"I am Karma," Shadow replied. He walked right past Mr. Black as if the Devourer didn't exist, heading straight for the fallen Chaos.
She looked up at him, tears of agony in her eyes. "It hurts... it hurts," she whispered through the pain of the poison.
"Don't worry, dear. You'll be fine," Shadow said softly. He reached out and touched her, activating his Healing skill. The golden light purged the toxic dark energy from her system, and he followed it by sharing a portion of his own essence to stabilize her.
"So, you've decided to ignore me?" Mr. Black asked, a vein pulsing in his forehead. "Who do you think you are?"
"Be quiet," Shadow said, his voice a calm, freezing wind. He didn't even look back. He turned to Chaos. "Take everyone to the permanent base. I will join you shortly."
Mr. Black laughed. "Do you really think so little of me? How do you intend to break them out of my domain? You'll find that dome more difficult to shatter than you expect."
With a casual flick of his wrist, Shadow launched a tiny, condensed marble of Solidified Cosmic Aramid. It struck the "unbreakable" dome and, upon impact, the entire structure shattered into glass-like shards.
"A flicker of his wrist? Who is this guy?" Mr. Black thought, his smirk faltering. He quickly recovered his composure. "I'm impressed. Fine, I'll let them go without a fight. It will be just you and me—the winner takes everything." He turned a predatory gaze toward Chaos. "And after I'm done with your master, I'm coming back for you."
Chaos's eyes flared with a violent, white-hot flame, her aura beginning to explode.
"Go, Chaos. Now!" Shadow commanded. His voice acted like a physical anchor, bringing her back to her senses. She nodded, grabbed the weakened Knights, and teleported them out of the Flame Realm.
Shadow stood alone against his doppelgänger. "So, tell me. What is it you want?"
"Isn't it obvious? I am here to kill you and take your power. Frankly speaking, you have some very interesting skills," Mr. Black replied with a smirk.
"And may I ask why? Do you have a grudge against me, or is it something else? Since you look exactly like me, I assume it's the latter," Shadow said.
"Well then, let me enlighten you. Be quiet and listen," Mr. Black said, beginning his lesson. "I am you from another universe. Every variant of Damian Summers is a candidate for the Void God position, and only the strongest will ascend. Since there are infinite versions across the multiverse, the competition is... crowded. To increase my odds, I must reduce the number of Damians or absorb their power until the gap between me and the rest is insurmountable. It's a well-thought-out plan, wouldn't you say?"
"Infinite universes... that means the possibility of even higher realms and planes of existence," Shadow mused internally. Aloud, he answered coldly, "Your theory is plain insanity. Did you consider that some might not want to compete? That some might only desire to keep their loved ones safe, or live for themselves without the pursuit of power? You travel across realities murdering yourself without even asking if they want to play your game. It's total madness."
"One thing is certain across all universes: Damian Summers is smart," Mr. Black replied, stepping closer. "You should know that the only constant is change. Even if a variant doesn't want power now, they might later. I'm not taking chances."
"I see. You've made your decision," Shadow said, a cold smile finally appearing on his face. "Well then... let's begin."
Shadow manifested a dark Aramid blade in his palm and lunged at Mr. Black. Before he could connect, a jagged black blade materialized out of thin air to parry his strike with a violent spark.
"He can manifest blades from thin air?" Shadow thought, his grip tightening. "And they're strong enough to rival my Aramid... this won't be as easy as I hoped."
Shadow flickered out of existence, teleporting directly into Mr. Black's personal space. He threw a heavy, power-packed punch that sent the Devourer crashing through a solid obsidian wall. Mr. Black stood up from the rubble, casually brushing dust off his shoulder. He laughed, a chilling, hollow sound.
"That was a nice counter-move. I expected nothing less from a version of me," he said, combing his hair back with his fingers and smiling. "But it's time to get serious."
Before Shadow could even register a heartbeat, Mr. Black was there. His speed was beyond teleportation—it was pure, raw velocity. A massive blow connected with Shadow's ribs, sending him hurtling across the realm and slamming into a distant wall.
"What the hell was that?" Shadow thought, struggling to draw breath. "That wasn't teleportation. His speed... I couldn't even see him move."
"Did you really think you were in my league?" Mr. Black asked, walking toward Shadow with a mocking smirk. "Please, don't make me laugh. I have hunted and absorbed over fifty variants. What makes you think you can compete?"
