[Chapter 34 - Battle of shades]

He stepped forward. He was cruel and ready to kill.

But randa moved quickly, she sprinted to Cydal, falling to her knees beside his dying body.

"Cydal—!! "Please… please stay with us"

Her hands shook as they cupped his bloodied face. Her tears, pure and shimmering like morning dew, fell on his scorched chest.

"You're going to be okay," she whispered, even as her voice broke.

"You have to be okay…"

And Barko just laughed.

"Sweet little thing…"

"Once I'm done with the Creator's disabled doggie, you'll be next."

"It'll be more fun when you still have tears left for when I rip you apart, limb by limb."

Randa looked up.

She was trembling, her small frame was shaking from terror but her eyes… They were burning.

For the first time, she wasn't just scared.

She was angry.

Disgusted. Horrified. And furious.

She pitied him. This monster. This thing, he had nothing but anger and hatred, that wasn't what she considered a life.

And that's when Beauty stepped forward.

Her barefeet crushed the ash under her. She wasn't crying anymore.

She was done letting Barko decide what happened to those she loved.

"You're not touching him again… You're not laying a hand on my Cydear…"

Her voice shook with rage.

"And if you ever threaten my students again…"

She clenched her fists.

"…you'll learn what real hell feels like."

Barko stopped laughing. Beauty's way of standing up to him was not appreciated at all.

"Fine. I was thinking I'd never have to force myself against you when I decided to make you mine," Barko growled, "But if you make it necessary to control you, then I'll teach you a lesson first before I move to these two."

He rushed toward her with such speed that Randa thought he would break Beauty in an instant. But to everyone's surprise, Beauty was already readying her punch. She wasn't afraid, she was prepared to take him on.

Before she could strike, however, her shadow distorted and began to shift, twisting unnaturally. Something began forming from the darkness. Barko halted mid-charge. His eyes widened, his expression contorting into hatred. He gritted his teeth as the shadowy form rose before them, a form Barko despised very much.

Out of Beauty's shadow stepped none other than Shadow himself, the enigmatic boss who ruled over all the other player bosses. He stood silently in front of Beauty like a dark guardian.

Randa stared in disbelief, her breath caught in her throat. But Beauty didn't seem surprised. In fact, she looked relieved, like she knew him.

Cydal, lying in pain, recognized the same cold, eerie presence he had once felt at Beauty's house. The feeling of being watched from every angle by unseen eyes. It must have been him all along.

Shadow ignored everyone else and walked straight to Cydal. His dark, ghostly figure curled around him, lifting him into the air with shadowy tendrils.

"Did you really not hear me when I said I had high expectations from you?" Shadow's voice was sharp and cold. "I watched everything. You gave me nothing that could prove my suspicions of making you useful to me."

He threw Cydal aside like trash.

"Well done, now you made the likes of barko call you a disappointment, such a defeated brat." he shook his head in disappointment. "I'm sure you understand that I will be in favor of discarding you as much as my old big guy Barko would."

Beauty's face fell. She had hoped shadow was here to help. But he didn't care.

Shadow shifted his gaze to Barko, who was now visibly fuming.

Somehow, Barko's eerie side twisted the atmosphere around the shadow. He was no longer the silent observing spy, he grew cocky.

"Barko! Long time no see," Shadow said mockingly. "When was the last time we met? Oh yeah, I threw you in my dungeon for five years… five years for this world at least. How many days was it for you in my dungeon again?"

Barko seethed in agony, snarling, "It was five thousand years. For five thousand years you locked me in your world of rotten dead. You have no idea how much I suffered and how lonely I was without my wife. You kept me away from her!"

Shadow raised his hands in a fake, welcoming pose.

"Awwh, did the big boy have a bad time in my dungeon? Don't worry a thing about it. This time if I trap you again, I'll trap you in a nice section of my dungeon with the more friendly Undeads, you will have plenty of corpses to play with."

"You son of a—!" Barko roared. "If you think I'm going to let you put me away from my wife again, I'll destroy you!"

They stood face-to-face now.

Barko's massive eight-foot frame towered over Shadow, flames and rage radiating from his body. Yet somehow, Shadow who was smaller and quieter looked far more dangerous. Shadows, rot, and black mist oozed out from his cloak, accompanied by occasional whispering, eerie laughter, and inhuman screams.

Time had passed since Shadow intervened and altered Cydal's near-death fate. Now, it was Shadow's turn to punish Barko for acting on free will.

