"Hey, did you hear about that story that went popular?"
On a random pirate ship near the coast of Bayam, two pirates were standing guard during the night; this wasn't usually the case, but in recent weeks all kinds of terrifying stories had been circulating, causing pirates near Bayam to become cautious.
The other pirate on guard responded to his scared partner.
"About the Shadow Specter? Of course I heard about it; all the pirates in Bayam know about it. That's part of why we're leaving this place."
The Shadow Specter is said to be a spirit capable of merging with the shadows; to date, it has attacked and eliminated three entire pirate crews. The most terrifying thing about these events is that, according to reports, everyone on the ship was asleep when it happened, and they all had expressions of horror on their faces, as well as clean cuts across their throats.
"Do you... do you think it will come for us?"
The scared pirate looked frantically from side to side, as if trying to make sure that terrifying specter wasn't there, listening to them in silence. His companion, seeing this, snorted and mocked him.
"Have you forgotten who our captain is? Sea Lion Lundar has a bounty of nearly £8,000 and is said to have strange powers. That Shadow Specter wouldn't even dare to approach us."
Hearing his companion's confident voice, the scared pirate let a shaky smile form on his face as he tried to sound just as brave, though he failed due to the clear tremor in his voice.
"Right, t-the captain is super strong; there's no way that specter would dare to show up, hahahaha..."
As he laughed awkwardly, trying to ease his nervousness and fear, his heart suddenly sank when he heard a loud thud beside him... It sounded like a body falling to the floor.
Shaking, his pupils as small as needles, the pirate, as if possessed, slowly turned his head to his side as if he were a rusty, ungreased machine. On the floor, he saw his companion, with whom he had been talking just seconds ago, lying on the floor and drowning in a river of his own blood; in his throat was a thin cut from which crimson liquid kept flowing.
Seeing this, the pirate felt his mind freeze. In his desperation and fear, he tried to scream, but the words stuck in his throat. A thin red line appeared on his neck, from which blood began to gush. Weakened, the pirate fell to the ground; in his lost eyes was reflected the figure of a demon with three twisted horns growing out of its head until, after a few seconds, they lost their shine, but the horror and fear of his last moments remained etched in them.
***
After killing the two guards, Lewis slipped back into the shadows; after several operations, he had become very skilled at this, and he instinctively knew where every shadow on the ship was positioned, so when he wanted to hide again, his body almost automatically moved to the nearest shadow.
As he moved nimbly through the darkness, Lewis reviewed the information he had gathered about his target.
"The Sea Lion pirates, a group formed by Lundar, who is suspected of possessing extraordinary powers, quickly gained fame and followers. Involved in various illegal operations such as drug trafficking and the sale of young girls to clandestine brothels, in addition to all the other illicit activities of a typical pirate: murder, looting ships, and rape."
For the past three weeks, he has been actively hunting the Bayam pirates, first relying on reward posters to locate his target and his crew, then searching for all kinds of information, which was not as difficult as he thought. Pirates love to brag about all their "exploits," regardless of whether it was something to be truly proud of.
Once he had all the information he needed, he would sneak away and follow the pirates to their ship, waiting until everyone was on board. This sometimes took a few days, but a hunter had to be patient; once he found his opportunity, he would strike without hesitation.
"Even though I've already wiped out three entire crews, there's one thing I've realized: killing normal people is tremendously inefficient."
He had made his calculations based purely on the feeling he got from killing a human and had come to the conclusion that he needed to kill at least five normal people to match the exp he got from a single murloc.
"However, tonight's target is not a normal person."
Today he would hunt his first Beyonder.
As he moved through the shadows, he eliminated the pirates inside one by one until, after several minutes, he finally reached the captain's room. He approached with cautious steps and without making a single sound; he couldn't treat Lundar like a normal person, he had to be especially careful.
Finally, when he was in front of the door, he reached out to open it slowly, but when he was only a few inches away, his senses, enhanced by the Mantle of the Underworld, warned him of danger. He quickly threw his body to the side, and at the same time, a muscular arm broke through the door with inhuman strength, passing only a few inches from his face.
After narrowly dodging the attack, Lewis quickly backed away, creating a safe distance between himself and his attacker. He cautiously watched as a muscular six-foot-three man emerged from the captain's room; his hair was dark blond, his jaw was firm, and he had long sideburns and a stubble beard.
'Sea Lion Lundar.'
The target of his hunt today.
Lundar stared at him with clear anger in his eyes as he spoke in a voice close to a growl.
