"More than a few years. But even after all of this time you still haven’t changed you disgusting f*ck." Niphim hissed as she slammed her hand down.

  All of the shadows in the room twisted and shot towards him but he was composed.

  Without moving from his spot, he only smiled.

  Before the shadows could pierce his body, they froze in mid air, causing Niphim to click her tongue.

  "You forget. I made you. Your powers, your status, everything. I made all of it. Do you really think the shadows of an Empress can reach me? A god?" The Raven Merchant laughed as Niphim gritted her teeth.

  "If shadows don’t work then I have other options. After what happened, I obtained stronger powers!" She shouted out, running towards him as a trail of black mist emanated from her body.

  "The power of being fallen? It’s nothing but a bit of corruption. I’ve had plenty myself." He grinned, opening a part of his coat to reveal a pulsing black mass that wriggled around after being exposed to the air.

  Widening her eyes, Niphim ignored it and continued her attack.

  Swiping her hand out, she created a spear before piercing the ground and vaulting herself towards him.

  Black armour appeared around her as she cleaved down with a sword.

  *BANG!!!!!

  Once again, something blocked her attempt to attack as the Queen that was just on the table now blocked her strike with her hand that was harder than the sword.

  "Ah, ready to protect the master so soon. How obedient." The Raven Merchant chuckled while patting the Queen’s head.

  [Antania LVL 800 Hybrid Empress]

  Seeing that another Empress was manufactured, Niphim felt a sting in her heart.

  "Who was she?" Niphim asked as she grabbed Antania’s arms and kicked her jaw, forcing her body up.

  Hearing no response, Niphim slammed her foot down and shattered the tiling.

  "I ASKED WHO WAS SHE!? Who the hell did you trick with your deceit! Speak raven!" Niphim shouted out while slamming her hand down.

  A web of shadows shot out as it tried to collapse the building but was halted with a single wave of The Raven’s fingers.

  "Who was she? Hahaha, well…… she’s just like you. She was someone who wanted power so I gave her it. She experienced despair after seeing what Shiro and Syradil were capable of. So I helped her. Look, she is now an Empress just like you. But unlike you, she doesn’t have a main focus. No, she has many. Lots of authorities that I’ve collected through small trades. And this is one of them." His lips curled up as he waved his finger.

  Suddenly, Antania’s body started to move in strange ways, like a pullet that had no limit to her range of motion.

  Adjusting herself in mid air, she slammed her hand down and three magic circles appeared.

  All of them were tier 6 as three new mana signals appeared.

  "Summoning." Niphim muttered before clasping her hands together.

  The shadows in the room broke free of their two dimensional restraints and stabbed towards her, piercing her body.

  However, she transformed into a puddle of blood before ’fixing’ herself.

  In that short period of time, three figures dropped down to the floor and slashed towards her.

  Widening her eyes, Niphim pushed her hand down.

  Black shadows wrapped around her into a dome and warded off the offence but Antania broke through the gaps, punching her in the stomach.

  Holding back the urge to throw up, Antania slammed her arm into the ground to prevent her from being flung out of the building.

  Tugging a strand of shadow from the ground, the four figures in front of her felt their bodies halt as the shadow was connected to them.

  Biting her lip, Niphim narrowed her eyes as black blood trailed down her mouth but it was fine.

  Using her spare hand, she got a bit of the blood and wiped it on the shadow she was holding.

  Suddenly, a black aura shot out, covering Antania and her summons.

  "Using the attributes of your corruption. Nice choice. But, I did design her to face off against you so you think I would forget about your main weapon?" The Raven smiled as purple and gold sigils appeared on Antania’s body, cleansing her of the aura.

  "Divinity!" Niphim called out in shock since she was familiar with this radiance.

  "Bingo."

  Suddenly, Niphim felt a blade pierce her chest as she slowly looked down.

  A single shadow blade erupted from her chest as she coughed up a mouthful of black blood.

  Following the first blade, more and more exploded from her body as she collapsed on the floor.

  "You’re not the only one to play with shadows Niphim. What you can do, she can do better. And what you can’t do…… well, she can do."

  Dashing forward, Antania and her three summons conjured up floating blades created from a crystal like material and pierced her body, pinning Niphim to the ground.

  "She is a lot better than your sister. After she went rogue, I figured that I needed to make sure they’re more obedient. Though it wasn’t too much of a loss. After all, I was attempting to do that with your sister. Her sacrifice as a subject allowed me to perfect my experiments. Sooner or later, your sis should become brain dead. She has been regressing in terms of mental age, even with all that power, there is not much she can do." The Raven laughed while Niphim glared at him.

  Her aura flared but all of her power was being absorbed by the crystals, making them grow.

  "These are strange crystals I found in the far north. While I was unable to do much with them, I was able to imbed some of their powers with the authority belonging to the Crystal Queen. Once these are in your body, they’ll continue to drain you of your life force and mana until nothing is left.

  "If I could make you fall to corruption harder, I would. But this is unfortunately, your limit. You’ve lost all use for me Niphim, it’ll be time to dispose of you unless you can show me more. Weren’t you always the one who liked to impress me? I’m giving you another chance." The Raven called out with a smile.

  Gritting her teeth, Niphim started to slowly stand up as the crystals grew on her body.

  Grabbing the crystals, she pulled them out, ignoring the injuries that she was sustaining.

  The same black goo that was inside her body started to repair her wounds as the Raven raised an eyebrow in surprise.

  "Using your own life force as fuel before the crystals drain you up. That’s pretty good but how many years have you lost now? 50? 60?"

  "Does it matter if I can kill you?" Niphim said coldly as a black and red aura erupted from her body.

  Disappearing from her spot, she appeared next to the Raven with a swirl of black mass in her hands.

  Pulling back his hood, the Raven revealed his face which caused Niphim to widen her eyes in shock.

  This hesitation was enough for Antania to grab her by the ankles and slam her against the ground.

  "Pft ahahahaha! After all these years you still can’t harm your sister." The Raven laughed as he had changed his appearance to look like Arnea for a moment.

  "It was the same back then and it is the same now! Even if you can kill your family when they were transformed, you still can’t lay a hand on your sister! What were her last words before she went crazy? Ah right, it was cursing you to her last breath, should I act that out for you with her voice?" the Raven asked as his voice shifted to that of Arnea’s.

  Hearing that voice, Niphim felt her heart get crushed by her guilt of not being able to do anything for Arnea.

  "You’re not her, don’t you dare copy her voice and appearance!" Niphim shouted.

  Leaping up from the floor, she grabbed Antania by the head and ripped her throat out with her mouth before throwing her aside.

  With a clear path to the Raven, Niphim looked like a savage beast with blood dripping from her mouth.

  Stomping down, she charged towards him as he transformed once more into Arnea.

  Flinching a little, Niphim continued her attack until he opened his mouth.

  "Big sis…… how could you do this……"

  Hearing the same voice of pain that haunted her, Niphim gritted her teeth and pierced the Raven’s chest.

  "My my, how heartless. Literally considering the fact that I replaced it with a crystal. But to think you would kill your sister like that, even if it’s just an illusion. Tsk tsk, if Arnea saw that she would be sad." The Raven smiled as Niphim collapsed on one knee.

  Her aura dimmed as she couldn’t keep burning away the years of her life like this. Each second she burned was roughly 10 years of her life.

  "Perhaps. But I know that deep down, Arnea would want me to kill you so that we can end you for good. Stop more victims from appearing." Niphim glared as a figure suddenly appeared behind the Raven.

  "Well said." Shiro curled her lips into a grin.

  Needles suddenly appeared and pierced into the Raven, stopping him from teleporting as chains held him in place.