24: Chapter 24, Scene 9: Shadow Servant

"Matching in progress, please wait patiently!"

In the center of the arena, Chen Mo, who had returned to his Peak state, waited quietly.

After fighting for nearly an hour, he was only two matches away from completing his placement.

But as his winning streak grew, the matching time became longer and longer.

"Warm tip: Based on your current winning streak, the System has automatically widened the matching range to save matching time."

"Widened the range again!"

Chen Mo shook his head lightly, though this was within his expectations.

"Match successful."

Just a dozen seconds after the range was widened, the System indicated a successful match.

Chen Mo finally saw his opponent—a 'master' who shouldn't have appeared in placement matches.

"ID: Everyone Says I'm Honest, Rank: Gold I!"

"Eh? How did I get matched with a young newcomer? Damn, eight consecutive wins!"

'Everyone Says I'm Honest' was startled, but quickly adjusted his mindset and smiled at Chen Mo: "Don't be so serious, relax."

But this time, Chen Mo, who had been fairly friendly, didn't take the bait and even retreated hundreds of meters.

"Young, but quite skilled in tricks."

Seeing his plan fail, the man dropped his friendly attitude and stared at Chen Mo like a hawk from a kilometer away.

At the same time, a deep shadow suddenly appeared where Chen Mo had stood, while behind 'Honest Brother,' a palm-sized gate of the divine domain continuously leaked black shadows that seeped into the ground.

"Don't waste your effort. This trick might work on others, but against me..." Chen Mo sneered and shook his head from a distance.

Such tactics had long been overused by players climbing the arena rankings in his past life.

But honestly, this guy had no shame using such tricks on a 'newcomer'—even Chen Mo in his past life wouldn't stoop so low.

"Hehe, no wonder you've won eight in a row. But meeting me is your bad luck."

Everyone Says I'm Honest finally stopped hiding, and the gate of the divine domain behind him instantly expanded.

In the blink of an eye, black substance surged out like a tide, transforming into faceless shadow attendants that gathered before the man.

"Shadow-type vassals? Pretty high rank."

Seeing the opponent's vassals, Chen Mo showed a serious expression for the first time.

Why is the Divine Dao considered the number one path to godhood in the mortal world?

Besides the nearly omnipotent Divine Power and powerful divine arts, the Domain and vassals are indispensable factors.

This might not be obvious in the early stages, but once the vassal System is established, it can determine the outcome between two gods of the same Realm.

"Since you're a newcomer, I won't bully you. I won't release my other vassals."

The man grinned at Chen Mo, looking like he was doing him a favor.

"Don't act so righteous. You know well that against someone with eight consecutive wins, vassals below high rank are useless."

Chen Mo sneered, a divine art already brewing in his hand.

"Hehe, I knew you wouldn't be so easily fooled."

The man dropped all pretense, smirking at Chen Mo, while a well-hidden divine art flickered in his hand.

"Divine Art: Shadow Silence."

"Divine Art: Earth Control."

Instantly, the once-empty arena transformed completely.

The shadows around the man solidified.

Soon, both the man and his vassals merged into the shadow mass.

Sometimes defense doesn't have to be head-on. For someone with the Law of Shadows, making the enemy unable to find him is the best defense.

"A Domain-type divine art? No, not that Advanced!"

Chen Mo's heart stirred, but before he could react, his own shadow came to life and lunged at him.

A shadow attendant—the strongest among them, at the Eighth Order Peak!

"Clang!"

The shadow dagger struck true, but instead of hitting Chen Mo, it was blocked by a suddenly rising stone wall.

As a First-Order divine art, 'Earth Control' wasn't just a simple turtle shell.

Once the art was complete, as long as Divine Power was supplied, the entire earth became Chen Mo's medium.

"Found you."

Without even glancing at the Ninth-Order shadow attendant, Chen Mo pointed a finger in a certain direction.

In an instant, countless stones peeled off the ground and rained down on a patch of writhing shadow.

"Good kid, I didn't expect your defensive art to have detection capabilities." The man's voice rang out again, but without panic.

Only then did Chen Mo realize that he and the surrounding hundreds of meters were covered in a layer of darkness.

The next second, nearly a hundred shadow attendants, all above Seventh Order, emerged through the pervasive shadows and launched suicidal attacks.

"Kid, I'm waiting for my big move. What are you waiting for?"

Watching Chen Mo, who was forced to expend Divine Power to destroy the shadow attendants, the man easily dodged the stone rain and burst into laughter.

Between his hands, a pitch-black, viscous Divine Power gathered, exuding an astonishing pressure.

In the Myriad Domain Arena, everyone's Divine Power is limited. How to maximize the use of these 100 points often determines victory or defeat.

The divine art in his hand was not only a Second-Order art but also consumed nearly all his Divine Power—its power was evident.

But as he secretly gloated, a blood-red thread had quietly reached beneath him and entered his body.

"Second-Order Divine Art: Shadow..."

Before he could utter the word 'Annihilation,' his divine art froze as if paused.

Not just the long-prepared art, but the man himself was frozen in place.

He lowered his head with difficulty, staring incredulously at the blood-red thread spreading across his body.

"Playing dirty, huh?"

Chen Mo's voice came slowly. The shadow attendants beside him had been buried alive by Earth Control.

Such is the gap between Transcendent and Demigod, even with nearly a hundred high-rank vassals.

"Ah... ah..."

The man tried to speak, but his body wouldn't obey, only making throaty sounds.

"Want to talk?"

The man nodded with difficulty.

"Heh, I won't let you!"

Chen Mo smirked, mimicking the man's earlier expression.

The next second, the blood-red thread that had covered most of his body tightened.

A rain of light scattered, and the Gold-rank 'master' was eliminated in frustration.