Undead Beast Master: Living Solely for My Desires

"That's shadow travel!" Orin, being the only one capable of using the skill, was the first one to recognize it.

Yet he began to doubt his eyes, for when he fought against Ghost, the man never revealed he was able to use the skill. There was no chance he was hiding it at the time, considering how much he had been pushed to the limits, meaning he must have learned it after the battle for the former slave city.

However it made no sense. Orin was only able to use the skill after years of practice. One couldn't just learn an Epic skill like that.

'Unless…' he realized, seeing that the panther was catching up to him. 'If he used his beast capable of using the skill for a reference, it is possible to learn it so fast… but that makes him even more dangerous! If he is able to learn every skill of his beasts, then his strength would only increase exponentially over time! We need to put him down for good!'

Making the decision, Orin dived into his shadow to meet Zaroth's.

While this was happening, just now did the other council members realize what had happened, as Solara's arrow flew to where Ghost was just a few seconds ago and passed over nothing.

Silver's and Hector's attacks missed as well.

The only attack that had been able to follow Zaroth was Velastra's arrows that always reached their mark. Seeing that the man had become shadow, the arrows changed their trajectory to the ground.

Yet Zaroth, aware of her ability, moved out of the way just before he could have been hit.

"He is a shadow!" Since Velastra couldn't speak, Solara was the first one to understand the signals and warned her allies.

'Too late,' Zaroth mused, going straight towards Orin.

Both of them came out of their shadows. Orin aiming to behead Zaroth, while Zaroth's odachi was heading for the man's gut.

The two attacks were close. Orin had more experience when it came to using the shadow travel skill, making him just a bit faster to strike. It all pointed to Zaroth being beheaded on the spot until—

"Halt." Zaroth coldly commanded, his green eyes lighting up as a crimson ring appeared in them.

Midnight's influence skill wasn't going to be very effective against a person with such strong will, however, it was enough to just barely slow down Orin's movement.

It was just for a brief second—yet that was all Zaroth needed.

His odachi sliced the air, appeared, a moment later piercing Orin's abdomen. The strike was not only extremely deadly, but coupled with the fire around the blade it meant his insides were cooked instantly.

"ORIN!" Hector roared in rage, seeing his friend being gutted right in front of him. In blind rage he charged, with his massive three-meter figure trying to save Orin.

"Slow." Zaroth chuckled behind the demonic mask as at that moment a third shadow appeared behind the gutted man.

Nightshade emerged out her shadow with grace, her claws aiming for Orin's throat.

A heartbeat later the man's head fell to the ground, blood spewing from the wound like a fountain.

Zaroth didn't spare a single glance at the dead body. He simply gave an affirmative nod to the panther, then the two became shadows heading for their next targets.

Nightshade joined Silverfang and Hellweaver in their attempt to take down Velastra, while Zaroth charged toward the easiest target—Hector, despite his raw power, he was now blind from rage, making him unable to make sensible decisions.

"You will pay for that!" Hector roared, his fist heading to where he believed Zaroth would come out of the shadow.

His guess had been correct, his fist landing on Zaroth's face—yet he remained unfazed.

"Idiot," Zaroth grinned wildly. His opponent had positioned himself at the shade cast by a large building, making his Darkveil skill even stronger.

Not slowing down his assaults, he slashed with his odachi, making a shallow cut on Hector's shoulder.

"This is nothing!" Hector coughed, leaping back, giving himself a few moments of rest.

At that time, Silver raced toward them, attacking with another rapier which she made with her ice skills, while above her, Solara's arrow was heading for Zaroth.

With an amused chuckle, he took the form of a shadow, appearing a dozen meters away.

Silver appeared beside Hector, standing protectively.

"Get your act together!" she roared in fury. One of them was already dead. Things weren't looking good. Hector was about to scoff, until he was forced on one knee.

"…?!"

Unknown to him, what he was experiencing was Hellweaver's poison, making his movements slower and weaker.

"Get up!" Silver shouted again in panic, seeing that Zaroth was upon them once more.

It was clear that she had to protect the man. Left with no choice, she shot toward Zaroth.

"Mistake," Zaroth chuckled coldly, entering the shadow once again.

"NO!" realizing her mistake, Silver turned around just to see Zaroth out of his shadow with his blade heading for Hector's neck. He hadn't been able to do so before because once the man transformed, he was too tall to aim for the neck—but now, being on one knee gave Zaroth easy access to it.

Despite the scales on the man's neck, Zaroth's odachi passed cleanly, separating his head from the rest of its body.

"We are screwed," Silver realized, seeing that two of her comrades were now dead.

"Solara!" she shouted in panic, shifting her gaze to the roof that the princess had been letting go of arrows all this time, only for her eyes to widen in despair as she saw that the prince was nowhere to be seen.

"She… has fled?" the realization dawned upon her.

"You dare look away from me?" a cold voice called out behind her.

The brief second her eyes weren't on Zaroth was enough time for him to reach her.

Before she could react, she was slashed across the face with his odachi.

Her ice armor shattered from the impact, revealing her full figure.

Once Zaroth's gaze landed on her face, he noted that she was beautiful beyond belief.

"A pity." he muttered, his blade piercing her heart.

Another one bit the dust, making Zaroth's eyes widen momentarily—his demonic skills had gotten even stronger.

Not wasting any time, he saw that Ashira was in a pitiful state. Most of her clothes were gone, as well as her giant hat.

She had been able to evade Luna's deadly attacks up until now, but as a price, her attire above the waist was burned, revealing her body beneath.

About to block another of the dragon's attacks, she hoped that her allies were almost done with Ghost, since she was approaching her limit. But the next second, a gasp escaped her mouth.

"You're in this state after just a short fight? Pathetic." he taunted, pulling out the blade he had used to pierce her heart.

Ashira's body fell to the ground lifeless—she didn't even have the time to realize that she had lost.

Zaroth was about to go and help his other beasts get rid of the archer, but was clearly surprised when he saw that Velastra had been defeated.

"So that leaves only Solara." Zaroth muttered, getting on Luna's back.

They flew high in the air above the protective walls, Zaroth silently worrying for his friends looked behind.

The sight pleased him. Midnight had created hundreds of minions, all of them fighting against the army of the Crimson Sun Empire, while Eldros massacred people left and right. He not only had an expertly-sculpted body but thanks to the Divine Eye, every person next to him was slowed down.

"Forward," Zaroth commanded Luna, and she obeyed, flying to the heart of the capital where Solara had most likely run off to.

"Oh, we can't leave without making them pay for daring to attack my home, can we?" Zaroth spoke.

Luna, sensing what he was getting at, opened her maw wide and let out a concentrated inferno that began to burn any building in sight—no matter if it was military, religious, or civilian, it was all burned to a crisp.

"I did say that you were going to pay a million times, didn't I?" With a flick of his finger, Zaroth commanded his other beasts to enter the capital and began massacring every person in sight.

Revenge was so close… he could almost taste it.