Chapter 16: Distorted Shadow

Hours went by as the sun descended towards the north-west sky and painted the sky in scarlet color.

Emilia opened her grey eyes and sat upon the wooden bed. Meanwhile, Charles and others also woke up and started to get ready.

Emilia then walked away from her bed and then took out a blue robe from her leather bag.

Upon seeing the unique robe, Charles got curious and inspected it in interest.

'It's a rare artifact!' He was stunned for a moment.

[Queen's Robe]

Quality: Rare

Effect: Ice Web- Rank 3 spell.

Usage: 0/1 per day (Limited use Item).

'She is rich.'

He shook his head while taking out the Ghost Dagger from his luggage bag and then placed it on his waist. After that, he took a few dry bread pieces from his bag and put them in his pocket.

Meanwhile, Luke took out a red-coated bow, a quiver, and many metal arrows from his luggage bag and began to gear up.

Andrew was the only one who sat silently on the bed and placed a single long sword in his waist.

Once everyone got ready, Emilia took the bluish gem from the floor and stored it inside her void pouch. After that, she placed the pouch in her small leather bag and went to the balcony. Others also followed after her and then looked around the mansion yard in vigilance.

"The security is lax here," Andrew commented as he looked down at the mansion yard.

"Darwin is not noble, so it's not a surprising thing. But what surprised me is this large house. From where did he get this much money to build a large mansion in this rural town?"

Luke peered at the mansion and furrowed his brows.

"No more chit-chats, Luke," Emilia said calmly and then jumped down from the second-floor balcony.

A second later, two illusionary wings appeared behind her back and levitated her body like a feather. She suspended in the air for a moment while flapping those illusionary wings and then landed on the grassy yard. After that, she made a short incantation and conjured a black smoke out of thin air. She then molded the smoke and turned it into an eye with wings.

"Stay here." She said calmly and then waved at others to climb down. Meanwhile, the black eye made a small squeaky scream and flew up.

Simultaneously, Andrew and Luke grabbed the nearby pipes and started climbing down nimbly.

Charles let out a chuckle as he watched their skillful movements and jumped down while opening his arms widely. A moment later, two crimson wings appeared behind his shoulder and slowed down his falling.

He floated like a crimson feather and landed on the grassy yard silently. Once everyone got in their position, they stormed out of the mansion without hiding their identities and went to the main street.

A few minutes later, they managed to convince the town guards and walked out of the Pine town.

After that, Emilia took out a black ring from her void pouch and started walking towards the dense woods.

It was called the Graylake Forest, a forest filled with bandits, thieves, and dangerous monsters. Before they leave, Russell warned them that some evil cult members were hiding in the woods and asked them to be careful of unexpected ambushes.

Conscious of the unknown dangers, they arrived in front of the dense forest and looked around warily.

Poisonous trees, shrubs, and vines entangled together, causing the forest to look gloomier.

After confirming that they were in a safer position, they walked into the woods and started their search.

Although they met a few wild animals like wolves and kobolds during their search, they didn't face any trouble killing them. They searched the outer areas of Graylake Forest till 7 P.M and stopped as they heard Emilia's voice.

"Something is wrong. Someone destroyed the 'Shadow Eye.'"

"Enemy?" Luke scanned the dark woods and asked.

"It seems so. We should return to Pine Town and check if everything is okay." Emilia said while turning around.

Others also nodded their heads and followed after her without any refusal.

But what awaited them was not a peaceful town; instead, they saw that the whole town was burning in chaos!

Panic cries and shouts echoed from all over the town, causing the mystics to hasten their footsteps towards the entrance gate.

Upon arriving at the entrance, all of them became stunned for a moment!

The entrance was filled with blood and corpses. But instead of claw marks, sword cuts appeared in those corpses!

"They were killed by humans." Emilia glanced at those soldiers' corpses and heaved a heavy sigh.

"Let's go." Luke gripped his bow tighter and said while placing a metal arrow on the silver string.

Charles and Andrew also nodded their heads and went inside. Multiple battles happened all over the towns, and cloaked figures were killing and causing chaos everywhere. The Aces team became dumbfounded for a second and soon moved towards the town chief's mansion. But they halted their footsteps when they walked past the town square.

Around fifty citizens, including children and old peoples, laid on the dirt ground and were screaming in pain. Seeing this, Emilia turned her gaze towards a particular area and noticed a human was standing at the center while gripping two long swords in his hands. She also saw a strange ritual-like circle were drawn on the dirt ground and became serious.

'Sacrificial ritual circle!' She glanced at those screaming citizens and then turned her attention towards the human.

He looked around 6 feet tall, had yellow eyes, pale skin, and black hair. He wore a black robe and appeared about 40 years old.

"Who are you?" Emilia took out a slim silver sword from her void pouch and asked. But soon, her eyes widened as she remembered the guy's face.

'He is the black-robed guy I saw in Darwin's mansion.' She looked at his face closely and noticed a tangled snake symbol on his wrist area.

'I-It's the symbol of the Divine Order!' Her body went stiff as she stared at the enemy in vigilance. Unlike the Demonic Church and Wicked Church members, who love to cause chaos and fear among ordinary citizens, these Divine Order members were real maniacs. They were the children of destruction themselves. Although the title sounds noble, they weren't noble at all! Most of the members of the Divine Order organization were Shadow Killer class series members.

They love killing, killing, and only killing!

The Divine Order was an organization created to kill all the livings mortals who were corrupting the Edhen world and make the world a peaceful place. The organization's main goal was to eliminate the humans and other intelligent races from Edhen!

