Shadow Monarch: Heroines Could Hear My Thoughts?!

Chapter 15- Shadow Bringer (Part 2)

"Father? What should we do? Rin… Rin…" Aria asked her father agitatedly.

She didn't know what they should do. Should they fight him without holding back? But, they could end up hurting him or even killing him. That fact alone made Aria shudder visibly from fear.

Killing her beloved Rin? That might as well be the last thing she will do in this life. There was simply no way for her to risk doing anything that could put him to danger. Even if it means that she will have to get injured, even if it means that she will have to face death.

"Darling…" Selina approached her husband and muttered his name.

The man was completely silent as he looked at the pillar of light still standing still with no apparent suspicious movement inside. He was sure the dark creature was still alive as its strong aura was still looming around them.

Selina cupped his cheeks in her hands before closing her eyes.

"Heal." She muttered as she created a small source of light in her hand. Instantly, Damian's swollen face started healing at a rapid pace. The blood also dissapeared and he was back to normal.

"Thank you." He said as he gazed deeply into his wife's eyes.

Then, he clenched his fists and sighed.

"I think I know how to stop him. But, I need your support." He said.

"We will do anything," Selina replied.

Aria also nodded her head as she picked up her sword from the ground. The lightning strikes didn't harm her at all even when she touched it.

"Oi! Alfred! Keep that pillar for as long as you could!"

"I will try, duke Silvereye!"

Damian nodded with a satisfied look then shifted his gaze to his wife and daughter.

"I want both of you to keep his attention until I cast my spell. It will be able to fully restrain him. But, it will take me at least 30 seconds to cast it as the spell casting for it is very complicated." He said.

"We can do that!" Aria tightened her grip on the sword.

"I will back you up, sweety." A faint white aura surrounded Selina as her face turned extremely serious.

Coincidentally, the pillar of light in front of them started changing. It wasn't as if the spell was getting canceled, instead, something unexpected occurred.

The same dark matter that was engulfing Rin expanded from underneath the pillar of light and started climbing up the light as if it was consuming the pillar of light.

In a matter of seconds, the whole spell was covered in eerie darkness, completely vanishing.

"bleurgh!!" Alfred spat out a huge amount of blood as he fell down on the ground, breathing heavily.

"H-He… consumed my holy retribution." He said as he held his chest with his arm.

"He's not a demon after all. We can't expect that to work." Selina replied with a sad look.

"Get ready, mother. It's not over yet!"

Soon, from behind the veil of darkness, the dark creature emerged, totally unscathed. Its hollow eyes were shining as bright as ever.

'Come on, Rin. You are way stronger than that thing. Don't let it consume you.' Aria called for her brother in her head in hopes of him feeling something or maybe giving a response.

But, that kind of hope was soon crushed as the creature extended its arm ahead. Its hand turned into sharp claws again and extended quickly to tens of meters in length. Aria took a deep breath and channeled her mana into her body to enhance her strength and speed.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Each claw followed Aria as she ran to the side, piercing the ground where she stood. The speed at which they extended and retracted put Aria to clear disadvantage without having a chance to attack or defend.

But, she didn't care at all, as long as she could keep evading it, it was fine. But, that wrong assumption of hers was crushed into pieces the next second.

The creature extended the other hand and instead of turning it into claws, it simply tightly closed it to create a fist.

A moment later, Aria's body froze in its place. Her eyes widened in shock as she tried to move quickly but her body refused to respond. It was as if something was controlling her.

"What?!!" She clenched her teeth tightly.

The claws were already on their way toward her.

"Winds of benevolence!"

Selina, who witnessed everything used her second element, wind, and cast a strong gush of air in the form of a storm. The wind pulled the claws into its heart, twisting and turning them left and right like small leaves carried by the autumn wind.

The creature tried to pull its fingers away but found it hard to do so.

"Now, Aria!!" Selina shouted as she kept her hands tightly close to each other as that was how she kept the storm moving.

"AAAAGH!!" Biting her tongue, Aria was able to break through the restraints with sheer willpower.

After that, she dashed toward the creature. Reaching him, she muttered with a strong gaze.

"Leave… my brother… alone!"

*BOOOOOOOOM*

A straight jab to the face blasted the creature out of the room into the main hall of the church. Aria followed after it without giving it a chance to recover.

"Wrathful thunder!!"

*ZZZZZZZZZZZZ*

A flash of thunder and lightning came down from the sky and hit the creature, bathing it in a sea of electricity. Aria made sure to make the thunderbolt not lethal and merely used it to stop the creature from moving for a few precious seconds. That attack wouldn't harm Rin or the creature at all.

Was it not for the fact that Aria had perfect control over her element, it would've been impossible for her to control a spell of that scale and make it harmless.

Shuddering because of the thunderbolt, the creature tried to stand up again but couldn't do so. But, that didn't mean it completely surrendered.

Its eyes flashed with violet light.

Then, it started submerging itself into the ground as if it was made out of water. Aria tried to stop it but failed to do so.

'Where is it going to attack from?' Aria started turning around left and right.

"I will guard your back, sweety," Selina assured her daughter as she kept an eye on her surroundings.

'If I could discern its ability, I can narrow the number of places it could attack from. Think Aria, think!'

She recalled what happened with her father a few minutes ago and tried to find a clue about the creature's ability. It can disappear into the ground and can also reappear close to them. It was as if it could only exist either near them or near any other object. But, what kind of common thing they shared with everything else that coincidentally exists under them?

Instantly, her eyes flashed with understanding.

*Swish*

Selina, who didn't realize it, couldn't sense the creature appearing right behind her.

*BANG*

Before the creature could even fully get out of the ground, Aria's sword pierced the ground in front of it.

"It's the shadows. It can appear from inside our shadows." She explained to her mother.

"It makes sense now. You bastard can control the shadows, huh? That explains everything."

Her sword flew back to her side and rested on her hand.

"Mother, keep an eye for your shadow and the shadows of other objects around us."

"Understood." Selina nodded.

The shadow creature submerged itself inside the ground again, vanishing completely.

Then, it tried to jump at Aria from the shadow of a small rock the size of her fist.

"Not today."

*Bang*

She kicked back with her leg. She had a complete grasp of what was going on so any sneak attacks became harder and harder for them to succeed.

A few moments later, she saw her father giving her a small sign and she quickly understood what he meant.

Being oblivious to this, the shadow creature attacked Aria again from another angle. The latter didn't counter-attack but instead simply stood still and waited for the creature to hit her.

The moment its hands were about to reach the girl, she muttered coldly.

"Checkmate."

"Chains of madness!!"

Damian's hands turned into red chains as they extended to the enemy and surrounded it quickly, the latter tried to get rid of it but by that time, it was too late.

The moment the chains touched it, all the mana in its body was sealed and it became incapable of using its powers.

"Get a hold of it," Damian ordered as he restrained its limbs. The others did the same.

Falling to the ground, the creature withered in pain as it tossed left and right. They all watched as the black matter started dissolving and falling from Rin's body.

Soon enough, his body was completely restored to normal.

"Rin!!"

(A//N: how do you rate this fight scene out of 10? Your feedback helps me improve :) )

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