Chapter 93: Negotiating with a Menace

Noctis stood frozen, his jaw slightly slack as he stared down at the small, hooded girl standing before him.

The cold winds of the Middle World howled past their ears, carrying dense streams of raw spiritual energy that whistled through the jagged metallic spires surrounding the spatial gateway.

Yet, despite the vast, oppressive aura of an Elite cultivator crushing down on the surroundings, the tense atmosphere had been completely ruined by a single sentence.

I reject your kidnapping.

Noctis felt a vein pulse violently on his temple. His pale forehead twitched as his wicked, theatrical smirk melted into a look of irritation. He was an Elite Soul cultivator. He was a Ghost of the infamous Ten Thousand Ghosts gang, an assassin who had slipped right under the nose of the terrifying Salma Al Mansari without drawing a single drop of suspicion.

People screamed when they saw him. Powerful faction leaders trembled when his spectral energy touched their domains.

He was not supposed to be called a fart by a tiny zombie girl, nor was his carefully executed abduction supposed to be casually rejected like an unwanted market transaction.

"You reject it?" Noctis whispered, his voice dangerously low as his eyes narrowed into slits.

"You little monster... do you genuinely believe you have a choice in this realm? You are in the Middle World now. The pressure alone in this environment is enough to collapse the lungs of a lower-world mortal within seconds. You are standing on my ground, surrounded by my domain, and you think your childish stubbornness means anything?"

Summer did not even blink under his glare. She simply stood her ground, her small boots planted firmly on the smooth dark stone as her ruby eyes glowed with absolute, unwavering arrogance beneath her dark hood.

In truth, inside her spiritual sea, her internal space was anything but quiet.

The moment she unmuted her mental connections, the Shadow and the System flooded back into her consciousness, practically shouting over one another in a frantic chorus. ’Little girl! Unmute me right this instant—wait, you already did!’ the Shadow yelled, its raspy voice echoing violently around her inner sea.

’Listen to me carefully! This bastard is using Soul element mana! His SSS+ Mirroring property allows him to construct false identities and manipulate spiritual tethers. The puppet body he was using back in the cave was just a hollow vessel he controlled from afar using a soul prism! He is far stronger in his true body than that weak Supreme Commander skin!’

[Host, warning! Heavy threat detected!] the system chimed in right after, its mechanical voice sounding unusually urgent.

[Target cultivation rank: Elite! Soul element affinity: 94%! SSS+ Grade Property: Mirroring! The host’s current physical combat power is severely disadvantaged in a direct exchange of pure mana pressure!]

’Are you two done screaming yet?’ Summer replied internally, her tone entirely unbothered as she stretched her fingers inside her dark golden gauntlets.

’Done screaming?!’ the Shadow barked in utter disbelief. ’You just dragged us straight into the Middle World! Salma is probably tearing the lower world apart right now trying to find out where you went, and you are standing here arguing with a Soul cultivator about whether or not you accept being kidnapped!’

’Meh.’ Summer cut off the shadow, ’even if i died you or system can reconstruct me right? What’s there to fear?’

’No,’ Summer cut the system off flatly. ’I came here to find my mom. He brought me to the Middle World, so he served his purpose. Now he is just an ugly, noisy obstacle in my way. I am going to beat him up and make him tell me where she is.’

The Shadow fell completely silent for a long moment, staggering under the sheer weight of her absurd confidence. ’Beat him up? Little girl, he is an Elite cultivator!’

’So what?’ Summer retorted coldly. ’I have forty-two unkillable shadows inside me.’

Out in the real world, Noctis had finally lost the last remaining shred of his patience.

"I was going to keep you intact and intact alone so I could study your unique shadow constitution at my leisure," Noctis sneered, raising his right hand into the air.

Pale blue, translucent flames began to flicker around his long, skeletal fingers as the atmosphere grew unnaturally frigid. "But since your mouth is far too loud and your attitude is entirely intolerable, I will break your arms and legs first. A puppet does not need limbs to serve its master."

He snapped his fingers.

The SSS+ grade property of Mirroring flared violently. The obsidian platform beneath Summer’s feet suddenly rippled like water, and from her own shadow cast by the platform’s dim crystal lights, four identical spectral arms surged upward like striking serpents.

The arms were made of condensed, translucent soul energy, moving at a speed that easily bypassed standard physical perception. They lunged straight for her wrists and ankles, intending to bind her soul and shatter her bones in one clean motion.

Noctis smirked, expecting to hear the satisfying crunch of bone and the high-pitched screams of a helpless child.

However, the instant the spectral arms reached within a foot of Summer’s body, her crimson eyes flashed with a cold, terrifying light.

