The Shadow Knight

"You're here? I've been waiting a long time for you to make your appearance as well. Judging from what you've just said, you're definitely one of those wraiths that feed on spirits to grow stronger. Am I right?" Pausing before the question, Nightin words were like a thunder that went boom in the mind of the incoming wraith as it froze on the spot, revealing its body against its own will.

For an expert of this cultivation, hiding their presence was extremely easy. But it's a different story for a wraith as if their heart beats for even one tempo faster, then their body will reveal itself fully regardless of the situation.

"If you had not mentioned souls, I would have thought that you're a Demigod who lost a fraction of your strength due to an injury. But now, you're just a Demigod stuck at the peak of the first transformation ever since a long time ago, your fate has already been sealed by the shackles of time."

Before the Dark Knight can even react, Nightin got him to pay attention at the sidelines and prepare to help him.

The Dark Knight understood Nightin's intentions and stepped aside, the sword in his hand changed into a shield that can spawn before Nightin and prevent him from getting struck by any sudden attacks instantly.

Flames blazed the ground without dealing them any damage, the flames were a violet colour as they accompanied the sword and struck the opponent like a tornado.

"Your cultivation is still too low even though you have discerning eyes, young chap." The wraith face was pale white to begin with, but the scythe of it was still a weapon that possessed the true intent of soul reaping.

The wraith then slashed its scythe forward, the attack accompanied by a soul wisp and thin barrier of wind energy to strengthen the final clash.

As for exposing itself, it paid no heed to that matter since it had already happened quite a few times in the past. Also, the prey this time was too weak for it to put up any form of wariness.

Soul reaping, the extracting of one soul to inflict the greatest extent of pain onto any living being. It's just like using a sharp blade to slice onto the bare skin of any mortal, the wound so deep that it reaches the bone, the bleeding of the grievous wound unable to be stopped.

"Wrath of the phoenix!" Flames spiralled around the sword as they parried the scythe away to keep it away from any contact from the body of its master.

"It's no use, the effect of the soul leashing will go from your weapon onto you."

"You seriously underestimate the intensity of my flames."

When Nightin said this, violet flames cloaked his body like a robe, his eyes fully taking on the enchanted violet colour with his samsara eyes fully opened. The wisp of soul extraction energy was combusted into fuel for the flames, devouring that wisp of soul alive as it became a fire sprite that resembles an eel, turning its fangs against its master instead of the supposed enemy.

"Young lad, don't you know that it's a taboo to be hunting down the soul wisp of us wraiths?" When the wraith questioned in anger, tens of tentacles flopping around, threatening to avenge their fallen allies.

"It doesn't matter so long as I can take you down. By the way, have you seen the reverse arts of the samsara law?" Nightin sneered, prepared to give the newfound ability a shot. The ability he obtained upon destroying the third gate.

Before him, a violet diagram of Yin and Yang appeared in the air, but one was of green while the other was crimson.

"Samsara reversal law of the elements!"

When Nightin casted this, he could feel the spirit energy in his body draining rapidly as he fell onto the ground, losing the ability of even flight as beads of sweats rolled down his face.

Damn it, I awakened this move way too early on. Nightin cursed, realising that even though he can execute this move, it's only for comprehending. until he can make full use of Demi energy.

"What the hell is this? Why are all of my babies not listening to me?" The wraith cried out as its face grimaced in pain with a menacing look.

"Destroy!"

When the wraith shouted out the command in pain before all the soul wisps turned against him, its anger was fuming as it raised its scythe and prepared to take revenge. To make things worse, it actually summoned the forbidden soul wisp which will definitely injure him in return after the temporary moment of strength.

"I put in so much effort and now, my few years of patience will be put to waste and I'll have to spend another ten or so years recuperating. Since you wanna fight, then we shall have one!"

The wraith was enraged, it had a long lifespan and its kind was actually under a curse. Only by breaking through to the fourth transformation can they finally abandon their current identity and cultivate from scratch as a mortal, which isn't really a problem since their cultivation experience will still be ingrained in their mind.

"When my raw strength is comparable to the average second Demigod transformation, lets see how you can defeat me!" Before anyone present was able to react, the scythe was already in front of Nightin who was sneering at it, his arms resting beside him as his sword returned to his body.

"Foolish wraith, are you truly present just to help me break the seal? Haha haha!" When the Dark Knight made an appearance with his shield to block the attack before converting it into a sword, the taunting and profoundness in its words couldn't be hidden.

It's also the reason why Nightin was willing to use himself as the bait. Right before the wraith made its appearance, Dark Knight had mentioned its identity and how it would benefit him in breaking the seal and step into the third transformation. From there, Nightin was also shocked and amazed by how the difference between each Demi transformation is the difference between one major realm.

"No way, the leader only allowed us to roam the lands again in search of prey because your kind has ceased to exist for tens of thousands of years. What are you doing here right now and why has no one told me about the shadow knights returning!"

"I see, so I'm a shadow knight. Also, sorry to let you know, but I'm the last of my kind and I definitely won't be letting you leak out any information today." When the Shadow Knight once known as Dark Knight was speaking, he had already been casting a barrier which had already been completed.

His mind was in turmoil and he could feel himself needing some personal space and time to recollect and arrange his thoughts, but he knows that he has a more important task at hand first and he'll resolve it first before attending to his own matters.

When the wraith tried to escape, it realised that its body was immobilized to the spot and when it tried to send a warning message to the rest of its kind, it realised that its voice was being blocked off by the barrier.

"No way, you shadow knights have never ever been able to block off the sound waves of my kind ever since the beginning of time!" When the wraith cried out, it banged its head against the wall as Nightin laughed from the sidelines, speechless by how a being with such a thick cultivation base can be this foolish.

"That's because you wraiths are contended by your strength while we Shadow Knights have been striving to improve against the odds, in hope of that slim chance of replacing your species in the codex of legends 97th position." The Shadow Knight said coldly, but breaking into laughter soon after.

"That was the ambition of those before me at least, but my ambition is the top ten positions in the codex. I won't strive to force their species to extinction, but make them surrender their position to me willingly, one step at a time, I'll climb up the rankings alone."

The wraith stared at the Shadow Knight in fear and before it could even make its final cry, the sword had already landed upon it as it dispersed into nothingness. The ability of erasing the existence of a living being is also the unique ability of the Shadow Knight and why they were targeted to be removed from the 4th position of the codex of legends.

"Shadow Knight, I hope that your eternal loyalty will remain after gaining this newfound strength of soul reaping with your devour skill to gain the skills of other species."

"Don't worry general, I'll never go back on my words, I just hope that you'll stick to your words and give me freedom after all the obstacles in your path have been cleared until I'm too weak to be of service for you."

"Of course."