Chapter 371: Shadowless Embrace

Rael pushed away from Solenne, catching her slightly off guard.

Even so, he jumped to his feet and shot a glance in her direction.

And in the next instant, he used one of his main skills, Market Collapse.

<Target’s stats have been decreased by 11%!>

<Target’s Intelligence stat has switched with Charisma!>

Solenne’s eyes blurred for a few moments, and then her vision came back.

However, that split moment was enough for Rael to get ready.

He pulled out his Violin, then held the Supreme Blade in his right hand.

Rael didn’t expect anything to happen, but his Violin glowed in the next moment.

The glow spread outward, enveloping the Supreme Blade and turning it a blue color.

Soon after, he was met with a pop-up.

<You have successfully merged the Crystal Violin Blade (Unique-Legendary) with Supreme Blade (Celestial)>

<New item has been generated!>

<Supreme Violin Blade (Divine)>

<Configuration: Supreme Violin Blade (Divine) has been saved!>

Rael moved to check the new options, but a distant chuckle cut him off.

“Pfft… another gimmick? What is it this time? Weapon merging and infusion?” Solenne mused.

But before she could take even a single step closer, Rael hit the Violet String.

Immediately, a note, nearly a hundred times larger than what Rael had ever seen, appeared, and at lightning speed, it traveled toward Solenne.

She tried to dodge this one, but the sheer size of the note still managed to hit her.

And the moment it did, the note split into three pieces, each one a different color.

But more importantly…

-0%! [-9.833 Quintillion] | Critical True Note! (x1 Supreme Violin Blade)

-0%! [-11.839 Quintillion!] | Critical True Note! (x1 Supreme Violin Blade)

-0%! [-22.830 Quintillion!] | Critical True Note! (x1 Supreme Violin Blade)

It seemed like that wasn’t over, as another note flew out from the Supreme Violin Blade, sporting a pitch-black color.

And the moment it made contact with Solenne’s body, the space around them cracked open.

<Supreme Soul Resonance has been triggered.>

-0%! [-122.833 Quintillion!] | Critical True Note! (x1 Supreme Violin Blade)

<1 Soul Damage has been inflicted!>

“Fuck, you’re pretty sturdy, aren’t you?” Rael remarked.

His lungs had healed just enough for him to speak.

But when the smoke parted, he once again saw Solenne.

Only this time, she wore a massive frown.

“Tier 12 Damage in a single hit…” Solenne mumbled. “Are you the descendant of the God of Destruction or something?”

Rael tilted his head, and before he could reply, she continued.

“He’s the only person I remember who was able to cause so much havoc with so few stats. He had many stacking bonuses, so his damage was always excellent. I once remember he dealt Tier 22 worth of damage to me with a flick of his finger. He accidentally destroyed my galaxy, though, so I can’t say I liked him when he was alive,” Solenne remarked with a chuckle.

“And yet, you show similar qualities. I wonder, did the timeless being who was against reincarnation actually reincarnate?”

“I have no idea who you’re talking about, woman,” Rael said flatly. “If you’re looking for a lost lover, you’re in the wrong place.”

“You can make jokes even in such a dire situation?” Solenne asked.

She appeared in front of him, and that was when he finally evaded the attack, triggering Phase.

<[Phase] has been triggered!>

<Your next attack deals 300% more damage>

He flickered behind Solenne and hit the Violet String, causing the massive note to travel straight for her neck.

-0%! [-10.143 Quintillion] | Critical True Note! (x1 Supreme Violin Blade)

-0%! [-12.986 Quintillion!] | Critical True Note! (x1 Supreme Violin Blade)

-0%! [-25.942 Quintillion!] | Critical True Note! (x1 Supreme Violin Blade)

Why is my damage increasing by so much? Is it because of the Resonant Duelist skill? Rael thought.

He hadn’t touched the skill in a while, mainly because he killed opponents too quickly to notice its effects.

However…

Symphony: Landing a Perfect True Note Attack grants 20% Critical Hit Damage for 10 seconds, stacking up to 1000%. This effect ends once a note is missed, or no attack is made within 10 seconds.

It was a flat increase. That meant if he were to hit Solenne 3 more times, his damage would be double what it was the first time.

Nevertheless, the final hit of the batch soon came through.

<Supreme Soul Resonance has been triggered.>

-0%! [-162.118 Quintillion!] | Critical True Note! (x1 Supreme Violin Blade)

<2 Soul Damage has been inflicted!>

All of a sudden, he felt a punch to his abdomen, making him black out in an instant.

And when he came to, he found himself back on the Dralgur Continent, crashed into the side of the Demonic Lands mountain range.

As for his HP, it wasn’t looking too good.

[HP -17%! Vitality: Tier 7 [3% / 100% HP]

Solenne appeared less than a second later, took a few steps forward, grabbed his neck, and lifted him up.

“I have somewhere to be, so I’m afraid we’ll have to cut our games short, Rael,” Solenne said, and in the next moment, a few pop-ups appeared in front of him.

<Ding!>

<The Shadow Creation Machine has been used!>

<Entity: Rael Sutekh, The True Platinum Overlord has been selected.>

<Notice…>

The pop-up screens turned red.

<Your shadow is being extracted!>

<Progress…>

<0%>

<1%>

<2%>

It was going up by 1% per second, and with it, Rael felt slightly weaker, not having enough strength to muster an attack.

“It wasn’t a bad try,” Solenne said quietly. “Frankly, if you were a Grade higher, you might’ve been able to do something against me.”

“Any tips for the future?” Rael asked.

Solenne let out a giggle. “Future? Sorry, you won’t have a future. After your shadow is extracted, I won’t have any more use for you. After all, your shadow will have all the skills, abilities, and perks that you do. Just more obedient.”

With that, she swatted the rain cloud above him, canceling the skill.

“Hmm…”

Rael calmly met her eyes.

“Shadow, huh?”

<Ding!>

<Radiant Transformation has been disabled!>

<Partial Humanoid Dragon transformation has been disabled!>

<Fishmancy – Tide Throne (Passive) has been disabled!>

<Unnamed Domain has been shattered!>

Rael let out a sigh.

He knew he could never beat her, not normally anyway.

So he had come up with a countermeasure. A gamble, rather.

But before he went ahead with his gamble, there were a few things he first had to accept.

Chop-E… the others… Rael thought, watching as the extraction progressed.

He wasn’t that attached to his constructs.

Hell, he had so many of them.

But there were a few that he cared about, and this was one of those choices he couldn’t help but make.

The original Chop-E is probably inside the dungeon with Linlin and the others, huh? Rael smiled. Sorry…

“What’s the goofy smile for?” Solenne asked, puzzled. “Are you finally coming to terms with this?”

“You could say that…” Rael muttered. “Say, if you had the chance to restart your life, would you take it?”

“Literally? No,” Solenne replied, playing along. “But if you mean restarting with all the knowledge I had, then sure. I’d make wiser choices, definitely.”

“I see…” Rael chuckled. “I wouldn’t exactly be restarting my life per se, but still…”

Solenne’s eyes narrowed as she tightened her grip around his neck.

“What are you talking about?”

Rael completely ignored her as a wide grin appeared on his face.

“You want my shadow?”

<Ding!>

<Premium Trickery: Death has been chosen!>

<Are you sure? Yes / No>

<Cost: ??? | Consequences: ???>

Rael had realized something while inspecting the perk earlier.

It wasn’t that the cost was unknown. Rather, it was the complete opposite. He had to choose a cost, and he knew exactly what he wanted.

Rael double-tapped on the question marks, then erased them.

And moments later, he replaced the question marks with something else entirely.

<Cost: Your Shadow | Consequences: The people who know about your existence will forget you for 6 months. You will lose all affinity to the Shadow element. All your crafted Crystal Constructs shall be deleted. All your crafted Crystal items will be deleted. All owned weapons, armor, and accessories will be deleted. You will gain immunity to identity extraction abilities.>

Rael stared at those options, his gaze trembling on one bit in particular.

The people who know about your existence will forget you for 6 months.

I made this decision back then too, didn’t I? Rael mused. That’s why Zafira tried to get me back… she remembered me, but she didn’t know what happened.

His heartbeat increased, but that also meant there were a few loose strings.

Rael turned his gaze to Solenne.

She was there, trying to manipulate Zafira. That meant I wasn’t able to take care of her.

However, that thought process was exactly what led him to the next conclusion.

If he didn’t have any former knowledge of this event ever happening, then he would just run away, not taking a second look behind him.

That’s exactly what I would’ve done in the past… but not this time, Rael thought, his gaze hardening.

Solenne put both her arms around his neck and tightened her grip.

[HP -2%! Vitality: Tier 7 [1% / 100% HP]

“Whatever you’re plotting, stop. You’re just making the pain worse,” Solenne said with a sigh. “Are you a masochist? No, right? So stop resisting.”

<97%>

<98%>

A faint smile appeared on his face as the progress neared 100%.

But the moment it hit 99%, he had made his decision.

I guess it’s time.

<99%>

<…>

<Shadow extraction has been stopped!>

“…Huh?” Solenne’s eyes widened. “What are you—!”

<Ding!>

<Premium Trickery: Death has been activated.>

In the very next instant, a sharp pain went through his spine, and in the next instant, he watched his shadow shatter like glass, then disappear.

At the same time, Solenne stepped back and dropped him to the ground.

She staggered, her vision blurry as she glanced at him from the side.

Yet her gaze never met his eyes, nor did his eyes meet hers.

<Your Construct: Zoomba (x12,219) has been deleted!>

<Your Construct: Chop-E (x984,244) has been deleted!>

<Your Construct: Chop-E (x1) has been deleted!>

<Your Construct: Dirt Vader (x1) has been deleted!>

<Your Construct: Dust Trooper (x1) has been deleted!>

<Your Construct: Xavier (x1) has been deleted!>

.

.

.

<Your Construct: Sweepus Prime (x1) has been deleted!>

<Ding!>

<All items have been deleted!>

<Zafira Sutekh has been removed from your friend list!>

<Lilith Sutekh has been removed from your friend list!>

<The people who know about your existence will forget you for 6 months.>

<Ding!>

<You have been erased from the system’s records.>

<Causality has been reset.>

<Karma: 0 (Neutral)>

<The perk’s effects have concluded.>

<Premium Trickery: Death has been deleted.>

Rael’s eyes trembled at all the pop-ups that had appeared.

So many losses, ones he only hoped he could bring back someday.

And most importantly, the people who had forgotten him.

The tears that Zafira had shed in that memory…

It was the toughest pill to swallow.

Rael’s furious gaze traveled toward the staggered Solenne, whose eyes had rolled back.

“And it’s all because of you.”

He approached her and leaned down, then tapped on her forehead.

It was possible that he could just kill her here, but this husk was only the avatar.

If he wanted to make sure the price of his decision didn’t come back to bite those he cared about in the ass, then he needed to take matters into his own hands.

And he would do so by not being a coward.

But first things first, Rael straightened his posture, then extended his hand.

A small crack appeared in space, and a beautiful woman fell through it.

It was none other than Alene Grandeur, the Moon Goddess, and the Fourth seat who he had stashed away in his mind realm.

She was knocked out, and not only that, she was someone who also had no memory of him.

He didn’t bother with her and instead turned his attention back to Solenne.

Then, his vision darkened.

<Entering the Dream Realm!>

<The Unnamed Mindforged Emperor has all the authority!>

<Choose your Dream invasion type!>

<Manifestation of Fear>

<Bystander>

<Guide>

<Voice of Reason>

<Recommended Dream invasion type: Voice of Reason>

Rael stared into the never-ending darkness, recalling what Voice of Reason did.

<Voice of Reason>

—Implant a single lingering thought inside the target’s mind that triggers whenever they do certain actions. This effect is permanent, and the only way to dispel it is to realize that it is there.

Normally, he wouldn’t attempt something so reckless, but this was the exception. Solenne had no idea who he was, not yet.

And because of that, he could set some events into motion by manipulating her from inside her own mind.

After all, how could one defend their mind against a being who technically didn’t exist?

So without hesitation, he selected Voice of Reason.

I’m not sure how long it’s going to take for me to get rid of all the connection Solenne has with Sketa Online, me, Zafira, and the Depths… but…

Rael’s vision returned, yet he stared through Solenne’s eyes, not his own as, moments later, Solenne glanced around, puzzled.

“Strange…” she muttered. “Feels like I’m forgetting something? Hmm…”

After a moment of contemplation, she grabbed Alene and slashed the space in front of her, causing a crack to appear as she stepped through it.

In an instant, she reappeared on a completely different world, overlooking a beautiful silver city from above. This was none other than the headquarters of the Blazing Sun.

[That was very creative,] Burger said groggily. [But I’m afraid I’ll have to leave your side until you get out of her head.]

You remember me? Rael asked, shocked.

[We’re connected, idiot. Of course I remember you,] Burger replied matter-of-factly. [Anyways, try not to die. See ya.]

With that, Rael felt the faint connection he had with Burger fade.

Silence descended once more, until eventually, Rael let out an exhausted sigh.

Sacrifice, huh? What a joke…

***

End of Volume 1: Price of Change

***

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first volume. I’d appreciate critiques or anything of the sort of what you felt were the weakest parts in this giant volume. I’d try my best to improve upon the critiques for both this story, and the stories that would come after. You can also join the discord, the link is in the synopsis. I’m open to ideas or theories since I often times draw inspiration from them. The next Chapters would come out tomorrow, no breaks 🙂

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