Chapter 1393 - A Battle With Dark Prospects

Sometimes, one just had to know that one was utterly outclassed. This was one of those times, as Caleb knew from the very beginning that this wasn’t the kind of fight he had any realistic chance of winning. His opponent was simply on another level compared to him, no way around it.

Still, he would be remiss not to at least try, and getting an opportunity to fight the Chosen of a Daolord in an environment where he didn’t risk actually dying was too good to pass up. Plus, he was helping his brother by doing it. Really, a win-win all around.

As the shadows closed in around him and the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord, he instantly felt how much harder she was to pull into the Shadow Realm than anyone he’d ever forcefully dragged in there before. What’s more, he felt that she didn’t outright resist his attempt, making it utterly clear from the get-go just how big the gap was.

Given her Path, if she resisted entering the Shadow Realm, Caleb wasn’t even sure he could force her into it. Heartsoul Cultivators, as the members of the Heartsoul Palace were called, were masters of Willpower and had absolutely insane abilities to resist anyone imposing their will upon them in any way whatsoever, including trapping them in domains.

Nevertheless, partly due to her allowing him to, Caleb successfully got himself and the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord into the Shadow Realm, and once that was done, even she wouldn’t be able to escape easily. Not without killing him, anyway. Which he reckoned would be how she’d get out in the first place.

Regarding the young-looking girl, Caleb observed her closely before opening his mouth.

“I guess I should say it’s an honor,” Caleb said with a polite smile as he bowed slightly. “I’ve heard much about you. All of it good, mind you. I also heard you experienced a bit of an adventure with the Chosen of the Malefic Viper earlier in this event.”

At hearing him mention that, the Chosen frowned and looked perplexed, likely surprised that Jake had shared something like that with Caleb. Understandably so, as most kept information close to their chests, especially when dealing with the Court of Shadows. Of course, she didn’t know that Jake was Caleb’s brother, though even if she did, it wasn’t certain she would even know why that mattered.

A surprising amount of people in the multiverse didn’t put much stock in certain familial relationships, the Dao Sect being one of these. Alright, parents still mattered, but not due to familial love or anything like that. Instead, it was solely down to Records, as having powerful parents naturally conferred an advantage on the child.

Perhaps because of that, siblings were rarely recognized as anything other than competition for resources, making it more likely they would refuse to work together.

Anyhow, tangent aside, the conclusion was that the fact Jake and Caleb were brothers was generally not well known throughout the multiverse, and even if people knew, there was a solid chance they wouldn’t put any serious stock into it. Perhaps they would get a bit curious about their parents, but after confirming both weren't noteworthy, they would see no reason to pay attention to their sibling relationship.

“Many of us from Earth are quite close to one another. I’m also deeply familiar with the Chosen of Aeon Clok, as well as the Golden Forest King, Arnold the Void Follower, and pretty much anyone from my planet whom you’ve heard of. Some more than others, but in general, as you no doubt know, we from the Court prefer to make friends with everyone,” Caleb continued explaining in a relaxed voice.

She tilted her head at him, prompting him to continue.

“I reckon it’s because of the integration and the cultural similarity between us. Imagine being thrown into a whole new world, knowing no one. It’s natural to lean towards those most familiar to you, and given the system events also had a focus on planets having to work together, I find it quite natural we all grew close to one another. In spite of our factions in many cases,” the Judge gladly kept talking, intending to do so as long as possible.

His entire purpose of dragging the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord into the Shadow Realm was to buy time for Jake to clean things up in the antechamber, and while it would be nice for Caleb to deal a few blows to his opponent during an inevitable fight, he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold on for long once she got serious. Thus, talking seemed the best option for now.

“Meanwhile, I understand that the Dao Sect is very split internally, though within each Palace, you’re all close,” Caleb continued, not wanting any long lull in conversation that would make his opponent make a move. Was he taking advantage of her politeness and letting him say his piece? For sure, but sometimes one had to be shameless.

“However, and this is just my own little theory and not at all an official opinion of the Court of Shadows, I believe this internal conflict is highly exaggerated. I’m not even sure I would use the word conflict. To me, it’s more healthy competition spurred on for the good of all disciples, to make you strive for improvement while having someone to compare against.”

This really wasn’t some extraordinary theory and probably just common knowledge to most people, but Caleb was spitballing here and just had to keep talking to buy time. Fortunately for him, the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord really didn’t seem in a rush as she turned her head and spoke, instantly putting Caleb on guard.

