Chapter 5601

Jared granted the shadow no breath, no second attempt at trickery.

The instant its form solidified, he stamped out with Arcane Footwork, his body seeming to blink from view and reappear directly before the thing.

The Dragonslayer Sword crashed down, unstoppable.

The slash looked plain, but it carried everything he could summon. Where the edge passed, the air split along a hair- thin black seam that refused to close.

The silhouette finally seemed to sense real danger. It refused to meet the blow head-on. Instead, it loosed a rasping, inhuman screech and thrust both distorted arms forward. Space itself rippled like water. Darkness condensed, coiling into a whirling barricade—an obsidian shield hammered out of pure night.

Boom!

The sword crashed against the shield with a thunderclap that would have split mountains.