SSS Ranked Shadow Monarch: Summoning Infinite Shadows-Chapter 240: Can’t Adapt

’He wants to know why? Hmm, he doesn’t know at all? So that means all he is doing is a duty, not actual hate for me.

But if it’s an issue of duty, then no matter what I say, he’ll not let me in, and as it stands, I can’t get through him without doing some crazy things.’ Aren thought to himself.

The issue was that he still had to speak to Casper, because that was the only way he could buy some time to maybe make out a plan.

"You took someone dear to me," Aren said.

"Hmm?" Casper paused, then he thought for a few seconds. "Oh, could you be talking about the lady that the patriarch wanted?" Casper asked.

Aren assumed that he was talking about Athena, so he nodded. "Yes, her."

"Hmm, why is she important to you?" Casper asked, still walking closer. "You must have at least known that coming here was terribly risky," Casper explained.

"Yeah, I knew that. I’ve already made my peace with that. I’m not going to stop until I get to her and save her," Aren explained.

"Save her? She isn’t being harmed. She is simply fulfilling her destiny," Casper stated, his gaze showing that he was trying to understand what Aren was talking about.

"Destiny? You took her away without her consent. That’s not destiny," Aren said.

"Destiny must not be sweet and easy. Sometimes it is hard, and sometimes it’s extremely heavy, but we must carry it," Casper explained.

Aren looked at him for a few seconds. He balled his fist tight.

’Destiny, the same kind of thing that made me an anomaly, that has sent angels and gods against me. People just try to manipulate and control us, turn us into their own puppet, and then call it destiny.

I refuse such destiny. I refuse such things. I refuse such systems. Nothing will ever make me accept it,’ Aren determined in his mind.

"Sorry, I can’t accept that," he said, looking right at Casper. "She deserves to choose, and I’ll not stop until she chooses if this is what she wants or not," Aren said with full conviction.

Casper looked at him, then let out a breath. "Sorry, your conviction might be great, but I will not allow you in," he said.

"I see," Aren said.

He dismissed all the shadows behind him. One by one, they dissolved back into darkness.

Now it was just him.

Aren tightened his grip on the Ancient Devourer and looked straight at Casper.

"But even so," he said calmly, "I won’t stop until I get Athena out of there."

Without hesitation, he raised the blade. Then slowly dragged it across his own arm.

The sword cut deep.

Blood poured out instantly, and the blade drank it greedily.

"Since using it on you didn’t work..." Aren muttered, watching his blood run along the metal.

"Then I’ll use it on myself."

The weapon in his hand trembled.

Then it awakened.

The blade twisted and reshaped, turning skeletal. A dragon’s skull formed at its tip, its hollow eyes glowing as its jaws slowly opened.

The Ancient Devourer had come to life.

Casper raised an eyebrow slightly as he watched the transformation.

Aren gave a crooked smile.

What he was doing now was the ultimate gamble. Once the blade awakened like this, it demanded blood, his blood. If he stopped feeding it, it would devour him instead.

And even if he survived the battle...

The blade would still come for him afterward. It was a suicidal weapon.

But Aren had already realized something. Casper’s ability might not even have a cap. If that was true, then throwing shadows at him endlessly would change nothing.

Athena was still inside the town. Aren didn’t have time to experiment.

So he chose the most dangerous option he had.

More blood meant more power.

If Casper could infinitely adapt...

Then Aren would infinitely escalate.

Aren launched forward.

BOOM!

The ground beneath him exploded into a crater as he accelerated like a missile.

He swung the Ancient Devourer.

The skeletal blade twisted through the air like a living serpent. The dragon’s mouth opened wide, its fangs snapping forward as it lunged at Casper.

Casper planted one foot behind him.

He steadied his stance.

Then, just before the dragon head reached him—

He spread his arms and grabbed the sword’s jaws.

BAM!

Shockwaves exploded outward.

Casper was blasted backward through the air as he struggled to keep the dragon mouth from snapping shut on him.

The weapon dragged him through the sky, extending farther and farther until—

BOOM!

Casper slammed into the ground, carving a massive crater into the earth.

The blade instantly retracted.

