Chapter 15

I rushed in the direction of the culprit. I couldn't shadow-walk because I would lose Eve and Vivian right behind me, but we were getting closer and closer.

"Where are they, Feodora?"

I turned the corner and felt their presence hiding within the shadows nearby.

"Close, get ready for combat."

They were planning a surprise attack as they lingered in wait. The three of us made our way to a vast room. I gripped my blade and spun.

The culprit broke out of their shadow walking and aimed to slice my head off.

We clashed with darkness sparking from our blades.

It was a woman with orange hair and a black uniform dress. Her arms had black armor that went up to her elbows. It was clear that she was part of some kind of organization by how she dressed.

The woman wielded a great sword, exuding dark spectrum like my weapon.

"Ha!"

I swung my blade against the other dark vessel's.

"Tsk!"

My blow staggered her back.

"You fucked up!"

The psycho cackled as she put up a barrier around the room, locking the dark vessel inside with us. Vivian held up her spear as she charged at the culprit.

"Get out of my way!"

The dark vessel screamed.

She brought up her blade, channeled dark spectrum and slammed it down.

"Wow!"

Vivian evaded to the side as a wave of darkness collided with Eve's barrier. It shattered, giving the mysterious woman an opening to escape.

"No, you don't!"

I rushed towards her.

 With a swirl of her great sword my way we clashed again. This felt familiar…

"You know the shadow crafts?"

My eyes met with hers, those dark purple irises. It showed me that this dark vessel was using her next level.

This woman has become one with the shadows, and that mode is dangerous if used for long periods of time.

"Strange, you know Maxwell's shadow crafts too?"

She laughed as we clashed blades time and time again.

The cave vanished in the darkness as our spectrum took over the zone.

Darkness began to pull towards us as we fought one another.

"Feodora!"

Vivian aided me as she rushed in.

 She shined holy spectrum into her spear as we simultaneously attacked this mysterious woman together.

"Keep her still!"

Eve began channeling a sleep spell in an attempt to capture her.

"I don't know how you learned the shadow crafts, but that doesn't matter."

Darkness channeled into her body. Her blade extended greatly as she spun around like a top.

"Get back, Vivian!"

I ordered.

Vivian and I were forced to back up from her to not get caught up in her spell. Massive dark spectrum gathered in her blade and speared it towards Eve.

"Tsk."

Eve canceled her sleep spell to dodge the dark vessels blow. I knew that craft well.

"She's using a destructive craft."

Yet another craft taught by Maxwell. Who was this woman?

The devastation of the attack shook the room as the dark space amplified its power. Eve's barrier was gone entirely, and she took this chance to shadow walk, fleeing the fight.

"I'm going after her!"

I didn't wait for a reply as I dashed into the shadows.

I chased the dark vessel as we turned corners in the underground. She was the key to my freedom, and I wouldn't let her get away that easily.

 Before she could reach the exit, I channeled darkness into my blade.

"Stop right there!"

I released a dark spell above her.

"You're persistent!"

Shadows formed in front of the door, creating a wall. The culprit broke out of her shadow walk and turned to face me.

She was trapped at the exit and wasn't going anywhere unless she broke my spell. So, instead of breaking it, she lowered her blade to her side and reached out her hand.

"You're a dark vessel who trained under Maxwell. Why are we fighting?"

I pointed my katana at her. I wasn't letting my guard down in the slightest.

"I don't know why you share my shadow crafts, but what I do know is that you're using the subjection symbol on innocent people. That's against the laws of vessel humanity, and Maxwell commanded not to use those spells in that manner."

"Pff, what that hell are you talking about?!"

In the blink of an eye, she appeared in front of me, her great sword behind her head.

"We do what we must for the sake of our goals!"

We clashed again.

An eruption of darkness exploded around us.

The underground was beginning to collapse around us. I brought back my blade and merged it with the chaos element.

"Stand down!"

I merged the destructive craft in my next attack and swung at her in a downwards stroke.

Darkness erupted from under her, catching the culprit off guard.

"Damn it!"

Her body flew in the air. I took this chance to cut my palm and cast another symbol to capture her.

[B]ondage.

I wrote the demonic symbol on the ground. This battle was over the moment she landed.

"What the?"

A large gust of wind barreled through the battlefield.

I canceled my demonic spell and rolled to the side, barely dodging a massive wind spell.

A tornado pushed through, breaking my shadow wall that prevented the culprit from leaving.

"Dang it!"

I got up only to witness my stalker escaping through the exit.

"That wasn't her spell. Someone else was here with her?"

I clicked my tongue. I should have caught wind of a second person here with her, but they masked their presence well. Because of that mistake, I wasn't able to capture her sooner. I could have ended this investigation on the first day.

"Who are you?!"

I yelled.

But they were long gone. That formation and style. I knew it well, and so did that woman. That woman knew the thirteen shadow crafts and the destructive crafts. There was no doubt about it, she was trained by Maxwell.

"Feodora! Where are you?!"

Vivian's innocent voice filtered through the walls.

"Feodora, I was so worried! Are you okay?"

Vivian slammed her body into my back. I almost fell over, but I caught myself.

"Yeah, I'm fine. But she got away. I couldn't even get a name out of her."

Eve approached and took out her phone thingy.

"No worries, Feodora. We all got a good look at her. We can give Jade a description of this mysterious dark vessel."

I closed my eyes and thought about the warrior I had just faced. Someone taught by Maxwell. A woman who would use the dark symbols in such a horrific way. Something wasn't right.

I couldn't believe that Maxwell would teach someone to use possession in this offensive manner. I had to find her to know the truth. Who was that woman, and how close was she to my mentor, Maxwell?