Chapter 26: Dimensional Warfare and New Units

Mordo quickly returned to the courtyard and led a team of fifteen senior Masters through the portal.

Luke instructed them to form up defensively. With a thought, his shadow army manifested, the Shadow Ninjas and Razor Claws smoothly organizing themselves into mixed assault squads.

Seeing that the sorcerers were in position, Luke mentally targeted the first coordinate in the Ancient One's ledger. He actively linked his Dark Dimension to the target realm, and a jagged, glowing spatial rift tore open at the very edge of his domain.

He gestured for Mordo and the sorcerers to move up to the rift, and together they peered into the opposing dimension.

"What's the situation?" Mordo asked, his hands glowing with golden Eldritch magic.

"Hostiles detected," Luke replied grimly. The System had just flashed a warning, and looking through the rift, he could clearly see a massive army of humanoid creatures frantically assembling into battle formations.

"I'm sending the Shadowkhan in first to disrupt them. Your team's only job is to hold this chokepoint. If things go south, fall back into the portal. My ninjas can infinitely respawn, but you guys can't."

Without waiting for a response, Luke signaled the attack. His dark army surged forward, aiming to strike before the enemy could fully organize.

Mordo nodded firmly. He exchanged a glance with his fellow Masters, and they seamlessly shifted into a tight geometric formation. Chanting in unison, they drew upon Luke's dark energy and erected a massive, multi-layered magical shield across the width of the spatial rift.

Luke checked his interface. Sustaining the massive shield was draining his reserves at a rate of roughly 100 points per second. Since his regeneration was generating nearly 1,000 points per second, he didn't care in the slightest.

Through the rift, the Shadowkhan vanguard crashed into the enemy's disorganized ranks, instantly disrupting their formations.

The individual combat strength of these humanoid grunts was on par with the goblins from Andrews' dimension, but their sheer numbers were vastly superior.

To Luke's pleasant surprise, he noticed a new notification on his interface. As long as his Shadowkhan were physically present within the enemy's Dark Dimension, they were actively mining the ambient energy! He had originally assumed he needed to completely eradicate all hostiles before the mining operations could commence. This meant he was getting paid while fighting!

Across the battlefield, the elite shadow squads worked with terrifying efficiency. They systematically isolated large chunks of the enemy force, encircled them, and completely slaughtered them before seamlessly moving on to the next target.

However, the enemy forces eventually managed to stabilize. From the rear of their army, a legion of hostile sorcerers finished their incantations. Massive, roaring fireballs arced through the sky, crashing into the Shadowkhan and instantly incinerating entire squads.

"Those fireballs pack a serious punch," Luke muttered, watching the devastation. Each one hit with the explosive force of a heavy mortar shell. He turned to Mordo. "Can you guys do that?"

Mordo shook his head, looking just as confused. "The structure of their spellcraft is highly unusual. It's... strange."

Luke facepalmed. 'What do you mean their magic is strange?! You guys literally conjure sparkling geometric shapes out of thin air to fight! Your magic is the strange one!'

Seeing his vanguard wiped out, Luke simply ordered the destroyed ninjas to instantly respawn at the rift's edge.

"Get ready to brace!" Luke yelled to the sorcerers.

Mordo nodded tightly. Seeing the sheer scale of the approaching enemy army, a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. They were accustomed to fighting isolated, multidimensional incursions, not large-scale, open-field warfare.

Suddenly, a figure levitated out from the enemy ranks. Utilizing its own dark energy, the opposing Lord began forcibly widening the spatial rift to allow its main army to march through.

"Not on my watch!" Luke snapped. He raised his hand, directly contesting the spatial manipulation.

"I swear in the name of Luke: The Dark Energy shall reject you!"

It was the exact same absolute command he had used against Andrews. It was also his current limit as a dimensional lord; any further manipulation would trigger a massive backlash from the ambient energy.

Across the rift, the enemy Lord's dark energy violently rebelled. The Lord's face turned ash-gray, and completely unwilling to risk fighting without his primary power source, he instantly retreated back into the safety of his massive army.

"Incoming!" Luke shouted.

The enemy vanguard charged, hurling a barrage of crude weapons and magical blasts at the chokepoint. Mordo's massive shield held firm, rippling slightly under the impacts but remaining completely impenetrable.

A deep, echoing horn sounded from the enemy lines. Realizing the frontal assault was useless against the magical barrier, the infantry split, attempting to flank the spatial rift from both sides.

"I don't think so," Luke smirked. He ordered his freshly respawned Shadowkhan to surge forward and intercept the flanking maneuvers. The battle erupted into brutal, close-quarters carnage on the flanks, completely bogging the enemy down.

Standing safely behind Mordo's shield, Luke called out, "Do you guys have any long-range offensive spells?!"

Mordo nodded. He ordered several Masters to disengage from the main shield. They began weaving intricate mandalas, drawing heavily on Luke's dark energy. Soon, arcs of crackling dark lightning and barrages of razor-sharp energy projectiles shot out from behind the shield, tearing through the enemy infantry and significantly easing the pressure on the frontline.

The Shadowkhan held the line flawlessly. The basic ninjas formed an impenetrable wall of bodies, prioritizing defense to lock the enemy infantry in place, only striking when an opening presented itself.

Meanwhile, the Razor Claws utilized their terrifying agility to dart in and out of the enemy formations like blurs of motion. They specifically targeted commanders and disrupted enemy clusters, preventing the infantry from ever organizing a focused charge.

The few ninjas trapped behind the frontline due to overcrowding simply resorted to hurling endless volleys of shurikens over the heads of their comrades. Since the throwing stars were made of dark energy, they cost virtually nothing to manifest.

Under the combined assault of the magical artillery and the immortal shadow army, the first wave of enemy infantry was completely eradicated, their corpses rapidly dissolving into ambient dark energy.

Luke levitated into the air to get a better view of the battlefield.

His eyes widened. The enemy was wheeling massive, arcane artillery cannons to the front lines, aiming them squarely at the spatial rift.

"Can your shield withstand heavy artillery?!" Luke yelled down to Mordo.

"What artillery?!" Mordo yelled back, unable to see past the glowing shield.

A split second later, the enemy cannons fired. Massive, condensed orbs of destructive energy slammed into Mordo's shield. The previously stable barrier violently shattered, and the sheer concussive force sent Mordo and his team flying backward into the Shadow Dimension.

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They had successfully blocked the first volley, but looking through the rift, Luke saw the cannons already glowing with a second charge. His face darkened.

There was no time for Mordo to reform the shield. Luke stood directly in front of the spatial rift and ordered the Razor Claws to launch a suicide charge.

Without hesitating, he spent a massive chunk of energy to synthesize 50 more Razor Claws, bringing his total count to 100.

A new System notification flashed across his vision, indicating a new unit had been unlocked, but he had absolutely no time to read it.

Over a hundred Razor Claws blurred into motion, leaving afterimages as they sprinted desperately toward the enemy artillery positions.

But the enemy infantry wasn't completely useless. Recognizing the threat, they threw themselves in front of the Razor Claws. Accepting horrific casualties, they managed to physically bog down the agile assassins just long enough for the cannons to finish charging.

The second volley of energy orbs ripped through the air, sailing straight through the spatial rift toward Luke.

With a fierce shout, Luke gathered a massive surge of dark energy, forming a dense, absolute shield in front of him.

BOOM!

The artillery shells detonated against his shield. The impact drained nearly 3,000 Energy Points from his reserves in an instant. 'No wonder it shattered Mordo's barrier,' Luke thought, gritting his teeth.

Seeing his Razor Claws bogged down and knowing the basic ninjas lacked the sheer kinetic force to break through the enemy lines, Luke finally spared a glance at his interface to see the newly unlocked unit.

His eyes widened, and a massive grin spread across his face.

He was just worrying about a lack of brute force, and the System had delivered exactly what he needed!

[Unit Unlocked: Sumo Ninja / Troll]

Aside from the Shadow-Eaters (which could theoretically grow infinitely large by consuming shadows), the Sumo Ninjas were the most massive and physically imposing unit in the Shadowkhan army. They possessed terrifying, overwhelming physical strength, with their only drawback being their incredibly slow movement speed.