For the first time, the weight of the multiverse felt heavy on Shadow's shoulders. This variant was far more powerful and experienced than anyone he had ever faced. He wasn't just fighting another man; he was fighting the collective power of fifty-nine Damians.
Mr. Black lifted his right hand, and the air behind him saturated with darkness. A barrage of over a thousand swords materialized. He didn't point them at Shadow; instead, he made a sweeping gesture, and the blades launched in every possible direction, covering every inch of the immediate realm.
"He anticipated my teleportation," Shadow realized, his eyes widening in shock. "If I jump anywhere, I'll be impaled."
Suddenly, a familiar mental notification pulsed:
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: TELEKINESIS]
"Huh," Shadow muttered. He activated the skill instantly. The air rippled as an invisible force gripped the thousand blades heading for him, freezing them mid-air just inches from his skin.
"Oh... you held them mid-strike," Mr. Black muttered, his smile widening.
With a violent wave of his hand, Shadow redirected the thousand frozen blades, launching them back at their master. Mr. Black reacted instantly, stacking three dark crystal domes on top of each other. The blades hammered into the barriers with thunderous impact, shattering the first layer but losing momentum as they hit the second.
"Using my own attack against me? A nice trick," Mr. Black remarked. "But did you really think that would be enough to—"
He was cut off as a massive Aramid spike surged from the ground inside his own domes. His reflexes were the only thing that saved him; he twisted his body, the spike grazing his ribs by only a few millimeters.
"A spike from the ground? Not bad... not bad at all," Mr. Black replied, his eyes narrowing.
Shadow finally stood his ground, but the moment he gained his footing, a dark sword materialized from thin air and stabbed him through the back. Shadow collapsed to his knees as the blade shattered upon impact, but the damage was done. An agonizing, burning sensation began to spread through his veins.
"What is this... it hurts!" Shadow screamed, clutching his chest.
"It's poison," Mr. Black said, walking toward him with slow, deliberate steps. "Just like the one I used on that fire girl, but I've increased the potency a hundredfold. Since you're the boss, I assumed you'd be much harder to kill."
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: POISON RESISTANCE]
As Shadow remained on his knees, his head hanging low, a dark smirk began to form on his face. Mr. Black reached him and reached out a hand. "I'll take all your energy and let the poison finish you off. Then, I'm going back for that girl."
As Mr. Black's hand closed in, Shadow's arm moved like a blur. He grabbed Mr. Black by the throat, his grip like a vice, and hurled him across the realm. Before the Devourer could recover in mid-air, Shadow slammed his foot into the ground. A massive Aramid spike erupted from the obsidian floor exactly where Mr. Black was about to land, impaling him through the chest from behind.
"How... how is this possible?" Mr. Black muttered, coughing up dark blood as he hung from the spike.
Mr. Black tilted his head downward and took a single, shuddering breath.
Suddenly, his eyes turned a void-like black. The Aramid spike impaling him disintegrated into dust, and his wounds closed instantly as if they had never existed. The entire Flame Realm began to shake tremendously, a thick, suffocating dark aura erupting from his body and swirling around him like a hurricane.
"This is too much... the energy radiating from him is intense," Shadow muttered in total disbelief, his boots skidding across the obsidian floor. "This is what it feels like to face over fifty versions of myself."
A sphere of unstable dark energy formed around Mr. Black. He stretched his hand toward Shadow, and instinctively, Shadow knew a cataclysm was coming. Shadow braced himself, lifting his own hand; neon purple lines surged from his surroundings, weaving through the air and the ground. It was the prelude to a clash of titans.
Mr. Black muttered, "This is..."
Shadow whispered, "I am..."
They responded simultaneously:
"THE DEVOURER'S ESSENCE!"
"KARMA!"
The collision was absolute. The realm erupted as the two forces met, the shockwave shattering every landmass in sight and turning the solid world into a churning, endless lake of lava. Shadow's purple flames disintegrated everything they touched, while Mr. Black's Devourer Essence consumed and erased everything in its path. It was a battle of total erasure.
As the smoke cleared, Shadow was left levitating above the scorched heat of the lava, his body severely bruised and his clothes torn. Meanwhile, Mr. Black hovered in the air, seemingly unfazed by the explosion. His eyes glowed with absolute darkness, devoid of any humanity.
