The next second,

Shadows in the sky writhed creepily, forming pitch-black monsters.

With wings on their backs, built like black mud, faceless with only gaping maws spitting crimson.

The already despairing hearts of the Dotruu Kingdom nobles sank even further. The newly appeared monsters overhead felt extremely dangerous.

At the same time, shadows behind the Shadow Twins formed two aerial thrones.

They'd learned from someone how to sit upon thrones, wine glasses appearing in their hands. They clinked them together, the red wine inside gently swaying as they watched the "drama" about to unfold with interest.

"Struggle, you ants!"

"Roar!"

The next second, the monsters the Shadow Twins called Blob Beasts let out several ear-piercing screams, howling as they dove toward the ground.

The Shadow Twins showed zero fear of future consequences and boldly attacked, plunging the Dotruu Kingdom nobles' hearts into despair.

"Kill them!"

"For the kingdom's glory!"

"..."

Monsters filled the sky, shadow power shrouded the square. The Dotruu Kingdom nobles knew they couldn't bail and decided to fight to the death.

Ginya casually cut several ambushing Blob Beasts in half. Looking at their corpses, like that assassin, they turned to black mud and dissolved back into the shadows.

"These monsters aren't individual creatures..."

Ginya looked at the Shadow Twins' dark domain covering the sky, thinking hard:

"It's domain power."

The Shadow Twins seemed overconfident, but actually from the beginning they'd deployed their shadow domain, wrapping everyone within it.

Without the right countermeasures, the fate of Sword Saint Levi and the nobles had been sealed from the start. No matter how they struggled, they couldn't escape the Shadow Twins' grasp.

Having reported the Shadow Twins' info to its master and received capture orders, Ginya had hidden throughout, watching in secret.

Its purpose was to let the Dotruu Kingdom test out the Shadow Twins' abilities as much as possible, making its upcoming capture easier.

During this time, what Ginya found most weird was:

"Strange, why do I feel a sense of familiarity?"

It touched its chest—if the soul's core were solid, it would roughly be in this part of the body.

If Carlos understood Ginya's confusion, he would immediately think of Ginya's 'Shadow Finger' ability.

[Shadow Finger:

Both Diliya's origin and Diliya's refuge, one of the fragments born when the Shadow Realm split.

(1) Shadow Affinity: Greatly improves affinity with shadow power

(2) Shadow Escape: Merge into nearby shadows.

(4) Shadow Wings: Use shadow power to condense wings and achieve flight.

Note: As shadow energy improves, new powers will be gained.]

When Ginya was born, it fused with the human soul variant (Diliya), naturally incorporating Diliya's origin: a Shadow Realm fragment.

Its sense of familiarity toward the Shadow Realm's final echo—the Shadow Twins—stemmed from this.

Ginya pushed down the affection from deep in its soul. Its master's mission was above all else.

It observed the square's battle. The Dotruu Kingdom was even more useless than imagined, with the nobles completely dominated and their methods exhausted.

In this situation, there was no need to hide anymore. Time to make a move.

Ginya looked at the two thrones in the sky, soul fire burning bright, and patted its Phantom Dark Horse:

"Our turn!"

The Phantom Dark Horse let out a soul-deep roar, cold flames erupting from its hooves. Ginya's powerful Withering Domain spread, instantly catching the attention of the Shadow Twins high above.

They cast their gazes down, and part of Ginya's essence emanating shadow aura had nowhere to hide.

"Shadow Hall remnants!"

The Shadow Twins exploded in fury, angrily crushing the goblets in their hands, warm red wine scattering.

They mistook Ginya for Shadow Hall's backup plan.

Such pure shadow aura—the Shadow Twins had only seen it on those thieves who'd stolen the Shadow Realm's legacy, so they naturally thought this.

Ginya didn't know about the Shadow Twins' misunderstanding, but it sensed the deadly killing intent from above.

Its lance pointed straight at the sky, soul fire beneath its faceplate instantly boiling.

"Hahaha, Shadow Twins, today I'm gonna capture you alive and present you to my great master!"

Boom!

Terrifying momentum shot skyward. The Withering Domain of life and death intertwined and spread, instantly dissolving any Blob Beasts it touched. In just moments, it had infected half the sky, standing in opposition to the Shadow Twins' domain!

"Arrogant bastard!"

"Audacious!"

For the first time, obvious emotional changes appeared in the Shadow Twins' cold pupils. Since awakening, they'd never received such intense trash talk!

The sister's crescent scythe lit up, surging shadow energy condensing into rounds of pitch-black shadow moons containing terrifying energy, falling like meteors.

"Decent power."

A flash of withered yellow appeared on Ginya's faceplate. It raised its lance, vast psionic energy gathering. The withered leaf armor on its body glowed yellow as matchless energy tides gathered, surging waves sweeping upward.

"BOOM!!!"

A violent explosion thundered. Round after round of shadow moons slammed into the withering river, like ice and fire clashing, boiling within, raising rolling air waves.

The aftershocks of their clash shook the palace, stunning the Dotruu Kingdom nobles speechless.

"That... that's the northern noble's envoy!"

They stared blankly at the terrifying battle erupting in the sky. Each strike from either combatant was enough to wipe them out.

"The northern noble's envoy..."

Sword Saint Levi muttered, using his greatsword to support his bleeding body.

No time to consider why the northern noble's envoy's power was so scary—with those two Shadow Twin monsters tied up, this was the perfect chance to get the hell out!

But the surrounding Dotruu Kingdom nobles had already lost their minds from the terrible clash in the sky, actually forgetting to run.

Sword Saint Levi's cracked lips moved, his hoarse voice speaking:

"The sky battle is way beyond our ability to mess with.

Everyone retreat now!"

The aged voice instantly woke up the Dotruu Kingdom nobles.

"Right, let's bounce!"

"Once the Shadow Twins free up their hands, we won't be able to leave!"

"..."

Within moments, the Dotruu Kingdom nobles had quietly withdrawn from the square and rapidly fled.

Several people supporting Sword Saint Levi heard the gradually distant sounds of battle behind them. His expression was ashamed.

The king had been brazenly assassinated, and not only had they failed to successfully avenge him, they'd nearly gotten completely wiped out. In the end, it was actually a foreign envoy who'd saved their asses.

Sword Saint Levi had held the high position of King's Right Hand his entire life. The older he got, the more proud he became—you could imagine his feelings!

"Shame! This is our Dotruu Kingdom's shame!"

His aged hands clenched tightly, shameful blood dripping steadily.