“Revealing Light.”

Caleb was on guard before, but his eyes shot open in horror as he felt the Shadow Realm turn unstable as a circle of light formed in front of the Chosen. The light dispelled all shadows before slowly turning into a ring, and when Caleb briefly looked through this ring of light, he saw the antechamber outside with the two swordfighters and Jake already going at it.

Yeah, that’s just ridiculous, he told himself upon realizing that she had essentially just created herself a little window into the outside world, and if she could do that, wouldn’t she also be able to make a door if she exerted herself just a little more?

Usually, the main reason why people couldn’t escape the Shadow Realm, even if they were significantly more powerful than the assassin from the Court of Shadow, was that they didn’t know how. They would have to use brute force, which would require a massive power difference. Then again, it wasn’t as if one could simply learn how to break out of the Shadow Realm, as it was naturally designed to keep people inside. Even Sandy had commented on how difficult it would be to break out.

Yet the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord had so easily pierced it. Not due to overwhelming power or by knowing some special method... it was simply that her Path didn’t require either of those things.

The heart demands, and the world obeys.

These were the words Caleb had once read about the Path those from the Heartsoul Palace followed. Their attacks didn’t need to be designed to counter something; all they had to do was want their attack to counter it, and the world would make their wishes reality. For a corresponding cost of energy and mental strength, of course.

It was still an utterly overpowered Path in Caleb’s opinion, though, and a perfect counter to someone who used tricks or methods that were designed not necessarily to be powerful but just hard to counter. Complexity mattered far less when facing a Heartsoul Cultivator than any regular opponent, as, again, they didn’t need to see through the complexity to counter it.

“They’re sure going at it out there, huh?” Caleb commented after getting over his shock, reminding himself to keep talking. He guessed that the Chosen in front of him wasn’t interested in fighting before it looked like she had to, based on how things were going outside... or maybe she was trying to get more familiar with Jake before having to inevitably face him soon? Well, at least Caleb assumed it to be inevitable. While those two swordfighters were powerful, he still believed his big brother was on another level. The two were putting up a good fight, though.

The Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord noticed Caleb looking through her little window and slightly angled it to give him a better look. While he could use skills to peek outside the Realm of Shadows himself, even he couldn’t do it this easily.

“Looks like it may end faster than I initially expected,” Caleb muttered upon noticing that Jake was holding back a lot more than usual, and while the woman from the Sword Palace had some impressive moves, she was clearly weaker, and once she fell, Azal would have a far harder time.

Caleb’s opponent nodded before pushing the ring of light away, and immediately, the Judge knew that the time for idle chatter was over. Seeing how fast the battle was progressing in the outside world, Caleb also reckoned he would have to get started if he wanted to at least have time to show off what he was capable of, hopefully doing a bit of damage in the process.

Rather than allow her the first move, Caleb instantly erupted with power, his boosting skill going at full throttle right off the bat as he turned into a bolt of black lightning that charged towards the Chosen. His special version of Shadow Vault remained one of his best skills, and he hoped to take his opponent by surprise, but of course she was ready.

Space warped around her as Caleb flew right past, making him click his tongue as he quickly exploded with dark energy while at the same time also calling upon the Dark Heavens to descend upon the Shadow Realm. The sound of thunder rumbled above as he agitated the heavens while swinging his staff towards the Chosen, who remained still.

A pillar of marble appeared right in the path of his swing, stopping his staff dead in its tracks as all he managed to do was crack the pillar. At the same time, lightning bolts fell towards the woman, but a large gazebo of metal appeared around them, blocking the bolts effortlessly.

Raising her hand, the Chosen pointed towards Caleb as she spoke.

“Flying Swords.”

Caleb’s eyes opened in fright as he quickly retreated right as the gazebo and pillar both exploded into over a thousand fragments. All these fragments of stone and metal turned into swords mid-air before flying towards him at high speeds, making Caleb turn his body into black lightning to dodge through them all as a last resort.

Even then, the swords didn’t relent but turned around to chase after him as Caleb pointed his staff towards the Chosen.

“Thunderfall.”

A massive pillar of black lightning descended from the Dark Heavens, making his opponent look up as she also spoke.

“Aegis.”

The large golden and decorated aegis appeared right as the pillar of lightning struck, sending out a giant shockwave throughout the Shadow Realm. Caleb pushed himself further as he quickly shot out an incredibly swift bolt of lightning from his staff.