He lifted both hands toward the sky and muttered a final, terrifying command.
"Black Hole."
A massive black hole manifested above Mr. Black, its gravitational pull so absolute that even light could not escape. Shadow desperately used his Cosmic Aramid to tether himself to the heavy depths of the lava lake, but the fibers began to snap one by one under the mounting pressure.
"Is this the end? What can I do?" Shadow thought, watching the singularity grow. A black hole has no known counter; anything thrown at it would only increase its mass and hunger. "If I have to die here, I have to give it my all."
He stretched his hands toward the void, intending to merge his purple flames with the Aramid in a final, suicidal strike. But as he braced himself, two hands made of pure, searing fire reached from behind, hugging him and guiding his arms forward. He looked back to see a silhouette of flames in the shape of a woman.
"Chaos," he muttered.
"I'm sorry," she whispered softly.
Suddenly, the lava lake stopped being pulled toward Mr. Black's black hole. Instead, the molten rock began to circle him, forming a massive, rotating sphere that trapped the Devourer inside. The vibrant orange of the lava instantly turned to a deathly obsidian black.
The entire Flame Realm began to invert. The gravity of the dimension increased exponentially as Chaos formed a secondary sphere around Shadow, shielding him from the crushing force she was unleashing.
"Chaos, what are you doing?!" Shadow shouted, but he received no answer.
The entire dimension collapsed in on itself, transforming the Flame Realm into a massive, localized black hole floating in an empty plane of existence. The trap was absolute; it caught Mr. Black's own singularity and pulled him deeper into a void from which there was no return. As he struggled against the crushing darkness, the Devourer was dragged into the infinite silence of the vacuum.
With a final surge of power, Chaos teleported them out, reappearing in the permanent base where the other Knights waited. As they hit the floor, her flame form flickered and died. She collapsed, but Shadow caught her before she hit the ground, resting her head gently on his lap.
He stared at her, the horrific realization finally dawning on him. "It can't be... you destroyed the Flame Realm, didn't you?"
She gave a weak, tired nod before passing out completely. Shadow sat in disbelief. To save him, Chaos had sacrificed her own birthright, her home, and her source of power—collapsing an entire dimension to ensure Mr. Black remained trapped in a different plane of existence forever.
She had warned the Knights of her plan before the collapse, so while they were somber, none were surprised by her sacrifice. Shadow carried her gently to the couch, laying her down to rest. But as soon as he let go, the adrenaline faded—Shadow collapsed to the floor unconscious, leaving the Knights to rush toward him in a panic.
When Shadow finally opened his eyes, he found himself in a massive, regal room crafted like a king's palace. Looking around at the unfamiliar architecture of the permanent base, he muttered, "Where am I?"
As he sat up, the heavy doors creaked open and Beta walked in.
"My lord, you're awake," she said, bowing low. He could see a profound sense of relief washing over her face, though her voice trembled and her eyes remained teary.
"How long was I out?" Shadow asked.
"Four days, my lord. You've been unconscious for four days," she replied. Given that he had never been incapacitated for that long, her fear was understandable.
"How are the others faring? How is Chaos?" he asked, his tone softening.
"Everyone is recovering. Chaos woke up six hours after you fell unconscious. We have all been gradually regaining our energy," Beta responded.
Even as she spoke, Shadow could sense the truth: they were not fine. Beta wasn't even half as strong as she used to be; the energy siphoned by Mr. Black had left a deep scar on their essences. Looking at his own hands, Shadow realized he too was far from his peak. He looked Beta in the eyes with a firm command.
"You should all take the week off. Eat well, sleep well, and no training. Take this time to recuperate. After that, we will begin again. We must get stronger—it seems threats from beyond our world are coming for us. To prevent this incident from repeating itself, we must transcend our current limits."
"We will, my lord. We will increase our efforts," Beta promised. "But my lord... the Flame Realm has been destroyed. Where will we practice now without causing total destruction?"
"We will sort that out later," Shadow responded calmly. "For now, rest. The next step is about to begin."
Beta nodded respectfully and left the room, leaving Shadow to contemplate the vastness of the multiverse.
At midnight, Shadow teleported to the roof of the temporary base. He stood alone under the vast, starlit sky, reminiscing about the battle. The truth was bitter: he hadn't won through pure strength. That much was obvious. Mr. Black was far more powerful than him—a titan fueled by the essence of fifty variants. If Chaos hadn't made the ultimate sacrifice and turned her realm into a black hole, Shadow knew he would be dead.