The higher they kill and cause chaos, the stronger they would become!

It was as if they had different types of game systems placed in their bodies!

They believed that the mother Edhen was bestowing them with the Shadow Killer series Class-Gems in the name of blessing.

It was the main reason Charles chose to join Withering Shadows. If he had decided to become an independent assassin in this life to grow stronger, the Lawful churches would have assumed him as a Divine Order member and might put his head on the wanted list shortly.

Before Emilia could wake up from the shock, the enemy appeared in front of her face while holding two long swords in his hand and slashed at her neck.

"Ice Web." Meanwhile, Emilia spoke in an unknown ancient tone and then took a step back. At the same time, she moved her sword and blocked those two swords skilfully.

An instant later, hundreds of chilling web strings appeared under her feet and started to slither towards the killer. In a second, those stings completely bounded the enemy and made him immobile! The surrounding temperature started to change and soon began to turn into a chilly atmosphere.

The killer stood like a frozen statue for a second and soon let out a creaky laugh. Before others could understand the reason for his creepy laugh, the killer's body turned into dark smoke and disappeared from there.

"Shadow teleportation?!" Luke and Andrew glanced at each other and then looked around warily.

"He must be a Rank-2 Shadow Guard. It's the corresponding class of Shadow killer Class. Beware of shadows." Emilia said while controlling those web strings in her mind and then added,

"Split up and control the chaos. Kill all these Divine Order maniacs on the spot."

'I can maintain this web for two more minutes. Before the time ends, I have to find the Shadow Guard and kill him.' She nodded her head and looked around.

Upon hearing Emilia's order, Charles unsheathed his rank-2 iron dagger and held his weapon tighter.

'Follow the shadow. You will find something good.'

He suddenly remembered Eve's words and soon widened his eyes.

'Did she foresee this incident? Or is it a coincidence?' He furrowed his brows in suspicion.

'Shadow? Did she tell about this Shadow guard? Or Distorted Shadow?'

While he was in muse, he heard heavy footsteps from the front. All of them glanced towards the front and narrowed their eyes.

In the meantime, Luke placed the metal arrow in the bow and pulled the string while aiming at the upcoming hooded figure. No. It was not a hooded figure!

It was a humanoid black monster with fangs-like teeth. It had red eyes, round ears, an ugly goblin-like face, claw-like hands, and black fur covered all over its body. It wore a torn black dress and looked around 2 meters tall.

When it noticed their presence, the strange monster let out a terrific roar and sprinted towards their direction madly while crushing a few unlucky citizens on its way!

"Distorted Shadow!" Charles muttered out loud and cast [Inspect] skill on it.

[Name: None

Race: Distorted Shadow (Former Human)

Class: Rank-2 Prisoner (Lv 5)

Sub-class: None

Health Points: 241/241

Attributes:

Strength- 19

Dexterity- 17

Constitution- 18

Wisdom- 7

Charisma- 0

Class skills: Rage (Sealed), Bloody Hands (Sealed), Evil Mind (Sealed).

Subclass skills: None.]

While Charles was looking at the creature's body status, Luke clicked his tongue in annoyance and released the string.

With a swoosh sound, the arrow pierced through the air and directly stabbed on Distorted Shadow's forehead.

But, the metal arrow shattered into pieces after leaving a loud, clanging sound.

"Enchant the arrows with your skills before releasing them," Emilia said calmly and added,

"Charles, hide somewhere."

Although Charles was dissatisfied by her words, he didn't get angry. Instead, he nodded his head and took a few steps back.

After that, he blended with the darkness and disappeared from others' visions.

In the meantime, Emilia let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes for a second.

'I need to restrict its movement before it kills all these citizens.' She made up her mind.

A second later, she opened her eyes and stared deeply into the Distorted Shadow's eyes.

But unlike her original grey color, her eyes glowed in golden-red color!

As the Distorted Shadow saw her golden-red eyes, its whole body turned stiff, and it began to turn into a stone!

It was her unique skill [Gaze of Medusa]!

"Perfect!" Luke curled his lips upward and pulled the string after placing another arrow.

But this time, he enchanted the arrow with [True Mark] and [Sniping] skills.

The metal arrow glowed in a blue color as it pierced through the air and directly penetrated the Distorted Shadow's right eye!

Simultaneously, Andrew sprinted towards the Distorted Shadow while enchanting his sword with [Unbreakable] skill and soon arrived in front of it.

He then swiftly evaded the creature's slow attack and appeared right behind the Distorted Shadow. After that, he used [Deep Slash] skill and severed its right upper limb!

The Distorted Shadow roared madly and then took a nearby wooden club in its rock-like left hand.

Although Emilia's [Gaze of Medusa] skill was powerful, it couldn't completely turn the peak level Rank-2 Distorted Shadow into a stone.

"Back away, Andrew. It's not a good move to battle against the Distorted Shadow in close combat."

Saying so, Emilia controlled her icy web strings and restricted the Distorted Shadow's movement.

Like an insect that caught in a spider's web, the Distorted Shadow tried to tear those white ice webs. But its attempt went futile.

In the next five seconds, Luke released another six metal arrows and started attacking fatally.

In the meantime, Charles hid in the shadows and started looking for the Shadow Guard.

Although the Shadow Guard was just an average mystic, he felt something was off about his first mission.

'Why do I feel a staring sensation from the surroundings?' He frowned.

He felt that someone was spying on him from somewhere!