Shadow gritted his teeth as he made his strike, but before his sword could reach her chest, her eyes snapped in his direction. In that instant, it felt as though the entire world around him changed. The distance between them stretched unnaturally, growing far greater, and his sword could no longer reach her.

The sudden shift stunned him, leaving him confused as he stared at his blade in disbelief. It looked so close, yet impossibly far. Then she attacked.

A bombardment of spatial spheres tore through the air toward him.

Aren was certain that would kill him, but to his surprise, Shadow reacted instantly, dodging each and every one with nimble movements, like a cat dancing between falling blades.

"Maybe he isn't all talk. He might have some skill under those lies," Aren thought.

But the issue remained. This purple-haired girl was absolutely dominating the fight.

Shadow skidded back after evading the final attack and looked up. His calm expression was gone, replaced by a sick smile and glowing eyes.

"Hahahaha!"

He burst into wild laughter, and in the next moment, the same type of spatial spheres the girl had used appeared behind him, ten in total, hovering, ready to be unleashed.

When the girl saw her ability mirrored, she frowned deeply, her face twisting with disgust and anger.

"So not only do you steal names," she said coldly, "you steal abilities as well."

"Not steal," Shadow replied with a smile, "borrow indefinitely."

He hurled all the spheres at her at once. They sliced through the air, but she dodged every single one with ease before retaliating with her own attacks and lunging forward. Shadow was forced to focus on defending, using his copied spheres to counter hers.

Explosions rang out around them, shaking the air violently.

'He can copy abilities… does that make him a control-class?' Aren thought. 'Possible. But his versions are weaker than hers. Even with copying, she still has the upper hand.'

That only told him one thing.

'A low-tier copy ability. Tch. To think this idiot is trying to take my name.'

Aren had seen enough. In the next moment, he spoke in a low, calm tone.

"Shadow Domain."

The instant the words left his mouth, darkness spread explosively, covering the floor and ceiling. Everything went black. The only person who could see was Aren himself.

In the darkness, he raised his hands. Chains formed from shadow shot out of the ground, wrapping around both combatants and yanking them apart, ending the fight instantly.

As the Shadow Domain vanished, the two stood far apart, shock written across their faces. Their eyes locked onto Aren, the cause of it all, who now wore a completely blank expression.

Aren looked at Shadow.

"What tier is your ability?" he asked bluntly.

Shadow froze, taken aback. Why would Aren suddenly stop the fight just to ask that?

Seeing his hesitation, Aren let out a tired sigh.

"You are weak."

The words stunned Shadow.

"A cheap copy of whatever you see," Aren continued coldly. "Your ability refuses you originality. You awakened as a thief."

Shadow's eyes widened before rage flooded his expression.

"HOW DARE YOU!" he roared, his voice cracking. "HOW DARE ALL OF YOU! I am Shadow, the strongest young awakened! I finished the trials first! I evolved first!"

His eyes burned with belief, as though he truly accepted the lies spilling from his mouth.

"No, you are not," Aren cut him off. "You don't even count as a cheap imitation."

He stepped forward.

"You are deluded," Aren said, now standing directly in front of him. "Lying to everyone, including yourself."

His eyes glowed purple, killing intent pouring out of him so thick it felt suffocating. Shadow was forced to take a step back.

"I don't care if you lie or pretend to be something you're not," Aren said coldly. "But I won't allow someone as weak and vain as you to drag my name through the mud."

Shadow's fear overflowed. He stumbled backward and collapsed to the ground, trembling as he stared at Aren, like a man staring death in the face.

Aren turned away.

"Let's go," he said to the purple-haired girl.

She nodded and followed behind him happily, acting as though she hadn't been fighting viciously just moments ago.

They leapt into the tunnel above and vanished.

Once they were gone, Shadow remained seated on the ground.

Then, suddenly, he began to cackle.

"Hahahahaha…"

The laughter was heavy and unhinged, but no one knew the true reason behind it.

His party members finally saw him for the fraud he was. Injured and broken, they sat on the ground, staring at him with pure detest and disgust.

Shadow didn't care.

He laughed louder.

And louder.

Then, without warning, shadows spread outward.

A Shadow Domain formed, far smaller than Aren's, but unmistakably similar.

Shadow had copied Aren's unique skill.

Something that should have been impossible.

As the domain expanded, it swallowed the remaining party members, three of them. The fourth, the girl in the sweatshirt, had vanished without anyone noticing.

It didn't matter.

Shadow stood in the darkness of his domain as chains burst from the ground, wrapping tightly around the three, locking them in place.

"Shadow! What the hell are you doing?!" the bulky man roared.

"Let us go!" the blonde girl screamed.

Their voices fell on deaf ears.

"Hahahahaha," Shadow laughed madly. "I'm not Shadow, huh? I'll show you all that I am him."

He looked at his trapped party members, his grin widening.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, "but you three know the truth."

"And for that… you must die."

The chains tightened around their necks and snapped in an instant, killing all three on the spot.

The Shadow Domain dissipated.

Shadow stared at their lifeless bodies, his grin stretching even wider.

"Consume," he muttered, another of Aren's skills.

The bodies sank into the ground, only to rise moments later as summoned shadows, eyes glowing red with malice.

"I'll become Shadow," he whispered, voice trembling with obsession,

"even if it kills me."

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