Battle of Dimensions

Mordo soon brought in a group of fifteen mages.

Luke told them to get ready. Meanwhile, the Shadow Army appeared, with Ninja Soldiers and Blade Soldiers forming squads.

Once everyone was ready, Luke opened a dimension. A fissure appeared, and Luke moved it to the edge of the Shadow World.

He also brought Mordo and the others there, then glanced at the situation on the other side.

"How does it look?" Mordo asked.

"There are enemies!" Luke replied. He had already received a system notification and had also spotted humanoid creatures on the other side gathering their warriors.

"I'll send the Shadow Army in first. You just need to hold this fissure. Retreat if you can't manage it. My Shadow Ninjas can respawn endlessly."

As Luke spoke, he sent the Shadow Army out to catch the enemy off guard.

Mordo nodded, exchanged a glance with the mages behind him, and took up a formation with them, jointly casting a large defensive magic circle.

Luke watched the defensive magic circle and noticed his energy draining by over a hundred points per second, but he replenished it himself and did not particularly mind.

The opposing army had yet to finish assembling, but the Shadow Ninja squads had already reached them and shattered their battle formation.

These ordinary troops fought about as well as Andrews's subordinates, but there were more of them than Andrews had.

Luke suddenly discovered that his Shadow Army could extract the enemy's Dark Energy simply by remaining within their Dark Dimension. It was a pleasant surprise; he had originally thought he would have to kill every enemy before extracting their Dark Energy.

On the other side, the Shadow Army's squads worked together to forcibly cut off a small section of the enemy's main force. Squad after squad charged in and wiped out that isolated group, then sought to keep fighting.

But the enemy's Mage Corps finished their preparations, and fireballs flew out, destroying one Shadow Ninja after another.

"That magic packs quite a punch. Can you do that?"

Luke watched for a moment. Each fireball was about as powerful as a hand grenade.

He turned to Mordo, who shook his head.

"Why is their magic like that? How strange," Mordo said in bewilderment.

Luke pressed a hand to his forehead. What do you mean their magic is strange? Yours is the strange one!

Watching the Shadow Army he had sent in get wiped out, Luke summoned them again.

"Get ready to hold the line!" Luke called to Mordo.

Mordo nodded. Seeing the enemy's main force, he felt somewhat nervous too. They had never experienced a battle on this scale.

A figure emerged from the enemy's steadily approaching formation and used Dark Energy to widen the spatial fissure so the main force could pass through.

"Not a chance!" Luke reached out and held the fissure in place.

"In the name of Luke, I declare that Dark Energy shall no longer accept you!"

Luke applied a buff to his opponent. This was also his limit; otherwise, he would have simply ordered the Dark Energy to turn against him.

The enemy's Dark Energy suddenly went out of control, turning his face livid, but he dared do nothing else and slipped straight back into the formation.

"Engage!" Luke shouted. The enemy's first wave of infantry charged over, striking the defensive magic circle with all kinds of weapons, but the circle held them firmly at bay.

A horn sounded from the enemy's side. The infantry stopped fixating on the defensive magic circle and spread out to either side instead, trying to surround it.

"Not a chance." Luke sent the newly resummoned Shadow Ninjas forward, and fierce fighting broke out on both sides of the defensive magic circle.

Landing behind the defensive magic circle, Luke shouted to Mordo, "Do you have any ranged attack spells?"

Mordo nodded. Several mages behind him let go of the circle, and magic circles appeared in their hands. These drew in Dark Energy and transformed it into various attacks. Chain lightning danced and energy darts pierced through the infantry that had just arrived, wiping them out and easing the pressure on the defensive magic circle.

The Shadow Ninjas on both flanks also took their stances. Each held a position without advancing, staying in place to block enemy attacks and hold them back, slipping in a slash whenever an opening appeared.

Relying on their tremendous speed, Blade Soldiers darted back and forth through the enemy formation, disrupting their ranks and preventing them from massing for a charge.

After respawning, some Shadow Ninjas looked at the crowded front line and simply threw all kinds of hidden weapons from the rear. Those weapons barely cost any Dark Energy anyway.

Soon, the first wave of infantry had been wiped out, their bodies rapidly vanishing as Dark Energy assimilated them.

