Chapter 16: The God of Shadows Strikes! The Battle Turns!!

Chapter 16: Chapter 16: The God of Shadows Strikes! The Battle Turns!!

"Hoo..."

Nathaniel Beaumont took a deep breath, his fingers moving slightly inside his sleeves.

His current level was only 13, but his attributes had already reached an astonishing level.

Strength: 1,250.

Agility: 1,250.

Spirit: 1,255.

Constitution: 1,250.

His total primary attributes exceeded 5,000.

And according to the effect of Shadow Summoning Level 2, his Shadow Soldiers inherited 150% of his primary attributes.

That meant each soldier possessed attributes far beyond those of an ordinary Level 40 Professional.

Against the enemies rampaging through the gymnasium, Nathaniel finally had the strength to fight back.

He stepped forward, preparing to summon his Shadow Soldiers and turn the battlefield around.

But just as he was about to act, two hands suddenly grabbed his arms from either side.

"Nathaniel! Have you lost your mind?!"

Caleb Rowan’s face was splattered with blood from the chaos around him. He hadn’t even had time to wipe it away before turning toward Nathaniel with wide, furious eyes.

"What are you trying to do? Charge straight into those monsters? Do you want to get yourself killed?!"

On Nathaniel’s other side, Daniel Mercer held his arm tightly. His eyes were red, and his voice trembled with worry.

"Nathaniel, don’t be reckless! I know you cleared all fifteen waves and got an SSS-Rank evaluation, but... you’ve only just awakened!"

In their eyes, Nathaniel was unquestionably powerful.

Outrageously powerful, even.

But his strength belonged to the category of newly awakened Professionals.

He had awakened less than half a day ago. No matter how extraordinary his talent was, they couldn’t imagine him competing with battle-hardened enemies who had spent years, perhaps decades, growing stronger.

Caleb gritted his teeth.

"I’m serious! If you rush in there, one of those bastards will kill you with a single attack!"

Nathaniel looked at the two people holding him back.

For a brief moment, his expression softened.

They were genuinely worried about him.

Even Caleb, who usually couldn’t resist competing with him, had forgotten their rivalry in the face of danger.

Their judgment was wrong, but their intentions were sincere.

"Relax."

Nathaniel gently shook his arms.

With his overwhelming Strength attribute, the movement was effortless. Yet Caleb and Daniel felt as though an enormous force had pushed against them, and their hands slipped away before they could react.

Both stared at him in astonishment.

Nathaniel turned toward the battlefield.

"I don’t do things I know will get me killed."

He ignored their startled exclamations and focused on the enemies attacking the teachers and students.

His expression gradually turned cold.

"Shadow Soldiers. Answer my call."

The moment the command left his mind, the shadows around him stirred.

Darkness spread across the floor, gathering at his feet before rising into the air.

One by one, ten towering figures emerged from the darkness.

They weren’t ordinary humans.

Each Shadow Soldier stood more than two meters tall, clad in black armor that swallowed the light around it. Their faces were featureless beneath their helmets, with only two faint crimson lights burning where their eyes should have been.

An oppressive chill spread through the gymnasium.

Ten Shadow Soldiers stood silently beside Nathaniel, awaiting his command.

Their presence alone was enough to make nearby students instinctively retreat.

"W-What are those things?!"

A student hiding behind Nathaniel stared at the armored figures, his teeth chattering.

"Are they monsters summoned by the Lion Syndicate?"

"But they came out of Nathaniel’s shadow!"

Nobody knew what to make of the sudden appearance.

The Shadow Soldiers looked terrifying, and their armor carried an aura that made the air around them feel heavy. To the frightened students, it was impossible to tell whether these mysterious creatures were their salvation or another threat.

Nathaniel didn’t bother explaining.

He raised one hand and pointed toward the Lion Syndicate members tearing through the defensive line.

"Kill."

One word.

That was all the command required.

BOOM!

The ten Shadow Soldiers moved simultaneously.

The air cracked beneath their explosive acceleration. Ten black afterimages streaked across the gymnasium, charging straight into the battlefield.

Their movements were direct and merciless.

They had only one objective.

Eliminate the enemies threatening their master.

A Level 45 Lion Syndicate elite was pressing a teacher backward. The teacher had already exhausted most of his energy defending the students, and the attacker’s blade was descending toward his head.

The teacher closed his eyes, expecting the worst.

Clang!

A black-armored hand suddenly caught the blade.

The elite’s eyes widened.

"What?!"

He tried to wrench his weapon free, but the Shadow Soldier’s grip didn’t budge.

Before he could react, the soldier’s featureless face turned toward him. Two crimson lights flickered beneath its helmet.

Then came the punch.

BOOM!

The soldier’s fist slammed into the elite’s chest.

The impact was devastating.

The man’s armor buckled, his body flew backward, and he crashed into a distant wall with enough force to leave a deep indentation in the stone.

He slid to the floor and never moved again.

One strike.

One kill.

The teacher who had been moments away from death stood frozen, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Similar scenes unfolded throughout the gymnasium.

