Chapter 36: Shadows of Conflict!
The air in the abandoned warehouse buzzed with tension as Kayn stood amidst the various enemies, his eyes glowing beneath the dim light as they surrounded him, ready to engage the second he makes so much of another step.
"You know, we've heard a-lot about your Harbinger." The tension thickened as the crowd parted, allowing a figure to step forward.
The figure was tall, around 6'6, he was middle aged, but had hollow eyes glowing an unnatural light, a malevolent aura emitting from his body as he was clad in dark black robes.
His voice was raspy and venomous as he whispered, echoing unnaturally around the warehouse, "They told me you was quite powerful, but I don't believe it, let me show you TRUE DEATH!"
With a flick of his hand, the figure slammed the base of his staff into the ground, and the floor beneath them trembled. From the floor, the dead monstrous entities slowly reformed, rising with dark, necromantic magic emitting from their bodies as they began to stage an attack.
The other enemies just patiently stood, surrounding Kayn as they waited for the perfect opportunity to attack.
"Light Worlds," Kayn said in his mind, conjuring a series of Light Orbs of Mana that orbit around him, each one pulsating like miniature suns cutting through the darkness.
The light emitted from them wasn't just bright; it radiated a warmth that repelled the necromancer's dark magic, making the undead creatures hesitate as they drew closer.
The necromancer's hollow gaze flickered with a brief moment of uncertainty. He snarled, raising his staff to command his monsters forward, "DESTROY HIM!"
Without hesitation, the necromantic creatures lunged forward, ready to destroy him. The nearest one—a hulking mass of decayed flesh and bone—reached for Kayn.
But before it could touch him, one of the light orbs shot forward like a bolt of lightning, striking the beast square in the chest. The impact was immediate. The creature howled in agony as the light seared through its necrotic flesh, the radiant energy burning away the dark magic that held it together.
In moments, the beast crumbled into dust, its remains scattered by the same energy that destroyed it. Another orb spun outward, its arc tracing a wide path as it cut through two more of the reanimated creatures.
Their bodies disintegrated in mid-motion, unable to withstand the overwhelming power of the light-infused mana. But the undead were not the only ones in the fight.
One of them, a heavily muscled man ran forward, waving his hand as the various pools of blood gathered into dual wield swords that he held in his arms, while the remaining blood infused into his body, making him stronger and larger.
The other, a woman who controlled electricity, sent bolts of crackling energy surging toward him. Kayn didn't flinch. He raised his hand, and with a thought, two of the remaining orbs spun into action.
The first orb collided with the muscle-bound MetaHuman mid-air, striking him in the chest with a burst of radiant energy. He cried out, his momentum halted as the orb knocked him backward.
"ROARRRR!" He growled out angrily, funneling more and more blood into his body to heal his injuries and create more floating weapons that he sent flying towards Kayn.
Simultaneously, the second orb Kayn sent met the electric woman's attack head-on. Her lightning crackled through the air, but it fizzled and dissipated the moment it touched the orb's radiant glow.
The orb shot forward, enveloping her in its light, sending her body crashing through dozens of walls, with rubble collapsing on her body.
"Singularity," Kayn casted, summoning a small black hole that dragged the remaining necromantic creatures towards the center.
"Blizzard," Then, a wave of intense frost burst from Kayn's arms, instantaneously freezing all of the creatures gathered by the singularity, freezing them.
"Hmm, it seems like you're stronger than expected. Grand Marshal will have fun with you, others, ATTACK!" The necromancer shouted.
The 360 degree vision allowed by the Six Eyes allowed Kayn to track the movement of all of the enemies, no shift or flicker escaping his gaze.
"Let's get this over with," he muttered, his voice barely above a whisper, yet it carried like thunder in the silence.
The first to strike was a tall, lithe figure, their hands moving in a blur as they weaved intricate symbols in the air. Runes of dark power burst to life, forming jagged shards of energy that shot toward Kayn with lightning speed.
But he was faster.
