With a thunderous roar, a terrifying howl split the air. A surge of black lightning erupted from the jar as my fist mercilessly smashed into the Replicator’s cheek, caving his entire face inward.
Black lightning scattered skyward, instantly shrouding the surroundings in a sinister glow. I crouched quietly in midair, the Replicator trapped beneath my left fist, held fast, unable to move, his body writhing with black lightning.
At that moment, Wraithshade began to change. His lower body vanished completely, torn apart like a shredded rag, drifting slowly, while a pair of long spikes—about a meter each, like swords—appeared in his hands.
“What’s wrong? Surprised?”
I glared coldly at the Replicator beside me. He tried to move, but the black lightning swirling around him kept breaking down his dark power.
“You really surprise me, Earthly Soul. Heh. I’ve thought it over for a long time—you’d never say it willingly, so I had to force you, make you grow quickly. I never imagined throwing you into the Instinct of False Zeno would somehow bring you back. Truly, I’m astonished.”
Clusters of black shadows drifted from Wraithshade’s spine, instantly filling the air with swirling black ghosts. Each ghost was different—every one wielded a weapon: swords, spears, rods, clubs, all manner of arms.
Wraithshade floated upward, glancing at the Replicator trapped in my hand.
“Let him go. Let’s have a proper fight, just the two of us. After all these months, you’ve been holding back long enough, haven’t you? Don’t you want to tear me apart?”
With a thunderous blast, the Replicator exploded in my left hand. Violent black lightning surged around me, gathering with a roar, and a sword slowly emerged. I gripped the Endbringer in one hand.
“Yeah, I’ve been holding back for too long. I should thank you for that—these past six months have made me see myself clearly, and everything you did for me before, I really do owe you, Mr. Wraithshade.”
With a thunderous crash, I raised the Endbringer in my right hand and charged at Wraithshade, slashing sideways. With a metallic clang, his twin black spikes blocked my Endbringer. Instantly, the surrounding ghosts swarmed in, weapons raised, attacking me from all sides.
With a sweep of my left hand, a black lightning bolt twisted like a dragon, roaring as it spun. One by one, the ghosts turned to ash.
“These things are useless against me. Show me your real power.”
As I spoke, Wraithshade chuckled. Suddenly, I shot backward, and the ground below erupted with a loud rumble—only then did I see the massive, bizarre ritual array taking shape.
Columns of red light shot up from the ground. I instantly realized I couldn’t touch them—they were absolute restraints for ghosts. Even with my powers restored, I couldn’t get careless. I was still a ghost, and that fact couldn’t be changed.
“Very clever, Earthly Soul. Heh.”
Now, all around me, red columns connected to the ceiling, forming a blue ritual array in the air, completely different from the one on the ground. The ghosts I’d just destroyed reappeared, but now they were pale blue.
“Do you know why I founded the Ghost Syndicate? Because I was born able to enslave ghosts. Heh.”
Suddenly, my eyes widened and my limbs moved on their own. What was happening? I was sure I hadn’t been caught by anything—then I saw it: a strange red symbol on my right hand. It was suppressing my ghostly body.
With a sudden rush, Wraithshade charged at me, twin spikes raised, crackling. In a burst of smoke, the strange symbol on my right hand vanished. Facing his stabbing spikes, I gripped the Endbringer with both hands and blocked.
A sharp whistle cut past my ear. I twisted aside, slipping through several red columns of light, but an arrow struck my shoulder. To my shock, I was falling—a pale blue ghost with a bow fired another arrow, this time hitting my leg.
With a heavy thud, I hit the ground, my body weighed down. Wraithshade’s technique was strange—I couldn’t tell what it was, but judging by the two ritual arrays, it couldn’t be completed quickly. He must have started preparing as soon as I used my Awakening power.
“Bastard.”
I cursed, and with a crash, a ghost wielding a massive hammer dropped down. The hammer smashed in front of me—I dodged, but my body felt even heavier.
Forget floating—just standing was exhausting now. My back hunched, and I reached for the arrow in my thigh, but suddenly a pale blue blur—a long spear—thrust at me. I twisted aside, but it grazed me, and several sword-wielding ghosts closed in.