The ten Shadow Soldiers tore into the Lion Syndicate’s formation, their overwhelming attributes making the difference between the two sides painfully obvious.

Wind blades struck their armor and scattered.

Fireballs exploded against their bodies, but the soldiers continued advancing through the flames.

Shadow arrows slammed into their black armor, leaving little more than faint marks.

The enemy’s attacks simply couldn’t stop them.

And whenever a Shadow Soldier reached a Syndicate fighter, the result was almost always immediate.

A single blow could shatter a defense.

A single strike could end a life.

The attackers who had been slaughtering teachers and terrorizing students moments earlier suddenly found themselves on the receiving end of an overwhelming assault.

Their formation collapsed.

The defensive line that had been pushed to the brink of destruction began advancing again.

The battlefield had changed completely.

"Wh-What is happening?!"

A teacher stared at the black-armored figures sweeping through the enemy ranks.

"Were those summoned by Nathaniel?"

Another teacher could hardly believe his eyes.

"Those creatures are stronger than the attackers! They’re cutting through Level 40 Professionals as if their defenses don’t even exist!"

The teachers who had been preparing for a desperate last stand now watched in stunned silence as their enemies were driven backward.

Their despair gave way to disbelief.

Then, slowly, a new emotion emerged.

Hope.

Everyone turned toward Nathaniel.

The young man stood behind his Shadow Soldiers, his expression calm as he watched the battle unfold.

He hadn’t charged into the enemy formation.

He hadn’t needed to.

He had simply summoned his army and given one command.

And the battlefield had begun to turn in humanity’s favor.

"No wonder..."

Someone whispered.

"No wonder he cleared all fifteen waves."

Another teacher looked at the Shadow Soldiers, then back at Nathaniel.

"No wonder he received an SSS-Rank evaluation!"

Their earlier doubts suddenly seemed ridiculous.

Each of those summons possessed enough strength to overwhelm ordinary dungeon monsters, and Nathaniel had brought ten of them onto the battlefield at once.

More importantly, the soldiers obeyed him without hesitation, moving together with terrifying efficiency.

This wasn’t merely a powerful summoning ability.

It was an army.

An army that belonged entirely to Nathaniel Beaumont.

Caleb Rowan stood with his mouth slightly open.

He had been certain Nathaniel would die if he tried to fight.

Now he watched a Level 45 Syndicate fighter get knocked off his feet by a single blow from a Shadow Soldier.

His thoughts came to a complete stop.

Beside him, Daniel Mercer stared at Nathaniel’s back with equal disbelief.

"Nathaniel..."

He had known his friend was extraordinary.

But he had never imagined anything like this.

Nathaniel didn’t look like a newly awakened student anymore.

He looked like someone who had brought an entire battlefield under his control.

Above them, the three Lion Syndicate leaders finally noticed the terrifying change below.

Until now, they had been toying with the principal and vice principal, confident that the battle was proceeding exactly as planned.

Then they sensed the powerful auras emerging from the gymnasium floor.

All three turned their attention downward.

Their expressions changed.

"What is that?"

The bald leader narrowed his eyes.

"A summoning ability?"

The slender man holding the twin daggers stopped smiling.

The Cursed Witch’s fingers paused in the middle of a spell.

They watched as the black-armored soldiers tore through their subordinates with frightening ease.

These weren’t ordinary summons.

Their physical strength, speed, and resilience were far beyond what their appearance suggested.

One of the soldiers took a direct hit from a powerful skill and continued fighting as if nothing had happened.

Another caught an enemy’s weapon before knocking its owner unconscious with a single strike.

The bald leader’s expression darkened.

"How can a newly awakened student possess summons this powerful?"

He focused his attention on Nathaniel.

For the first time since entering the gymnasium, his eyes showed something other than amusement.

Caution.

The slender man studied the Shadow Soldiers carefully before speaking.

"Their attributes are higher than those of the teachers. And there are ten of them."

His grip tightened around his daggers.

"This boy isn’t an ordinary genius."

The Cursed Witch’s gaze settled on Nathaniel’s shadow.

A faint, uneasy expression crossed her face.

"Whatever his class is, we cannot afford to underestimate him."

Below them, another Lion Syndicate fighter was thrown across the battlefield by a Shadow Soldier.

The remaining attackers began to retreat, their earlier confidence replaced by fear and confusion.

The students who had been screaming and running for their lives gradually realized that the enemies were no longer advancing toward them.

For the first time since the attack began, the gymnasium had a chance to breathe.

But Nathaniel didn’t relax.

He knew the ten Shadow Soldiers were enough to crush the ordinary members of the Lion Syndicate.

The three leaders were another matter.

Their strength was clearly on a different level.

And now, they were finally looking at him.

Nathaniel raised his eyes toward the dark curtain covering the sky.

A faint smile touched his lips.

"Good."

His shadow rippled beneath his feet.

"Now that you’ve noticed me..."

His gaze sharpened.

"Come down and see what my army can do."