I Can Copy And Evolve Talents

Chapter 1352: When A Daemon Wants You To Live, Only Then Can You Evade Death

The night had become something else entirely, swallowed by a dreadful white fog that seemed to grow invisible teeth and bite deep into the body. And as if that were not enough, vicious things grew from the shadows and slaughtered tens before anyone could so much as scream.

In the span of a heartbeat, Colak felt total control of his army slip through his fingers. The Formation that should have held against any weight shattered instantly. The dome meant to hide their location proved useless.

But that wasn’t even the main problem.

The main problem was the identity of whatever was attacking them. It was unknown. Ryugan had turned the Empire’s own tactic against them.

After all, the Empire had attacked the vanguard of that little country with precisely this intention: to exploit the primal fear of the unknown. Captain Colak was not a votary of mind games. He loved to dive in with superior strength and take his victory by a forceful hand. He loved enemies that put up great fights.

Being on the receiving end of such a tactic, he couldn’t help but admire its brutal effect.

The sudden snow slowed the soldiers’ movement and separated them from each other, from everything. Each passing second they spent within it was dreadful. Colak had reinforced his body with essence and wasn’t shivering from the cold, but many soldiers were already dropping dead from frostbite. And there were still the spikes to contend with, the ones growing out of the pool of darkness that now covered the ground.

It was a dilemma... but Colak was smiling.

As another spike lunged toward him, he brought his shield down with both arms and slammed it onto the spike before it reached him. The thing was durable. It took a moment, but Colak figured out that all he had to do was use his weight. Soon he was crushing the strange solidified darkness, grinding it into wisps of black smoke.

”Calm down, you brutes! It’s just hard, not indestructible!”

His voice carried across the blizzard. Whether any of his subordinates actually heard him was another matter. The snow had veiled every single one of them from each other.

The spikes came again. Colak was alert. He swung his shield back casually, letting a shadow spike crash against it, but several more flew toward him from all directions. He twirled, gathering momentum, and the cold wind around him whirled with him. Using that momentum, he disrupted the spikes. His limbs shot out in quick succession, blurry with speed. In less than a moment, all the spikes scattered into fragments that vanished into wisps of black smoke.

As if that weren’t enough, hundreds more appeared. There was no end to them, all of them descended upon Colak.

In that moment, his breath went cold. His gaze sharpened.

Then he disappeared, leaving only a fluttering of black petals that drifted in the frigid wind.

The spikes crashed into each other, hooked into each other. Immediately, Colak reappeared with another round of black petals scattering into the air. He stood atop the shadow spikes for a single breath before they dissolved into liquid form and sank into the ground. He landed gracefully where they had been.

”Why don’t you show yourself and get down to business? Are you scared of the overwhelming numbers? Want to even the field by being sneaky?” His lip curled. ”I hate sneaky. Be bold!”

”I don’t know which is more insulting.” The voice was hoarse and cold. It came from everywhere and nowhere. ”The fact that you think I’d want to be sneaky with the likes of you, or the fact that you actually dare call my shadow... ’just hard.’”

Colak whipped his head around and found nothing. His brows furrowed, he was certain he had heard something just now.

”Right here, you diminutive human.”

The shadows beneath his feet surged upward. Colak leaped away instantly, every instinct screaming, but even as he moved, he felt a hand touch his back very tenderly.

All his senses flared. He snapped his hand sideways, reaching back to strike, but the hand caught his easily, held and twisted it.

The snap of bone was sharp and clean.

His arm bent at the wrong angle. His ankle twisted in a direction unbefitting to the eye.

”Ah, I broke your arm. My mistake.” The voice was right beside his ear now, quite casual. ”Here, let me fix that.”

The white-haired man standing behind him snapped his arm back into place. It healed instantly. The pain disappeared before Colak had even begun to feel it.

But there was a problem.

The white-haired man behind him was also in front of him, standing where the shadow had been rising a moment before. He held a dark rod loosely in one hand.

’What was that dreadful thing I felt just now?’

Colak was certain he had felt an immense wave of dread, something that had made him flee before he could think when the shadows began to rise. But now it was gone. Like it had never existed in the first place.

’Why are there two of him?’

He observed both figures cautiously while glancing around for subordinates who might have survived the perilous snow, especially now that the blizzard was clearing.

The Northern in front of him noticed his searching gaze and a flat smile crossed his face.

”I don’t think anyone is coming for your rescue.” He tilted his head, amused. ”It’s actually quite an obscene expectation you have of your soldiers.”

He laughed softly.

The scenery was clearing. The darkness receded, and with it, the faint light of the moon finally pierced through.

”What?!”

Colak’s eyes went wide.

The ground of the forest was littered with bodies. His legion, every single one of them lay frozen and still, their faces locked in expressions of surprise or agony. All of them had frozen to death. Not a single one had survived.

Not even Hasan.

Cold fear settled deep in his chest as he turned back to the white-haired man, who was now smiling.

The man shrugged casually.

”So you see, it’s not that you were strong or smart. All that essence wrapped around your body is truly useless.” His smile didn’t waver. ”The only reason you’re still alive is because I want you to be.”