The Black Necromancer

The Black Shadow Panther Clan was a long established clan on the floating island that Leon was currently on. It had long since laid a solid foundation, and under the lead of its powerful leader figure, it had remained a strong force that did not vanish with time.

The leader figure was none other than the Black Shadow Panther King, Umbra, a very old and ancient figure.

Currently, Umbra was seated on a throne in the center of his territory. Different from most of the other Black Shadow Panthers, he had a humanoid body. His evolution had advanced to the point where the constraints of his body at his inception were almost entirely gone. A humanoid body was valuable in many instances, and he used it to make himself stand out amongst his clansmen. He was not the only one with a human body. Some of the other older and powerful Black Shadow Panthers also had humanoid forms.

Right now, Umbra was watching the cage that was hanging in the air by some ropes that were tied to trees around. The cage was made with a special black rock that restrained most of the Divine Power of the captive inside it. What little Divine Power they had was not enough to enable them to escape from their captivity.

“I smell your anxiety, little one.” Umbra mocked the fawn that helplessly laid in the cage. “Do not worry, your time will come soon enough. Let me rest first. My last meal was quite fulfilling.” He gestured at the bowl that had some remnants of meat. The meat that had been in the bowl was collected from the celestial creatures that his subordinates had hunted for him.

As the head of the clan, it was his right to be able to sit back while his subordinates hunted the things he needed to grow stronger. This is how it had been for the past centuries, and he had been able to steadily improve his strength while getting closer to completing the step that would allow him ascend to Godhood.

Much to his expectations, the fawn remained quiet. He was expecting it to remain quiet, as it had barely spoken a sentence ever since its capture.

Umbra closed his eyes to rest, but just as he did, he felt one of his clansmen enter the boundary of his senses. He opened his eyes and was surprised to see that it was an ordinary Black Shadow Panther. Its strength was roughly average but the the way it carried itself rubbed Umbra the wrong way.

“What is it child?” Umbra asked, not bothering to sit up.𝗈𝒱xt.𝒸𝐎

“Grrr…” A low growl left the throat of the Black Shadow Panther before Umbra, causing him to sit up. He looked around and spread his senses outward. In the next moment, he was shocked at what he found. All the guards that patrolled his immediate surroundings were dead!

“Who are you? State your business at once!” Umbra jumped to his feet and prepared to fight. “Let me guess, you want to take my position?” He asked. This was not the first time his dominance had been challenged, and each time, he had firmly squashed every challenger. Their skulls were taken as his trophies and a warning for anyone else who dared to challenge him. However, it seemed there were still a few with rebellious thoughts.

Crack!

The sound of bones shifting rang out as the Black Shadow Panther in front of him slowly changed to a humanoid form that was similar to his own. It was slightly smaller, as it was weaker than himself, but it looked like this challenger was as strong as his strongest warriors.

“Return now, child, and I will turn a blind eye to this. I will even give you an elevated position under me.” Umbra said.

“Doing so would be the epitome of foolishness. I have already come this far. I have offended you. For all I know, you could kill me in my sleep after this. I would rather carry on with what I have started.” The Black Shadow Panther replied as it revealed its claws. Divine Power boiled in the air all around it, setting off black flames in the air.

“Fine, then. I will feast on your flesh before I feast on our little guest.” Umbra growled angrily as he prepared to fight.

.

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Leon easily played the part of a rebellious Black Shadow Panther. It was not hard, as many of the Black Shadow Panthers were actually quite dissatisfied with their leader, but there was little they could do as he was far stronger than them, and they did not have the guts to put up a joint resistance.

As he faced off against the powerful Black Shadow Panther, he felt a terrifying pressure rise up from the body of the Black Shadow Panther whose name was Umbra.

‘I would love to turn him into a summon. He’s strong.’ Leon thought to himself but quickly pushed the thought to the back of his mind. The aura released by Umbra matched his own if he was going all out, but there was still a qualitative difference between Gods and celestial creatures. He should be able to beat it.

Clank!

Umbra took a step forward and black shadows burst forth from underneath his feet. The black shadows raced forward to Leon while some of it climbed up Umbra’s body to form a set of armor that provided decent protection while also leaving more than enough room for him to maneuver easily.

Whoosh!

Leon braced as Umbra leapt forward, his body blurring as he lunged at Leon.

Clank!

Sharp claws clashed against Leon’s claws that he had just extended, causing a shower of sparks.

“Die, fool!” Umbra growled and in the next moment, he vanished and reappeared behind Leon, swinging his claws to slice off Leon’s head, but Leon quickly dodged while retaliating with a swipe of the claws on his feet.

The two of them spun and turned around, moving rapidly, like shadows.