Shadowmancer.

Summer did not bother dodging. She simply stomped her small boot onto the obsidian floor, sending a violent shockwave of corrosive, ink-black shadow energy directly into the stone beneath her.

Instead of her shadow being controlled by Noctis’s Mirroring property, her dark energy violently surged outward, consuming her own shadow instantly and turning the platform beneath her into a churning, bottomless ocean of absolute darkness.

The spectral arms of soul energy hit the surface of her shadow pool and immediately began to sizzle and dissolve, corroded away by the dark, heavy element of her unique domain.

Noctis’s eyes widened in sudden shock as his spell was forcefully broken. "What? You canceled out Soul-binding energy with pure shadow concentration? That is impossible!"

"Nothing is impossible for me," Summer said coldly, her voice echoing with a double-layered resonance that rattled the dark stone beneath them.

She raised her right hand, bringing her dark golden gauntlets into the light. The black liquid shadow pool beneath her feet began to bubble violently, expanding outward in rapid circles until it covered nearly half of the massive obsidian platform.

"One. Two," Summer called out in an authoritative command. "Get out here."

ROAR!

A deafening, primal roar echoed from the depths of her shadow domain, vibrating so intensely that the air itself seemed to shudder.

From the ink-black pool on her left, a massive, towering arm wrapped in jagged metallic armor erupted into the open air, slamming a rock-hard fist onto the obsidian floor with enough force to web the indestructible stone with fine cracks.

One pulled his massive, corrupted body straight out of the shadow space, his glowing red eyes locking instantly onto Noctis with bloodlust.

A fraction of a second later, Two glided out from the shadow pool on her right like a silent phantom, his long, razor-sharp claws extended and gleaming with corrosive dark mana under the dim sky.

Noctis stumbled back half a step, his pale face draining of color as he stared at the two terrifying Shadows standing guard in front of the little girl.

"What... what kind of puppets are those?!" Noctis gasped, his mind reeling as he tried to analyze their energy signatures.

"Their physical bodies... they are completely intact! How can a construct exist inside a Shadow domain without having its physical form erased and converted into pure shadow essence? That violates the fundamental laws of shadow manipulation!"

Summer smirked beneath her hood, stepping forward until she stood comfortably between the towering forms of One and Two.

"I told you," Summer said, her small voice dropping into a chilling, predatory register as her ruby eyes gleamed with malicious amusement. "I reject your kidnapping. And now... you are going to answer my questions."

One let out a low, thunderous growl, flexing his massive shoulders as the shadow energy surrounding his body spiked into a dangerous surge. Two crouched low to the ground, his body blurring slightly as he prepared to leap forward at blinding speed.

Within her spiritual realm, forty-two distinct shadow marks flared in unison, waiting for their master’s ultimate command to spill out and flood the platform.

Noctis suddenly grinned, his face changing into an appreciating smile.

"Not bad. Not bad at all!"

Summer paused, her crimson eyes tracking his movement with cold, calculating focus.

"How about this," Noctis continued, spreading his hands with a slick, practiced grace. "Accept me as your teacher, and we can be friends. Or—"

"Summer greets teacher!"

Summer gave him the cutest smile she could ever make, bowing her head slightly with pure, innocent enthusiasm.

Noctis stood completely stunned by the sheer speed of her emotional change. One moment she was on the verge of deploying an army to tear him apart limb from limb, and the very next moment she was smiling like a child who had just found a piece of sweet candy.

’Little girl! Are you insane?!’ the Shadow screamed inside her mind, its voice practically cracking with sheer disbelief. ’You just agreed to become the disciple of a murderous Ghost assassin from the Ten Thousand Ghosts gang?!’

[Host! Warning! Target’s intentions remain highly hostile and deceptive!] the system chimed in urgently. [Strategic assessment indicates high probability of secondary trap!]

’Shut up, both of you,’ Summer replied internally, keeping her bright, adorable smile fixed squarely on Noctis’s bewildered face.

’He is an Elite Soul cultivator who knows the Middle World. Having a free guide and a target to steal knowledge from is way better than fighting him right now.’

Noctis blinked several times, trying to process the sudden shift. He cleared his throat, attempting to regain his majestic, imposing posture as he adjusted his robes.

"Ahem... well," Noctis muttered, a triumphant smirk slowly returning to his face. "At least you are quick to recognize true greatness, little girl. A wise choice."

"So, teacher," Summer said, her small voice dripping with sweet, deceptive reverence as she took a small step forward. "Where are we going first? And when are you going to teach me how to do that cool Mirroring property?"