Luke flew up to see what the enemy would do next.

He saw them wheel out devices resembling cannons and aim them this way.

"Can your magic circle withstand cannons?" Luke asked.

?

Mordo could not see the enemy formation either and had no idea what was happening.

A moment later, the enemy cannons fired. Masses of energy slammed into the defensive magic circle, shattering the previously stable formation and sending Mordo and the others flying.

But at least they had stopped the attack. Watching the enemy reload, Luke's face turned livid.

There was no time to let Mordo and the others regroup. Luke stood before the spatial fissure and sent the Blade Soldiers charging forward.

With no time to lament the energy cost, Luke simply synthesized large numbers of Blade Soldiers, bringing their count up to 100 and unlocking the next troop type, but he had no time to look.

A hundred Blade Soldiers streaked forward, leaving afterimages as they tried to reach the enemy cannons.

But the enemy infantry moved up and, at an extremely heavy cost in casualties, forcibly stopped the Blade Soldiers, buying the cannons time to fire.

Balls of energy flew through the spatial fissure toward Luke.

Luke shouted, gathering vast amounts of Dark Energy into a shield that blocked this volley. It cost him nearly three thousand energy points-an attack capable of destroying a large defensive magic circle certainly lived up to its power.

Luke watched the Blade Soldiers get held back, unable to destroy the enemy cannons. The Ninja Soldiers lacked decisive strength; even if they joined in, they could not break through the enemy ranks to attack the cannons behind them.

Luke checked the newly unlocked troop type, froze, then immediately brightened.

He had just been worrying about lacking decisive strength, and here it was!

Troll Soldiers!

Apart from the Shadow Eater Soldiers, which could grow endlessly larger, Troll Soldiers were the largest troops in the Shadow Army. They possessed immense strength, with low agility as their weakness.

But the cannons ahead were not very mobile either. They all had to be pushed by people.

Luke checked the requirements for adding one Troll Soldier.

Fifty Shadow Ninjas, plus 500 points of Shadow Energy.

Luke frowned. It was too expensive-nearly eight thousand energy points apiece-but he had no time to quibble over that now.

After blocking another cannon volley, Luke told Mordo and the others to take over.

With blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, Mordo called several other mages over and forced out a defensive barrier. Luke checked the enemy cannons. There were four in total, so he simply summoned four Troll Soldiers.

The five-meter-tall Troll Soldiers stood at the front, crossed the spatial fissure, and slowly ran toward the enemy cannons.

Though they were slow, that was only compared with the other ninjas. These ninjas were still as fast as a car.

Luke did not have them block cannon fire, choosing instead to alternate with Mordo and the others in blocking it. These giants were not particularly tough, but they were strong, capable of exerting at least ten tons of force.

If they blocked the cannons, they would only withstand one shot before needing to be resummoned from scratch. But if they attacked those cannons, the enemy infantry could not possibly stop them.

Arrows shot out from behind the enemy ranks toward these clearly formidable giants.

Facing a rain of arrows that blotted out the sky, the Troll Soldiers covered their heads with their hands and charged on with their heads down.

Arrows embedded themselves in their hands, but they kept charging as though they felt no pain.

Luke sent Ninja Soldiers up to block arrows for the Troll Soldiers, then ordered the Blade Soldiers to turn back and advance in formation with them.

Luke knew nothing about battle formations, but these ninjas' combat instincts allowed them to appear wherever they were needed, whenever they were needed, which was no different from forming a battle array.

The large contingent of the Shadow Legion divided into four units, sending the troops before them flying.

A group of infantry blocked the Troll Soldiers' path, but the Troll Soldiers ignored the weapons thrust at them. A sweep of their massive hands sent every enemy before them flying. Even their shields shattered beneath a single punch. Their strength left Luke marveling.

The enemy was somewhat shocked too and hurriedly turned the cannons to deal with the Troll Soldiers, but the Blade Soldiers intercepted the relentless energy attacks.

Physical projectiles might still have hit the Troll Soldiers, but the energy attacks lacked penetrating power and achieved little, instead making things easier for Luke's side.

Watching Luke's unstoppable legion, Mordo thought back to the fellow who had initially been chased into a frantic scramble by a group of mages. He could hardly believe they were the same person.

