1277: Slithering Shadow

Slithering Shadow

Stumbling and tumbling along the way as its legs moved forward one by one trying to get used to this new form, and within a few seconds it was galloping into the unknown following in Hao Xuan's footsteps. It was pretty easy to see where he had gone because there was a trail of debris and limbs in his wake. 2

But before it could get very far something caught its eye along the way.

The 'Death Mold' stopped beside a small crevice left behind from the recent fight. It was still filled with smoke due to the remnant heat but even through that, the herb was able to sense something strange in the center.

It dropped down before gingerly making its way up to the spot. There was a small gaseous black orb resting comfortably in the deepest part. There was a swirling mass of darkness just inside the silky smooth surface of the orb.

The herb obviously did not know what it was so one of its leaves reached out and grabbed it out of curiosity. It tried playing with it for a few minutes before the ground shook wildly and it was brought back to reality.

The leaf rolled back up with the orb still nestled neatly within its embrace. It jumped out of the crevice before continuing on its way. It would stop every few tens of meters to check each crevice that held something similar.

The largest of the orbs was three centimeters in diameter while the smallest one was the size of a small marble.

**

Soon two hours had passed and by then Hao Xuan had covered a little over 40% of the total distance. This was an achievement to be sure considering it had taken him more than 4 hours to go half of the way over.

But now the situation was about the chance. The battery of the floodlight was about to run out as it flickered continuously and now even the smaller shadow beasts were getting bolder by the second.

There was also an increasing number of some truly unique beasts that he hadn't come across before. These ones were not only stronger, faster, and more intelligent but they were coordinating with one another in a way none of the others had managed to pull off.

Despite these new hurdles Hao Xuan continued to move forward to the best of his abilities while tearing through their ranks. Because at the end of the day, it didn't matter how clever they were, if they couldn't even withstand one strike of his hammer then it was pointless.

But that all changed when the floodlight flickered for the last time and darkness finally overtook him. Thanks to the Lycan bloodline he was still able to see vague outlines of the surrounding enemies and areas but that was it.

The only other time he could make anything out was when the hammer was being swung because it created sparks of static charge in the air around it. What he didn't count on was the exaggerated aggressive nature of these beasts.

The moment the light went out they all came pouring in all at once. Trampling one another in the process just to get a piece of him, without any regard for their own well-being.

Despite the nanites working overtime Hao Xuan was starting to get pushed back. It wasn't a matter of if he could keep moving but for how long. They were throwing themselves at him one after the other to the point that he couldn't even find any stable footing.

But there was more to it because they weren't just trying to wear him out physically.

Somewhere in the distance on the sidelines, there was a 7 to 8-meter-long silhouette creeping alongside Hao Xuan. Its actual appearance was shrouded in darkness to the point that no other nearby shadow beast could sense it.

It moved in silence, undetected and unseen by all others. It did not even have a physical form most of the time but when it saw Hao Xuan struggling the top half of its body veered out of the shadows for a brief moment.

His image reflected perfectly in its four glistening eyes that burned with a purple hue before abruptly turning upside down. A wave of psychic energy the likes of which he had never experienced before impacted his susceptible Mind Palace, shaking it to the very core.

"AAH! FUCK OFF!"

Suddenly pushed to the edge of his sanity by the unexpected and indefensible attack on his psyche, Hao Xuan channeled over 30% of his internal energy to unleash in a single attack. The hammer lit up like a Christmas tree as torrents of raw Chaos Energy ignited the air.

*BOOOOOOM*

The ground shook and began to collapse pulling in hundreds of shadow beasts at once and giving Hao Xuan a much-needed opportunity to break free from their ranks.

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