Chapter 86: First Fight (2)

Chapter 86

The blade descended with such speed that Asher was stunned for a moment.

His eyes widened in horror as he watched the shadow cast over him.

There was no way he could dodge or avoid the blade. All he could do was watch it descend with terrifying momentum.

’No! Stop being stunned! Move, you piece of shit!’ Asher inwardly barked at his body.

His teeth gritted with intense focus as he shot his hands into the air, knife poised in a defensive posture.

Clang—!

The Shadow blade struck Asher’s knife with immense force, causing the ground beneath the boy to crack massively.

A small cloud of dust was instantly kicked into the air.

Asher could be seen gritting his teeth in pain as he tried his hardest to push against the Shadow blade with his trembling hands.

His legs and arms shook violently from the sheer force of the block.

’Ah, damn. How strong is this fucker?!’

The Shade slid its blade across Asher’s knife, the grating sound echoing through the air as the weapon slowly shifted towards Asher’s arm.

However, the boy was able to leap backward just in time.

The blade sliced through the air immediately after him.

Without delay, Asher lunged forward.

His legs ached badly— begging him to at least consider resting or slowing down, especially considering the fact that he had just woken up after spending so long in a sleep-like state.

But Asher didn’t have the option to rest or pause.

He was in a life-or-death situation.

And the longer the fight dragged on, the more he knew that the sound of battle could attract unwanted attention.

For some reason whatsoever, no other Shadows could be seen or felt prowling the street at the moment.

So it was just Asher and the Shade in front of him.

.... And maybe his neighbours, who were cowering inside their houses in fright.

’Tch!’

From his memories of the different anime Asher had watched, he decided to leap forward with his knife poised in a stabbing motion, aiming directly at the Shadow’s head.

As if noticing the attack in time but, at the same time, not being quick enough to completely evade it, the Shade quickly moved its head to the side.

Asher didn’t let this deter him.

He put his all into the strike, which connected with the Shade’s shoulder.

"Aaaaaah!" Asher screamed with determination as the knife bit deep into the Shade’s shoulder.

Then, with all his might, he dragged the knife downward, ripping a massive chunk of shadow from the Shade’s shoulder.

And in the process—

"Haaaa.... Haaaa...."

Asher vaulted backward, watching as one of the Shade’s arms fell away from its shoulder and dissolved into a cloud of obsidian fog.

’Yes!’

Asher’s lips curled in delight as he panted, watching the Shade stare at its missing arm in shock.

Its remaining bladed arm trembled.

Not out of fear.

But from unseen fury.

Asher could still be seen panting, beads of sweat rolling down his chin while blood trickled down the gash on his shoulder.

He wanted to attack.

But for some reason, his body didn’t want to move forward.

It seemed like he was running on low fumes and was rapidly approaching the limit his body was capable of reaching.

How he had survived for so long, he had no idea.

But one thing the boy knew was that he didn’t have much time left before his luck could run out.

"....."

Only the sound of the wind rustling between them could be heard, along with Asher’s heavy panting.

And then—

In a fierce snap, the Shade glared in Asher’s direction.

Before the boy could even let out a breath, the Shade moved.

’Crap! It’s coming. How—how do I even defeat it?! Think, Ash—’

There was no more time left to think as a downward slash came rocketing towards the boy.

With a fierce, low growl of pain, Asher’s hand snapped into position, using his knife to parry the strike away.

Albeit, with trembling hands.

So far, his knife hadn’t gotten damaged and was holding on surprisingly well.

Before he could even think of countering, a low sweep knocked his feet out from beneath him, sending him crashing backward onto the ground.

"Ack...."

The Shade swung its blade towards the boy in a powerful thrust.

Sensing it, Asher rolled away in the nick of time.

Then he sprang to his feet before bolting towards the Shade with a furious growl.

Letting out a battle cry, Asher swung his own knife forward in a thrust.

The Shade was about to counter when Asher slipped past its guard and appeared directly behind the Shadow.

Unhesitatingly, the boy slashed at the Shade’s tendons, sending the Shadow crashing to its knees in pain.

Vaulting into the air, Asher spun around and slammed his foot into the Shade’s neck with a powerful roundhouse kick.

This sent the Shadow crashing face-first into the ground before it went sliding away.

Asher refused to give it a pause.

Even as his body screamed in pain, he refused to take a break as he darted towards the Shadow, which was already trying to rise.

"I have just been given a second chance at life, and I won’t let it get wasted." Asher uttered as he slid on his knees towards the Shadow that was struggling to rise.

".... And I won’t die until I get my revenge on the Shadow God."

His obsidian knife flashed in front of the Shade’s eyes, and then it lost all visibility as the blade plunged deep within its obsidian eyes.

Pulling his knife out, Asher didn’t give the Shade even a moment to react.

He burrowed his knife deep within its chest and then, with a twist, pulled his weapon free.

This left the Shade frozen in place as it swayed left and right before finally crashing to the ground with a silent thud.

And within a few seconds, the Shadow’s body could be seen dissolving into specks of black dust that began rising into the air.

Leaving Asher still on his knees— panting and sweating from exhaustion.

"Ba....thump...."

"Ack...." He let out a pained shout as he grabbed his chest, which had suddenly thumped loudly, causing all the muscles in his body to squeeze in pain.

Before he could crash headfirst into the ground, he quickly slammed his hand into the asphalt and stopped himself from falling.

"Haaaa.... I-I...haaaa... I did it?"

"Which is surprising. I never thought you would even wake up again, talk more of awakening as a Daywalker."

A beautiful feminine voice could be heard a metre away— behind the boy.