Jack pushed himself to stand fully upright.
The Naraka Armor he wore was still blazing with faint dark fire. The pale-grey bone plates. The black leather straps. The metallic black studs. All were visibly recovering. Faster than his body could.
Jack still felt the strain. Every joint in his body ached. Every muscle screamed in protest. The Judgement Warhammer, still clutched in his hands, felt heavier than ever for him.
He surveyed the transforming arena. The blue sky overhead was now covered in dark clouds. Pale, shimmering thin mist started to appear. The air felt thinner and full of whispering.
This wasn't a place for physical confrontation like the previous rounds. This felt... spiritual. Ethereal.
Then, the opponent began to form.
It didn't rise from the ground like the Groundborn Construct. Nor coalesce from the air like the swarms. It simply deepened in the dimness.
A part of the distant gloom seemed to pull inward. Focusing. Condensing. Into a shadowy essence. It was darker than other shadows in the place. Blacker than anything the fading light could naturally create.
It swirled. Writhed. And slowly, agonizingly, took shape. Not a solid form. But a shifting, humanoid figure wreathed in tendrils of pure darkness.
It had no features. No discernible limbs. Only the vague impression of a body. And the chilling sense of intense, focused hostility directed solely at him.
Jack recognized it immediately. The information of this creature existed in some books he had read in this world. This was... an Ethereal Shadow Lurker.
"Are you kidding me?" Jack rasped in exasperation. "They had to throw in something that laughs at blunt force, didn't they?"
He shifted the Warhammer. Settling its weight. His mind, though weary, was still sharp. This thing wasn't physical. Hitting it with the raw force that shattered stone would likely accomplish nothing.
Should he transform to his specter incarnation? It should be much easier to handle this creature in that form?
The problem was... Would the trial even allow it? What if the specter form is considered a different trial taker? And it was given different task?
Besides... Jack wasn't without any chance even in his current incarnation. He might not be as good as his specter form in mental power. But he could still use [Mysterious Anomaly].
He just needed to disrupt it with the anomaly. And strike at it afterward. His Judgement Warhammer didn't just excel in physical damage. It carried a specific kind of energy. A potent, disruptive force that dealt spiritual damage.
The Shadow Lurker flowed forward. Not walking. But gliding over the shimmering surface. It left no tracks. It made no sound. Its movement was unnatural. A silent, graceful horror.
As it drew closer, the air seemed to be filled with maddening whispering. One that seemed to come from the creature itself.
The whispers weren't in the form of words. But a chaotic mixture of fragmented thoughts, anxieties, and fears. They were pressing in on Jack's mind. A psychic assault designed to shatter focus and exploit weakness.
Jack grimaced. This was a new level of dirty fighting. The previous rounds had been physical. Tactical challenges.
This was directly targeting his mind. Preying on the weakened mind caused by the exhaustion from the previous rounds.
The attack left him vulnerable. For a few seconds, it manifested into countless burdens he carried. For that few moments, he felt the weight of every soul he had judged. Every consequence he had enforced. Every fear he buried inside. Fear of making the wrong decision.
But Jack immediately recovered. He slammed the butt of the Warhammer onto the ground. Not with full force. But with a sharp, controlled impact.
The disruptive energy from the impact didn't just hit the surface. It shook his mind free from the psychic influence. It also pulsed outwards. Creating a weak, invisible wave of resonance that momentarily scattered some of the oppressive whispers.
"Not a damn mind games!" Jack snarled. Planting his feet in battle stance. "I've got enough voices in my head without yours joining the choir."
The Shadow Lurker paused. The swirling darkness of its form seeming to pulse with irritation or surprise. Then, it attacked.
It didn't charge. Instead, it fragmented. Three identical copies peeled off from the main form. Gliding outwards. And then circling Jack.
They moved in unnerving synchronicity. Blurring at the edges. Illusions? Or equally dangerous duplicates?
His exhausted eyes strained to find the 'real' one. But they all looked, and felt, equally insubstantial yet menacing.
Wait! It couldn't be illusion. One of his Judgement Warhammer's main attribute was truth-seeking. Granting him immunity against illusion.
One of the duplicates lunged. It didn't swing or punch. It reached out a tendril of shadow that seemed to grab at his spirit. At the edges of his consciousness.
