Chapter 1024: Shadows and Swords.

Strax woke up when the morning light had already begun to stream through the windows of his room. He remained sitting on the bed for a few seconds, still waking up, as he tried to organize his thoughts and remember what he had to do that day. Curiously, there was no emergency waiting for him, no invasion, no important meeting, and no problem that required his immediate presence. After so many days dealing with wars, gods, demons, experiments, and political problems, that feeling of tranquility seemed almost strange. Strax finally got up, dressed without rushing, and left the room, walking down the mansion’s stairs as the smell of fresh coffee began to reach him.

When he entered the dining room, he found the table already prepared. Monica had left his breakfast ready before starting her own tasks, as she had done several times before. There was hot coffee, bread, fruit, eggs, and some meat, everything arranged simply but enough for a hearty meal. Strax sat down and began eating calmly, enjoying that rare moment when no one was showing up in front of him with some absurd problem. While drinking his first cup of coffee, his eyes wandered around the room, and he realized that, for the first time in a while, he actually seemed to have a few free hours.

The door opened a few minutes later, and Lithara entered the room. The succubus wore a satisfied smile, like someone who had just received important news and was about to share it. As soon as she saw Strax sitting at the table, she approached him and said, "Frieren succeeded."

Strax raised his eyes from the cup.

"Succeeded at what?"

Lithara stopped in front of him. For a few seconds, she simply stared at Strax with an expression that clearly said she couldn’t believe he had actually forgotten. Then she tilted her head slightly and asked, "You forgot?"

Strax remained still for a moment. Then his expression changed, and a smile slowly appeared on his face.

"Ah."

Lithara crossed her arms.

"Exactly. Neris."

Strax looked at her again, now remembering the matter completely.

"And how is she?"

Lithara pulled out a chair and sat at the table, resting her arms on it.

"She’s functioning. Frieren managed to make the body respond properly to commands, and Neris can already walk, run, fight, control mana, and perform tasks without needing someone to guide every movement. She has also begun showing responses of her own, which is exactly what Frieren wanted. She’s not just an artificial body waiting for orders."

Strax nodded as he finished eating.

"And the problems?"

Lithara’s smile faded slightly.

"There are a few. Her balance still isn’t perfect when she changes direction too quickly. Her peripheral vision needs improvement, and the demonic core still distributes mana too quickly when it receives certain external commands. Frieren is also worried about the more complicated issue."

Strax raised an eyebrow.

"The others?"

"The other forty-seven," Lithara replied. "Neris is only the first one Frieren managed to fully test. If the others display similar characteristics, then you won’t be creating simple obedient soldiers. They will be individuals with extremely powerful bodies, the ability to learn, personalities, and eventually their own will. That means problems with authority and insubordination may arise."

Strax finished his cup of coffee and placed it on the table.

"As for the problem of insubordination, I’ll handle it myself."

Lithara frowned.

"How?"

Strax answered with the utmost naturalness, "Anyone who disobeys dies. Simple."

Lithara closed her eyes and let out a long sigh.

"Of course that would be your solution."

Strax shrugged.

"It’s efficient."

"It’s brutal."

"Also."

Lithara opened her eyes again and stared at him.

"And you really think that’s going to work with forty-eight individuals that Frieren is trying to teach to think for themselves?"

Strax remained silent for a few seconds before answering.

"It’s not the first option. If someone questions an order, they can explain why. If they have a valid reason, we can talk. If they make a mistake, it will be corrected. But if someone deliberately puts other people in danger because they decided they don’t need to follow the rules, then there’s a discipline problem. And if someone believes they can simply ignore my orders because they’re strong enough to do so..."

Strax raised his right hand.

"...I’ll deal with it."

Lithara let out another sigh.

"You’re frightening when you say things like that so calmly."

"I know."

She shook her head, but a small smile appeared on her face. After a few seconds, Lithara rested her chin on her hand and looked at Strax curiously.

"And you? What are you planning to do now? From the looks of it, you have some free time."

Strax looked at his right hand.

The Gauntlet of Darkness was there, covering his hand and part of his forearm. Its black surface seemed to absorb the surrounding light, while the chains accompanying it coiled around his arm as though they possessed a will of their own. That weapon had been created from Hades’ ancient Helm of Darkness, and after Strax absorbed the former god’s heart, its nature had changed completely. The problem was that he still didn’t know even half of its abilities.

"I’m going to learn how to use this."

Lithara looked at the gauntlet.

"The Gauntlet of Darkness?"

"Yes. Now that I have Hades’ soul and this thing, it would be a waste not to discover everything it can do. I’ve already discovered that I can manipulate shadows and travel through them, but I have no idea what other functions it possesses."

One of the black chains slowly moved along Strax’s arm before returning to its original position.

Lithara watched it with interest.

"Want some help?"

"No."

She made a small disappointed expression.

Strax continued, "But I appreciate the offer. And if you want to come with me, I won’t refuse the company."

Lithara’s face immediately lit up.

"Then I’m coming."

Strax stood up from the chair and began walking toward the exit. Lithara got up immediately afterward and followed him, pleased with the opportunity to spend some time beside him while he tested that new weapon.

As the two left the room, Strax slowly clenched the hand covered by the gauntlet.

Hades had left something inside him that still needed to be understood.

And Strax intended to discover exactly what it was.

...

...

Far away, in the mountainous regions of Asgard, two figures stood facing each other.

The area had been chosen precisely because it was isolated. There were no nearby villages, important roads, or structures that could be destroyed. Only an extensive mountain range, deep valleys, enormous rocky cliffs, and peaks that rose hundreds of meters above the ground.

For any ordinary warrior, that place would have been the perfect training ground.

For Zi Bai and Samira, it would be a battlefield.

Samira held her new sword with both hands. The weapon was considerably smaller and lighter than the enormous blade she had used for decades, but her stance had changed as well. Her shoulders were relaxed, her feet firmly planted, and her eyes were completely focused on Zi Bai.

On the other side, Zi Bai held her sword with only one hand. Her white hair was moved by the wind, and her golden eyes remained calm. There was neither arrogance nor provocation in her expression. She simply watched Samira, waiting for her disciple to take the initiative.

Samira took a deep breath.

"Then let’s begin."

Zi Bai gave a slight nod.

The next instant, the two disappeared.

The first clash occurred in the center of the valley.

The two swords collided with such force that the ground beneath them exploded in a wave of stones and dust. A crater instantly appeared, while cracks spread across the terrain in every direction. The impact also reached an enormous cliff hundreds of meters away, causing a perfectly straight line to appear across its surface.

Samira retreated several meters and immediately advanced again.

Zi Bai did the same.

The two clashed once more.

Then again.

And again.

The sound of the swords began echoing throughout the entire mountain range, each strike producing an explosion of pressure capable of destroying enormous rocks. Samira attacked with precise cuts, wasting no movements, while Zi Bai responded with an extremely refined technique, deflecting each attack only as much as necessary before immediately counterattacking.

Samira spun her body and executed a horizontal slash.

Zi Bai ducked.

The sword passed above her head and continued forward.

The result was immediate.

The enormous cliff behind Zi Bai was split apart.

The blade cut through the mountain as if it were made of sand, opening a gigantic fissure that extended hundreds of meters through the rock. An entire section of the cliff began slowly sliding before collapsing into the valley.

Samira had no time to watch.

Zi Bai was already in front of her.

The sword descended.

Samira blocked it.

The impact caused the ground beneath her feet to sink several centimeters.

"Better," Zi Bai said.

Samira smiled.

"I know."

She pushed Zi Bai’s sword aside and advanced.

One slash.

Two.

Three.

Each movement was different from the previous one.

There was no longer the brute force of before.

There were no desperate attacks simply trying to crush her opponent.

Samira was beginning to understand.

She attacked, observed, and responded.

Zi Bai blocked the first strike, dodged the second, and parried the third. Then she twisted her wrist and performed a single slash.

Samira instinctively retreated.

The blade passed in front of her body.

Behind her, an entire mountain was cut apart.

The summit slowly slid away and collapsed, raising an enormous cloud of dust.

Samira looked back for only a second.

When she turned her eyes toward Zi Bai again, she was smiling.

"You’re getting faster."

Zi Bai calmly replied, "So are you."

The two advanced again.

This time, their speed increased drastically.

Their movements became almost invisible, leaving behind only trails of pressure and cuts tearing through the landscape. They appeared over one peak and disappeared the next instant, reappearing at another point in the mountain range. Every encounter between their swords destroyed part of the terrain.

One mountain lost its summit.

Another had its side split apart.

An entire valley was opened by a single strike from Samira.

Zi Bai responded by cutting a rocky formation dozens of meters tall into several perfectly aligned pieces.

The two were no longer simply fighting.

They were reshaping the entire region with their swords.

Samira leapt over a rocky formation and descended with a vertical strike. Zi Bai blocked the blade, but the combined force of the two caused the terrain beneath them to sink and split apart. A wave of pressure traveled through the valley and knocked down trees hundreds of meters away.

Zi Bai spun and pushed Samira away.

Samira crashed through three massive rock formations before managing to stop.

She wiped the dust from her face and raised her sword again.

"Again."

Zi Bai smiled faintly.

"Again."

The two disappeared simultaneously.

This time, the clash took place at the top of a mountain.

Their swords met so many times that the air around them seemed to be getting sliced apart. Each movement left deep marks in the rocks, while enormous chunks were torn from the cliffs and hurled into the valleys.

Then Samira changed her rhythm.

She didn’t try to match Zi Bai’s speed.

Instead, she waited.

Observed.

Waited for the exact moment.

When Zi Bai advanced, Samira spun her body and delivered a single diagonal slash.

Zi Bai blocked.

The impact exploded around the two.

The mountain beneath their feet simply split apart.

The two fell together with tons of rock, but continued fighting during the descent.

Samira slashed.

Zi Bai dodged.

Zi Bai counterattacked.

Samira blocked.

The two struck the ground at the same time.

The explosion of force opened a gigantic crater.

For several seconds, only dust could be seen.

Then two silhouettes emerged from within it.

Neither had finished.

Samira breathed deeply.

Zi Bai raised her sword once again.

The two stared at each other.

Then they charged toward one another one final time.

The blades collided at the center of the mountain range.

The impact was monstrous.

A wave of energy swept across kilometers of terrain. Entire mountains trembled, cliffs were split from top to bottom, and enormous chunks of rock began collapsing simultaneously. Dust rose into the sky, completely hiding the horizon.

When it finally began to settle, the region had been completely transformed.

Where narrow valleys had once existed, there were now enormous craters.

Where cliffs had stood, there were perfectly straight cuts.

Some peaks had simply disappeared.

Samira remained standing on a newly formed stone platform, holding her sword. On the other side, Zi Bai also remained standing, her blade pointed downward.

Samira looked at the destruction around them.

"I think we destroyed a little too much."

Zi Bai looked at the shattered mountains.

"A little."

Samira smiled.

"Then let’s keep going."

Zi Bai raised her sword again.

"Continue."