Duality of Shadows-Chapter 992: Capacities Increased (2)

Ten golden streaks pierced through the Yin and the Void of the underworld at an astonishing speed. They belonged to the Queen’s untouchable elite, some of the strongest among the immortal heroes.

All of them had been given emergency orders and had even burned valuable resources to move as fast as possible. They finally arrived at a location of extreme importance for all heroes. But all they found were empty planets floating in the underworld—everything had been destroyed.

They stopped, scanning the scene and narrowing their eyes, until they felt a presence watching them.

When they looked up, they saw a massive, round figure staring back. Beside him stood a small woman holding his right arm. On his left arm, another figure, slightly larger but strikingly similar to the first, clung to him; it looked as if he was holding two flowers.

Just behind them, a pair of humans stood motionless, holding hands with focused expressions. The woman’s eyes seemed to burn with flames, while the man emitted a subtle demonic aura.

"It’s him!" a demon growled coldly among the heroes.

Everyone knew who that round figure was. However, the Queen was currently focused on claiming that item. Even if she interrupted what she was doing, she was far too far away to intervene.

The orders for all immortal heroes were simple: if they encountered him, they were to alert the Queen and then use everything they had to contain him. But these ten weren’t just any immortals—they were the Queen’s elite and most trusted warriors.

"Activate!" a woman roared without hesitation. In an instant, her true form emerged: a quadrupedal creature resembling a feline, but covered in white and golden scales.

All ten activated their power to the maximum, and the environment was quickly covered in golden runes. They spun and connected, forming what looked like a kind of prison within seconds.

Inside the prison, the individual power of the ten began to radiate. Among them were six powerful beast species, one demon, one human, and two Heavenly Elemental Spirits.

The whale simply watched as they did whatever they wanted, but it didn’t take long for him to notice a significant change in them.

They didn’t attack immediately, and their bodies started to be covered by a different aura. Something blended with the golden glow—a force without color.

They were clearly now wielding two powers, and the Void around the ten began to distort. There was no doubt about it: this was the power of the Void Beast Lance.

In the past, all heroes drew their heroic power from the Queen, using it as their main source of strength. This power was a mix of the Ruler’s Celestial Crown and a technique she had created.

Now, with a second item from the Primordial Chaos, the Queen had proven capable of empowering her heroes with that power as well. In other words, not only had she become much stronger individually, but she had also significantly increased the strength of her heroes.

With a single thought, the ten pierced through the Void. It was as if they had teleported. Three of them surrounded Almin and Lyra, while the rest focused on the whale.

Ruri’s expression turned serious. Their speed was beyond the laws of space, even at the immortal level. She sighed—after all, this was the power of a Primordial Chaos item.

Extreme speed also meant immense offensive power. Heroes had always been beyond the heavenly laws, capable of mastering them and naturally standing above everything and everyone. With the power of the lance, the situation only became worse. But Ruri smirked coldly. In terms of offensive power, those heroes were no match for her.

"You seem confident, don’t you? Don’t worry, no one underestimates you anymore," a demon said coldly, glaring at the whale. "Even if you kill us, our power and lives will be absorbed by the seal. You won’t escape from here."

"Hmm... is that so?" the whale replied lazily.

At that moment, all ten shifted their attention to the whale’s left side. There, the young woman sighed, closing her eyes for a second. When she opened them again, two translucent mirrors seemed to shine within her pupils.

"The Reincarnation Mirror!"

*SLASH!*

The first female beast only had time to roar those words before her body was suddenly sliced in half.

The other nine’s eyes widened. That beast had terrifying defenses, so powerful that it would have been difficult to injure her even if all nine of them had attacked together. Now, all they could see in her center was a small figure holding a katana. Her eyes glowed with multiple colors, and her weapon radiated an ethereal aura.

Ruri had struck the perfect target. That beast specialized in defense and hadn’t noticed her spatial laws being used until it was too late. Defense? Nothing could stop her.

