Reborn Regress Return: I Am the Heir of Shadows!-Chapter 36: A Queen’s Fury

Julian gasped for air, his breaths uneven and shallow, his heart hammering against his ribs. Dust and debris swirled around him, thick with the scent of scorched feathers and blood.

A weak groan sounded from the rubble.

Sena's hand trembled as she pushed against the broken stones, trying to stand with wobbling legs. Her health bar flickered dangerously low, on the brink of collapse.

'One more hit, and she's dead.'

Svela's wings spread wide, her talons scraping and gouging the stone with a brain numbing screech. Her sharp golden eyes filled with cruelty as they locked onto the injured Sena.

This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.

His grip tightened around his wand as Julian's mind raced for a solution. 'I have to pull her away.'

"Bitch! Over here." he bellowed, thrusting his hand forward. Shadows writhed from his fingertips, coiling through the air like twisted serpents.

—Shadow Bolt!

A lance of crackling black energy streaked through the sky, striking just behind Svela's wing joint with a loud pop. Her feathers burned away in a violent scorch mark, the scent of burning flesh filling the wind, dealing 115 damage.

"KRAAA!"

Svela shrieked, her wings wrapping around her body, before convulsing from the searing pain. She flicked them open with a burst of wind, snapping her head towards Julian. Her sharp golden gaze narrowing.

'Good, I got her attention.'

[◊ Warning: Harpy Matriarch Svela Entered Queen's Fury! ◊]

• Attack +3

• Speed +3

'...'

The words caused his chest to thump.

His body twisted as Julian pivoted, digging his boots into the dirt and sprinting away from Sena. 'Distance, I need more distance!' His shadow flickered behind him, stretching like a beast as mana pulsed through his bulging veins.

Then—

A rush of air, the intense sound of wings flapping echoed. Then, a sudden stillness.

Only silence remained.

'Is she using Death Dive?'

His instincts screamed danger, his legs became soft for a moment as he pushed off the ground.

Julian twisted his body and movement mid-stride, wand snapping back at with a dark bold of shadow, as Svela rocketed towards him in a blur of white and green.

His pupils dilated, her talons inches away as he growled. "SHADOWS GRASP!"

Dark tendrils erupted from the earth, latching onto her legs mid-dive. The Harpy Matriarch's shriek tore through the battlefield as her momentum crashed to a halt, the shadows anchoring her like iron chains, dealing 29 damage.

"Got you!"

—Quick Cast!

Julian didn't hesitate. Another Shadow Bolt tore through the space between them, slamming into her chest, exploding for 115 damage.

The impact sent a ripple through the queen's stoic face. Her eyes shook before, with a single flip of her wings, the bindings shattered.

"Kruu!" A razor sharp wind erupted from her wings, carving deep gases into the ground where he stood just a few moments ago.

Julian barely avoided her attack as he staggered back, heaving his breath. 'She's still too strong...'

He understood keeping up with the speed of a monster like this couldn't be maintained. His legs throbbed and muscles burned like someone poured liquid fire into his veins.

Suddenly, he saw a flash of light and movement.

Sena dragged herself from the rubble and rushed to his aid, her body gleaming in azure light, her golden eyes almost shining as she lowered her hips with a sheathed sword, grasping the hilt in complete focus.

Sena lowered her stance with a deep breath, her lips smeared with crimson blood, with one hand resting lightly on the hilt of her blade. She closed her eyes, as the world became silent, sound vanished with only the steady beat of her heart, her world narrowed into a single point.

Her target.

Aura surged through her body, like a raging storm, condensed into a razor-sharp focus.

The ground beneath her stirred, the dry mud cracking as she vanished, a flicker of light and motion cutting through the battlefield. Her blade flashed like lightning. A rising strike that cleaved the air, carving up the harpy's back with the grace and force of a storm.

A sharp impact.

Before the enemy could falter, her body flowed with the momentum—her sword reversing into a downward arc, crashing down like lightning splitting the sky.

The second impact.

Her final stroke came as she stepped back, blade sliding back into her sheathe, as she exhaled the stale breath.

Then... with a single strike, the true blow. An instantaneous attack, a crescent of blue aura and steel carving a graceful, yet brutal arc through the flesh and shadows alike.

Followed by the sound of a blade clicking into a sheath echoed, as the 180 critical damage number trembled.

Sena's body staggered, her face became pale from the sudden drain of mana, before she exhaled a stale breath, the world returning to the normal time and state... as the harpy's wails filled the battlefield.

"Julian..." She gasped, wiping the blood from her lips. "I'm not done yet!"

Ba-Dump!

Danger...

Julian's eyes widened, as the Matriarch began to flail, screaming in agony, her body swelling, filled with pumping veins, screeching and sending jets of wind in all directions.

"Sena, come here!"

Her strange behaviour signalled the final phase starting.

Julian exhaled sharply, his body tingling with pain and exhaustion because he broke the rules and spent so long in the capsule. He would evolve much faster than intended.

And the earth currently lacked the mana he needed.

'The battle isn't over yet.'

[◊ Warning: Harpy Matriarch Svela Entered a Berserk State ◊]

• All attributes doubled.

Though he would love nothing more to cast shadow bolt right now and end the fight, the harpy became immune to damage, with a small shell icon that looked like a diamond under her health bar.

'Sena, the moment she attacks, one of us will be done for, so strike with everything you have!'

Sena's eyes widened the moment Julian's voice echoed in her mind. Her legs ached. She couldn't feel her chest, and it hurt to breathe.

The Harpy started to gnaw at her wings, tearing feathers, until the entire wing became stained crimson red. With another thundering cry, the harpy screamed.

Winds howled and gusted around the harpy, as if the tempest raged within its core.

Loose stones were plucked from the ground, caught up in the whirlwind that gathered beneath its massive, damaged form. A shiver ran up Sena's spine as she felt its power pulse against her skin, but she held firm.

"Here it comes." Her knuckles paled around her hilt as Julian fell into stance next to her, their backs straight.

『I'm having so much fun. Julian, I hope you are too!』

The whirlwind gathered into a small sphere beneath the queen's talons, slowly rising higher and higher. It morphed into the size of a tornado that stretched beyond the limits of the canyon, her expression contorted into savage joy as she constricted and condensed it into a smaller sphere of wind.

"Sena, GO FOR IT!"

Svela's eyes glinted and focused on Julian as she swooped low, aiming directly for him.

A malevolent smirk curled on her beak, as if saying: "I'll save you for last."

Sena shot forward, each step using all her training and knowledge. As Svela closed the distance, Sena charged head-on, readying her blade, preparing for the perfect strike.

Their gazes met, Opal locking onto gold. Sena's Opal eyes narrowed, full of determination as she gripped the hilt even tighter.

"Fall!"

"Shadow Bolt!"

"Kang School Style – Flowing Swallow Strike!"