Volume 2 Chapter 17: "Shadowfighting."
System Quest
[⚠️ **EXPIRED QUEST: "CASTLE DEFENSE "**]]
■ Objectives:
- ** Defeat the Shadow Killer**
- **Secure the safety of the family**
■ Time limit: **Till dawn, until the last spark of hope is extinguished**
■ Reward:
- **Telekinesis skill improvement→ Psycho-Kinetic Break (the power to crush reality itself)**
- **Unlock hidden characteristic: "The Architect's Will" (power over destiny)**
Romulus had barely had time to read the text when a heartbreaking scream came from the far wing of the castle.
- "Alicia?!"
My father turned around sharply, his face contorted with horror.
- "She's alone, defenseless! We must-"
- "Run to her! - Romulus interrupted, keeping his eyes on Shadowy. - Take the revolver. I'll manage here."
The Count hesitated, but Alicia's second shout decided his fate.
- "Stay alive, son. I believe in you."
He rushed into the darkness of the corridor, the revolver already spewing flame.
Fighting the Shadowman
Teneboy laughed, the sound breaking the silence like the scraping of glass on metal.
- **"One on one-- **what naiveté, my boy."
Romulus did not answer. Instead, he did:
He activated Fringe Sight - and saw the weaving threads of darkness linking the assassin to the darkness itself, to the sources of the shadows around him.
Released threads of fire - not into the enemy, but into the torches on the walls, into the heart of darkness.
Rushing to attack - sword glinted, aiming for his foul heart.
But Teneboy dissolved like he wasn't even there, teleporting behind his back.
- "Predictable," he hissed, the dagger already plunging into his back, bringing doom.
Romulus turned around in time, but the poisonous blade drew a bloody streak across his shoulder. The poison burned his flesh.
[☠️ **Effect: "Shadow Poison "**]]
■ -30% to reaction speed (the speed of light fades under the cover of darkness)
■ Gradual **numbness** of limbs (body becomes alien).
Anti-teleportation tactics
The fight turned into a deadly dance:
Romulus ripped the curtains - depriving the enemy of cover, driving darkness from the corners of the room.
Metal scrapped furniture with telekinesis - forcing the one to reappear in the light, exposing it.
But Teneboy twisted like a snake, adjusting himself:
Swooping in from dead corners like death itself out of nowhere.
Spitting out poisoned arrows (one sunk into Romulus' thigh, burning him with poison).
He spewed demonic spells - his skull splintered with unbearable pain, his mind clouded.
The scarlet river covered my face, coloring the world purple. My strength melted like wax under the sun.
Last gasp of hope
Romulus sank to a trembling knee, the blade in his hand shuddering in unison with his tired body.
- "Surrender...you cannot defeat me," Teneboy hissed, emerging from the swirling darkness directly in front of him, bringing his hand up for the decisive blow.
And then.
An explosion of memories, like a bright bolt of lightning, pierced the consciousness.
"In a past life...I bowed to physics. A shadow is just the absence of light. But what if we... reverse the laws?"
In a hoarse, tearing whisper from the depths of his soul, he muttered:
- **"System... *activate* 'Architect's Will'."
[💥 **Attempted Reality Distortion! **]
■ Subject: **Shadow**
■ Change: **"Hardness stronger than steel."
Teneboy was stunned - his own shadow, hitherto submissive, had a dead grip on him, paralyzing him, robbing him of his will.
- **"What did you **don't* do?!"
Romulus stood up, leaning on his sword, which emitted a cold, unearthly blue glow.
- "Science."
Lightning strike.
The blade pierced the assassin's chest like a punishing ray, but the darkness did not recede.
Chapter Epilogue
Teneboy melted into a handful of gray ash, leaving only the bitter taste of death. But his last dagger, which had escaped from the agony of death, went straight to Romulus's tortured heart.
The world slowed down, turning into a viscous nightmare.
"I... is this really the end?"