Chapter 171

[Third Person's PoV] 

Everyone was surprised by Rakan's sudden appearance, but unfortunately, that wasn't the end. 

They heard the sound of a woman laughing sinisterly. When everyone turned towards the voice, they found a woman standing a bit further away with her arms opened. 

Bluish portals began to manifest all around the Oriana Kingdom, but they weren't just any regular old portals; they were giant, taller than some of the buildings around, some floating in the air, giving off a sinister aura. 

A multitude of creatures began to spill out from all of the portals, but it wasn't only monsters; there were soldiers, elven soldiers, marching out from the portals. 

As Shadow blocked Rakan's attack, he kneed him in the stomach with a strong force that sent him flying away. Shadow turned towards the green woman who was chuckling with pleasure. "Querehsha," he called out, narrowing his eyes as she stepped out of the portal riding one of her insects. 

From behind Querehsha, a blue light shot out, leaving behind a trail of cold wind. A blue elven man with long white hair and a sinister smile appeared before Aurora with his long dagger in motion towards her neck and another hand outstretched towards Celeste. 

Shadow's eyes widened. "Sillad," Shadow growled, his eyes turning into those of a dragon, and just as he was about to go after him and block his attack, he was tackled away by Rakan, who immediately recovered from Shadow's previous attack. 

As Sillad's ice dagger inched closer to Aurora's neck, her shadow expanded and out came Igris, with his lightning sword in hand. 

As their weapons clashed, their strength created a large gale force. Aurora held Celeste protectively. 

"Aurora!" Those around her yelled worriedly. 

Everyone then felt a strong will wash over them, a will fueled by anger. "Shadow Garden, heed my words," Shadow said as he and Rakan began dueling. 

"Protect the citizens of Oriana; this place is turning into a war zone. Get them as far away from here as possible." 

As Rakan and Shadow brawled, the castle they were nearby started getting destroyed, causing the girls who were on top of it earlier to jump down. 

Shadow blocked Rakan's attack and used his Armament Haki- Internal Destruction to burst his insides. 

Rakan vomited blood as he went flying away and scraping up the dirt with his large body, leaving behind a long trail. 

"Aurora, Alpha, inside my shadow, now," Shadow ordered. 

"No, you don't!" Sillad said with a sinister smirk as he created multiple weapons with his ice magic and threw them all towards Igris, hoping to break him apart and make his ice weapons hit Aurora. 

Igris took a deep breath as his grip tightened on his lightning sword, which expelled wide arcs of lightning illuminating his dark figure. He began sidestepping in the air in front of Aurora, creating afterimages of himself. 

Igris created a wall of himself and began rapidly swinging his sword, unleashing a storm of lightning. As all the arcs hit Sillad's weapons, they shattered into small ice shards, appearing as if it was snowing. 

Bellion and Beru appeared under Aurora and Alpha, respectively, and carried them at the speed of light towards Shadow. 

As they arrived, Alpha pouted slightly. "I can still help and fight from a distance." 

"Alpha, don't. I will not risk your safety, and it wasn't a question; it was an order. In my shadow, now!" Shadow said, not giving them a chance to protest and made his shadow swallow them, sending them both to the Shadow Realm. 

Shadow's shadow expanded, surrounding the entirety of Oriana Kingdom. "Monarch's Domain," Shadow muttered. The entire street and ground around Oriana became pitch black, as a dome of darkness grew overhead. His shadow soldiers started crawling out and began the onslaught against the different monsters and creatures Querehsha summoned. 

"Bellion, Beru, go to Igris, help him take care of Sillad," Shadow ordered. They didn't question and flew towards Igris. 

"Girls, take care of Querehsha, I leave her to you," Shadow said, looking at the rest of the deadly sins alongside the rest of the girls. 

"Rose, take care of Mordred. Don't think I forgot about him. I believe you're strong enough to take him down."

Shadow looked towards Rakan as he stood back up, his wounds fully healed. He spat blood to the side and wiped his paw on the underside of his jaw. "It appears you have developed new abilities during your rest, Ashborn!" Rakan yelled with a large grin, exposing all his fangs.

"And it appears you have become more talkative," Shadow replied with narrowed eyes, before charging ahead in a blur, breaking the sound barrier.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Rakan laughed, charging on all fours and also breaking the sound barrier.

Shadow aimed an uppercut at Rakan, while Rakan's fist came down from above. Shadow's fist hit Rakan's chin, while Rakan's fist struck Shadow's cheek, both throwing each other's head back with their immense strength. The ground beneath them sank due to the force of their blows. Shadow's dragon eyes gained a red glint as he activated Observation Haki.

They both adjusted their stances and began exchanging blows. Shadow's movements blurred as he dodged Rakan's fists, then began to counterattack. Enhancing himself with the magic from this world, Shadow sent Rakan flying with a series of powerful blows and speed blitzed after him.

Rakan flipped in the air and landed on the ground with his claws out. He charged towards Shadow, rapidly swinging his claws. Shadow casually reformed his sword from his slime, and their limbs and weapons became blurs and afterimages. The ground around them ripped apart from the sheer force and pressure of their combat.

