Ⅲ
When the dagger formed from shadows pierced the lower back of Renok, the Bloodshadow Thorn, the master assassin was thrilled.
The opportunity he had been waiting for had finally arrived.
Both his opponents had finally taken the bait.
He could barely resist laughing aloud.
Ever since Aivor appeared, he had been waiting for this moment.
Waiting for Aivor to use his shadow to assassinate him.
He would play along.
And then?
Naturally, he would strike straight back.
But almost immediately, the master assassin sensed something wrong.
Because-
Pain!
His shadow-modified body could not feel pain.
Or rather...
It was immune to attacks from his own shadow.
Not only immune, but capable of turning them against his opponent.
After raiding a secret Shadow Stream hideout and obtaining a wealth of its mystic arts, the master assassin had been considering how to deal with Shadow Stream's retaliation.
Then he had invented this mystic art.
He named it Shadow Stream Devour.
But...
The master assassin lowered his head to look at his own shadow, which had not been controlled, then glanced at the shadow of a nearby building.
What should have been a broad, short shadow had become a slender dagger, stretching its length just enough to stab him.
"Why?"
The Bloodshadow Thorn demanded an answer from Aivor.
"I'm not an idiot.
You got so many mystic arts from headquarters. How could you possibly not study them? And with your talent, figuring out shadow modification and shadow backlash would only be a matter of time.
As it happened, you had plenty of time.
So I was certain you'd already reached that level. Naturally, I had to resort to a little trick.
You're asking about changing a shadow's shape?
Isn't that easy enough to do?
Don't tell me you let that so-called 'shadow