SS Awakening: My Monster Merging System!

The black clad man’s gaze instantly turned colder.

The next second, he moved. There was no footstep or sound of wind. Instead, his figure seemed to be tugged by the darkness, instantly closing in on Zich, the two daggers slashing upward and downward toward Zich’s throat and abdomen.

It was fast. Fast enough that many beginner players would not even have time to react.

But Zich was not an ordinary beginner.

"Blink."

FWOOSH!

Zich’s body instantly vanished from where he stood, reappearing several meters away beside the fountain.

However, before he could even steady himself, a black shadow had already twisted up from beneath his feet and chased after him.

The assassin had actually appeared behind him too.

The daggers struck again.

Zich’s eyes sharpened, and he shifted his body half a step to the side. The blade almost brushed past his shoulder.

Ssssh!

His clothing was cut open, and the cold edge was only a finger’s width away from his skin.

Zich raised his hand and sent out a blood arc.

FWOOOSH!

A red slash swept out.

But the enemy’s body suddenly sank into the shadow on the ground, and the blood arc only cut through a section of stone bricks behind him, leaving a crack half a meter long in the courtyard floor.

Zich did not pursue.

He lowered his head and looked at his own shadow.

Under the moonlight, the edge of his shadow was still faintly writhing.

"He’s chasing my shadow," Zich noted quietly to himself.

Zich lowered his head and glanced at his shadow.

Ever since the battle began, the assassin had somehow managed to appear near him every time he used Blink. It had happened once, then twice, and now a third time.

His eyes narrowed slightly as the pieces began to fall into place.

"You’re moving through shadows."

For the first time, a trace of surprise flashed across the man’s face.

Zich’s gaze was fixed on the ground beneath his feet.

"And you’re using my shadow as an anchor."

The assassin remained silent which confirmed Zich’s suspicion.

A faint smile appeared on his face.

"A shadow movement class, huh?"

The man still didn’t respond, but the annoyed look in his eyes confirmed Zich’s suspicion.

’No wonder the manor’s barrier didn’t react’

This person had not entered normally. He had attached himself to Zich’s shadow and followed him into the courtyard.

Zich’s face grew colder. This was far more troublesome than an ordinary assassin.

The enemy did not give him a chance to think and charged forward again.

This time, he did not attack in a straight line, but moved along the edges of the courtyard’s shadows. Tree shadows, wall shadows, fountain shadows, even Zich’s own shadow all became his path.

Zich kept retreating, his steps seemingly chaotic, but in truth, every step was moving him toward a brighter area.

The courtyard lights had all been adjusted by him personally before. Because he hated messy lighting, he remembered the position of every lamp very clearly.

The assassin thought he was retreating.

But Zich was actually leading him.

"You only know how to dodge?" he growled angrily.

Zich didn’t bother replying. He kept a close eye on his opponent’s movement pattern, and when the latter’s movements paused briefly, he raised his hand.

"Slimy."

The blue slime appeared silently beside the fountain. After landing, it immediately looked at the assassin. Just moments ago, it had been disappointed that it had not followed to report, and now that someone had broken into the house, its whole body immediately puffed up.

"Ground," Zich said.

Slimy understood at once. It did not spit poison at the assassin, but instead sprayed a mass of green poison toward the deepest part of the courtyard shadow.

PSHHHH!

The poison hit the ground and rapidly spread, corroding the edge of the dark shadow until it became twisted and unstable. That patch of shadow began to break apart under the poison’s corrosion, no longer whole.

The man’s figure was just about to slip into that shadow when his movement suddenly stiffened.

Zich’s eyes lit up.

"So that’s how it is."

Once the shadow was damaged, movement would become unstable.

The assassin also noticed that his weakness had been exposed. His eyes turned vicious, and both daggers slashed out at once. Several black blade shadows flew low across the ground toward Slimy.

Slimy shrank back in fright.

"Silk Barrier."

A white barrier instantly spread open.

Bang! bang! bang!

The black blade shadows crashed into the barrier, shaking Slimy’s whole body, but the barrier did not immediately shatter.

Zich’s voice also rang out at this moment.

"Iron."

Black particles gathered behind the assassin.

The next second, Iron’s figure appeared in the courtyard, and the giant black sword was already raised.

The man’s expression changed slightly. He immediately tried to retreat into the shadow by the wall.

But Zich had already stepped into the brightest spot before the fountain.

His shadow had been pressed very short by the lights.

The assassin had just tried to use Zich’s shadow to escape when his body was forcibly bounced out from the darkness.

"Got you."

Zich raised his hand.

The blood arc condensed again.

The man gritted his teeth and crossed both daggers in front of him.

FWOOOSH!

The blood arc slashed down. One dagger was directly knocked away, spinning and stabbing into the grass in the distance.

Iron followed with a sword swing.

BOOOOM!

The black sword slammed heavily into the assassin’s shoulder.

The sound of bones shattering rang out clearly.

The whole body of the man was smashed into the ground, and the courtyard stone bricks directly caved in, with cracks spreading outward like a spiderweb.

Zich glanced at the ground. His eyes grew even colder.

"Do you know how much it costs to repair this?"

The assassin coughed out a mouthful of blood and tried once more to blend into the wall shadow.

But this time, the courtyard barrier finally lit up.

Pale blue runes emerged simultaneously from the walls, the ground, and the eaves, forming a layer of sealed light curtain. The assassin’s body had barely touched the wall shadow when he was bounced back as if he had struck an invisible iron wall.

Bang!

He fell to the ground, a horrified expression slowly appearing on his face.

Zich looked at this scene and understood the situation quickly.

"You attached yourself to my shadow to get in, so the barrier did not judge you as an outsider," he said. "Now that the shadow connection has been broken, the manor recognizes you."

The assassin did not answer, only staring at him fiercely.

Iron walked forward, stepped on his back, and pressed the black sword against his neck.

Zich crouched down and looked at this failed assassin.

"One last question," he said. "Who paid you to come?"

The man bared his teeth, blood flowing from the corner of his lips.

"The employer did not leave a real name." His smile became even more unpleasant as he added. "But the money came from someone related to the Smith family."

The air fell silent for a moment.

Zich’s expression showed no surprise at all.

He merely sighed lightly.

"Jayden really is very good at wasting money."

The assassin laughed.

"You think I’m the only one?"

Zich’s eyes suddenly narrowed in confusion, trying to understand what the assassin meant.

Just then, the manor’s internal alarm finally sounded.

Buzzzz!

Zich turned toward the main building, and his mind quickly went to the dining room, the place where he stored soul stones and special materials.

It suddenly started making sense.

It had not been two shadows just now.

It had been three.

His own, the assassin before him, and the last one.

"Slimy, watch this one," Zich said.

Slimy immediately bounced to the assassin’s side, poison rolling inside its body.

Zich looked toward the main building, his voice calm enough to be frightening.

"Iron, come with me."

The next moment, even before he could take a step, the sound of his spatial bag being opened came from inside.

Hearing this, the assassin lying on the ground laughed even louder.

"It’s too late."