"So you're the insect that's been causing trouble recently.
Lundar turned his gaze to the bloodstained odachi before paying attention to the surroundings, which remained unusually quiet despite the commotion he had caused. The veins throbbed on his forehead as his eyes burned with an anger more intense than before.
"You'll pay for messing with me, little rat!"
Illusory scales appeared beneath his skin before he lunged at full speed toward him. This alone gave Lewis all the information he needed.
"Way of the Sailor, at most a Sequence 8, Folk of Rage."
Lewis moved nimbly as he dodged Lundar's savage attacks, sometimes blocking and sometimes attacking with his odachi, which was blocked by the hard illusory scales. It was also difficult for him to land an effective blow, as Lundar stayed very close to him, preventing him from wielding the long sword properly.
'I need to change my strategy.'
Moving several meters away from Lundar in a single leap, he "let go" of the odachi's hilt, and it disappeared into thin air as if it had never existed. Following that, he enhanced himself with his shadow, making the aura around him darker and more intimidating. He planned to engage in hand-to-hand combat with Lundar not only for practical reasons but also as a way to gain experience.
Over the course of these three weeks, he discovered other benefits of the Waver Mask and the Mantle of the Underworld. The former, in addition to giving him a calm mind, also allowed him to analyze things much more accurately; more specifically, it allowed him to analyze fighting styles, their stances, how they worked, and what their fundamentals were. In synergy with this, the Mantle of the Underworld, with its properties that enhanced all his physical abilities, allowed him to integrate this into his own fighting style.
Upon learning this, Lewis immediately thought of Sunny's Shadow Dance, though much less mystical and more like a practical skill granted by the synergy between the Waver Mask and the Mantle of the Underworld.
All these thoughts occurred in less than a second, all thanks to the mental agility granted by the Waver Mask.
Lundar, observing how the specter's strange sword disappeared and feeling the air around him become much denser, immediately went on guard. His years of experience as a pirate had helped him sharpen his instincts more than those of an ordinary person, and in that instant he sensed that the specter in front of him had become immensely dangerous.
Without giving him any more time to think, Lewis lunged at Lundar in much the same way he had done before, but with a few small differences and imperfections. A frantic hand-to-hand combat immediately ensued. Lundar, despite possessing his illusory scales that afforded him great protection, was still able to feel every impact of the specter's fist.
Lewis threw a punch at Lundar's face; Lundar skillfully blocked it and counterattacked; however, Lewis reacted quickly and deflected it. These exchanges of punches and kicks continued for a long time; Lundar's anger gradually increased as the force of his blows increased accordingly. At one point, he swung his fist with almost twice the speed and force of his previous attacks. This blow was blocked by Lewis, who was able to react in time despite the short distance, but the impact was so strong that it sent him sliding across the deck a few feet backward, leaving deep marks and splintering the wood beneath his feet.
Lundar watched this with a smile. What he had just done was one of the abilities of a Folk of Rage called Raging Blow. It was an attack powered by rage and could only be performed after accumulating enough blows. This was Lundar's trump card. He had never encountered anyone capable of withstanding this attack; most were destroyed on the spot, their heads exploding or their ribs crushed.
However, what he saw surprised him. The specter that had taken his blow head-on and at very close range did not appear to be damaged at all. Without saying a word, it began to walk toward him slowly, shaking the arm it had used to block his blow slightly, as if it had only suffered a minor cramp.
A feeling of fear began to surface in Lundar's heart, but he was unable to process it as the specter lunged at him again, this time in exactly the same way as he had done the first time. The exchange of blows continued once more. But this time Lundar was at a disadvantage; all his punches were dodged, all his kicks were predicted, and soon he was the only one receiving blows. He felt as if he were fighting an imitation of himself.
A shadow that mimicked his every move.
With his heart and mind infected by fear and despair, Lundar tried to launch another Raging Blow, screaming with blood flowing from his nose and mouth and his face covered in bruises.
"Damn monster!"
However, this attack was easily dodged by the specter, who extended his hand as if trying to grab something invisible. Instantly, a strange curved, single-edged sword materialized in his hand. It was completely black and seemed to be somewhere between the physical and the illusory.
With a swing, the blade of the sword reached Lungar's neck, piercing skin, muscle, and bone until it reached the other side. His head flew off, separating from his body. Once it hit the floor, it rolled a few inches before coming to a stop. In his lifeless eyes was an expression of extreme fear and horror, as they reflected the devil disappearing into the shadows.