And then, behind the shadow, something stirred.

Null's regenerative abilities had begun to mend Cydal. Slowly, his limbs regrew and his strength returned. He rose to his feet, he was still shaky but alive, his body was covered in black veins glowing faintly on null's green limbs.

"Back to being a benchwarmer, huh?" Null sneered at Cydal, the words crawling under his skin.

"You know... I'm starting to regret that Gunserr wasn't a half-demon. Anything… anything would've been better than the humiliation you just handed me."

Cydal tried not to dwell on Null, he always did love to whine. What truly caught his interest was the rare opportunity to witness two bosses clash face to face. It was a chance to study them, to learn, to unravel layers of power and strategy.

Sure, he hated feeling powerless. But understanding his enemies—that's what made him dangerous. That's what made him better than them eventually.

As Cydal had fully healed he was able to stand among the others now and observe the legendary battle that was about to begin. But he knew if he was going to fight forces like this to beat the dungeon, he had to be far higher than he is right now.

Randa and Beauty both rushed toward Cydal, their faces pale with shock yet filled with relief. Beauty knelt beside him, gently brushing soot from his face.

"Are you okay? How were you even healed?" she asked, her voice trembling.

But Cydal didn't respond. He stood silently, his gaze fixed on the clash ahead of him. Whatever miracle had returned his limbs or closed his wounds instantly without feeding null no longer mattered. His attention was fully drawn to the unfolding confrontation.

Shadow now stood face-to-face with Barko, his ominous cloak trailing dark mist behind him like spilled ink.

"How about it, big boy?" Shadow's voice dripped with eerie calm. "Let's have a duel using our strongest of shades. I'll fight to put you in that dungeon again. Actually—screw that—I'll put you in an even slower dungeon, one meant to punish you more. What you said and did went against the Creator, and he's very upset about it."

Shadow took a slow step forward, his presence thickening the air. "Besides, you know our roles and rules. If you step out of line and do things the Creator didn't ask, I'll step in to put you in your place. I'm here merely for that."

He grinned, his expression sharp and chilling. "And yes, you'll be fighting me to escape your fate. But I will never let you go."

The words hit Barko hard. He clenched his fists, his body pulsing with fury. Then, glancing at Beauty who was standing fiercely beside Cydal—he remembered why he couldn't lose. His love. His obsession. She was his anchor and the reason for his madness.

He roared to the sky.

"System! Activate Duel of Shades!"

His voice thundered like a command to the heavens.

"I choose Rot in my first slot and Maw in the second!"

Across from him, Shadow whispered to himself with a sly grin, "I choose Frankenstein's Monster in my first slot… and Eve Harlot in my second."

A dual-toned, computerized voice echoed through the air:

[Understood.]

[Initiating Duel of Shades. Boss No. 1: Shadow vs. Boss No. 3: Barko.]

[Stage is set. You may begin your battle.]

The arena atmosphere thickened with tension.

Shades were like familiars, strong creatures bound to the will of their bosses. Each boss had access to a number of powerful shades they'd captured and trained over time.

In a duel, a boss would pit two to six of their shades in combat. The rules were brutal: once all of a boss's shades were defeated, the boss would fall too. And unlike standard system-regulated battles, in these duels, the penalty was not chosen by the system, it was decided by the victor.

Now, all that remained… was war.

Immediately, two swirling portals erupted from the ground, one before each boss. A cyclone of black and violet energy twisted upward, howling like the breath of some ancient entity. The stage of war had opened.

From Barko's side, the first of the horrors emerged.

Two monstrous hounds stomped forward, their footsteps were making the ground tremble. They were towering taller than dragons and were longer than serpents, their bodies resembled grotesquely mutated bulldogs, muscle-bound and feral. Each hound had seven long-necked heads, each throat snaking like a viper. The heads constantly snarled and barked at one another, snapping viciously in endless inner conflict. Their eyes glowed red, and their saliva burned holes into the ground as they growled.

On Shadow's side, the portal pulsed before delivering a towering undead figure, a man sewn together with patchwork flesh, his skin was pale green and veiny. His face was stitched like a doll's, rough and misshapen, but his eyes glowed with restrained intelligence. He stood in an oversized, tattered black hooded cloak, and in one hand, he held a massive, rusted scythe that sang with death.

This was Frankenstein's Monster.

A moment later, the second shade emerged with grace and venom.

