Marlon did not seem fazed by the fact that he was being challenged by a lunaris. His expression remained blank, with only a hint of annoyance visible on his face.

The hunters and gangsters present were tense.

Even those who dwelled in the Deadlight District knew just how evil and powerful the lunaris were.

They knew how deeply they hated Arden and how they had done everything in their power to tear the place down to the ground.

As a result, many of them were unsure whether Marlon should fight at all.

Some of the hunters even wanted to contact the Hunter Association and inform them of the presence of a lunaris.

If this were revealed, the Hunter Association would definitely send their best hunters, and dealing with a young lunaris that emitted such a powerful presence would be easy.

Unfortunately, there was no connection in the Deadlight District, and thus they had no way of contacting them.

At the moment, all they could do was pray for some kind of miracle to happen.

"Why are you guys so tense?"

Sandra turned to the hunters behind her.

"Haven't you all witnessed Marlon's strength? Despite being on a lower level than us, his strength is more than twice ours. Have some faith in him, at least."

She concluded.

The hunters nodded softly in response.

Meanwhile, Zareth's glare turned even colder as a dark aura began to emit from his body, forming black clouds that swirled around him.

His eyes glowed red with a burning killing intent that Marlon felt creeping across his skin.

"Ever since I managed to flee from that arena that day, I have been plotting for a moment like this. A moment where I would stand before you and repay the humiliation you inflicted on me."

Zareth took a step forward, the killing intent growing stronger as he closed the gap.

"I will kill you and all the hunters present here to send a message to your people."

He took two more steps.

"And when I am done obtaining even more power, I will wipe out everyone."

A grimace formed on his face.

"Is that all?"

Marlon furrowed his brows and asked calmly.

He had purposely let Zareth speak without interrupting, expecting at least a few impressive lines.

Instead, it ended up being the same cliché, revenge-themed villain speech.

Zareth's grimace vanished, and he halted for a brief moment.

His pride had been wounded.

After all those threats, Marlon was still unshaken. How unexpected.

Then, he chuckled.

"See? You got me again. I almost always forget that you were good with words. It was one of the tricks you used to defeat my peers that day. But it won't work on me."

As he spoke, Zareth's figure blurred.

A split second later, accompanied by a loud whooshing sound and a massive cloud of dust, he sped straight toward Marlon.

"Mirror Clone Unit."

Marlon summoned ten clones at once and sent them forward.

He did not fully understand Zareth's powers.

He needed his clones to test them.

And he soon realized he had made the right choice.

The moment Zareth closed the distance, a grin spread across his face as he stretched his hand forward.

"Shadow Devour!"

In an instant, the clone in front of him was shrouded in shadow energy.

A soft puffing sound followed.

Seconds later, the targeted clone vanished.

Zareth wrapped his fist in shadow energy and punched another clone, sending it flying away like an inflated balloon.

He immediately found another target and used the same Shadow Devour skill, causing that clone to disappear just as instantly.

Gasps echoed as Marlon's last clone vanished.

Such a skill.

Neither the hunters nor the Deadlight District dwellers, who had seen their fair share of dark hunters, had ever witnessed anything like it before.

Marlon was no exception.

"No wonder the system categorized his threat level as A."

A-rank was the level of guardians, and there were very few individuals in all of Arden who possessed such power.

Zareth smirked as he observed the change in Marlon's expression.

He spread his arms wide and spoke in a gloating tone.

"What now?"

"Do you still dare to fight me?"

"You can start cowering now. Get on your knees and beg for your life, and I will grant you the mercy of leaving your body intact for burial."

He shifted his gaze away from Marlon and toward the stunned hunters and Black Brothers.

Those who had been standing close immediately took several steps back.

Sandra, who had earlier claimed she had faith in Marlon, began to waver when she recalled the skill the lunaris had just displayed.

Zareth's grin widened even further.

He feasted on their fear and doubt.

It was satisfying.

"This applies to all of you. Get down on your knees… worship me!"

