The Villain's Story

Chapter 796: Guardian of Shadows.

Maxwell stopped completely, and looked down at the black blade on his neck. It was a double-edged sword, like a normal sword, however the shape of it continuously changed, the metal it was forged with went up and down, responding to the wind as if it was a liquid, and not a solid weapon.

It was slim, and almost see through at times as well. Maxwell waited for the person who had his life in his hands to talk.

He should be here for a conversation, otherwise, his head would be on the floor by now.

[You don’t seem like a combatant, though your shadow is quite fierce.]

’...’

Instead of hearing it from behind, the voice echoed in his mind, and to top it off, it was... robotic? It was like it was a vocaloid.

The blade pushed deeper into his skin, effortlessly cutting through it and drawing blood, trickling down his skin and tainting his shirt.

’...’

He really liked his shirt, it was a damn expensive brand! Worse, it was going to be a pain getting rid of the stain from the collar.

”And you are?”

He heard a stiff laugh echo in his mind, as the blade vanished all of a sudden, Maxwell heaved a sigh of relief and fixed his clothes, turning around to see who it was.

”... This is unexpected.”

His eyes widened, as a tendril of darkness arose from the ground, throwing him to the side.

---

Far off in the distance, Alexander blocked a black blade with his twin swords, jumping back as he coated them with wind and lightning respectively, he glared at the aggressor who had appeared out of nowhere.

Heavy, but light footsteps dug into the ground, yet floated above it with magic, disorienting Alexander’s sense of his opponent, as the black blade flashed once more.

[Interesting... Not just one, but two? Although you can’t qualify as one yet.]

He moved back, avoiding the blade and counter attacking by throwing sand into the face of the aggressor using his foot as a strange voice echoed in his mind.

’Right...’

A moment later, he regretted his decision as he realized what exactly he was fighting.

’Throwing sand won’t work, heh.’

His last thought as the world darkened for a moment, a fierce fist making his consciousness crumble for a split second.

---

Edward felt something off, he came to an abrupt stop and jumped up, avoiding a sweeping strike aimed to cut him in half.

He used his golden fire to propel himself further upwards, but tendrils of darkness arose from the sand and grabbed his feet, dragging him down.

Crashing into the sand, Edward saw a glint shine in the dust, and barely managed to grab a black blade with his teeth, his golden fire roared, clearing the dust and finally making him able to see who wielded the strange, liquid blade.

[And a Golden Beast as well, what a surprise.]

A strange voice echoed in his mind, giving him a slight headache. His eyes widened as he looked up, at the figure who wielded the black blade with ease.

”... What the hell?”

A kick in the stomach sent him flying.

---

Kazikato stared at the figure wielding a strange and dangerous blade from the skies, in his Draconian form covered by a layer of shadows, he painted a sinister picture, however, the shadows and darkness surrounding his body quivered as he laid his eyes on the figure.

’... What is this?’

A Draconian of metal and darkness lay below him, smaller than him and Alan, at most the size of a tall human clad in cold armor.

White light escaped through the gaps of his strange armor as his tail danced in the sand. Kazikato realized, at that moment, that there was no armor in sight.

[Skill: Dragon Eyes has been activated.]

He was looking at what appeared to be a machine, wielding the powers of darkness, shadow, and Death. It was no armor that covered the body of the Draconian.

Rather, it was his own body, a body of metal and circuits, Kazikato saw flesh and metal coexisting within one being, wielding all the powers he had with such expertise to maintain this and many other forms.

He looked to the side, where the skies turned purple and a mana unlike any other raged forth, a blue mountain rising up from the ground, and everywhere else where he sensed that figure.

Maxwell, Alexander, Edward, everyone was facing the same being, except for Alan, who was in his own predicament. But already, he could sense a shadow going his way.

”... What are you?”

The figure looking up at him bowed, and revealed his name.

[I go by Shilam, the adjutant of Lord Kulak.]

He heard a voice echo in his mind, strange and eerie, as the figure vanished without a trace, Kazikato’s senses alarmed him, and he turned his head, yet before he could fully do so, he suffered a dreadful kick to the neck.

It tore through his armor of shadows, and shattered the bone that made up his Draconian form, throwing Kazikato towards the sand.

He stood up, his veil of shadows refusing to recover, as if they obeyed a ruler other than him, his ivory figure, parts of it cracked and dyed red with blood, rose from the ground.

A green light escaped his mouth, shrouded in dreadful black. A dragon breath unleashed at the aggressor in the skies, but the black blade wielded by the robotic samurai cut through his breath like a hot knife through butter, cleaving it in half.

The flat part of the blade crashed into his mouth, crushing his jaw, breaking his teeth and swelling his throat.

Kazikato coughed, as the figure shrouded in metallic black took his place. It was now he who looked up at the black dread in the sky, wielded a blade of liquid shadows that taunted him with his finger.

[Shadows are an unruly kind, my prince.]

They really were, as none but his own responded to his calls, running towards the dreadful swordsman in the sky instead.