A woman stepped out from the portal, her form was alluring and dangerous. She wore a black, form-fitting dress that clung to her body and cascaded elegantly to her feet. Her green skin shimmered faintly under the light, and her cleavage was prominently exposed, framed by her silk-like gown. Her short black hair was styled neatly, and her eyes were sharp and condescending.

Her name was Eve Harlot.

Everyone just watched in shock, not knowing what would happen next. Cydal hated being sidelined but this wasn't his match.

Eve Harlot took one look at Frankenstein's Monster and immediately curled her lip, and scoffed.

"I see we're still rotting, eh?" she said with a mocking tone.

Frankenstein's Monster raised a brow and replied dryly, "And I see you're still dressing like an open casket at a strip club."

She sneered. "Jealousy doesn't suit decay."

They stood facing each other like bitter exes at a funeral, the tension was electric.

But Shadow was in no mood for drama.

"Eyes to the battlefield," he commanded, his voice dark and firm. "Or I'll consider not giving you sentience. Emotions get in the way of battling."

Both shades turned with an exaggerated groan of disgust, their bickering cut short. But when they laid eyes on the twin monstrosities, Barko's snarling seven-headed hounds. They both grinned, their hostility now redirected at them.

Shadow gave a faint, crooked smile.

"Let's take the dogs out for a walk."

Barko grinned cruelly, the corners of his mouth stretching unnaturally wide. His voice thundered with fury and command.

"Feast, my loves, Maw and Rot! Crunch until even their bones are minced!"

At his command, the twin hounds surged forward like earthquakes given flesh. The ground cracked beneath their massive limbs, and dust clouds rose in their wake. Their multiple heads snarled and barked wildly, each set of jaws gnashing with bloodlust as they charged toward Shadow's shades.

Above them, Eve Harlot floated into the air with a seductive elegance, her black dress fluttering with dark energy. Her hands moved in arcane gestures as she began chanting in an alien tongue, each syllable echoing with forbidden power. A ball of fire blazed into existence above her head, and with a sharp flick of her wrist, she launched it downward.

The fireball struck one of the heads of Barko's hound.

BOOM!

It vaporized instantly, the skull disintegrating in a flash of light and ash. The beast roared in pain, its remaining heads were shrieking intensely.

Eve smirked wickedly. She was clearly a mage-class shade, built for high offense and support. Her body was lit in magical aura, and with each spell cast, her allies' movements grew more precise, more powerful. As she rained fireballs like a merciless goddess, the dogs adapted, leaping and darting with greater speed to avoid the blazing missiles.

Meanwhile, on the battlefield below, Frankenstein's Monster stood his ground like an unshakable wall. Black energy radiated from his towering form, muscles flexing as his scythe spun in deadly arcs. The dogs lunged at him, slashing with their enormous claws, but he countered each blow with masterful weapon skill.

Sparks exploded as metal met fang.

He was a soldier-type shade, he was brutal, bulky, and honed for close combat. Offense and defense flowed seamlessly in his every move.

With a roar, he ducked a wild slash from one hound, pivoted, and delivered a crushing scythe swipe. The blade sliced through the beast's front leg like paper.

SCHLAKK!

The paw flew off, trailing black blood and sizzling meat.

The hound howled in agony and so did Barko, feeling every ounce of its pain through their bond.

"NOOOOO! Maw!" Barko cried, his voice trembling with rage and anguish. "You'll pay for this!"

Shadow, standing calmly with his arms behind his back, chuckled darkly.

"I have two hits on your team, and you have zero," he said with smug satisfaction. "Admit it, you're far beneath me in ranks."

He grinned.

Shadow was proud. Unshakably, arrogantly proud.

Beauty, Randa, and Cydal stood in awe, watching the battle unfold with wide, astonished eyes. None of them had ever seen power like this before not even Cydal, who had faced darkness and death head-on more times than he could count.

The sheer scale of the fight between bosses… the brutality of their shades… it was like witnessing gods clash.

"These… are monsters," Randa whispered, breath caught in her throat.

"No," beauty said quietly, eyes locked on the battlefield. "They're far worse."

Suddenly, Barko roared with fury. His dogs Maw and Rot were losing ground fast, beaten back by Eve Harlot's relentless flames and the crushing force of Frankenstein's scythe. Barko clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his palms.

Without hesitation, he flung open his inventory with a swipe of his hand, rage flaring in his eyes.

"MAW! ROT! Eyes here!"

To be continued