But the enemy cannons weren't exactly mobile either.

Luke checked the synthesis cost. To summon one Sumo Ninja, he needed to permanently sacrifice 50 base Shadow Ninjas and spend 500 Energy Points.

Luke frowned. 'That's essentially 4,000 Energy Points per unit. Too expensive.' But right now, he didn't have the luxury of being stingy.

After blocking a third artillery volley, Luke ordered Mordo's battered team to step up and cast another barrier. Wiping blood from his mouth, Mordo and the remaining Masters managed to conjure a weakened shield.

Counting exactly four enemy cannons in the distance, Luke spent the necessary energy and summoned exactly four Sumo Ninjas.

Four towering, five-meter-tall behemoths materialized at the edge of the rift. With heavy, ground-shaking footsteps, they began their slow, terrifying march toward the enemy artillery.

While they were slow compared to the other ninjas, for a creature of that size, their "slow" march was still equivalent to the speed of a charging rhino.

Luke didn't order them to block the incoming artillery fire. He and Mordo would continue to rotate shield duties. While the Sumo Ninjas had massive health pools, they weren't invincible. However, their physical strength was easily in the ten-ton range. If they reached those cannons, no amount of enemy infantry could stop them.

Realizing the threat, the enemy archers in the rear unleashed a massive volley of arrows, completely blotting out the sky.

Facing the deadly rain, the Sumo Ninjas simply raised their massive, tree-trunk arms to cover their faces and continued their relentless charge. Hundreds of arrows embedded into their thick, shadowy flesh, but feeling no pain, the behemoths didn't even flinch.

Luke ordered his base ninjas to swarm forward and act as meat shields for the Sumo Ninjas, while the Razor Claws circled back to protect their flanks.

Though Luke knew nothing about military strategy, the innate combat instincts of the Shadowkhan allowed them to naturally form highly effective, adaptive battle formations.

The shadow army split into four distinct, heavily armored wedges, violently tearing through the enemy lines.

A desperate wall of heavily armored infantry tried to block the Sumo Ninjas. Ignoring their thrusting spears and swords, the behemoths simply swung their massive arms. With a single, devastating sweep, dozens of soldiers were sent flying through the air, their heavy shields shattered like cheap glass. The sheer brute force left even Luke speechless.

Panic spreading through their ranks, the enemy commanders frantically ordered the artillery to redirect their fire toward the Sumo Ninjas.

However, the Razor Claws continuously threw themselves into the line of fire, intercepting the energy blasts before they could reach the behemoths. If the cannons had fired solid kinetic rounds, they might have pierced through, but the explosive energy blasts lacked penetration, resulting in minimal damage and making Luke's advance even easier.

Watching the unstoppable, terrifying march of the shadow army, Mordo was in awe. Remembering how this kid had been chased around the Kamar-Taj courtyard by a bunch of novices just a month ago, Mordo could barely believe this was the same person.

Furious, the enemy Lord personally took to the field. Leading his legion of sorcerers, he unleashed a devastating barrage of high-tier spells at the Sumo Ninjas. But the Shadow Ninjas and Razor Claws ruthlessly sacrificed themselves, forming a literal wall of bodies to absorb the magical bombardment.

Watching his army slowly get whittled down, Luke grew anxious. If the enemy managed to destroy the Sumo Ninjas, it would become a war of attrition again, and the enemy Lord definitely wouldn't let him push through the rift a second time.

While he could technically just wait and slowly grind the enemy dimension down over days or weeks, the current momentum was entirely in his favor. It was better to just end this now.

"Stand back and conserve your energy," Luke told Mordo.

Looking at his remaining 150,000 Energy Points, Luke raised his hands. The ambient dark energy of his entire dimension violently churned, gathering around him in a swirling vortex.

He took a deep breath. He knew his command over dark energy wouldn't work on the ambient energy inside the enemy's dimension, so he would just have to bring his own!

Over 100,000 points of pure dark energy condensed onto his body, forming a magnificent, terrifying suit of pitch-black armor and a pair of massive, glowing energy wings. He looked like a literal Demon Lord of the Abyss.

