Chapter 27: Banquet of the Night (Part 2)

A burly figure charged forth; a hammer-wielding beast with eyes full of wrath. The hammer carved through the air in a savage arc, its path humming with lethal intent. Zhang Yan ducked, but not fast enough; the weapon skimmed his shoulder with bone-jarring force, sending him staggering as pain flared like lightning through his arm yet the Infernal Sanguine Heart Skill transformed it into fuel.

His shadow lunged, coiling around the man's legs like a living snare. The hammer crashed into the earth, scattering dirt and stone, but before the burly enemy could recover, Zhang Yan's dagger drove deep into his chest. Life drained from the man's eyes as shadow tendrils erupted, greedily consuming his fading essence to fuel Zhang Yan's swelling power.

There was no reprieve. Insurgents charged at him in relentless succession, his dagger a blur of lethal precision with each strike. His shadow writhed and fed greedily on the fallen, its dark hunger unending while Zhang Yan's world shrank to a storm of steel, blood, and consuming darkness.

"Yan! Flank!" the commander's voice cut through the din like a rallying cry.

Instinct seized control. Zhang Yan slipped behind a cluster of defenders, his shadow snapping forward like a whip to blind them. They faltered, disoriented and vulnerable, stumbling into the path of his blade. One by one, his dagger struck true, each life extinguished with merciless precision.

The last insurgent; a striking woman with raven-black hair spilling over her shoulders; stood her ground, the golden sword trembling in her grasp. Her face, ethereal even in the flickering firelight, bore the delicate contours of a porcelain statue. Yet her eyes, bright as twin embers, burned with defiance despite the tremor in her fingers. Blood streaked her pale cheek, only heightening the fierce elegance that radiated from her.

In her final act of desperation, her shadows danced wildly in the flickering light of the burning camp. Her lips, bitten until they bled, trembled as if refusing to surrender. But Zhang Yan's darkness surged forward, serpentine and unyielding, coiling around her and rooting her in place. Her sword slipped from nerveless fingers, the sound muted by the blood-soaked earth.

"Monster," she whispered, her voice brittle with terror and despair, though the fire in her gaze refused to dim.

He answered with cold precision. The dagger plunged into her heart, and as her shadow dissolved seamlessly into his own, the world seemed to shift; a fleeting moment of stillness amidst the storm of death and chaos.

When the fires dimmed and the acrid air cooled, the ground lay littered with bodies, their blood soaking into the dirt. Zhang Yan stood amid the wreckage, his shadow writhing like a living thing around him.

The commander approached, his face unreadable. "You fight like a demon," he said.

Zhang Yan offered no reply. Instead, power hummed through his veins, the Infernal Sanguine Heart and Devouring Nine Shadows pulsing in dark harmony within him.

With a swift, deliberate motion, the commander tossed him a bloodstained token. "You've earned your place in the Banner. But remember; demons are tools. And tools can be broken."

Catching the token without a word, Zhang Yan felt his shadow curl protectively at his feet. Let them think me a tool. Let them think me breakable.

The first light of dawn touched the horizon, painting the sky in blood-red hues. As the unit regrouped, Zhang Yan turned his gaze toward the distant hills.

The hunt was far from over...