Third Person’s POV

Ethan almost felt for a second as if it had been testing him before and now, it was done playing.

Ethan sprang up in a fraction of a second as his right hand tightened around the broken saber’s hilt.

The shadow’s form flickered and shifted in and out of sight, making its movements impossible to predict.

Ethan spun on his heel as his instincts screamed and he barely parried in time.

The dark figure’s shadowy limb elongated unnaturally as a blackened claw formed in place of its missing weapon.

Ethan blocked with the saber’s hilt but the force behind the strike sent him skidding back down the stairs.

Virelle clicked her tongue and shouted with wide eyes.

“Be careful, Brother Ethan!”

Blood threads shot forward from her fingertips and formed sharp spikes that aimed at the entity’s core.

The shadow twisted unnaturally as the thorny threads passed by it but it avoided them with inhuman agility.

Virelle’s attack gave the much-needed moment of respite that Ethan needed to recompose himself.

He narrowed his eyes and shifted into a lower stance as he prepared to counter the next move. They needed to pin it down and find its weakness.

The shadow paused as if sensing their shift in tactics.

But in the next moment, a sharp pain coursed through the cut on his waist as Ethan suddenly felt intense wiggling in that area.

It was as if something was burrowing deeper into his flesh.

He looked down and, to his horror, he saw thick slippery leech-like worms pushing out of the wound.

Their bodies were red and pulsating and their circular mouths lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth.

A shudder ran through him but he didn’t hesitate even for a second.

Gritting his teeth, he yanked the writhing parasites from his flesh and hurled them to the ground.

He didn’t have the leeway to think about how and when they had infected him as he was facing the most dangerous enemy he had encountered since his birth in this life.

The creatures screeched in an inhuman manner as their blood-stained bodies squirmed toward the shadowy figure that had remained motionless until now.

A wave of dizziness washed over Ethan as the blood loss took its toll on his body but he fought to stay alert.

How many times would I have to bleed today?

A funny thought crossed his mind even though his instincts screamed at him that even a second of vulnerability or loss of focus on his part would be fatal.

The wiggling inside his wound intensified as if those worms were endless. A sudden realization dawned on him and he acted immediately.

His torso flared with an icy blue glow as intricate patterns of ice blue vines and roses materialized on his skin which pulsated with an intense freezing energy.

Mist coiled around him like a living entity before it concentrated near his waist.

The pain spiked as the frost seeped into his open wound and crystallized his flesh, encasing the writhing parasites in a thick layer of shimmering blue ice.

Ethan felt an instant relief as he sighed.

The agonizing burrowing ceased and only left the sharp sting of the freezing wound behind.

Ethan exhaled with his breath visible in the cold air before he looked up.

Virelle was at his side with her arms steadying him but her crimson eyes were locked warily onto the shadow before them.

The dark figure remained still but the worms had reached its feet and eagerly burrowed into its form.

A guttural screech resonated through the tunnel as two glowing red orbs ignited where its eyes should have been.

Ethan tensed and without warning, a sharp whooshing sound sliced through the air.

He instinctively pulled Virelle close and ducked down.

The hatchet that had been embedded in the wall moments ago came whirling back and missed them by mere inches before it landed in the creature’s outstretched hand.

Virelle swallowed as her earlier numbness began to fade into dread.

The weapon began to glow ominously and its edges became searing red as if molten metal coursed through it. Then, in a blur of motion, the shadow vanished.

Ethan barely had time to react before an overwhelming sense of danger even greater than the previous instances engulfed him.

His enhanced senses which were sharpened by his dark soul energy struggled to track the shadow’s movements.

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Then—

A sudden pressure above him.

He looked up just in time to see the hatchet descending in a lethal arc toward his head.

His hands moved instinctively as he gripped the broken saber’s hilt and swung it horizontally to intercept the attack.

The moment their weapons clashed, an immense shockwave erupted from the impact and sent tremors through the stone walls.

Deep cracks splintered across the well walls and Ethan’s feet sank into the stairway from the sheer force pressing down on him.

His arms trembled violently and blood poured from his torn palms as he fought against the downward strike.

Virelle gasped and stepped back in time as dust and debris rained around them.

The pressure was overwhelming. Even with his Arctic Sovereign Immortal Body reinforcing him, Ethan could feel the hatchet forcing its way closer, inch by inch to his forehead.

But he refused to break.

A sudden, piercing cry echoed through the hallway. Ethan’s gaze flickered past the shadow for a moment as he spotted a movement.

Velcy had stumbled out of her room and her small form trembled as she took in the terrifying scene before her.

A split second of distraction was all the shadow needed. The hatchet inched closer.

Ethan gritted his teeth as he poured every bit of his strength into his next move.

Instead of resisting the force, he shifted his weight and twisted his wrists, letting the saber’s blade slide alongside the hatchet’s edge in a precise deflection.

The instant he felt the pressure lessen, he dodged to the side in a controlled roll as his back pressed against the dark wall.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep