Fire Dimension:
Wang Ju appeared and looked around. This used to be a world of flame, but after Feng Heng and Zhen Buyu's battle, this place became an empty dimension full only of void or nothingness.
Well, at least, to the naked eye. With Wang Ju's senses, she could still feel their previous battles' residual energy and power. However, these things were useless to her, so she did not care.
She waited a few seconds before her opponent appeared–a man clad in all black, not showing much of his face or body.
As soon as she laid eyes on him, she knew this man was the epitome of what a Shadow should be like–not known, not seen, and no self. His only existence was to serve his master.
His appearance reminded Wang Ju of the previous Shadow who served sect master Wang Tian.
At one point in her career, she contemplated walking the same path and becoming an actual shadow of his young master. However, Wang Wei disagreed as he did not want her to become a mindless object dedicated only to himself.
Wang Ju was grateful for this decision. After all, if she had the choice, who would want to become a walking puppet? Simultaneously, she felt it was her duty to whatever was necessary to become the young master's most excellent aid.
And if becoming like this could help, she should not have hesitated to do it.
All these thoughts rapidly flashed inside Wang Ju's mind while observing her opponent. Then, she focused on the opponent at hand.
She knew she lacked information on this Shadow's abilities and prowess. However, her team has deduced many things about the latter because he was a Shadow in the first place.
As such, she had some level of confidence.
'For this fight, there is no need for hesitation or waste of time.'
Boom!
She activated her Divine Ability that granted her temporary strength of Dao Ancestor 5-Root. Then, she summoned her two daggers–both False Dao Artifacts.
Di Tian's shadow, whose codename as a Sleeper was Demonraise, frowned underneath his hood. As he sensed his opponent's actions, he immediately knew the latter wanted a swift fight.
For a moment, he was annoyed that he had lost the opportunity to control the rhythm of the battle. However, he had great control of his emotions and calmed down almost immediately.
Then, he also activated the same Divine Ability, releasing an aura almost on par with Wang Ju. Demonraise did not summon a weapon, but his nails suddenly grew into claws, and the aura they released was also on par with Wang Ju's daggers.
'Claws for weapons? If he is an assassin, then his fighting style should be more violent, primitive, and bloody,' analyzed Wang Ju. 'Let's do a few tests before getting serious.'
The Fate Shadows' mode of operation has always been to be highly cautious–especially when dealing with opponents of similar strength.
She instantly appeared before him and made a simple two-attack combo with her daggers.
Clink! Clink!
Demonraise used his claws to effortlessly block these attacks. His actions were swift, methodical, and highly efficient. With only this small interaction, Wang Ju felt he learned some significant information.
Clink! Clink!
She increased the intensity of the attack, preparing to slowly draw out her opponent's abilities. Alas, she did not have to wait long.
Swish!
Demonraise suddenly disappeared from her sight and perception. Immediately afterward, Wang Ju felt great danger coming from behind. Then, a claw plunged deep from her back, piercing her heart.
Boom! She exploded, turning into a mist of black goo.
'Shadow Elemental?' thought Demonraise before turning around and seeing an intact Wang Ju appearing not far in the distance.
'What was that?' thought Wang Ju. 'Was he too fast for me to react? No, it was different.'
Without hesitation, she threw her dagger with great force, tearing the fabric of space-time in the process. Wang Ju focused intently as she watched the weapon travel to its destination.
Swish!
Demonraise again disappeared, and she felt the same sense of danger–except it was above her this time, heading for her head and soul.
A spiky black shadow popped out of Wang Ju's head, stabbing Demonraise with incredible speed. The latter had to stop his attack and parry with his fiendish claws.
'I see,' contemplated Wang Ju. 'He can disturb people's perception.' She could tell that her opponent's ability affected even her soul or Divine Sense.
Demonraise did not stay on the defensive. After parrying the attack, he flew towards her again, releasing a palpitating bloodlust that reddened the surrounding area.
"Huh," groaned Wang Ju slightly as a claw mark appeared on her back, leaving it almost maimed; this time around, she failed to escape the latter's claws. If her body did not move on instinct, her injury would have been worse than a few marks.
'I use my danger sense to evade his technique. But now, his bloodlust made me feel danger everywhere and unable to pinpoint where he would appear.'
Wang Ju knew she had to use another tactic; otherwise, she would suffer in this battle.
[Fate Perception]
Her vision suddenly changed. From now on, she can see her fate in the next few minutes. So, if Demonraise stabbed her in the left, right, on her chest, abdomen, or heart, she could see it.
Clink!
One of her daggers stopped Demonraise's claw from targeting her throat. Wang Ju sensed an intent of surprise from him, but she did not care as she took advantage of this current advantage.
Her second dagger acted swiftly and released a moon-shaped slash that sent Demonraise flying a few hundred meters away, leaving a nasty wound on his upper torso.
And this was not the end.
Wang Ju did not let this opportunity pass as she suddenly appeared from his shadow behind him. She held her daggers in the form of scissors, targeting Demonraise's head.
Swish!
Wang Ju frowned as she saw how her weapon cut only air. At the last minute, Demonraise controlled his body and shrunk his bones, thus changing his height to that of a child.
Bang!
Wang Ju blocked the kick from the toddler-size Demonraise, flying a few meters away from her opponent.
Then, she frowned as she saw her opponent's shadow slowly disperse as if it was never there in the first place.
'A technique targeting me?' Wang Ju secretly shook his head since this was not the first time. Her Assassination Dao did not only rely on Shadow Dao.
"Huh?" muttered Wang Ju as she saw Demonraise suddenly appear before her, forcing her to block the attack by sheer instinct and years of training.
'He bypassed my Fate Perception? How? Can he even twist that kind of perception?'
She was almost flustered. Luckily, she had years of experience and training so that she could calm down in such a situation.
Clink! Clink! Clink!
Wang Ju kept blocking attacks but did not stop all of them as Demonraise kept appearing and disappearing before her eyes. He was so fast and relentless that countless afterimages of himself remained around her.
'He used a technique, especially targeting my fate ability,' she analyzed. 'He's not twisting my Fate Perception but delaying it. It should be some Time-related Technique.'
Her mind rushed faster as she contemplated the safest and quickest way to deal with this technique and her opponent.
[Shadow Clones]
Wang Ju's shadow suddenly moved underneath her feet; it divided into six black figures who slowly turned into identical versions of herself. The seven Wang Jus glanced at Demonraise, making the latter frown.
These people had the same aura, soul fluctuation, energy mark, Dao fluctuation, and everything else that could identify her.
'There is probably not a real version of her amongst these seven,' thought Demonraise. Based on her analysis, each figure can suddenly become the real version, making it difficult to identify or kill.
'But there should be a flaw in this technique.'
The seven Wang Jus teleported to surround their opponent. Then, without giving him enough time to breathe, they ganged up on him and began to attack from all sides.
They would teleport in different directions, perfectly coordinating their attacks to ensure maximum attack input.
Blood flew from Demonraise's body as countless cutting marks appeared all over his body. However, anyone with the proper knowledge and correct observation could tell all these were minor flesh wounds, with nothing of significance given his powerful flesh body.
'He has this beast-like instinct for any of my dangerous attacks,' analyzed Wang Ju as one of her clones used a Fate Cutting Technique with her dagger.
However, Demonraise found a way to block her attack.
'I see. Only three of the seven can use strength compared to their Dao Ancestors. Meanwhile, the others were distractions,' pondered Demonraise, who was always calm in any situation.
'Let's apply more pressure to her.'
He knew the key to victory in their battle was who could push the opponent further to reveal their final trump cards. And the person who folds first will be at a disadvantage.
