Master of Shadows, Zed, was a true werewolf. Trained by the Ninja Master from childhood, he had killed the mentor who took him in in pursuit of even greater power.
His primary ability was to wield Shadow Power. His attacks were thus incredibly bizarre: he could freely switch between solid and shadowy states, create Shadow Clones, and even swap places with them at will during battle.
In terms of individual combat ability and destructive power alone, he was not particularly outstanding among the many heroes. But when it came to strangeness and survivability, he was absolutely among the best.
Now that Mo Yi had equipped Master of Shadows, Zed's Character Card, he possessed Zed's power to control shadows. What he used now was Master of Shadows, Zed's ultimate technique, forged from everything he had learned in his life—Chains of Shadow, the supreme move combining Shadow Power and ninjutsu.
Faced with an attack that suddenly melted into the ground like a shadow before instantly rushing to her side, Yuumi decisively activated Spatial Shift and flashed three meters away.
But before she could assess the situation, Mo Yi's voice came from beneath her feet. Yuumi's fur instantly stood on end as she lowered her head toward the source of the voice—her own shadow.
Then she saw the shadow beneath her come alive, rapidly swelling before bursting apart.
Countless shadows bloomed wildly beneath her, but Yuumi realized she could no longer move at all. She could not even blink.
Before Yuumi used Spatial Shift, the shadow Mo Yi had become had already merged into the shadow beneath her. In a sense, a shadow was an inseparable part of a living creature itself. Yuumi had shifted through space, but her shadow had shifted along with her.
And naturally, Mo Yi, merged into Yuumi's shadow, had followed her like a shadow.
The reason Yuumi could not move now was also because Mo Yi controlled her shadow.
As mentioned before, a shadow was part of every living creature. Under normal circumstances, all changes in a shadow were controlled by changes in the creature's posture.
Conversely, once the shadow was fixed in place, its owner naturally could not move either.
Yuumi had been forcibly pinned in place because Mo Yi was controlling her shadow with Shadow Power.
"Chains of Shadow—"
Yuumi's shattered shadow instantly transformed into eight Mo Yis in the form of Master of Shadows, Zed. The eight Mo Yis then raised their blades at the same time, slashing at the cat still frozen in place with Shadow Power wrapped around their weapons.
Yuumi was adorable, the cutest cat Mo Yi had ever seen. Unfortunately, Mo Yi was currently an emotionless ninja. No matter how cute she was, it could not change the reproductive barrier between humans and cats. That cuteness was therefore meaningless!
"Ghost Slash: Shadow Shatter—"
Watching the blades in his hands swing toward the immobile Yuumi from eight directions, Mo Yi could not help saying inwardly, Sorry, but this match, I—
"Meow! Yuumi is angry!"
The blades, mere centimeters away from slicing through Yuumi's skin at the same time, were blocked by a golden magical barrier radiating from the Door Grimoire that suddenly opened beside her and began frantically flipping through its pages.
"Tome's Finale!"
Driven into a corner, Yuumi had unleashed her ultimate technique as well.
Unlike ordinary heroes, her ultimate technique was not cast by herself, but by the Door Grimoire floating beside her.
Mo Yi had long been wary of the Book of Thresholds. While using Shadow Power to restrain Yuumi, he had also desperately suppressed the Book of Thresholds, hoping only to hold them both for two seconds.
But the mystery and energy contained within the Book of Thresholds—the true body of the hero known as Magical Cat—far surpassed Mo Yi, who was split among multiple clones while also trying to suppress them.
Especially since Yuumi's overall strength was set to be slightly higher than Mo Yi's, the weakened Mo Yi was still forced back as the Book of Thresholds broke free from his restraint and unleashed a powerful magical shockwave.
Thus, the blades filled with endless Shadow Power collided instantly with the shockwave formed from immense magic.
"Boom!"
The result was a violent explosion. The eight Master of Shadows Mo Yis, high in attack but fragile in defense, were sent flying by the blast wave.
Two seconds later
Yuumi, exhausted all over and sprawled atop the Book of Thresholds like a useless kitty, looked at Mo Yi, who had been blasted far away and lay on the ground unable to get up. She meowed smugly, "Screw sleeping, get up and party, meow~~"
But Yuumi's smug cat face stiffened in that instant, because she realized she was flying. More accurately, someone had grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up.
"Feeling cheeky? Why aren't you cheeky now, meow?"
Yuumi stiffly turned her head and saw Mo Yi, already back in his original form. He held her up in one hand, gripped the Book of Thresholds in the other, and smiled kindly.
Yuumi felt no warmth from Mo Yi's kind smile. Instead, she trembled all over and felt a chill run through her body.
Finally, she instinctively covered her eyes with both paws and pleaded pitifully, "Yuumi was wrong, don't hit me—"
"Yuumi is afraid of pain, meow~~"
"Then do you acknowledge me?"
"I do, I do, meow~~"
After Yuumi obediently answered Mo Yi's question, she discovered that the hand around her neck had released her, and the Book of Thresholds had returned to her side.
When Yuumi lowered the paws covering her eyes, she saw Mo Yi sitting before her, looking as though his body had been completely drained.
Looking at this cat who taunted whenever she had the upper hand, acted cute and begged for mercy whenever she lost, and now wore a bewildered expression, Mo Yi said with a laugh, "Since you acknowledge me, there's naturally no need to keep fighting."
The moment Yuumi acknowledged him, Mo Yi received a message from the Little World Game: he had obtained a new Character Card—Magical Cat Yuumi.
Since he had achieved his goal, it would be better to maintain a good relationship with Yuumi, so long as he did not become a simp. Perhaps he could get something useful from her, and there might even be chances to summon her and fight alongside her in the future.
Wouldn't making an enemy of her now be stupid?
In the clash of ultimate techniques just now, the ones blown away were all Mo Yi's Shadow Clones. Mo Yi's true body had remained inside Yuumi's shadow the entire time, thus avoiding the blast wave from the collision.
Once Yuumi thought she had won and let down her guard, Mo Yi stepped out of her shadow, easily grabbed her, and claimed victory.
However, Mo Yi, who had only narrowly defeated Yuumi, was also completely exhausted. Not bothering with appearances, he sat directly on the ground and took out the dried fish snacks he had specifically bought at the supermarket today from his inventory.
Then, right in front of Yuumi, he began eating them with an expression of pure enjoyment.
"Is that the smell of dried fish snacks?"
The dejected and listless Yuumi instantly came back to life upon smelling the fragrance of the dried fish snacks in Mo Yi's hand. Her eyes lit up as she stared at the bag in his hand.
Seeing the drool nearly dripping onto the ground from Yuumi's mouth, Mo Yi smiled smugly inwardly. Everything is going according to my plan.
Dried fish snacks had originally been plan B, meant for use if force could not resolve the situation. After all, no cat disliked fish, and magical cats were no exception.
Since he had already defeated her directly and gained her acknowledgment, these dried fish snacks would be used to mend the relationship between Mo Yi and Yuumi.
"Want some?"
Mo Yi casually held out the dried fish snacks in his hand and chuckled.
"Don't be shy—"
"Really?"
Yuumi asked with her mouth, but her paw had already snatched a strip of Dried Fish Snack. She brought it to her mouth and took a bite, then immediately revealed a blissful smile.
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