Chapter : 57

  "Finally," Ken thought to himself, feeling his leg muscles compin just a little bit. "Why do bad guys always have to hide on the absolute highest floor? Do they enjoy walking up fifty flights of stairs every day? If I were a gang boss, my hideout would be on the ground floor. Preferably right next to a really good bakery. This is way too much cardio for one night."

  Despite his zy internal compints, The Sovereign’s outward posture was absolutely perfect. He did not knock. He simply raised his foot and kicked the heavy double doors.

  Bang!

  The doors flew open, smashing loudly against the inside walls of the penthouse. The Sovereign stepped into the room.

  The penthouse was huge, but it looked just as rotten as the rest of the tower. The wallpaper was peeling, and the expensive furniture was covered in dust and stains. Several bright magical torches burned on the walls, casting long, dancing shadows across the floor.

  Standing in the very center of the room was Vane.

  Vane did not look like the low-level thugs downstairs. He was an older man, maybe in his fifties, with messy gray hair. His face was covered in deep, old scars that made him look intense and dangerous. He was wearing a dark, heavy coat, and his eyes burned with a crazy, aggressive energy.

  When the doors crashed open, Vane did not look scared. He looked deeply insulted. He stared at the masked man walking into his personal quarters.

  "Who are you?" Vane demanded. His voice was rough, like two stones grinding together. He did not pull out a weapon immediately. He just crossed his arms, projecting pure confidence. "Where is Blight? Where is Glum? No one gets up these stairs without my lieutenants giving the okay. How did you get past my entire army?"

  The Sovereign stopped walking. He stood ten feet away from Vane. He let the silence hang in the room for a few seconds to build the tension.

  "I asked you a question, you freak!" Vane barked, his scars twisting as he scowled. "Take off that ridiculous mask and tell me your name!"

  The Sovereign finally spoke. His voice was completely different from Ken’s normal, goofy tone. It echoed through the rge room with a deep, god-like authority. It was a voice that commanded complete submission.

  "You demand a name," The Sovereign said slowly, his words cutting through the air like freezing wind. "But it is a complete waste of my breath to introduce myself to a man who only has one day left to live."

  Vane’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second. Then, his face turned bright red with explosive fury. The insult hit his massive ego perfectly.

  "One day left to live?" Vane repeated, letting out a harsh, ugly ugh. "You arrogant fool. You think because you snuck past a few guards you can threaten me? I am a master of Curse magic! I hold the power of life and death in my hands! I am going to make you beg for mercy!"

  Vane thrust his hand to his side. A thick cloud of dark, purple mana exploded from his palm. When the dark smoke cleared, Vane was holding a long, wicked-looking bde. The sword was completely bck, and it dripped with a sickening, greenish-bck magical aura. It was a physical curse turned into a weapon.

  "Let's see how tough you are when your life force rots away!" Vane roared.

  He lunged forward. Vane was fast. He moved with the trained, disciplined speed of a former military captain. He swung the cursed bde horizontally, aiming directly for The Sovereign’s stomach.

  Internally, Ken watched the bde coming toward him. "Oh, he is actually pretty quick," Ken thought, feeling completely unfazed. "Naomi is definitely faster, though. Naomi would probably dodge this, wrap around him, and kick him in the back of the head. I could dodge it too, but moving out of the way requires stepping backward. Stepping backward is extra work. Let's just see what he does."

  The Sovereign did not move a single inch. He just stood there, letting Vane attack.

  But at the very st millisecond, Vane suddenly shifted his aim. He didn't swing the sword at The Sovereign’s stomach. Instead, Vane dropped to one knee and sshed the cursed bde forcefully across the concrete floor.

  Swoosh!

  The dark bde cut right through the shadow that The Sovereign was casting on the ground.

  Instantly, a sharp, stinging pain fred up on Ken’s physical right arm.

  Ken looked down. A shallow, bloody cut had suddenly appeared on his forearm, slicing right through the fabric of his expensive bck cloak. Fresh blood began to drip slowly down his sleeve, hitting the dusty floor with a soft tap.

  Vane jumped backward, creating distance between them. He let out a loud, triumphant ugh.

  "Ahahaha! Did you feel that?!" Vane cheered, pointing his dark bde at The Sovereign. "You didn't even try to dodge! You thought I missed, didn't you? That is the ultimate power of my Curse magic: Shadow Severance! I don't need to break your armor. I don't need to touch your skin. If my bde cuts your shadow, your physical body suffers the exact same fatal wound!"

  Vane grinned like a maniac, completely confident that he had just won the fight. "You are trapped! As long as there is light in this room, you have a shadow. And as long as you have a shadow, your life belongs to me!"

  Behind the mask, Ken blinked his sleepy eyes. He looked at the bloody cut on his arm, and then he looked at the ssh mark on his shadow on the floor.

  "Okay, that is actually a really neat trick," Ken thought to himself, genuinely impressed by the gimmick. "It is like Bluetooth damage. Wireless cutting. If Sayma were here, she would probably try to put a golden barrier over my shadow to protect it. Laxmi would probably just blow up the floor. But honestly, I am mostly just annoyed because this guy just ruined my favorite cloak. Do you know how hard it is to wash blood out of gold embroidery? Mom is going to be so mad at me if I bring this home."

  The Sovereign did not show any pain. He did not show any panic. He just slowly raised his bleeding arm and looked at it, as if he were inspecting a minor scratch on a piece of furniture.

  "Shadow Severance," The Sovereign repeated, his deep voice totally calm and unaffected by the injury. "You attack the reflection instead of the reality. A coward's magic. You hide from direct combat because you know you are weak."

  "Call me a coward all you want!" Vane shouted, raising his cursed bde high above his head. The green and bck aura fred up, turning violent and thick. "It doesn't change the fact that you are about to die! I am going to end this right now!"

  Vane locked his eyes onto the shadow stretched out on the floor behind The Sovereign. He aimed the tip of his dark sword directly at the shadow's chest, right where the heart would be.