With a slight flex of his legs, Luke leaped through the spatial rift. His energy wings flared open, propelling him across the battlefield like a shooting star.

"You're courting death!" the enemy Lord roared. He and his sorcerers unleashed a desperate, concentrated volley of magical attacks, but the spells sparked harmlessly against Luke's condensed dark energy armor.

Soaring high into the sky, Luke locked his sights onto the enemy sorcerer legion. Gathering his energy, he folded his wings and plummeted toward the ground like a meteor.

CRASH!

Luke slammed directly into the center of the sorcerer formation. The sheer kinetic impact instantly liquefied dozens of mages. The dark energy radiating from his armor lashed out like razor-sharp tentacles, grabbing the surviving sorcerers and effortlessly crushing them to death.

"Bastard!" The enemy Lord charged, his fists crackling with intense, destructive lightning.

Luke calmly commanded his dark energy to surge forward and engulf the Lord. But the Lord was no fool; understanding the corrosive nature of dark energy, he forcefully expelled a massive wave of his own arcane power, neutralizing Luke's attack.

"Hmph." Luke gathered his energy and threw a devastating punch.

Suddenly, the Lord pulled a glowing, arcane broadsword from his robes and lunged forward, aiming straight for Luke's heart.

Sensing the incredibly dangerous, reality-warping energy radiating from the blade, Luke instantly used his dark energy to forcefully halt his own momentum and rip himself backward, narrowly dodging the lethal strike.

Realizing he couldn't fight unarmed against that weapon, Luke held out his hand. Pure dark energy frantically condensed into a solid, jagged spear.

The two Lords clashed. Every single one of Luke's strikes carried the weight of thousands of energy points. Even though his martial arts skills were utterly basic—consisting entirely of simple thrusts and heavy swings—the sheer, overwhelming power behind each blow allowed him to fight the experienced Lord to a complete standstill.

'Damn it all!' the enemy Lord screamed internally. 'How can he just disable my dark energy?! Why does he have that authority?!'

If his dark magic hadn't been sealed, he could have defeated this arrogant kid in seconds! But there were no 'ifs' in reality. Luke was the true Lord of the Shadows, and that gave him absolute superiority!

The battle escalated, moving from the ground into the sky. Massive shockwaves ripped through the air with every clash of their weapons, leaving afterimages across the battlefield.

Glancing down, Luke saw that his Sumo Ninjas had finally reached the artillery cannons. Once the cannons were destroyed, he could order his entire army to swarm the Lord, guaranteeing his victory.

The enemy Lord noticed it too. Realizing the danger, he broke off from Luke and dove straight toward the Sumo Ninjas.

"I don't think so!"

Luke's flight speed was directly proportional to the amount of dark energy he burned. Instantly sacrificing 30,000 Energy Points, Luke broke the sound barrier, appearing directly in front of the descending Lord.

Before the Lord could even register his shock, Luke thrust his spear forward.

Blood sprayed across the sky. The enemy Lord clutched his pierced chest, stumbling backward in mid-air.

"How... how can you wield dark energy like this?!" the Lord coughed up a mouthful of blood, feeling the highly corrosive dark energy actively eating away at his internal organs.

"That was a massive miscalculation on your part," Luke said coldly. He honestly hadn't expected the Lord to blindly dive for the artillery. In high-speed aerial combat, Luke wasn't confident in landing a fatal blow, but the Lord had practically impaled himself in his desperation to save the cannons.

Seeing the Lord severely wounded and struggling to stay afloat, Luke leveled his spear for the finishing strike.

But the Lord suddenly smiled a bloody, vicious grin.

"You haven't won! I'll be back!"

With a flash of arcane light, the Lord's body completely vanished.

Since mining dark energy was an incredibly slow process, the Lord knew Luke would be stuck here for a while. He could easily flee to a different dimension, gather reinforcements, and return to ambush him!

Luke stared at the empty space, genuinely stunned.

'Right. We're currently inside his dimension. He can literally teleport out whenever he wants...'

Cursing his own lack of dimensional combat experience, Luke turned his frustration onto the remaining enemy forces. Leading his shadow army, he descended from the sky to completely eradicate the abandoned legion.