He bellowed, bursting into maniacal laughter.

He continued taunting them without pause.

But while he was distracted, Marlon summoned two more clone units.

Zareth turned back to him and laughed even harder.

"Look who's still eager to fight."

He stretched his right hand forward and casually curled his fingers in a "come here" gesture.

Marlon complied.

He sent the clone units swarming toward Zareth.

At least, that was how it appeared to everyone else.

But Marlon was not foolish.

He had already set his plan in motion.

The Mirror Clone Unit came with additional effects, one of which was Stealth.

Within each clone unit, one clone could turn completely invisible.

With two units summoned, he now had two stealth fighters.

And those two stealth clones were already in position, having received their commands.

"Look at this."

Zareth sneered as he fired five bolts of shadow toward the leading clones.

The moment the bolts struck, their bodies began to deteriorate at an alarming rate.

Their flesh corroded and crumbled into dust, leaving behind only their skeletons.

The instant they were reduced to bone, signifying their destruction, they vanished.

Zareth repeated the same process on the remaining clones that continued charging forward despite witnessing the deaths of their comrades.

One by one, they turned to bone and disappeared.

The lunaris turned back to Marlon, gloating openly.

Everything was going exactly according to his plan.

The humans would soon submit to his will.

And once they did, he would turn them into his followers and use them to spread terror.

As these visions played out in his mind, the grin on his face grew increasingly unhinged.

He was about to boast once more when he heard Marlon quietly mutter a single word.

"Swap."

-------

The fight with the Aurax had taught Marlon many lessons, and one of them was that relying on strength alone would easily get him killed.

Of course, strength alone was enough to defeat mindless monsters.

But when it came to intelligent opponents, wit mattered the most.

And wit was exactly what he used against Zareth.

He gave the alien the delusion that his skill was supreme, that he was untouchable.

He made this delusion even stronger by sending more clones to challenge him, allowing Zareth to kill them easily and, as a result, feel even better about himself.

But in reality, Marlon had simply ordered his clones not to put up much of a fight.

That was the reason they all moved in a straight line instead of forming a strategically positioned formation like before.

And while Zareth's attention was focused entirely on them, Marlon sent two stealth clones behind him.

While Zareth was still gloating over his apparent dominance, Marlon used Swap, and in an instant, he traded places with his clone.

He telepathically activated Punch of Death, and the familiar presence of death enshrouded the surroundings.

Zareth felt the growing dread surge within him.

His instincts instantly picked up on what was happening.

Fear and adrenaline forced him to activate his innate skill.

"Shadow Transformation."

In an instant, his body morphed into a cloud of shadow matter.

Marlon's fist was already in motion, and it swiftly phased through the shadow mass.

It had no effect.

Punch of Death deactivated immediately.

Marlon frowned.

At that instant, Zareth used Shadow Transformation again and returned to his normal form.

A sharp sense of danger rang in Marlon's mind.

He knew the skill Zareth was about to use now that he had been cornered.

It was one he had no defense against.

Thus, he used Swap.

He switched places with one of the clones that were still holding Draven down.

Zareth unleashed Shadow Devour on "Marlon."

The clone vanished instantly, erased from existence and sent into a void of no return.

"Ha… ha…"

Zareth gasped for air, his chest heaving up and down as he slowly turned his attention toward Draven.

Nevertheless, a frown soon formed on his face.

He could still see the clones restraining Draven.

'Weren't they supposed to disperse after the original dies?'

Why were they still there?

At that moment, one of the clones stood up and faced him.

Zareth locked eyes with the clone.

From it, he felt the same familiar presence he always sensed from Marlon.

He would have thought they were ordinary clones, but he had fought them before, and none of them gave him the same feeling as the real one.

"You…"

He pointed at Marlon with burning anger.

"You deceived me."

But Marlon did not seem but Marlon did not seem affected by his words in the slightest.

Instead, he calmly straightened his posture, his gaze steady and cold as he met Zareth's furious eyes.

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