The Superior Rebirth: A Hero's Awakening

The Realm of the Shadows

Just before Heinrich could deliver another blow—one that could potentially end the whole fight—Adam's body suddenly fell into the shadows beneath him, vanishing as if submerged in a dark ocean.

"Running away, are we?" Heinrich mocked. "There's no point hiding in your shadows. I'll find a way to force you out, no matter where you slither."

But just then, as Adam vanished completely into the whirlpool of darkness, a fresh swarm of shadow creatures erupted from the ground—similar to the ones from before, only now in greater numbers. They surged at Heinrich like a black tide, relentless and shrieking.

"What a nuisance," Heinrich muttered with annoyance as he braced himself.

One creature launched a flurry of clawed blows while others hurled their bodies like living spears, trying to knock him off balance and pin him down with sheer numbers. But their attempts were futile. With a single sweeping motion of his hand, Heinrich summoned a flow of negative space into the neutral field surrounding him. The sudden flux created bursts of force that bent and shattered the assaulting creatures, disintegrating them in midair.

A shadow beast leapt from behind, claws slashing down. But Heinrich moved like wind—effortless, fluid, almost dancing. He sidestepped and twisted, gripping the creature by the neck and hurling it into the air. More creatures followed, and with another gesture, Heinrich seized the space around them as if grabbing a blanket, flinging them aside like ragdolls.

The shadows now levitated midair, caught in a temporal freeze. Heinrich's arms extended, eyes gently closing as he murmured:

"Endless Fulmination."

Suddenly, the creatures lit up from within, their forms warping grotesquely. Then, one by one, they detonated—fireworks of shadow and void. Each had been infused with negative space, their forms imploding from the inside out. It was a more stable, controlled technique than combining both polarities—a calculated form of devastation.

Heinrich's hair fluttered in the forceful wind stirred by their annihilation. As his eyes opened, he looked upon the imploding beasts with quiet admiration.

"Truly marvelous," he whispered. His face was calm—serene even—as he stood amid a world burning and crumbling around him.

But the peace didn't last. Heinrich's eyes narrowed.

Behind him, towering spikes of pure darkness erupted—so vast they could be mistaken for mountains.

"So... you've finally come out of hiding, Adam."

With barely a second to spare, Heinrich manipulated positive space, expanding the distance between himself and the attack in a blink, just before the spikes could pierce deeper into his now bloodied side.

Adam emerged below the dark spikes, his abdomen bruised and torn from Heinrich's earlier strike. The injury was healing—but far too slowly. Even so, he moved without hesitation, dashing across the jagged spires with explosive speed before launching himself forward, daggers in hand, his body cloaked in seething rage. Shadows coiled around his blades, elongating them unnaturally.

"Twin Shadow-Tiger Fang!"

With a roar, Adam spun his daggers in unison, forming a black circle of rotating death. From that vortex, a colossal tiger of shadows burst forth—its presence commanding, its fangs long enough to pierce any creature alive.

Heinrich tried to wrap himself in space like a shroud for defense. But it was too late.

The tiger struck.

Slash after slash of compressed shadow ripped through the battlefield. Houses, stone, flame, even space itself—it was all shredded. Heinrich screamed as he was caught in the attack, blood spraying as he was thrown violently back.