After helping the girl, Evan wasted no time.
Shadow using [Shadow Exchange], returned to his side almost instantly, and with Ash already nearby, the three of them didn’t waste any more time and got straight to work.
He held nothing back this time, releasing an amount of mana that was anything but small, enough that dozens upon dozens of Forsaken began appearing almost immediately.
Most of them were around D and C-rank, but several were already at B-rank, some at Mid-Stage, and one even at Advanced-Stage.
The moment that Forsaken appeared, Evan locked onto it.
’Let’s see just how strong this guy really is,’ he thought.
Although he was confident he had all the tools necessary to bring the creature down without too much trouble, he wanted to fight it personally first to gauge its strength against his own.
So while Shadow and Ash held nothing back, charging straight at the weaker Forsaken, Evan launched himself at the Advanced-Stage B-rank one.
Evan lunged at the creature without hesitation, but it only took a few exchanges to realize this wouldn’t be an ordinary fight.
He narrowly avoided the first strike.
The second grazed his side, enough to throw off his balance for a split second, just enough time for the creature to already be lunging into its next attack. It was fast, far faster than its grotesque bulk suggested, and every hit carried enough force to rattle his bones down to his teeth.
Its asymmetrical build, limbs bending at all the wrong angles, made every trajectory unpredictable, as if its body refused to obey the normal laws of motion.
Within seconds, Evan had taken more hits than he’d managed to land.
He was at a disadvantage, and he knew it.
’just as I thought, there’s a limit to how much I can make up for a rank gap,’ he thought.
He had always known this day would come.
No matter how strong he became, he couldn’t keep fighting enemies stronger than himself forever.
Beasts one rank above him were manageable.
But Two?
That was an entirely different story.
He could now confidently face Mid-Stage B-Rank monsters head-on, that was familiar ground by now. But this was different.
Two full ranks above him, and on top of that, an Elite-class creature, while he himself was still just a D-rank Ascendant.
The gap wasn’t something determination alone could close.
’Hmm, guess it’s time to get serious. Let’s see if this changes anything,’ he thought. As if sensing the shift in his intent, Ash and Shadow released their domains at the exact same moment. The effect was immediate, a wave of power surged through him like liquid fire.
The buff from both domains hit instantly, but it wasn’t over yet.
Shadow struck the ground with the back of his scythe, and behind him, the spectral projection of the withered tree materialized.
[Death’s Grasp] (Activated)
[All enemies within a 50-meter radius are subject to a 10% debuff]
The instant it appeared, the D-Rank Forsaken that had already been struggling collapsed one after another like flies.
The C-Ranks, meanwhile, immediately felt the additional weight of the 10% debuff pressing down on them.
[Ding! Shadow has collected 0.01% Soul Points]
[Ding! Shadow has collected 0.01% Soul Points]
[Ding! Shadow has collected 0.01% Soul Points]
And finally, the B-ranks, while feeling the bite of the 1% debuff, weren’t weakened enough yet. Not immediately, at least.
Shadow didn’t stop there.
He immediately used ten Soul Points.
The Domain’s debuff on C-Ranks jumped to 20%, causing them to fall one after another beneath the relentless assault of his army.
Even the B-Ranks were starting to feel the effects of the ability.
Their debuff rose to 2%, just enough for Ash and Shadow’s summons to begin forcing them back.
As for the Advanced-Stage B-Rank standing before Evan...
Already burdened by the pressure of two active Domains and now weakened further by [Death’s Grasp], it finally began to struggle.
The creature let out an enraged roar, as though it had finally sensed the threat before it, but Evan gave it no time to adapt.
With the combined buff from his two clones surging through him, and the enemy now weakened by the debuff, the battle flipped in an instant.
"Let’s see how you handle this," Evan said, throwing himself at it with everything he had. The creature’s fast, lethal strikes from before were no longer so unpredictable, he could dodge them with relative ease now, and counter at the same time.
That only made the Forsaken increasingly agitated.
Its movements became more frantic.
More reckless.
And with every mistake it made, Evan gained yet another opening.
What followed was a battle of attrition, one that his two clones soon joined as well, cutting down the surrounding Forsaken with ease and leaving the weaker ones to Shadow’s subordinates.
In no time, under the three of them’s relentless assault, the B-rank Forsaken found itself wounded beyond its limits. It attempted one last desperate effort to break free, but failed, and finally collapsed.
[Ding! You have slain a B-Rank (Advanced-Stage) Forsaken!]
[You have earned +7,000,000 ESS]
The moment the Forsaken died, Evan let out a sigh of relief as his body finally relaxed a little.
Barely ten minutes had passed since the fight began, but it had been intense enough that he’d had to stay alert the entire time, seizing every tiny opening to strike, and it had paid off.
[Ding! You have completed all the requirements for your advancement mission.]
[Processing...]
[Congratulations! You have successfully advanced to Rank C]
Seeing this notification, Evan let out a sigh of relief, but it didn’t seem to be over yet, because more notifications followed shortly after.
Most of them were the usual kill messages from his two clones, which he ignored without a second glance.
Only the last few managed to catch his attention.
[Ding! Your clone [Shadow] has reached 100% ESS]
[Processing...]
[Ding! Your clone [Ash] has reached 100% ESS]
[Processing...]
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