Corrupt Creations

"Yuyin... I have to go back." Seth suddenly stopped and spoke.

"Big Brother Seth... No, you can't. Sis is..."

"No, you got it wrong. I'm not going back to help your sister. She came here to help Serene and me, and I have to believe she is capable of fighting against First Shadow alone."

"Then why...?"

"I have to go back and find someone. If I don't face him, this will never stop. We might leave as the victors today, but the war will never end. If that person is not defeated, there will always exist a very dangerous threat out there, for me and for the people I love."

"But you..."

"Yuyin... Everyone is fighting this war for me, so I can never run away and let them face those enemies alone." Seth suddenly approached Yuyin and finally let Serene down.

He looked right into Yuyin's eyes and said: "Please, bring Serene to a safe place for me. I promise you, that I will safely return and meet up with you two later."

Seth looked towards Serene as well, assuring her that he would be coming back.

Serene was afraid of parting ways with him, but through her Soul Link with him, she felt his innermost feelings and decided to believe him.

"I'll be waiting for you."

Seth smiled and lightly patted her head.

Yuyin felt conflicted, but she had always sensed a conviction and a reliability coming from Seth's words. It was like he really was her big brother, like she usually called him.

"Aaaaahhhh. Fine..." Yuyin suddenly grabbed Serene's wrist and used her Profound Mana initial-stage base cultivation, to support her body into the air. Yuyin was able to achieve a greater speed while moving in the air than while going on the ground, differently from Seth.

Serene didn't have time to say anything else, before she was already high up in the air. She knew that she would be a burden for him if she were to stay, even a mere affectionate act like a hug, could make that departure a bit harder. So, she decided to go without saying any parting words.

As Yuyin and Seren were distancing themselves from that dangerous area, Seth finally turned around and disappeared. He was moving at the highest speed possible, towards the area he had previously found Velgor. He knew how great was the danger of letting his business with him unfinished and how hard the complications could get in the distant future, if he didn't face this hurdle head on now.

Just as he vanished, a black shadow passed through the area their group was in before, quickly following Yuyin and Serene from behind. That black shadow had a mastery over darkness that few individuals could compare to, creating not energy fluctuations as he moved at their direction.

Second Shadow silently advanced towards his targets, hidden inside the dark shadows of his technique. No one was able to notice his presence, not even Seth.

When he was executing the Shadow Step, he was like a silent and patient assassin, always waiting for the right time to step in and execute the target. He moved quickly but silently and made sure to strike at the correct time. Cultivators like him were very difficult to deal with and unfortunately for Yuyin and Serene, they were his final objective.

Second Shadow had waited a long time for the right opportunity to present itself before him, so he could act efficiently and conclude his job in a perfect manner. Now, that it had happened, he swiftly moved to accomplish what he had to.

Throughout all this time, he had maintained a safe distance from the target, only observing everything that happened. Every time he looked towards Seth while he was hidden at a safe location, he felt something telling him that it would be dangerous to fight against him, even though he could only sense the Profound Mana middle-stage aura signature around that man. However, as an old and astute assassin, he knew better to trust his own sharp life-saving judgements.

With his attainments on the dark elemental energy, Second Shadow quickly and secretively approached Yuyin from the ground and created some dark elemental daggers, aiming them towards her vital areas.

Yuyin supported Serene's body through the air, focusing on moving faster in order to completely leave from that area. In her carelessness, she didn't notice that hidden assassin following her from behind. Actually, with her powers, it would've been impossible for her to detect him, even if she wanted to.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Six daggers of darkness suddenly hurtled through the air, silently tracing their target. When they were less than ten meters away from her, Yuyin finally noticed those powerful Mana fluctuations that followed behind those dark elemental daggers. But unfortunately, it was already too late for her to avoid being hit.

However, even though Yuyin wasn't paying attention on the possibility of a hidden danger, there was someone who was, and it was not Serene either.

Swish!

As if thousands of leaves were falling from the skies, a rain of small wind elemental slashes descended upon that entire area. Those slashes were small, but they were strong and numerous. They were able to quickly destroy those six dark elemental daggers moving towards Yuyin and at the same time, force the assassin to reveal his position, since he had to defend himself from all those wind slashes coming down.

Second Shadow saw that it would be impossible for him to leave from the area of effect of that skill and was forced to counterattack those wind slashes with his dark elemental abilities, else he would be sliced apart. Thousands of daggers made of darkness surged upwards, being formed from his powerful Mana and being directly commanded by him, to nullify those thousands of wind slashes raining down.

Wind and darkness clashes against each other, creating a deadly scenario right before Yuyin and Serene's eyes. It took a while until everything settled down, but when all those energies were finally cleared up; Second Shadow's figure was already visible for everyone to see.

He was a skinny man, wearing a black robe and a black mask, a set of clothes that better fit an assassin; clothes that could hide his figure during the night.

He was fixedly staring towards the sky, at a place a bit above of where Yuyin and Serene were. There was a silhouette there, catching his attention.

When Yuyin and Serene looked up, they saw a very beautiful woman, wearing an elegant and natural green dress; a dress that served her really well. Looking with a bit more of attention, they were able to see her ears were pointy and her pale-like-silk skin, was very elf-like.

There was a sharp windy aura circling around her body, making her appearance hundred times more elegant, creating an environment that enchanted even those two beautiful girls.

Elyra extended her hand and from inside her spatial ring, a wind elemental sword was taken out. As she grabbed on the hilt of that weapon, her sharp aura suddenly multiplied and her Profound Mana peak-stage Realm cultivation exploded outwards, locking onto Second Shadow's aura.

Before doing anything against that assassin though, she turned towards Yuyin and Serene and said: "Don't worry, I'm here to help you."

"Thank you miss... How can I address to you?"

"Elyra... You can call me Elyra."

"Miss Elyra, are you perhaps Seth's friend?" Yuyin asked.

Elyra nodded, acknowledging that fact even though she was more than that.

After Yuyin saw her reply, she felt a bit more relieved. Another powerful practitioner had appeared to help them.

Serene realized that so many people were coming to help Seth... As the main person benefitting from all that help, she was a bit lost, but very thankful.

"Miss Elyra..." Yuyin was about to say something, but those words were not necessary. Elyra already knew everything.

"Don't worry, I know... Just bring that lady to a safe location. Actually, if you don't know where to bring her to, you can go to the Allakiir Mansion, located at the Ereinrith City. I doubt Velgor's lackeys would dare to come to our Elven Kingdom, even though they might know their princess is hiding over there."

While Elyra said those words, she kept observing Second Shadow, staying attentive on every movement he did.

"Alright. I'll leave him to you then." Yuyin nodded towards Elyra and left once again, bringing Serene away. However, this time, there wasn't a single soul following her.

Second Shadow didn't do anything, he allowed Serene and Yuyin to leave, since he could fight against Elyra as a form of excuse. In reality, Second Shadow didn't want to do anything, but if he didn't show any service, he was sure Velgor would kill him later. That's why he had to accomplish a job quickly and the easiest job, would be dealing with Serene and Yuyin.

Unfortunately, destiny had been holding something for him.