He was supposed to be their leader, their protector. Yet, when the moment came, he was the one who needed protection.
The weight of Chaos's sacrifice pressed heavily on his chest. She had destroyed her own world without a second thought, and he still didn't know the long-term effects it would have on her soul. He vowed then that he would get stronger—strong enough to ensure no one ever had to sacrifice that much for him again.
Even a god like Shin-Ron would likely lose to Mr. Black. What haunted Shadow most was the nagging feeling that the Devourer hadn't even gone all out yet. He was certain that if Mr. Black ever returned, the current Shadow wouldn't stand a chance.
As he took a deep breath, preparing to teleport back to the new base, his heightened senses suddenly kicked in. He picked up a faint, irregular heartbeat coming from the first floor of the apartment building.
"The Knights evacuated this building days ago," he thought, his eyes narrowing. "Did someone break in?"
He teleported down to the first floor. The room was shrouded in darkness, the faint sound of labored breathing growing louder. He moved to the switch and flipped on the lights. The first thing he noticed was the shattered glass of a window.
Everything else appeared to be in its proper place, but as he scanned the floor, his eyes caught a dark trail of blood. It led directly behind the couch.
He walked over and looked down. There, slumped against the furniture and drowning in his own blood, was a young man in his early twenties. He was severely bruised and on the verge of death. Without hesitation, Shadow reached out, his hands glowing as he activated his Healing skill to close the wounds and pull the stranger back from the brink of death.
Shadow teleported the stranger to the permanent base, entrusting him to Beta's medical expertise while Alpha initiated a deep-dive investigation.
It didn't take long for Alpha to piece together the tragic puzzle. "Leon McCall," he reported. "Age twenty-two, and the sole heir to the M&J Global Resources empire. He just returned today from medical studies abroad. His parents threw a massive homecoming gala, but the celebration turned into a massacre. The estate was firebombed this afternoon; the police found the remains of his parents and the entire domestic staff. Leon was the only one missing—until he crashed through our window."
"Gamma," Shadow asked, "did the police frequency mention this?"
"No, my lord," Gamma admitted. "We've been off the grid for a week. Our phones were off while we recovered."
Shadow's gaze turned cold. "Alpha, find out everything there is to know about M&J Global. I want to know if this was a corporate hit or a coincidence. Beta, notify me the second he wakes. I'm going to rest."
Shadow retreated to his quarters and quickly fell into a deep sleep, his body still demanding recovery from the battle with the Devourer.
Thinking their master was sound asleep, Alpha called the Knights into the meeting room. He stood before a towering screen, his expression solemn. "You're wondering why I called this meeting. It's about Lord Shadow."
With a tap of his finger, the screen flickered to life. Files, birth certificates, and school records flooded the monitor. "His real name, his family, the incident with Scott... everything is here," Alpha stated.
"Is that... Lord Shadow's biography?" Gamma whispered.
"Why would you dig into his past?" Beta gasped, her voice laced with worry. "He'll be furious if he finds out."
"I'm sorry," Alpha said, his voice heavy with regret. "But look at the last few days. We were tricked by a fake because we didn't know the real man. We were useless, and we ended up drained of our power. If we had known who he was, we might have seen the signs."
"How sad," a familiar, chilling voice cut through the room. "To think you'd go that far."
The Knights froze. Shadow stepped out from the corner of the room, the darkness clinging to him like a cloak. Alpha reached for the controls, but Shadow's voice stopped him. "Don't bother. I've already seen it."
"My lord!" Alpha bowed his head in shame. "I only wanted us to be prepared. I felt... helpless against the Devourer. I thought if I understood you, I could serve you better."
"You could have just asked," Shadow said softly. He looked at the screen—since it didn't contain the darker, more intimate trauma of the assault or his deal with Lady Desire, he was surprisingly unbothered. "Continue if you must. If you need more information, I'll give it to you myself."
Alpha looked up, shocked by the mercy. "Thank you, my lord. I will do better."
As Shadow turned to exit, he paused, leaving them with one final, crushing thought. "But you should know this: even if you were at your peak and fought by my side... we still would have lost. Mr. Black was far beyond our current reality."
The room fell into a deathly silence as the Knights realized that even their greatest efforts weren't enough.