Aren shot forward after it like a rocket.

Casper pushed himself up just in time to see Aren charging again.

He stomped the ground.

The earth shattered beneath his foot.

Rocks blasted into the air.

In a blur of motion, Casper kicked them, one after another, each stone becoming a bullet hurtling toward Aren.

Aren spun the Ancient Devourer like a whip.

Slash. Slash. Slash.

Every rock was sliced apart before it could reach him.

Not one touched him.

Aren increased his speed even further.

Then he leaped into the air, spinning violently before striking downward.

The dragon skull roared forward again.

This time even faster.

Casper waited.

At the perfect moment, he swung his fist.

BAM!

His punch slammed into the side of the dragon skull. A massive explosion of force erupted. Casper was blasted sideways, skidding through the ground.

But Aren was already there. He followed immediately with a flying strike.

Casper raised one arm and blocked.

The impact pushed him back a few feet, but nothing more.

Aren spun through the air, retracting the blade before he even landed and attacking again instantly.

Casper crossed his arms to block.

BOOM!

Another violent shockwave tore through the battlefield as both men were thrown apart.

Aren landed and immediately cut his arm again.

More blood dripped onto the blade.

The Ancient Devourer absorbed it instantly.

The dragon skull glowed brighter.

The weapon grew stronger.

Casper stared at the blade.

For the first time, a streak of irritation appeared on his face.

Aren didn’t hesitate.

He lunged again, unleashing a relentless barrage of attacks.

Slash after slash.

Strike after strike.

Casper dodged.

Blocked.

Weaved.

Each attack smashed into the ground around him, blasting craters and tearing the battlefield apart.

Explosions echoed across the forest.

But despite the destruction...

Not a single clean hit had landed on Casper yet.

Even though Aren hadn’t landed a clean hit on Casper yet, he had noticed something.

Something important.

Casper hadn’t adapted to the Ancient Devourer.

That realization struck Aren like lightning.

Casper’s ability allowed him to adapt to any person, any power, anything that threatened him. If that were the case, then as the Ancient Devourer grew stronger from Aren’s blood, Casper should have grown stronger as well.

But he hadn’t.

Casper was still dodging.

Still weaving.

Still relying on movement rather than overpowering the weapon.

Which meant something was different.

Aren’s eyes narrowed as the thought formed fully in his mind.

He isn’t adapting to the sword.

Without hesitation, Aren cut his arm again and splashed more blood onto the Ancient Devourer.

The blade drank it eagerly.

The dragon skull glowed brighter.

Its aura thickened.

Its speed increased.

Aren lashed the weapon forward again.

The skeletal blade shot through the air like a living creature, snapping and whipping toward Casper with terrifying force.

BOOM!

It smashed into the ground.

BOOM!

It tore through trees.

BOOM!

It ripped trenches through the earth as Aren attacked relentlessly.

Casper still dodged every strike.

But something had changed.

His movements were no longer as smooth.

No longer as effortless.

Several attacks passed dangerously close to him.

So close they nearly tore into his body.

Aren saw it clearly now.

Casper was struggling.

’He can’t adapt to the weapon.’

Aren’s mind raced.

Casper could adapt to people.

But not to something being wielded.

Maybe his ability interpreted weapons as mere tools used by others.

Or maybe it was a flaw in the ability itself.

Aren didn’t know the exact reason.

But he didn’t care.

All that mattered was the opening it created.

A wide grin spread across his face.

He cut his arm again and splashed even more blood onto the blade.

The Ancient Devourer trembled with excitement as it devoured the offering. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Its glow intensified.

Its power surged.

"Let’s see how this plays out," Aren said, raising the monstrous blade once more. With the Devourer in hand, he attacked vigorously, trying to overpower Casper.

Casper kept dodging every attack, gritting his teeth and moving out of the way. He looked at the soul weapon in Aren’s hand. That was the cause of the issue. He was meant to be able to deny everything, so why wasn’t he denying Aren’s power now? This sword couldn’t make all that difference, now could it? It was still a sort of extension of Aren like every other weapon, which meant if he adapted to Aren, he should have adapted to the sword as well. So what was going wrong?