Kayn's hand snapped up, and with a mere thought, a barrier of shadow materialized in front of him, absorbing the energy bolts like raindrops hitting glass.
The moment the barrier dissipated, he retaliated. His body flickered, and in the next instant, he was in front of the caster, his fist already in motion as he struck the figure with an impact that echoed like a cannon.
The sheer force of it sent a shockwave rippling through the air, and the enemy was hurled backward, slamming into the rusted machinery with a bone-crunching thud, shattering his spine and paralyzing him insantly.
In one fluid motion, Kayn extended his hand, telekinetically seizing control of the debris that had been falling, now hovering in the air around him. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the shards of metal and rubble hurtling toward the remaining enemies.
They reacted swiftly. One of them, a hulking brute of a figure with spikes coming off his limbs, obviously an Alien, used its body as a shield to block all of the debris.
Then, the brute ran forward, the building shaking with every step as he swung a massive, gauntleted fist toward Kayn, its path carving through the air with lethal intent.
But to Kayn's enhanced senses, the attack was slow, predictable. He ducked beneath the swing and countered with a strike of his own, a precise, devastating kick to the side of the brute's knee.
There was a sickening crack as the joint buckled, and the brute roared in pain, collapsing to one knee.
"Living Nightmare," Kayn muttered, roughly grabbing the brute's face, and forcefully sending him to a nightmarish dimension, which shows his absolutely worst fears, leaving him a husk until the spell is cancelled.
~SWOOSH~
Kayn dodged to the left, dodging another attack, that sliced through the brute, brutally injuring him. The figure immediately blended back into the shadows, almost invisible.
"You're not as clever as you think," Kayn muttered, his voice laced with contempt, to others, this enemy was invisible, but to him, this was a pathetic escape attempt.
Kayn raised his hand, and with a command, the entire room plunged into total darkness. Shadow's Embrace expanded, engulfing the entire area in a pitch-black void where only he had full control.
In this domain, the enemy's attempts at stealth were useless. He could feel them, hear the rapid beating of their heart, the quiet rustle of their clothing as they moved.
In the span of a heartbeat, Kayn acted. He launched himself forward, his body a blur as he closed in on the hidden enemy.
They barely had time to react as his fist crashed into their abdomen, driving the wind from their lungs. He followed up with a brutal elbow to the jaw, and the figure crumpled to the ground, unconscious.
With a wave of his hand, the darkness receded, and Kayn stood in the center of the room, surveying the scene. Three enemies down. Only one remained, the necromancer.
"Any words before your arrest?" Kayn asked, but the necromancer remained silent, slowly stepping backwards with a calm expression on his face.
"Grand Marshal will defeat you," That's all the necromancer said. Kayn flashed forward like a blur, forcefully grabbing the necromancer by the neck.
"Origin Annihilation," - Kayn casted, forcefully infusing terrifying dark energy directly into the necromancer's body, brutally crippling and injuring them, also annihilating their connection to magic.
With a flick of his wrist, Kayn sent them hurtling toward the floor, the impact creating a crater beneath them. Dust and debris filled the air as the last of his foes lay defeated, their body broken and unconscious.
"My, what did you do? WHERE IS MY MAGIC???" The necromancer roared angrily, but Kayn just punched him across the face, knocking him out.
The warehouse fell silent once more, the crackling energy dissipating, leaving only the faint hum of residual power in the air. Kayn straightened, brushing the dust from his clothes as he surveyed the scene.
He walked over to the unconscious enemies, his eyes narrowing. "New inmates indeed," he muttered.
Summoning a portal with a gesture, Kayn prepared to transport the defeated foes back to AEGIS's prison. They would be interrogated, and perhaps they would reveal something about the dark energy that had drawn him here in the first place.
But as he turned to leave, a new presence made itself known. The air shifted, and Kayn could feel the weight of a unfamiliar energy approaching from the distance.
It was a clone, Kayn could tell that, but he didn't know who it was a clone of. He paused, glancing toward the horizon. Whatever was coming, it would certainly be fun.
"Looks like this night isn't over yet."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone