My Goblin System : Levelling up with my SSS Class Devouring skill-Chapter 326

But Satou wasn’t there.

Shadow Step. The ability activated in the split-second before Richard’s blade would have connected, and Satou simply ceased to exist in that location and appeared five feet to the left. The space he’d occupied a moment ago was empty, and Richard’s sword—moving with enough force to decapitate—cut through nothing but air.

The sheer power of the swing created a shockwave despite hitting no resistance. The displaced air buffeted nearby bookshelves, loose papers scattered, and the candles on Richard’s reading table guttered from the wind pressure.

BOOM.

The sound reverberated through the library like a thunderclap, and several things happened simultaneously:

Satou counter-attacked, his Shadow Blade thrusting toward the opening Richard had created with his overextended strike.

Richard’s temporal perception warned him of the counter before it was even fully committed, and he was already twisting away, his enhanced reflexes allowing him to avoid what should have been an unavoidable follow-up.

The forty hidden fighters activated, emerging from concealment with professional precision and immediately splitting into three groups according to pre-arranged tactics: ten peeled off toward where Sylvara stood, ten more headed toward where Cassius had positioned himself near the corridor entrance, moving to cut off escape routes and prevent reinforcements; the remaining twenty formed a loose perimeter around Satou and Richard’s duel, ready to provide support or to engage if Satou tried to disengage from the primary combat.

Satou and Richard’s blades met in a clash that sent another shockwave rippling outward.

BOOM.

The impact was so powerful that the stone floor beneath them cracked, spider-web fractures radiating outward from the point where they stood. Bookshelves rattled. Windows shook. The very air seemed to vibrate from the force of two immensely powerful beings testing each other’s strength.

They separated, circling warily, both reassessing after that initial exchange.

Richard was breathing slightly harder than Satou, the burst of temporal acceleration having cost energy despite its effectiveness. But his expression showed satisfaction rather than concern—he’d tested Satou’s improved speed and found it formidable but not overwhelming.

Satou’s arms hurt from blocking that strike. Richard had been strong before, but the enhanced temporal magic seemed to have improved his physical power as well. The dragoblin’s natural strength advantage might be less significant than it had been in their first fight.

"Impressive," Richard admitted, his sword still ready. "You’ve gotten stronger. Faster. More controlled. But you’re still predictable. Your Shadow Step has a tell—your eyes shift focus to where you’re going to appear a split-second before the ability activates. Your temporal manipulation ability may be impressive, but I’ve spent three hundred years fighting people with supernatural speed. You can’t surprise me anymore."

"Then see this coming," Satou replied, and attacked.

Not with his sword—Richard was watching for that, temporal perception already tracking the blade’s potential movements. Instead, Satou used Shadow Manipulation to create multiple tendrils of darkness that lashed out from three different directions simultaneously, each one aiming for a different vital point: one at Richard’s sword arm to disable his weapon, one at his legs to restrict movement, one directly at his face to force a defensive reaction.

Richard’s temporal perception saw them coming, but even precognition had limitations. He could see the attack pattern, but he couldn’t be in three places at once to block all the tendrils. He made a split-second decision: age acceleration targeting the tendrils aimed at his legs and face, using temporal magic to rapidly deteriorate the shadow constructs, while dodging the one aimed at his sword arm through sheer speed.

The shadow tendrils targeting his legs and face aged rapidly under the temporal effect—not destroyed completely because shadows weren’t physical matter that could decay normally, but disrupted enough that they lost cohesion and dissolved. The third tendril missed as Richard’s acceleration let him move his arm out of the path.

But while Richard was focused on the shadow tendrils, Satou had closed the distance. Shadow Step brought him inside Richard’s guard, and his Shadow Blade—enhanced with the Void Fang fusion that added that quality of erasure to the cutting edge—thrust toward Richard’s center mass.

Richard’s temporal perception screamed warning, his combat instincts reacting instantly. He threw himself backward in a move that sacrificed grace for speed, Satou’s blade missing his torso by inches.

But even a miss wasn’t completely safe against a blade that incorporated Void Fang essence. Where Satou’s Shadow Blade passed through the space Richard had just occupied, reality itself seemed to warp slightly. The edge of the blade didn’t just cut air—it briefly erased a thin line of space itself, creating a momentary void that snapped shut with a sound like reality popping back into place.

Richard saw that effect and his eyes widened with genuine alarm. That hadn’t been part of Satou’s arsenal in their previous fight. A blade that could erase matter from existence was exponentially more dangerous than a simple shadow construct.

"What did you DO to yourself?" Richard demanded, his composure cracking slightly as he realized Satou had added capabilities he hadn’t anticipated. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"Combined my shadow abilities with Void Fang essence," Satou replied, pressing his advantage with another series of strikes. "Now my shadows don’t just block or cut—they can erase. Any matter my blade touches doesn’t just get damaged—it ceases to exist. No regeneration, no healing, just permanent removal from reality."

He demonstrated with a strike that deliberately targeted the stone floor between them rather than Richard himself. The Shadow Blade carved through the rock like it wasn’t even there, and the line of the cut showed no debris, no chips, no material pushed aside. A perfectly smooth gap where stone had simply stopped existing.

Richard stumbled backward, genuinely shaken now. This changed the tactical calculus significantly. He’d been prepared to trade hits if necessary, relying on his superior experience and enhanced temporal magic to outlast Satou in a war of attrition. But if even a glancing blow from that blade could erase parts of his body permanently...

Author Notes:

Hello its author here, i am thinking of creating a discord server what does everyone think about it , should i create it .