The two titans clashed, creating shockwaves that shattered the landscape. Rakan's claws scraped against Shadow's blade, sending sparks flying. Shadow's swordplay was precise and deadly, each strike aimed to cripple or maim, while Rakan's feral attacks were wild and relentless, fueled by raw power.

Shadow feinted to the left, then slashed upward, cutting through the air with a sharp whistle. Rakan anticipated the move and blocked with his forearm, then retaliated with a powerful swipe aimed at Shadow's midsection. Shadow sidestepped, narrowly avoiding the blow, and countered with a swift kick to Rakan's ribs, sending him skidding across the ground.

Rakan roared in fury, digging his claws into the earth to stop his momentum. He lunged forward, his eyes glowing with primal rage. Shadow met him head-on, their clash causing a massive crater to form beneath them. They exchanged a flurry of blows, each strike faster and more powerful than the last.

As the battle raged on, Shadow began to see openings in Rakan's defense. Using his Observation Haki, he predicted Rakan's next move and exploited it, landing a devastating punch to Rakan's gut. Rakan gasped, momentarily winded, but quickly recovered and lashed out with a brutal kick that caught Shadow in the side, sending him flying.

Shadow tumbled through the air, righting himself just before he hit the ground. He glared at Rakan, his eyes showing nothing but indifference. 

Rakan laughed again, a manic glint in his eyes. "Come on then, Ashborn! Show me what you've got!"

Shadow's aura flared, and he summoned all his strength, his body glowing with magical energy. He dashed forward, faster than before, and launched a relentless assault on Rakan. Each punch and kick landed with the force of a hurricane, and Rakan struggled to keep up.

With one final, powerful strike, Shadow sent Rakan crashing into the ground, creating a massive shockwave that echoed for miles. Rakan lay there, dazed and battered, as Shadow stood over him, his dragon eyes giving him an intimidating look.

"Get up… This is far from behind over" 

…

Meanwhile, Adelphi (Claire) surrounded herself with thick arcs of lightning. She turned into a flash, ripping through the air with pure speed. Every monster she passed by exploded, sliced into multiple pieces.

Her figure was low as she ran past everyone and everything. Her only target was Querehsha, as green monster blood rained down from the skies.

She appeared before Querehsha, both hands tightly gripping her sword. Her eyes were wide, taking in everything that was Querehsha. "My brother's enemies are my enemies. So it's my job to get rid of you."

Querehsha scoffed, creating giant green mana constructs of large hands as a defense. The sound of thunder rang out as Adelphi's sword made contact with the constructs.

Then, two large beasts appeared on either side of Querehsha: a giant wolf and a giant cat-like beast. They let out roars as their bloodlust exploded from their bodies. Before they could move, Querehsha made a squashing motion with her hand toward Adelphi. Fortunately, Adelphi's quick speed allowed her to move out of the way in time. The mana constructs shot out and grabbed the beasts' necks, which were, in fact, Delta and Zeta.

Zeta shrank back to her demi-human form and slipped through the construct. She dropped down with an axe kick, forcing Querehsha to raise her arms defensively. Zeta's kick sent a shockwave through Querehsha's body, transferring to the giant spider she was riding, causing its head to explode. Querehsha gritted her teeth, twisted her arm, and grabbed Zeta's leg.

Before Zeta could be thrown away, she twisted her flexible body in an impossible way and struck Querehsha's head with a strong kick, sending it to the side. Using the momentum from the kick, Querehsha sent Zeta flying back.

Delta simply broke through the construct with her inhuman strength and shrank down. Instead of kicking or dropping with her fist, she dropped headfirst, headbutting Querehsha and breaking her nose and teeth, splashing blood everywhere. Delta had a large bloodthirsty grin on her face.

All the girls slowly appeared, dealing damage.

…

Igris, Bellion, and Beru were seen each running around Sillad as he summoned a blizzard using his magic. Bellion attacked mid-range with his sword-whip, while Igris and Beru engaged in close-range combat.

Sillad wore a look of concentration as he dodged everything he could. However, he wasn't fast enough, and Beru managed to punch Sillad with enough force to send him flying toward the ground, causing it to break apart and bury him under rubble.

Beru let out an enormous screech before yelling, "YOU WILL PAY FOR GOING AFTER OUR LITTLE MONARCH! SUCH ACTIONS ARE UNFORGIVABLE!"

The ground around where Sillad was buried turned into ice, which shattered, revealing his standing figure. He spat out blood to the side and scoffed, "The bastard managed to make me bleed."

…

Meanwhile, members of the Shadow Garden were rushing to evacuate Oriana civilians from the shadow dome. Shadow soldiers formed a protective line around them, fending off any threats as they carried everyone to safety, from babies to the elderly.

Iron was defending Omega against an S-Class monster, a humanoid beetle larger than Bellion. With a fierce war cry, he drew the monster's attention to himself. Swinging his battle axe with precision, he managed to slay the beast.

Turning towards Omega, Iron gave her a thumbs up with a large grin. Omega nodded in response and continued to carry the civilian out of the dome.

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