To his surprise, the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord didn’t manage to react in time as she was struck, making her frown and take a step back right as the descending pillar also faded away alongside the aegis. Caleb couldn’t be too happy, though, as he’d failed to fully avoid all the swords which were slowly turned back into pure energy around him.

Feeling pretty good having landed one minor attack, Caleb didn’t let up as he pushed his boosting skill beyond its regular limits, knowing he was overextending himself. The heavens rumbled as a thunderstorm descended upon the Shadow Realm, and Caleb sped up further as he continually charged while shooting out bolts and other ranged attacks in between going for melee swings, entirely disregarding resource conservation.

His extreme fervor finally made the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord somewhat serious as she spoke two words quickly, one after another.

“Water.”

A flood appeared out of nowhere, forming a river around her to block the lightning shot towards her, while random large flat slabs of stone appeared above to block descending lightning bolts.

“Fire.”

Flames filled the Shadow Realm as they took the forms of birds that swarmed Caleb, each of them burning with intense heat. Avoiding all of them simply wasn’t an option, and the Judge accepted that health points were also a resource he’d have to trade away to try to land at least a few solid blows.

Using yet another Shadow Vault, he dove straight through the flames, feeling them burn him in both body and soul before he reached the frigid water around her that chilled him to the bone. Nevertheless, pushing through, he reached the Chosen in record time as he swung in quick succession.

His first two strikes were blocked by two more small pillars appearing, but the third one struck true, hitting the Chosen in the side as she reeled back from the nasty blow. He followed up, trying to pummel her some more, but he was unable to as she yelled.

“Repel!”

He tried to resist with every fiber of his being, but the invisible force was too powerful as Caleb was dragged backward, straight through the frigid river and hundreds of firebirds that immediately swarmed him again before they all proceeded to explode.

Caleb was sent flying out of the cloud of smoke, his entire body scorched from head to toe as he breathed heavily. His injuries and lack of energy were starting to become a serious problem already. The only thing that made him feel a little better was the marks left by his attack on the Chosen’s arm, as well as the fact that several bolts of lightning had also managed to strike her, at least doing a bit of damage. Plus, she had spoken quite a few words, right? That took energy.

Gritting his teeth, Caleb fought through the pain as he flung out attack after attack, his opponent responding in kind. With nothing more than thoughts, she conjured weapons and elements to block his blows or attack, filling the Shadow Realm with objects that continually blew up when dark lightning struck them.

Despite his best efforts, Caleb was struck repeatedly while very few of his attacks managed to do anything of note. He had known from the very beginning that this wasn’t a fight he could win, but still, he’d hoped to do more.

Blood filled his mouth, and his limbs were starting to feel heavy after a beam of light that shot down out of nowhere scorched him yet another time, worsening his burn wounds further. He was on his last legs, and given that... there was nothing to lose.

He’d hoped not to do this, as he’d wanted to keep this attack up his sleeve, but given the circumstances and how Caleb felt he’d barely managed to help, he reckoned... fuck it.

Caleb stopped defending himself as a spear pierced through his chest and a cold wind left his entire body covered in ice. More attacks were coming as the Judge raised a hand towards the Dark Heavens and called upon it. This wasn’t a skill or anything that really had a name... all he knew was that the Legacy of Tenlucis classified it as something one should use only with the resolve to die afterward.

The Dark Heavens heeded his call as pressure unlike anything ever before descended upon the Shadow Realms. The clouds started falling as thunder roared all around them, the air itself crackling with dark lightning that sought to tear apart anything it encountered, be it friend, foe, or the very fabric of reality itself.

Even the Chosen looked taken aback as she launched a powerful attack towards Caleb in the form of a massive lance, but the sheer pressure of the heavens turned it into dust before it managed to reach him, as all the summoned objects around her started crumbling, overwhelmed by the power exerted by the Dark Heavens.

Caleb’s soul started to crumble as the damage done by this technique was more than what he did to his opponent, but he didn’t care. He smiled and welcomed his death that was right around the corner, satisfied with seeing the pressure also getting to his opponent. She reached up and held her head as blood dripped from her nose, as her own soul was also under immense stress. Still, she was the Chosen of the Heartsoul Daolord. Determination entered her eyes as she lifted her gaze and stared directly at Caleb as she spoke, her voice drowning out the sounds of the Dark Heaven’s thunder.

“Homebound.”