I raised my left hand, firing black lightning. With a series of crashes, I was shocked to find my Endbringer’s power couldn’t destroy these pale blue ghosts.
With a bang, I blocked a round of attacks, but was sent flying into a red column. Blinding red spikes pierced my body, like thousands of tiny needles, nailing me to the pillar.
“It’s over, Earthly Soul. I didn’t expect you to be so weak. But it’s not your fault—your power is strong, but your methods are full of flaws.”
Wraithshade stood before me, surrounded by pale blue ghosts. I sneered, gripping the Endbringer, trying to force my way out of this crisis.
Suddenly, I screamed in agony as my ghostly soul was torn apart.
“Stop wasting your strength. This power is cruel to ghosts—it’s evolved over thousands of years. Now let me ask you, what does Awakening feel like?”
I sneered.
“Go to hell.”
I swung the Endbringer at Wraithshade with sudden force. He raised his left spike and blocked my strike with a metallic clang.
“I told you—you have no chance of winning.”
I chuckled.
“Maybe that was true before, but now things have changed. Since you’re so curious, I’ll show you—Awakening’s power.”
Suddenly, shock flashed in Wraithshade’s eyes. Crackling sounds filled the air.
“Bastard.”
With a thunderous crash, black lightning erupted across the ground. The red columns pinning me vanished one by one.
“The ritual array is broken?”
Wraithshade looked at me in disbelief. Everything around us faded away, and the pale blue ghosts all rushed at me.
With a hum, a burst of black lightning exploded from my body, wiping out the pale blue ghosts—leaving only Wraithshade.
Black lightning crawled over every surface of the room, with streaks of dark energy spilling from my body.
“All power is useless before the Endbringer.”
With a rush of black lightning and crackling energy, I lunged at Wraithshade, slashing down. He crossed his twin spikes to block my Endbringer, drifting down to the ground.
Wraithshade stopped, staring in disbelief at the black energy swirling beneath him—already merging into his body.
“Die...”
As soon as I finished speaking, Wraithshade’s hands turned to ash. His twin spikes fell into the lightning, crackling as they shattered. Wraithshade’s body broke apart, crumbling like a fractured stone.
“Unbelievable—such power actually exists. Heh.”
With a hum, Wraithshade’s body exploded completely. But then I saw a black ghost, whimpering in pain, vanishing in the Endbringer’s power—while Wraithshade stood floating not far from me.
“Still the same, huh? After thousands of years, your secret to immortality is swapping yourself out with these ghosts at the moment of death—ghosts you killed and kept captive. What a vile method. You never dare fight with your own soul?”
“If you’re trying to anger me, save it, Earthly Soul. That’s exactly what I do—what’s wrong with it? Ghosts are just people after death. Instead of letting them wander, why not put them to use—for me, for humanity? What’s so bad about that?”
I chuckled, then roared and charged at Wraithshade with the Endbringer. He hadn’t expected me to move even faster.
Wraithshade dropped into a half-crouch, muttering and forming seals with his hands. Red and green light flared—but I didn’t give him time to cast his technique. I severed his hands and drove the Endbringer straight into his heart.
With a wet squelch, black blood poured out as Wraithshade stared at me in silence.
“So fast—I didn’t expect you could move that quickly.”
A painful whimper echoed. I watched as Wraithshade vanished before me, a black ghost appearing and slowly fading away. I felt a surge of agonizing emotion.
“Alright, playtime’s almost over. Let’s fight for real, Earthly Soul.”
I turned viciously, black lightning crawling over the room. Gripping the Endbringer, I became a surge of black lightning, crashing toward Wraithshade.
Suddenly, I stared in shock—a smear of gray and a foul stench. My Endbringer struck the black mass, but slid off instantly, scattering the lightning into several streams.
“Luo Zhihui?”
I stared in shock at the foul, gray clay figure before me, controlled by Wraithshade.
“An incredible ghost—just finished processing. You won’t break through, Earthly Soul.”