Published at 25th of May 2026 6:57 am

Chapter 1757 Hard Resolve

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When Rekan had entered this sunless world, he had a certain level of confidence in dealing with the Dark King.

But after fighting the youth for the past six hours nonstop, and losing more than half of his comrades, a crack had formed in his confidence. Anger clouded his mind when he thought of the brutal deaths the shadowkins had suffered.

This young human was an absolute madman. He would happily sacrifice an arm if it meant taking a shadowkin's life. And that mentality was precisely why he was able to kill so many of them.

Rekan didn't understand whether Adam was truly ruthless enough to sacrifice himself in this fight, or if he was betting on the shadowkins' cowardice. Either way, he did not like it one bit.

So when the youth turned the corner, Rekan jumped out of hiding and surged toward him with bloodthirsty momentum. He struck with his dagger.

"There you are!"

He could clearly see a faint shock stir in the youth's tenebrous eyes. But beneath that layer of surprise was concealed trickery.

Instead of retreating, the Dark King increased his speed even more. He swiftly sidestepped, seized Rekan's wrist and arm, then pivoted on his heel and hurled the devil over his shoulder.

Before the shadowkin leader's body even touched the ground, he twisted midair and landed on all fours instead of miserably on his back. To be able to pull off this move so quickly and decisively spoke volumes about Rekan's dexterity and quick thinking.

Just as he was about to press the attack, Rekan sensed something approaching rapidly from behind. Without even turning around, he knew exactly what it was.

He clicked his tongue in suppressed rage and plunged into the ground, disappearing in the shadows.

A moment later, a dark silhouette zoomed across the broken street. It paused momentarily, staring at the spot where Rekan had just disappeared. But then it quickly shifted its attention to the fleeing Adam.

Shadows despised all who trespassed into their domains in the Shadowmuir. But if given the opportunity between a regular Magus and someone who had been blessed by the magic of Shadowmuir — for example, shadowkins — they would undoubtedly choose to go after the former.

A few more moments passed, and Rekan rose from the shadows again, coldly gazing in the direction the dark silhouette had just disappeared.

The dark echo of Tron also follows the same arcane limits as its material world counterpart, the devil thought to himself.

This Shadow must have accumulated for thousands of years before reaching the Mana Core Rank. If it were anywhere in the Greater Universe…

Rekan's blood ran cold.

Shadows were creatures that advanced on the basis of accumulating mana into their bodies. They didn't need to do anything else. They just had to survive long enough.

This Mana Core-level Shadow must have remained unrivaled in this world for a long time. Long enough for its accumulation to push him toward the peak of the Mana Core Rank.

He wondered just how many such shadows must be roaming the dark echo of Tron? The very thought made his expression turn stiff.

Fortunately, Shadows are the only species that are found on this world. If there were others…

Rekan's thoughts came to a halt when he sensed the surviving shadowkins appear behind him. They all looked haggard and sported heavy injuries. Despite surviving the Dark King's attacks, they weren't really in good shape.

In truth, even Rekan himself had been badly wounded in his battle against the human. No matter how many times he felt that he overrestimated the Dark King, he always ended up underestimating him.

The Dark King was a true battle prodigy. It was as if the longer he fought, the more he adapted. He astutely read the flow of combat, turning every exchange into an advantage, whether through cunning deception or ruthless self-sacrificing tactics.

And then there was the matter of his tenacious physqiue. Rekan and his comrades must have dealt dozens of poisonous cuts to Adam. Yet, even after all that, he remained standing. It was as if poison had no effect on him whatsoever.

"This is getting out of hand," a shadowkin said, stepping forward.

Another turned to Rekan and couldn't help but ask, "Are you sure we can't just abandon him here? I'm certain he'll be tainted long before he can find a way out of this world."

Rekan turned to the one who had just spoken and answered in a solemn voice, "Certain? Certain? Despite seeing what the human is capable of, and the number of times he has come out of seemingly hopeless situations and killed half of us, you want to abandon him here?"

Toward the end, his voice rose up a notch, tinged with dark reprimand.

"I just…" the previous shadowkin lowered his head and said. "I just don't want to lose more of us."

Rekan swallowed the words forming in his mouth. He inhaled deeply, then turned around. He gazed at the distant battle taking place between Adam and the Shadow.

"We'll let the Shadow draw his attention. It seems to have been truly angered by the human," the shadowkin leader began.

He then turned to the rest of the devils and continued in a solemn tone, "We'll use that opportunity and bind him. And then… we kill him."

"But—" A shadowkin tried to protest.

"No buts!" Rekan coldly interrupted him. "A lot is at stake here. We go in expecting to die. Either the human falls, or we do. Understood?"

The shadowkins glanced at one another, unease growing in their hearts. But when they turned to their leader and saw the hard resolve on his face, their hearts stirred again.

In the end, all of them agreed. "Aye!"

***

At the center of the town, Adam continued to dodge and evade the Shadow's strikes.

The slippery bastard would remain incorporeal throughout, but when it chose to strike, it would turn tangible for the briefest of moments.

That was Adam's cue to damage the creature. Truly damage it.

But herein lay the problem. The second the Shadow felt that it was in danger, it would turn incorporeal once again. So the only thing that Adam could truly do was avoid the creature altogether.

However, that was not a solution. Far from it.

In order to escape this world, he had to take care of the remaining shadowkins and incapacitate the Shadow. Adam had already discarded the idea of killing it, for it was going to be a monumental task. And too time-consuming, to say the least.

He had a plan forming in his mind, but that would require all his enemies to be in one place.

But fate had a strange habit of throwing him off the cliff, then throwing him a rope after testing him.

And as fate would have it... he faintly sensed all the remaining shadowkins slowly surrounding him.

Adam's expression turned utterly solemn as he continued to flee from the Shadow.

The opportunity had arrived.

His eyes slowly narrowed, and then…

A divine white light spilled from the slits of his eyes.

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