn’t how I see myself, is it?" he muttered. He let out a sigh and rose to his feet.
Aeris rushed to heal him. Though his regeneration was already working, he gratefully accepted her assistance.
"You can turn invisible, too, huh?"
Raiden turned to Levi, who stood there massaging his shoulder and neck with a smirk. Raiden said nothing. There wasn’t anything he could say, even if he’d wanted to, but he didn’t anyway.
"You are full of mysteries, aren’t you?"
Raiden let out a sigh and gestured to Aeris to stop healing him. He began stretching his body, glancing over at the unconscious driver, then turned to Levi, who simply shrugged.
He turned east to see the sun rising. The threat was gone, but their journey wasn’t over. They had to push through the confusion.