The term kagemusha—"shadow warrior"—originated in Japan's Warring States period.
At the time, each faction's core was its leader, the daimyō. The death of a daimyō often meant the immediate decline of their entire domain.
And in an era where the struggle for supremacy led to assassinations, poisonings, and every underhanded method imaginable, ninja as a profession began to flourish.
To safeguard their leaders, dangerous situations would see a substitute appear in their place.
Such stand-ins were called kagemusha, samurai who acted as their lord's shadow.
They were not merely look-alikes—some were trained from childhood, mastering the leader's speech, mannerisms, and even skills, enough to fool almost anyone.
Naturally, the "Grand Professor" before Charles was not the real man, but a kagemusha.
This one, however, wasn't trained—it was likely a clone made from the Professor's own genetic material.
Not just the appearance, but even the abilities were identical.
The Grand Professor's ability was the control of the body's smallest structural unit—the cell. The bone blades that had just emerged from his body were generated by proliferating his skeletal cells.
It was this very ability that allowed him to research cloning the Tyrant, so producing such a stand-in was hardly surprising.
An old schemer with a talent for hiding—truly the most troublesome kind of enemy.
Although this kagemusha hadn't injured Charles, it had still caused problems.
The moment Charles hurled the stand-in away, the surrounding Abrahams attacked at once.
"Burning Heaven, Scorching Earth—Dragon King's Flame!"
Every bolt of lightning, gout of fire, shockwave, and other attack unleashed by the Abrahams was swallowed by the searing inferno—none reached Charles.
Those who tried to close in were charred black instantly.
Under Stella's cover, Charles seized two Abrahams who were mid-regeneration and smashed them into the ground.
At that moment, a chain of explosions rippled from afar right toward them.
Charles frowned and looked skyward. Those blasts weren't Abraham's doing—they came from the massive Enterprise above, the Noble Arm of "White Whale" Douglas.
That man might be a famous Blazer and a career soldier, but he was now unleashing indiscriminate attacks on civilians?!
Then again, for the White Eagle, this was hardly shocking.
Fortunately, all nearby residents had already been evacuated, so there should be no casualties this time.
But Douglas's Enterprise had been modified by the Grand Professor—its weapons were world-class, even ahead of their time.
If left unchecked, its bombardment could breach the shelter's defenses.
The problem was that Japan now lacked any high-level combatants to intercept him.
Among its Demons, Minami Torajirou and Saiguu Ningyin had yet to return; Ikki Kurogane was fighting on the front lines; and Kurono Shinguuji had to command the overall war effort.
Which meant only one person could stop Douglas.
Sure enough, before the second wave of missiles could hit, they froze midair and exploded together.
A woman in a suit, twin pistols in hand, now faced Douglas and the Enterprise.
Kurono Shinguuji had appeared after all. For the sake of her country, she had stepped back from the Demon's Gate to confront the veteran Demon Douglas.
Charles didn't linger on the aerial battle; the Abrahams around him were the ones he needed to deal with.
As the Elder had told him, the Grand Professor and the White Eagle didn't share the same goals—they each had their own schemes.
Which was why none of the Abrahams moved to support Douglas; they all attacked Charles and Stella instead.
Under the rain of attacks falling from the sky, the melee began.
Two Abrahams appeared at Charles's sides—one with fire-coated fists, the other with ice—and swung at him together.
Charles could think of countless ways to counter, but suddenly his body felt heavy.
One of Abraham's many abilities was telekinesis—the power to control an object's movement with will alone.
This strange weight was the result of an Abraham trying to control him. But for Charles, this level of force wasn't nearly enough to bind him.
Flames flared outward, and in the next instant Charles caught both Abrahams' fists.
Just as he was about to act, the telekinetic pressure on him multiplied.
One Abraham's telekinesis couldn't hold him, but there were more than a dozen here—and together, they actually managed to freeze his movements.
A surge of strength came from his hands—the two captured Abrahams suddenly tore free.
Telekinesis could be applied to one's own body, forming "psychic muscles" that enhanced strength.
With that boost, their power spiked enough to break Charles's grip.
Both immediately raised knife-hand strikes, one aimed at his heart, the other at his throat.
They were just about to land the blows when both teleported away.
Charles looked up at them. "You didn't back off just because you read my mind, did you? That was something else… what ability is that?"
Abraham gave no answer. Instead, they all tensed, those using telekinesis pouring their full strength into it.
The immense psychic pressure wrapped Charles completely, even warping the air around him.
He staggered slightly, but lifted a hand to stop Stella from rushing in.
Then he spoke: "To react before I even move—besides telepathy, there's another ability that could explain it. You can see the future, can't you?"
He was certain they had it. Otherwise, there was no way to explain why they'd suddenly abandoned their attack.
If they had continued, the future would have held Charles's devastating counterstrike. Seeing that, they had pulled back.
All of them froze, pupils constricting, and instinctively tried to move away.
In that instant, two Abrahams were pierced clean through, flames burning holes the size of washbasins in their bodies.
"Dragon Flame Battle Armor!"
Wreathed in crimson dragon-scale armor, Charles looked every inch a war god as he cut them down.
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