Jack felt a sickening lurch. A sense of being pulled taut. Like a string about to snap. His armor registered the attack not as a physical blow. But as a drain. A cold leeching of energy.
It offered resistance. Its blazing flame countered part of the shadow energy. But it wasn't absolute protection.
He reacted instinctively. He didn't target one. He targeted all three. He spun. Driving the Warhammer in a wide, sweeping arc. It was not meant to hit. But to disrupt the space around him.
The sweeping arc didn't damage the shadows. But it pushed them back. The psychic pressure eased slightly. As the duplicates recoiled from the disruptive field the Warhammer created. They were vulnerable to this kind of force. But the unfocused power was too weak.
The three duplicates and the original reformed. Merging back into a single entity. This time, it didn't just glide. It flowed across the ground with terrifying speed. Covering the distance between them in the blink of an eye.
Jack quickly reacted. He swung his war hammer to attack the shadow. But it couldn't hit. The shadow was... intangible.
The Shadow Lurker didn't strike. It wrapped around him. The swirling black mass surged forward. Engulfing his whole body. Engulfing his Naraka Armor.
It pulled him into a suffocating shroud of dark and cold void. It wasn't physical pressure. It was a spiritual binding. An attempt to smother his very essence.
The whispers intensified. A maddening chorus of despair. Condemnation. And fear. Clawing at the edges of his sanity.
Inside the shadow, the cold was absolute. A void that threatened to freeze his blood and stop his heart. The Naraka Armor flared with reactive energy. Pushing back against the encroaching darkness. But it was a desperate struggle.
He could feel the Shadow Lurker trying to penetrate the armor's defenses. Seeking his soul. His mind. The core of his being.
Panic was a luxury he couldn't afford. He was trapped. His movements were constricted by the non-physical binding.
He couldn't swing his hammer effectively. In this close, enveloping hold. He had to break the connection. Disrupt the entity from the inside out.
Drawing on a reserve of mental strength. Fueled by sheer, stubborn refusal to yield... Jack let out a guttural roar.
He channeled everything he had... His exhaustion. His rage at this relentless trial. The hunger from the innate desire of his rakshasa form. The truth-seeking nature of the Judgement Warhammer... Everything into a single, focused [Mysterious Anomaly].
He didn't swing his hammer. He exploded outwards with pure, unleashed force. Not physical. But a wave of chaotic illusion.
KA-THOOM!
The sound wasn't physical. But it resonated deep within his bones. Within his very soul. The binding shadow shrieked. A sound like tearing cloth and scraping metal that only he could hear.
It ripped apart. Fragments of darkness scattering away from him. [Mysterious Anomaly] struck it with nightmarish illusion of blazing light.
Jack stumbled backward. Gasping. Free but reeling. The cold lingered. A phantom chill that seeped into his marrow. The mad whispering momentarily ceased. Replaced by a stunned silence from his opponent.
He gritted his teeth. Every part of him screamed for rest. For release. His vision swam at the edges. His hold on the Warhammer trembled.
The Shadow Lurker reformed quickly. Coalescing from the scattered fragments. It was smaller now. Its outline less defined. Its movement slightly hesitant.
His [Mysterious Anomaly] counter-attack had surprisingly wounded it. Disrupted its form. The wasn't invincible to the right kind of force.
The shadowy figure flowed back. Widening the distance between them.
But Jack immediately pursued. He forced his body to charge forward. And strike a blow. It passed through the shadowy creature.
But he didn't stop. He swung it even with more power. Simultaneously, he struck with [Mysterious Anomaly].
CRASH!
It connected. The Judgement Warhammer hit the solid form of the Shadow Lurker. It imploded. Not with an explosive blast. But more with glass-breaking sound.
The shadow broke apart. Defeated.
Silence descended once more. Absolute and heavy.
Jack let out a relieved sigh. He had faced vicious Frost Wolves, sturdy Rock Golems, swarm of Shock Wasps, a super fast Obsidian Sentinel, the earth controlling Groundborn Construct, and now... the spooky Ethereal Shadow Lurker. Six rounds.
"Round 6 complete. Clearing arena." The voice, as indifferent as ever, cut through his exhaustion.
Jack didn't move. He didn't have the strength. He watched as the arena and the atmosphere, including the sky, transformed back to its original form.
"Proceeding to Round 7."
The voice was a death knell. Round 7. What fresh terror awaited him?