SSS Ranked Shadow Monarch: Summoning Infinite Shadows-Chapter 270: Merged Soul

Aren looked at the hammer; he could tell from a glance that this hammer was a soul weapon, but it wasn’t a simple one at all.

Ragna gripped his hammer in front of him, and then shut his eyes for a brief second, and when the eyes opened again, what was there was no longer Ragna, but instead something else, a being leaking with immense power that was definitely not his own.

"That hammer, whatever it is, it’s definitely more than a normal soul weapon, where did this dude go and find something like that?" Aren wondered. He kept his gaze pinned on Ragna, waiting for him to move.

WHOOSH

Ragna moved the next moment, but the speed at which he vanished from sight was so much that Aren couldn’t keep watch of him. His eyes darted around very quickly; he tried to locate Ragna, but he couldn’t, even with Shadow Sense, and when Ragna finally came into his sense, he was right behind Aren with his hammer raised.

"Shit," Aren cursed, kicking the ground. He retreated very fast; the hammer slammed into the ground and the shockwave that followed was so massive that it ripped the ground, rocks the size of small houses shot into the air, hurled forward by the force of the attack.

Aren crossed his arms and crouched as small rocks slammed into him; they didn’t harm him despite moving at the speed of bullets.

He landed, his foot pressing against the ground. He looked up and Ragna was already charging at him.

"Arghhhhhhhhhhh!" Ragna bellowed while swinging again.

"Enough of this," Aren muttered, summoning the ancient devourer. He stomped his foot into the ground, leaving a crack there as he swung his sword upward, twisting his entire body into the motion.

CLANG!

Sword and hammer collided; the sound was so loud it would rip the eardrums of a normal person. The wind from their collision alone pushed against both of them hard. Aren clenched his jaw, putting every ounce of his strength into holding the stalemate.

"Arghhhhhh, you can’t stop me!" Ragna yelled. His veins bulged even more, his grip tightened on the hammer as he swung down with every single force that his body could muster.

BOOM!

Aren was thrown back; he landed fine and charged into it again.

"Keep coming so I can destroy you," Ragna yelled and then hurled his hammer forward at Aren. Aren placed his sword to the side quickly and moved his body slightly, allowing him to parry the hammer. It deflected and flew by as he closed the distance between him and Ragna.

Aren leaped into the air, swinging down. Ragna called back his hammer at the same time. His hands wrapped around the hammer at the very last moment before Aren’s blade got to him.

CLANG!

He managed to block the attack and then smiled from behind the hammer, teeth wide and happy. "Is this all that the great number one awakened has to offer?" he yelled right in Aren’s face, channeling more strength into his arms. He pushed Aren’s sword away, creating a direct opening to Aren’s chest.

"Shoot, this is not good, that hammer to the chest would be too bad to handle."

Aren used shadow form very quickly and the hammer phased through him, but this time it didn’t go easy, as Aren felt a painful jolt from inside his body as the hammer passed through. He collapsed to his knees, wheezing hard; everything went blurry for a moment.

"Haha, seems your trick didn’t work," Ragna said and then grabbed Aren by the hair, picking him off the ground. He looked Aren right in the eyes and called back his hammer.

"Shit, I forgot that shadow form doesn’t do well against magic, and this hammer is carrying a shit ton of soul energy now," Aren thought to himself while his hair was getting yanked on by Ragna.

Ragna looked eager and ready to finish off everything. He swung the hammer, slamming into Aren’s face, throwing Aren through the air, blood gushing from his nose and mouth from the impact.

He hit the ground hard, skidded across the floor, and finally slammed against a massive rock at the base of the mountain, breaking into it. The rocks crumbled down on him.

"Urghhhhh," Aren groaned in pain; his head was currently ringing.

"You seriously going to allow him beat you?" Flo suddenly appeared and spoke.

"Nope, not at all," Aren said. He pushed himself out of the rubble, standing up straight. He flexed his arms a bit to free his muscles and then bent his head from side to side to loosen up.

"Do you need my help?" Flo asked.

"Thank you, Flo, but I got this one," Aren muttered. He gripped his sword and locked onto Ragna, who was already rushing towards him like a rocket.

"It’s time I shut you down once and for all, Ragna," Aren said, instantly unleashing a powerful claw strike at Ragna. Ragna very quickly blocked the attack, but it was only a distraction as Aren closed the distance in an instant.

"I think it’s time I use my martial art properly, don’t you think?" he asked while swinging for Ragna’s head. Ragna leaned back and dodged the attack, but Aren was already close again, his left hand coming in for a punch.

Ragna’s eyes followed that fist as it travelled through the air, yet there was nothing that he could do about it; it landed clean on his face.

BAM!

He was sent flying through the air. He slammed into the ground, rolled for a couple tens of meters before finally stopping, rising to his feet filled with rage, but he didn’t see Aren anymore.

"From above, bozo," Aren yelled, coming down with a full swing.

"Arghhhhhhhh!" Ragna roared and attacked upward. Hammer slammed into blade; the ground cracked in an instant, the wave spread far, Ragna was forced to bend a knee.

"Arghhhhhhhhhh! This is impossible, I’ll not allow you to defeat me!" Ragna roared, but before he could make a move, Aren kicked him in the chest, sending him flying through the air.

Ragna refused to allow the force to lead him, so he slammed his hammer into the ground and forced himself to come to a stop.

He looked up at Aren and was about to attack again, only to see Aren standing there with a smile spread across his face.

Aren showed his sword, and on the blade was a small drop of blood.

"Look at this," Aren said, then looked at Ragna again. "This is a single drop of your blood, and all that’s needed for me to end this."

Right before Ragna’s eyes, the blade twisted and turned, changing into its true form of metallic spinal chords and a dragon head mounted at the top.

It let out a roar, eyes locked on Ragna, ready to attack him again.

Ragna looked at the awakened form of the weapon and then scoffed.

"You believe you are the only one that has some tools at your disposal?" he asked, and then lifted his hammer into the air.

"The average awakened only knows that soul energy is their source of power, but they do not understand the intricate details that follow having this sort of energy rushing through your body, it is a feeling that no one will understand unless you have the right training.

"Soul weapons connect your soul to a weapon, and through them you can harness your true strength," Ragna spoke like he was delivering a sermon.

And then his hands suddenly started twisting like they were made of some sort of liquid. They wrapped into the hammer and merged in, fusing with the very hammer itself until it became one, his hands connected to it, becoming the handle of the hammer.

The hammer head now had veins all over it, glowing red and pulsing with power.

"What the hell is that?" Aren couldn’t help but mutter in shock; he had never seen or heard of something like this in all his time of being in the domain.

Ragna could see the shock in Aren’s eyes; he let out a victorious laugh.

"Hahaha, I told you, Aren, I have prepared every means possible to ensure that I defeat you for sure, and I’m willing to expend my own soul to do it, and if I cannot, then Lily will rise to the occasion, and she will come for you, she will finish what I have already started." He moved into a runner stance, one hand on the ground while his mutated hand was extended in the air.

He locked eyes with Aren and then grinned from ear to ear.

"Aren, the number one awakened of the trials, ready yourself, for I, Ragna, will bring your end, here and now." As soon as those words left his mouth, he launched, his speed far faster than anything he had shown till now.

The ground was ripped apart as he tore through the air, and when he got into range, he swung.