Shadow World

Little Blackstar's speed was extraordinary. With the inherent darkness of the Void Battlefield and the black fog that hung over everything, Aina had indeed been correct about the little mink's stealth ability.

However, there was another reason that Leonel had chosen to go with Aina's suggestions, and that was because of the problem of visibility.

While it seemed like a good idea to get higher ground and see further, there was one important matter that had to be considered, and that was the fog. Even back on Void Palace grounds, Leonel could hardly see a few meters ahead of himself, and this was fairly similar for everyone else as well. Leonel wasn't convinced that the Void Battlefield would be much better. In fact, it was likely that it would be even worse.

Leonel had planned to circumvent this potential issue using an Internal Sight manipulation technique. By changing the form of his Internal Sight, he could gain more range in a straight line simply by rearranging how he allocated its volume. With the sudden increase to his mind's strength, Leonel had been confident that he could do this.

Of course, this came with a great risk. Internal Sight was just another form of manipulating Force and it could be sensed by those sensitive to it, especially those of higher Dimensions. It was possible that Rapax would be less sharp about such things considering their immunity, but it was also just as likely that they'd be hyper sensitive as seen by the first Rapax Leonel had fought after coming to this Nest. That particular Rapax, due to Leonel's loose use of his Internal Sight, had already sensed him before he even rounded the corner.

It was because of this that Leonel wasn't confident in avoiding detection using the fog, which was why he wanted to be the one to personally take on the burden.

This aside, Little Blackstar didn't have such an ability. He hadn't learned the technique Leonel had nor did he have great use of Internal Sight. It was odd, but Leonel couldn't remember Little Blackstar ever using Internal Sight at all.

However, what Little Blackstar could do was something else.

The little mink was a Shadow Sovereign and had access to the Shadow World. The Shadow World was considered to be a mirror of their current world, one where Shadows reigned supreme.

Whenever it was that Little Blackstar became immune to outside attacks, it was because the little one had shifted his physical state into his Shadow World. And, whenever Little Blackstar 'teleported', what was actually happening was him shifting to his Shadow World then popping back out.

It had taken Leonel a very long time to construct the ins and outs of this ability because Little Blackstar couldn't communicate via conventional means, but he believed that he had some understanding of it now.

Without getting overly lost in the details, Leonel had commanded Little Blackstar to shoot into the air as high as he could. Once he was in position, he would shift into his Shadow World.

While within his Shadow World, Little Blackstar was essentially on a very short timer. Although being within the Shadow World gave Little Blackstar a great amount of control, it was also a great burden on the little guy. This was why Little Blackstar never blinked away for too long.

The little mink had three states. One where he was fully within the Real World. A second where his image was in the Real World and his physical form was in the Shadow World. And the third was one where his entire being was in the Shadow World.

Staying in the first and second state were relatively easier. However, to take full advantage of the Shadow World, Little Blackstar needed to enter the third state.

The Shadow World was shared by Shadow Sovereigns. As they moved about in the Real World, so too would they shift within the Shadow World. Whenever a Shadow Sovereign entered battle, that location of the Shadow World they were in, the mirror image of their location in the Real World, would effectively become their Domain.

Within this Domain, the Shadow Sovereign would gain control over all sorts of abilities. But, what Little Blackstar used the most often was folding space. This was why the little mink could move so fast. By shifting into the Shadow World, Blackstar could fold reality to his whims and teleport. This even allowed him to do what Aina couldn't and leave and enter the Segmented Cube at will.

However, this wasn't what Leonel wanted Little Blackstar to do this time.

By having control over a Domain you would, by proxy, know every single little detail about that Domain. Knowing this, Leonel's goal was obvious.

He wanted Little Blackstar to enter the Shadow World and push the bounds of his Domain as far as possible. In doing so, the Little Mink would gain a perfect understanding of everything within his Domain in the blink of an eye, albeit for just a very small moment.

This leads to an obvious question: why risk Little Blackstar like this, then? Couldn't this same thing be accomplished within the tunnels?

And the unfortunate truth was no. Little Blackstar had a hard enough time expanding his Domain in the Shadow World already without having to worry about thick barriers of wall infused and tempered with Anarchic Force over countless generations. Simply put, Blackstar's attempts would end up being stalled before he even got the chance.

Leonel didn't want Little Blackstar to waste time trying to map out the tunnels. Instead, he wanted a perfect aerial view of the network of hives. After that, everything else could be left up to him.

Little Blackstar reached his apex height, his little body suddenly vanishing into a blackness.

Almost instantaneously, several powerful auras swept over, sensing something amiss. However, they just barely missed Little Blackstar entirely, ending up snagging their senses at empty air.

Within the Shadow World, a perfect replica of their world reflected in Little Blackstar's eyes, but the range was too small to see everything. However, the good news was that in his Domain, even the fog couldn't obstruct Little Blackstar's vision any longer.

The little guy had never tried to push the barriers before, but this time, he would go all out.

Little Blackstar's long whiskers twitched, his hair standing on end and his body seeming to expand by twice its original size.

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Little Blackstar's Domain grew explosively.

"Yip!"

A violent shudder suddenly shook the little mink's body, a ripple of pain coursing through his mind.

…

Within the tunnels, Leonel's frosty gaze dropped several more levels of temperature.

'There's a second Shadow Sovereign in this place.'