THE GENERAL'S DISGRACED HEIR

The beast's maw came crashing up, its jagged fangs slicing through the frigid air, aiming to snap David in half. Its snowy fur rippled like a living storm, its sheer size casting a monstrous shadow over him. The ground trembled beneath its weight, and every breath of its frosty exhalations threatened to freeze David's very soul.

Vespera's lips curled into a wicked smirk. "Your arrogance has finally led you to your demise." Her voice was like a frozen dagger, sharp and laced with satisfaction.

Yet—

David's fingers pointed slightly to the side.

But the moment those jaws should have torn into flesh—David was gone.

A swirl of black smoke exploded where he once stood.

Vespera's eyes narrowed.

And before she could fully process what was happening, a thunderous impact crashed against her barrier of thin ice.

BOOM!

The force of the collision sent tremors racing through the frozen battlefield. The barrier cracked under the sheer pressure, and from the dissipating veil of snow and dust, David emerged.

He stood with an easy confidence, his dark armor reflecting the crimson glow of the winter sky. Beneath the metal skin, his grin stretched wide, filled with amusement.

"It seems taking you down will be harder than I expected," he mused, tilting his head.

Vespera's fingers twitched. That shouldn't be possible.

Her mind raced. "How?" she whispered under her breath. "I never took my eyes off you. There's no way you could have used a substitution technique."

But she was wrong.

David's mastery over his abilities had evolved—no, doubled.

He hadn't used a mere trick or an illusion. He had done something far more complex.

[Wolf's Grace]—a perfect swap between his shadow and real body.

If one wasn't fully focused, if they were lost in the heat of battle, they wouldn't notice the subtle shift between shadow and substance. Even she had been fooled.

Her grip tightened.

No more games.

She snapped her fingers. "Kill him!"

The monstrous bear roared in response. Snow kicked up beneath its paws as it lunged at David, its massive claws tearing through the air with terrifying speed.

But David was already in motion.

He shifted effortlessly, his body weaving through the flurry of attacks as though he were dancing between threads of fate.

[Celestial Wheel]—his movement transcended human limitations.

The bear's claws missed. Every swipe cut through empty space, its frustration growing with each failed strike.

David let out a low chuckle, stepping just beyond the beast's reach. "I still have a score to settle with you."

His voice was calm, but beneath the words was an old grudge.

He could still remember the raw pain, the moment this very beast had crushed his chest like it was nothing more than brittle ice.

The bear roared, its fury shaking the very landscape. With primal rage, it lunged again, its massive jaws stretching wide, prepared to bite down on David's skull.

But David wasn't there to be eaten.

In one fluid motion, he flipped backward, defying gravity itself. His body twisted mid-air, and just as he reached the peak of his arc, his fingers moved.

Weaving. Commanding.

Shadows answered his call.

Like a living tide, his own darkness surged beneath the beast, warping, expanding—

Then came the spikes.

SHUNK!

A storm of razor-sharp shadow pillars erupted from below, impaling the bear from every direction.

The beast howled in agony, its roars echoing into the night. Blood painted the icy ground, its thick crimson contrasting against the pale snow.

David landed smoothly, his breath calm. The daggers in his hands flickered—then vanished.

In their place, something else began to take form.

A single drop of molten black liquid seeped from his armor, hovering just above his palm. It pulsed, alive, shifting like liquid night.

David gripped it.

And as his fingers closed around the darkness—

[Wraithblade].

The liquid hardened, stretching into an obsidian blade, forged from pure abyssal energy. It radiated a hunger, the air around it distorting as if reality itself recoiled from its presence.

Vespera felt it—the blade was no ordinary weapon. It was something else entirely.

David wasted no time.

He moved.

Faster than sight, faster than thought—he was already upon the wounded beast.

Mana surged from his body, white-hot energy coating the blackened blade.

He whispered, "Aura."

And then—

He cut.

SHLIIIK!

A single slash. A perfect, precise motion.

The bear split in two.

Blood erupted from its massive body, splattering across the snow in grotesque arcs. Its corpse collapsed in halves, the light in its eyes fading as silence settled over the battlefield.

Vespera snapped.

The very air howled with her rage. Frost spiraled around her, the snowstorm thickening as her power manifested into a full-blown tempest.

Yet—

Something made her pause.

David stood over the corpse of the fallen beast. His stance was different.

Darker.

The shadows around him deepened.

His breath curled in the frozen air, but there was something else—an eerie stillness.

Then—

His voice came.

A whisper. Enjoy new adventures from My Virtual Library Empire

"Eternal Gluttony."

The bear's corpse shuddered.

Dark tendrils slithered from David's armor, reaching toward the lifeless beast. The moment they touched, the body began to dissolve.

Its once-white fur blackened. Its flesh disintegrated into shadows, consumed by something far beyond mere magic.

Vespera felt it.

This wasn't just some spell.

It was devouring.

Consuming.

The bear's entire existence was being rewritten into something else.

David exhaled slowly.

And then—

He whispered once more.

"Soulforge."

From the abyss, a single orb of pure darkness formed in his palm. It pulsed, heavy with the weight of a newly forged soul.

Vespera stepped back.

A shiver crawled up her spine—an unfamiliar sensation she hadn't felt in centuries.

Fear.

David's gaze slowly lifted to meet hers.

And this time—he wasn't grinning.

He was hungry.

Vespera's lips parted, her breath curling in the icy air. Her eyes, sharp as shattered glass, bore into David's darkened form.

"Are you… human?"

David stiffened—just for a fraction of a second.

But Vespera scoffed, shaking off the thought. It didn't matter. The only thing that did… was killing him.