"That... Devotion Blade..."

Everyone was stunned, but there was no fear. Quickly, all the blood, soul, and power of the slain beast were absorbed by the golden runes forming the prison, making it even stronger.

The nine snorted. If it had been any of them, they would’ve reacted in time using the power of the Void. She had moved with immortal-level spatial laws, but they also knew those laws and could sense her movements. That human wasn’t a real threat unless she landed a direct hit. She didn’t even have immortal cultivation yet.

Ruri turned to a demon and smiled, pointing her katana at him. He let out a dry snort, but...

"Watch out!"

Someone shouted, but it was already too late. When they tried to move, they realized something terrifying: it was as if they were stuck in a sea of sludge. Only then did they notice they were being affected by something without even realizing it.

At that moment, nine dark crimson fire moons shot forward. At the same time, a sharp katana slash closed in.

These moons weren’t just made of fire laws but carried a strange, demonic power mixed with phoenix flames. At the center of each moon, a terrifying pill seemed to control and amplify its power even further. It was a fusion of primordial power, alchemy, and the law of the Chaos Cauldron, creating an attack of extreme potency.

The nine heroes snorted in unison. They weren’t easy prey. Experienced as they were, they quickly realized dodging was impossible. Without hesitation, they pushed their powers and weapons to the limit with pinpoint precision.

It was a synchronized move. The other five beasts leapt forward to block the nine moons, countering them with the power of the void. Two laws from Primordial Chaos items should theoretically cancel each other out.

Meanwhile, the rest of the group united to dominate space-time laws, ensuring Ruri wouldn’t sneak up on anyone unnoticed.

*CRACK!*

Everything shook and roared within the golden domain. The nine heroes spat blood but managed to break both attacks. Yet they felt overwhelming pressure—just pulling that off had cost them ten times more energy than they’d expected.

"What the hell is going on?"

Meru, standing next to the whale, sighed. Her eyes still glowed with the power of the mirror. This was the karmic curse, a domain born from the law of the mirror. Its effect reflected the enemy’s karma back at them.

The heroes carried karma as dark as the underworld itself. The darker the karma, the more exhausting it became to fight, draining energy exponentially faster.

Meru had just enough control over this power to make it a thorn in the side of any hero. She was still too weak to fight directly, but in the future, she could face them head-on and become their nemesis.

Almin and Lyra could each control one side of the cauldron at a time. Chaos was purely offensive, and when combined with phoenix flames and enhanced by pills, it unleashed terrifying explosive power.

Order, on the other hand, could purify and refine anything in emergencies. Right now, though, they could only use one side at a time for direct combat. In their previous battle against immortals, they had merely tapped into the cauldron’s basic abilities to influence the laws of the environment.

The cauldron wasn’t designed for combat. However, Order suppressed immortal laws, while Chaos boosted the offensive power of allies. Using it this way left them vulnerable and required protection, which wasn’t efficient in this kind of fight.

In the future, if the two could simultaneously use its offensive, purifying, and refining abilities, they could turn enemy attacks into power, healing themselves and striking back without limits. Their potential was enormous, and they could become nearly unbeatable opponents, even for heroes.

The whale calmly observed everything. Unfortunately, these heroes were indeed incredibly powerful and experienced. If the four were in the immortal realms and had more time to learn how to use their powers, they might stand a real chance of defeating all the heroes. But for now, that was impossible.

*Slash!*

A demon was sliced in half and killed by Ruri.

Alm and Bruno nodded in satisfaction. Ruri had learned well from them how to hide her intentions and strike to kill without hesitation.

She had created a fake opening for the demon to attack. When he did, she unleashed all her draconic power to block his strike. Immediately after, the unfortunate demon disappeared, cut down by her blade.

Too bad this only worked because of the element of surprise, and her draconic power could only be used once before being depleted. Even so, Ruri killed two enemies and wore a proud expression.

"Damn... If I were just a little stronger, Mom could use her other technique and take out another one. Aunt Runula must be upset," Meru murmured beside the whale.

