Shadows Of The Hunt

Chapter 99 — Shadows of the Hunt

The forest had grown quiet.

Aether stood beneath the moonlight, his dark coat moving slightly in the night breeze.

Behind him, two enormous figures stood silently.

Blackfang resembled a massive black wolf, its body formed from condensed Origin Energy. Ironhide was even larger, resembling a towering armored bear made entirely of dark shadow.

Neither beast breathed.

Neither made a sound.

Yet Aether could feel both of them clearly.

Their positions.

Their instincts.

Their awareness.

They were connected directly to his Origin Energy.

Aether glanced toward Blackfang.

“Return.”

Blackfang immediately dissolved.

Its body transformed into countless strands of black mist that flowed across the ground and disappeared beneath Aether's feet.

Ironhide followed.

The enormous bear collapsed into darkness and returned to Aether's shadow.

Aether looked down.

The shadow beneath him remained completely ordinary.

No one looking at him would have realized that two powerful creatures were hiding inside it.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

“This ability is going to become useful.”

He turned toward the northern forest.

His Origin Sense spread outward.

Something was approaching.

Several presences.

And unlike ordinary beasts, these people were moving with purpose.

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Aether's eyes narrowed.

“Blackridge.”

He didn't need to wait long.

Several figures emerged between the trees.

Seven people.

The strongest among them was a Stage 7 cultivator.

Two were Stage 6.

The remaining four were Stage 5.

The Stage 7 man stopped nearly twenty meters away.

His eyes immediately locked onto Aether.

“You.”

Aether remained calm.

“You've been following me for quite some time.”

The man's expression hardened.

“We were ordered to track you.”

“By whom?”

The man smiled coldly.

“You don't need to know.”

Aether sighed.

“Then there's nothing to discuss.”

The Stage 7 cultivator immediately raised his hand.

“Kill him.”

The Blackridge warriors attacked.

Aether vanished.

Shadow Step carried him through the darkness.

He appeared beside one of the Stage 5 warriors and struck him across the chest.

The man's body flew backward and crashed into a tree.

At the same moment, two dark shapes emerged from Aether's shadow.

Blackfang lunged at the Stage 6 cultivator.

Ironhide charged the second.

The battlefield instantly became chaotic.

The Blackridge warriors were shocked.

“What are those things?!”

Blackfang tore through the darkness with terrifying speed.

The Stage 6 cultivator barely blocked its claws before Ironhide slammed into him from the side.

BOOM!

The ground cracked.

Aether turned toward the Stage 7 leader.

Their eyes met.

“You're different from the others,” Aether said.

The man tightened his grip around his weapon.

“I've heard enough about you.”

He rushed forward.

Their weapons collided.

CLANG!

Aether's feet slid backward several meters.

Stage 7.

Now that Aether himself had reached Stage 7, the pressure was no longer overwhelming.

He adjusted his stance.

The Blackridge leader attacked again.

Aether avoided the first strike, blocked the second, then struck the man's shoulder.

Blood splashed.

The man's expression changed.

“You…”

Aether didn't give him time to recover.

Shadow Step.

He disappeared into darkness.

The leader turned.

Too late.

Aether appeared behind him.

A concentrated burst of Origin Energy pierced through his defenses.

The man's body froze.

Then he collapsed.

Aether withdrew his hand.

The battlefield fell silent.

The remaining Blackridge warriors looked at their fallen leader.

Blackfang stood beside one of them.

Ironhide blocked another's path.

Aether's gaze swept across the survivors.

“Drop your weapons.”

The warriors hesitated.

Then one slowly threw his sword onto the ground.

The others followed.

Aether didn't pursue them.

“Leave.”

They immediately ran.

Blackfang looked toward Aether as if waiting for an order.

“Return.”

Both shadows dissolved and returned to him.

Aether walked toward the body of the Stage 7 leader.

A private System notification appeared.

[Origin Energy absorption detected.]

[Origin Points +50.]

[Origin Points: 120 / 900.]

Aether looked at the fallen enemy.

Then his eyes shifted toward the darkness beneath his feet.

The new power inside him was beginning to take shape.

Two shadows.

Two victories.

And countless possibilities.

His gaze became sharper.

“If this continues…”

Aether smiled faintly.

“…my shadow won't remain empty for long.”

He turned toward the distant mountains.

There were powerful beasts across this continent.

Cultivators.

Enemies.

Monsters.

And every powerful opponent he defeated could potentially become another weapon.

Not borrowed power.

Not someone else's army.

His own.

An army born from his victories.

An army that would rise from his shadow.

Aether continued walking beneath the moon.

Behind him, his shadow stretched across the ground.

For a moment, two pairs of crimson eyes appeared within it.

Then they vanished.

The hunt had begun.