SSS Ranked Shadow Monarch: Summoning Infinite Shadows-Chapter 222: What is she to you?

Riker came down, swinging down at the guard with all his strength. The guard was on the floor. He looked up, moving his hands immediately to block the attack.

Clang!

The ground beneath him shattered instantly, and the guard fell through the top floor into the bottom floor, where a family was together.

The moment they saw someone break through their roof, and then someone follow with a massive sword, they all immediately rushed out in fear and panic, screaming from the top of their lungs.

The guard rolled out of the way fast as Riker came with another attack. The sword dug into the ground, and the guard immediately used that as his opportunity to attack. His whip cut through the air, flaming as it moved.

BANG!

Fang broke through the window while unleashing an attack immediately. The flame and lightning blast slammed into the whip, causing a massive explosion inside the building.

Riker used the cover to attack, but the guard was already waiting. He immediately attacked with a slash. Riker was forced to block the attack. Their collision threw both of them back.

"There is no way I can escape these two shadows, tch, they just keep coming back," the guard muttered. Then his eyes turned serious.

"It’s time to turn it up a notch," he said. The tattoo around his eye immediately blazed, literally flaming right on his face. "Come out, flame guardian spirit, Ignis."

As those words left his mouth, the flames around his eyes spread even more and then wrapped around his body, instantly creating a powerful-looking flame armor around his body.

This was his flame spirit, and this was the form that it took, turning him into a flaming warrior. The heat of the flames alone began burning the building. Everything flammable caught on fire. The fire grew faster as the intensity of the heat and the flames grew.

Riker looked at the guard. He could tell that his strength had rapidly increased due to that flame armor. He gripped his sword with both hands and then took his stance.

Riker calmed himself. Right now, he had to pull off the best sword fighting possible if he wanted to stop this guard.

Fang stepped up first. He growled and then attacked, rushing forward like a bullet, his speed reaching new heights. It seemed Fang also had the same feeling that Riker was having. He wanted to make sure that he did his best to stop this guard.

Fang unleashed a powerful attack of lightning and flames, a blast so large it would evaporate an entire human in an instant. But the guard was unfazed. He simply lifted his sword. The flames erupted even more. He slashed downward, creating a terrifying arc of flames that cut through the attack and proceeded to cut into Fang.

Fang was thrown back. He slammed against the wall extremely hard, cracking it. Riker looked, shocked, but he remained confident, lunging forward to attack.

The guard whipped. His flaming whip cut through the air in a beautiful and very predictable arc. Riker felt like he could parry that attack, but right when his sword was about to block it, the whip was retracted.

Riker was stunned. He looked forward, and that was when he realized that the guard was already very close to him. He had fallen to a feint again. In haste, Riker tried to block the sword attack, only for the sword to stop midair and for the whip to come again, the tip hitting Riker right in the chest and exploding immediately after.

Riker was blasted back with so much force that he shattered the wall.

The guard stood there, the lone victor inside the building, but the main battle was yet to come. Flame wings came from his back as he flapped them and shot into the air like a bullet.

He flew high into the sky, scanning around for where Aren and Athena were, but he couldn’t find them.

"Tch, you can’t run," he said, and then cut into his finger with his own sword. His blood leaked out and then formed into a small ball before igniting in flame and flying in one direction.

"You can’t run from the Blade Blood," he said and immediately flew in that direction, breaking the sound barrier.

[...]

"Shit, he took down Fang and Riker, this dude is pretty strong," Aren thought. His thought had not finished settling when he sensed the guard break into his shadow sense at a crazy speed. Aren was stunned.

"You have to be kidding me," he said.

"Aren, what’s it?" Athena asked.

"You have to keep moving, Athena. I’ll be right behind you. If you can find a place to hide, then please do," Aren said.

She looked at him a bit confused. "But I don’t want to leave you," she said.

"Not the time, just go. I have already kept most of the guards busy. You just have to keep moving," Aren said.

She looked extremely reluctant, but ultimately, she turned and started running. Just after she left, the guard landed in front of Aren. Dust rose and the ground beneath him cracked.

He looked up. The flames before his eyes cleared up so that he could look right at Aren. "Where is she?" he asked.

"Well, as you can see, she isn’t here," Aren stated.

"And I’m guessing you don’t plan to allow me to chase her," the guard said.

"Yup, can’t let you have her," Aren said, folding his hands casually. "What do you even want with her?" he asked, raising his brow.

The guard gritted his teeth and stood up. He looked at Aren and frowned. "It would be in your best interest if you allow me to take her and you go about your way," the guard said.

"Uhmmm, no," Aren replied.

"Why?" the guard asked, his frown deepening. "What is she to you?" he asked.

"Uhmm, let’s just say that she is special to me, and I’m ready to cut down everything and anyone to make sure that she is safe. With that, you can already tell that nothing you can say will make me let you have her," Aren said.