The whale nodded. Ruri needed a significant opening to trap an enemy in her technique. After that, her pets could handle them on their own.

The World Exterminating Karmic Lotus, however, was an area attack that could only be used once with the whale’s help. To be effective, it required an absurdly large opening. In the past, Ruri had only managed to kill ordinary and average immortals from the queen’s ranks.

These ten would never fall for something like that, especially since the queen had likely shared all their techniques’ information with her heroes. In other words, using a suppressive power of that level was out of the question.

Afterward, Ruri took a deep breath and returned to the whale’s side.

Almin launched one final attack with all his might. He held off the five beasts alone with his nine moons, but the pills’ power was completely drained. Lyra quickly used a talisman by his side. The two had perfect synchronization and disappeared, reappearing next to the whale.

Alm and Bruno gave a nod of approval. The duel had been a valuable experience for the four of them, but this was their current limit.

In the current situation, if they attacked and fought solely against those ten heroes, using everything they had and with the support of the three items, they calculated that they could actually kill all the immortals at their peak.

However, this wouldn’t solve much, since the dead would only strengthen the golden prison. For that reason, they allowed the heroes to fight and exhaust everything they had, gaining experience in the process.

Meanwhile, the heroes had grim expressions, pushed to their limits by cultivators who weren’t even immortals. The whale, the real danger, hadn’t moved an inch.

’It should work. Let’s give it a try,’ Bruno spoke mentally. With everyone close to the whale, he nodded, and his eyes began to glow.

Probably the biggest benefit of this mission with Ruri was her obtaining the Blade of Devotion. But it was hard to say that for sure, as Alm and Bruno had received an immense opportunity in that world.

They spent years inside, feeling, observing, and studying everything. In the end, after witnessing Huuya fighting against that God, they realized the gift they had been given. It was an illusion, but at the same time, it wasn’t. The power of Heaven’s Will in that place altered reality, manifesting an almost real illusion.

Now, with the Heart of Devotion in hand and the ability to use Reality Rewrite at will, a new opportunity had opened up. They knew exactly how to create a perfect manifestation.

The immortal heroes snorted, taking two breaths before turning to the whale and roaring. They had to attack with everything to stop any hidden action from him. The queen had warned them never to underestimate him. If they died, it would even be better, as the prison would become even stronger.

They attacked together, coming from all sides. But...

Suddenly, the entire environment changed color. A dense gray tone took over everything, clouding their vision.

And then... the first thing they saw was a massive tree growing, spreading in all directions.

*CRACK!*

The tree struck the golden prison, shattering it completely, leaving them slack-jawed. It was connected to their lives. Immediately, they felt as if their divine souls were being torn into a thousand pieces.

In two seconds, everyone in the underworld felt a crushing pressure fall upon their shoulders.

The queen abruptly opened her eyes, turning toward the direction of the event. "Son of a bitch... stealing from me again... Fine, I’ll take it all back eventually. This one’s yours."

Back on the battlefield, Alm and Bruno wore satisfied expressions. Now they could manifest the tree as they had done against the queen, without relying on a maximum-level celestial miracle — something they no longer had access to anyway.

’Too bad it only lasts five seconds,’ Bruno murmured.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

The whale then turned to the heroes. At that moment, the eight immortals felt it was the end. If they hadn’t created that prison and linked their souls to it, this outcome wouldn’t have been possible. But now, everything had been destroyed, leaving them gravely wounded. They had no strength left to resist.

*Pierce!*

Grayish branches shot out, piercing through them. By the fourth second of the manifestation, their bodies were completely drained, reduced to skeletons covered in skin.

Inside the internal universe, Alm and Bruno cheered as they saw a new fruit forming. Now, they could absorb the heroes and their powers this way.

On the fifth second, everything disappeared. But the whale was already holding the hammer. Everyone was placed in the internal universe, and immediately, they vanished far, far away.