In an alley of the city of Ostrion, a man dressed entirely in black with a symbol of a dark red eclipse with jagged edges resembling splashes of blood on his left hand stood a few meters away from an orb suspended in the air, shining with an iridescent light shifting between azure blue, deep purple, and brilliant silver.

Four stones were scattered at the four cardinal corners around the orb, connected by inscriptions between them.

The man appeared focused, continuously infusing his crystal essence into the stones.

"I wonder if everything is going well in there. Another one has entered inside, but he is only at the silver rank. Lascia shouldn't have any problem facing them with her illusion manifestation, but if she doesn't hurry, we'll soon be spotted," said the man, staring at the orb.

"Tsk. I should have been the one to go inside and confront them instead of just luring them with my ability and maintaining the formation."

***

Inside the illusion, Kieran was surrounded by shadows, each wielding a different weapon with deadly intent. As he dodged and blocked their attacks, he felt the pressure to maintain his concentration and agility under a relentless assault.

A shadow wielding a longsword lunged at him from the right while another wielding a spiked mace charged from the left. Kieran pivoted, narrowly avoiding the slash of the longsword, then ducked to dodge the swing of the mace.

His double-bladed sword spun between his hands as he sliced toward the shadow with the mace. He suddenly felt a weight on his wrist as a chain coiled around it, and before he could react, the chain pulled him backward, preventing him from finishing his strike.

Gritting his teeth, a dull yellow glow shone in his eyes. A spike of earth rose from the ground and struck the chain, breaking it instantly.

With his wrist now free, Kieran swiftly swung his double-bladed sword to his left before spinning it around, blocking a volley of daggers from another shadow.

His eyebrows furrowed as he felt a presence behind him. He rolled forward instinctively, but his movement was a step too late. A pair of daggers sliced into his back and left a bleeding cut in their wake.

As the shadows closed in on him with a menacing aura and began to encircle him, his eyes took on a reddish tint. Elemental fire particles were expelled from his fire elemental core, passing through his entire body.

"Scarlet Crow Rises from the Ashes!"

The cry of multiple crows echoed within his body, and the ground beneath him began to tremble. Suddenly, four fiery scarlet crows erupted from the earth beneath his feet. They spiraled upwards, their flaming wings casting a radiant glow in the dark environment.

The shadows too close to him were engulfed by the flames of the crows swirling around him, while those further away attacked him with chains and showers of arrows, but the crows blocked their attacks.

Kieran breathed heavily as he stood up. The reddish tint in his eyes diminished before disappearing, taking the scarlet crows with it.

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With this brief moment of respite, he accessed his Aurora collar and pulled out a potion before quickly emptying it. The pain in his back lessened, and he tightened his grip on his sword, staring at the shadows.

He took a step forward before stopping, his expression changing as he seemed at a loss for words at the scene before him.

His eyes, which had been fixed on the shadows, were drawn to a man calmly walking between the trees as if he were on a stroll with a bag of chips in his hands.

The shadows averted their gaze from Kieran to look at the man, but they too seemed as lost as he was by the man's appearance, as if the commands they had received couldn't quite process his casual demeanor.

"Hi. Can you tell me how to get to the main street? I got lost," the man asked.

It was at that moment that the shadows and Kieran moved again. The ground beneath Kieran's feet shifted, allowing him to lean on it without restricting his movements as he rushed towards the man.

"Watch out!" Kieran shouted.

A shadow with a spear in its hands ran towards the man, and as he watched the tip of the spear getting close to him while eating a chips, he felt a pair of claws grab his collar and pull him back while a blade passed beside him to block the tip of the spear.

Kieran, who had arrived just in time to block the spear, tightened his grip on the man's collar before fleeing through the trees, dragging him behind like a flag.

The man didn't seem to mind and continued eating his chips as if nothing that was happening could bother him.

"Are we heading towards the main street?" the man asked.

"I don't know how to get to the main street, and I have other things to worry about at the moment!" Kieran replied hastily, dodging an axe thrown at him by a shadow.

"Oh, okay."

The man who was still dragged by Kieran tilted his head to the side as he took another chip from his packet, 'Did I stumble into a training zone? Liu Xing is going to scold me again because I got lost,' he glanced over his shoulder to look at Kieran, 'I must have disrupted his training by appearing like this in the middle.'

"By the way, my name is Wen Zhao. Sorry for the disturbance," he said suddenly.

"Kieran. And it's probably our fault that you ended up here."

"It's true that the area could have been better marked."

'What is he talking about?' Kieran thought before stopping.

Several shadows had appeared on his path, blocking his way. He had no choice but to fight against them again. He put Wen Zhao on the ground before rushing toward the shadows.

With a swift movement, he swung his double-bladed sword in a wide arc, slicing through the air toward the nearest shadow. The shadow, armed with a giant ax, parried his attack, the clash of metal echoing through the forest.

The wind whistled behind him, reversing the force in his wrists as he spun the blades of his sword while turning his body, intercepting a halberd. He lifted his right foot and struck the chest of the shadow that had just attacked him, then leaped to the side to dodge the attack of the shadow with the axe.

Another shadow appeared before him, blocking his path with a scythe in its hands. The scythe descended upon him from above. Taking a step to the side, he evaded the scythe's blade. The muscles of his arms tensed, and he swung his sword in a horizontal cut, slicing the shadow in half and making it disappear.

The shadows rushed towards him, giving him no time to breathe. For every shadow defeated, two more seemed to take its place, slowly exhausting him.

Meanwhile, Wen Zhao remained unaffected by the chaos unfolding around him. He looked at Kieran with a detached expression, seemingly oblivious to the danger of the situation. He found a comfortable spot on the ground and sat cross-legged, munching on his chips while observing Kieran struggling against the shadows.

As the battle raged, a lone shadow broke away from the others and rushed toward Wen Zhao.

"Hey, move!" Kieran shouted, his voice filled with urgency as he noticed the shadow approaching Wen Zhao.

But Wen Zhao merely glanced at the shadow, his expression unchanged.

Kieran's heart raced as the shadow moved closer to Wen Zhao. He rushed forward, ready to intervene, but something unexpected happened before he could reach them.

The shadow, just a few centimeters away from Wen Zhao, suddenly flickered. It stumbled, its movements becoming slow and erratic. Then, with a loud thud, it collapsed to the ground, unmoving.

Kieran's eyes widened as he looked at Wen Zhao, who was staring at the shadow on the ground with half a chip in his mouth.

Wen Zhao raised his eyes to meet Kieran's, "It fell by itself. I didn't do anything."

Kieran didn't know whether to laugh or cry as he intercepted another shadow's attack.