The following morning, Shadow and Alpha were sequestered in the research lab, where Alpha unveiled a startling discovery.
"The evidence points toward George McCall," Alpha explained, pulling up a series of financial records and past legal disputes. "He's Leon's uncle. Research shows he's attempted to seize control of M&J Global several times in the past. He failed then, but it seems he's finally decided to remove the obstacles permanently. We lack the forensic proof to convict him in a court of law, but the motive is undeniable."
Their discussion was shattered by a piercing scream echoing from the medical wing.
Beta had been monitoring Leon when he jolted awake in a state of primal panic. Instinctively, he lashed out, shoving Beta with enough force to send her reeling into the wall. Caught off guard and still recovering from her encounter with the Devourer, she stumbled as Leon launched himself at her, his face a mask of blind rage.
He tried to pin her down, but Beta quickly regained her footing. With a fluid motion, she redirected his momentum and flipped him onto the floor, pinning his arms behind his back. Even at a fraction of her power, she was leagues beyond any ordinary human—but Leon was proving to be a surprising challenge.
"Is he truly this strong, or have I really fallen this far?" Beta wondered as she struggled to keep the thrashing young man restrained.
Shadow, Alpha, and Delta entered the room just as Leon let out another guttural yell. "Let me go! Why did you kill my parents? What do you want with me?!"
"You're quite the bundle of rage, aren't you? And surprisingly sturdy," Beta remarked, her tone carrying a hint of a mock.
"I forgot to mention," Alpha added, checking his tablet. "He's a professional boxer and a martial arts instructor. Apparently, he also attends anger management classes abroad because he's... well, quick to ignite."
"Is that unusual for a martial arts teacher?" Delta asked, watching Leon struggle.
"Maybe that's exactly why he took the classes," Alpha quipped.
"If I get out of this, I'll kill every last one of you!" Leon roared.
"Slow down, my ticking time bomb," Shadow interrupted, his voice cutting through Leon's fury like a blade. "We didn't kill your parents. You broke into my apartment, and I saved your life."
As the words hit him, the fog of panic began to lift. Flashbacks of the night before flooded Leon's mind—the cold air, the shattered window, and the darkness. "I... I remember," he muttered, his body finally going limp.
Shadow gave Beta a subtle signal. She released him, and Leon sat up on the edge of the bed, rubbing his wrists.
"Tell me," Shadow said, standing before him. "How did you end up in my home?"
Leon took a shaky breath. "Men broke into our house during the party. They moved like shadows—fast, professional, like assassins. I tried to fight one off, but I was stabbed. They... they slaughtered everyone. I watched my parents die. I knew I had to survive, so I ran until my lungs burned. I didn't know where the hospital was. I saw a six-story building and thought the owners were out. I broke in, hoping someone would find me before I bled out."
"A tragic tale," Shadow mused. "Do you know who would want you dead?"
"My uncle, George," Leon spat. "He's always wanted my father's company. I'm certain he's behind this."
"Family," Beta said with a flash of anger. "Always the green snake in the green grass."
"My uncle wasn't a green snake in green grass," Leon corrected bitterly. "He was a black snake in white grass. Everyone knew he was evil, but my father was too kind. He kept forgiving him, hoping he'd change. Look where that mercy got him."
In the corner, Nemesis remained silent, his mind echoing a dark thought: Forgiveness isn't always mercy; it usually just breeds future problems.
"I'll have my revenge," Leon vowed, his fists clenching. "I won't rest until he pays."
"You may have heard of me, but I'll introduce myself formally," Shadow said, his voice dropping to a cold, resonant frequency. "I am Shadow. And I can make your desires a reality."
The rage on Leon's face vanished, replaced by sheer disbelief. "No... no way. You're the midnight vigilante? The Punisher? I don't believe it."
Shadow vanished in a blur, reappearing inches from Leon's face. His eyes glowed with a faint, predatory purple light. "Why would I lie?"
The realization hit Leon like a physical blow. He slid off the bed and fell to his knees at Shadow's feet. "I've heard so much about you. You're my idol... I've always wanted to join your cause. Please, let me be part of your team."
The room went silent. The Knights looked at one another in shock. A doctor, a boxer, and an heir to a fortune wanting to become a masked punisher made no sense.
Shadow looked down at the man kneeling before him. "But why?" he asked quietly.