The opposing Dimension Lord angrily joined the fight, leading the Mage Corps in hurling all kinds of spells at the Troll Soldiers. But Ninja Soldiers and Blade Soldiers threw themselves forward one after another, forcibly blocking the barrage of spells.

Watching his troops steadily dwindle, Luke grew somewhat anxious too. If the enemy managed to defeat the Troll Soldiers, the battle would return to how it had started, but the enemy might not let the Troll Soldiers through the spatial fissure again.

Though he could slowly grind the enemy down, the battle currently favored his side. He might as well finish them off outright.

"Wait off to the side. Don't use Dark Energy for now." Luke looked at his remaining hundred-odd thousand energy points and waved a hand. Vast amounts of Dark Energy from the Shadow Dimension gathered around him.

"Whew." Luke took a deep breath. He knew he could not use the Dark Energy on the enemy's side, so he would simply take the Dark Energy from his own space into battle!

Over a hundred thousand points of Dark Energy gathered around Luke, forming armor and wings that made him look like a Dimensional Demon God.

Luke leaped lightly into the opposing dimension. The energy wings on his back spread automatically, carrying him toward the enemy formation without needing to flap.

"You're courting death!" the Dimension Lord shouted. Together with the Mage Corps, he unleashed magical attacks. All kinds of energy attacks flew at Luke, but Dark Energy blocked them all.

Luke soared into the sky, took aim at the enemy Mage Corps, and wrapped his entire body in energy, becoming a cannonball that hurtled toward the ground.

A dark blur flashed past. Luke crashed into the center of the Mage Corps, crushing a group of mages into pulp. Dark Energy spread outward like vines, seizing enemies and crushing them.

The Dimension Lord attacked, lightning crackling in his hand as he punched at Luke.

Luke directed Dark Energy to surround and envelop him. The Dimension Lord did not submit without a fight. Knowing the properties of Dark Energy, he simply released his own energy, exhausting all the Dark Energy around him.

"Hmph." Luke gathered energy and punched at his opponent, but the man suddenly drew a longsword and thrust it at Luke.

Sensing the unusual energy fluctuations on the sword, Luke used Dark Energy to pull his charging body backward.

Without a weapon, Luke simply summoned masses of energy, continuously condensing them in his hand until they formed a spear.

The two fought like that. Every one of Luke's moves carried vast amounts of Dark Energy and tremendous power, so even though he only knew how to thrust and smash, he could trade blows with his opponent.

Damn it! the Dimension Lord roared furiously inside. Why can he disable my Dark Energy? What gives him the right!

If his Dark Energy had not been disabled, he could have defeated Luke in a few moves.

But there were no ifs. Luke was the Dark Lord, placing him above his opponent!

Their fight gradually moved from the ground into the sky, shock waves erupting between them.

Leaving afterimages in the air, Luke glanced at the Troll Soldiers, which had already reached the cannons. Once they destroyed the cannons, he could join forces with the Shadow Army to deal with this boss.

The Dimension Lord noticed this too and abandoned Luke, seeking to attack the Troll Soldiers.

"Not a chance!" Luke's speed was directly proportional to his consumption of Dark Energy.

Spending thirty thousand energy points, Luke appeared before the Dimension Lord in the blink of an eye.

Under his opponent's shocked gaze, he thrust his spear at him.

Blood sprayed through the air. Clutching his chest, the Dimension Lord retreated continuously.

"You can actually use Dark Energy like this!" Feeling Dark Energy constantly seeping into his body through the wound, the Dimension Lord spat blood.

"That was your mistake." Luke had not expected his opponent to attack the Troll Soldiers directly either. Both of them had been moving extremely fast in the air, and Luke had not been confident he could land a direct hit.

Now, however, looking at his opponent's wretched state, Luke raised his spear and pointed it at him.

But the fellow smiled. "Just you wait. I'll be back!"

With that, his figure vanished.

After all, extracting Dark Energy was incredibly slow. He knew this dimension's coordinates; he could simply bring help back later.

Luke had not expected his opponent to flee outright and failed to react in time.

Right, this is his dimension. He can leave whenever he wants...

Having miscalculated, Luke simply turned back and joined the Shadow Legion in wiping out the troops left behind.