Chapter 91: Really impressive to see you single-handedly beat up my Shadow Clone with 50% of my Strength!
Governor Grey’s pupils constricted, and he immediately spun around to meet Kaelen standing before the door.
Unlike what he was expecting, with Kaelen holding his daughter hostage, he was instead met with Kaelen shedding the skin of his daughter as he shape-shifted back to himself.
His eyes widened in shock.
"H-How?" He blurted in disbelief.
"If you’re asking how I shape-shifted into your daughter, then that simply means you never got my message. Because a few months ago, I happened to cross paths with a woman who claimed to be your daughter in Evolution Online... we both know how that ended." Kaelen said as he stepped forward and began moving around the study, inspecting the shelves as he explained.
"But if you’re asking how I was able to imitate her so perfectly, that’s pretty simple. From our interaction the last time, I already got an idea of how she behaved at home. Y’know what they say; charity begins at home. I never planned to nail it so perfectly, but it turns out your daughter is as much of a spoiled brat as I gave her credit for. And I hope you got my message from her, because here I am. And if you didn’t... then I’m here to kill you, Governor Grey." Kaelen said as he turned to face the man, who had an ugly expression on his face.
He chuckled bitterly. "You seem to have figured me out through and through... but that doesn’t matter, because from the moment I watched your battle with the Emperor, I made preparations accordingly like I was about to face the last wave. You think you’re smart..." The Governor raised his hand to cover his face. "But what you don’t know is that you just walked right into my trap, boy." As he said that, the room suddenly fell deadly silent as the men stood opposed to each other.
Kaelen looked around the room, feigning confusion. "Uhh... how long does it take for this trap of yours to activate?" He asked.
The Governor visibly stiffened as he looked up with an ashen expression. "These bastards... GUARDS!" He screamed towards the door.
"I don’t think they can hear you. As a matter of fact, no one can hear your screams." As soon as Kaelen said this, he took out a dagger and threw it at the Governor.
Governor Grey immediately raised a mana barrier as a shield before him, then watched as the dagger harmlessly fell to the ground.
He laughed in amusement. "You can’t even hit a stationary target and believe you stand a chance to take me down."
"You said you watched my battle with the Emperor. If you had seen it from the start... then you should know this is the time to start panicking."
The Governor’s expression turned grave as he snapped his head downwards to see the dagger embedded in the head of his shadow. His pupils constricted.
"Very well, then. You want a fight... I shall challenge you to a worthy battle." As the Governor said this, his evolution realm began climbing at an incredible speed, the concentrated energy in his chest sending ripples of shockwaves that blew the room up in a fierce wind that scattered papers across the floor.
"You don’t seem to understand." Kaelen said as he began approaching the man. "There will be no battle between us... there will only be ME beating you up." Kaelen said as he raised his fist, and before the Governor could react, he drove it into the man’s chest, knocking him back and sending him through the wall. But before he could fall out into the void, a force held him back from moving beyond his pinned shadow.
A few minutes earlier, Kaelen kicked the door to the study hard enough to shake the room and distract the Governor from the fact that at that same moment, the World Authority Fragment was replicating the exact state of the room as they were both summoned inside it.
The Governor was still in shock at seeing the void around his study, like the room was free-floating in space, when Kaelen shot forward and appeared before him. This time around, he reacted and raised his hands to shield himself before Kaelen descended on him with a barrage of punches.
Every blow sent ripples across his skin that shook his internal organs, causing him to cough up blood.
He couldn’t retreat because of his pinned shadow, neither could he move forward where Kaelen’s relentless blows came from.
He was stuck between a rock and a hard place, and immediately realized if he didn’t risk it, he might die without even putting up a fight.
So he risked it.
He calculated the trajectory of Kaelen’s next punch and swiftly threw a punch of his own, his fist surrounded by a red hue.
Bam!
The two fists collided with their jaws, and Kaelen was knocked backwards, while the Governor felt his jaw fracture as his vision turned hazy.
He bit his tongue to keep himself awake, enduring the pain to grab the two sides of the broken wall and using it to propel himself forward.
A fierce wind swept across the ground he once stood as he appeared before Kaelen with his two fists raised above him.
Kaelen barely had time to shield himself when the Governor descended upon him.
Boom—!
The two large fists connected with Kaelen’s arms, making them drop limp to his side like they’d been fractured beyond repair. Then another large fist appeared before him, flying upwards and connecting with his jaw before he could react.
Kaelen was forcefully knocked back as his body broke through the walls and spiraled into the void.
"GET BACK HERE." Governor Grey roared as he pushed his fist outward and made a grabbing motion, which suspended Kaelen’s body in the void before forcefully pulling him back into the room and raising his fist.
As soon as Kaelen appeared before him, what followed was a barrage of punches that created afterimages as they impacted Kaelen, each blow sending ripples of shockwaves across Kaelen’s body that destroyed his internal organs.
The Governor raised his other hand to stroke his beard amidst the beatdown. "I’ll give you your credit. You’re strong, but that’s also your greatest weakness.
"You have the power to accomplish great things, but have no experience in the real battlefield.
"I have conquered armies and nations single-handedly. Led humanity’s strongest warriors to conquer worlds and otherworldly realms. It’s shameful to witness the Emperor’s disgraceful defeat. But I’ll have to thank you for giving me the opportunity to step up as the next ruler of seven strongholds.
"Under my leadership, I shall make humanity great again, and reclaim our lost glory from millennia ago."
Governor Grey said, and stopped throwing punches to raise his palm and swat Kaelen away like a stubborn bug, sending him flying across the void until he became one of the distant stars.
Clap... clap... clap!
Someone suddenly began clapping behind him, and the Governor felt a chill run down his spine. He spun around to see Kaelen sitting cross-legged behind his table.
"H-How?" He blurted in shock and disbelief.
"Impressive. Really impressive to see you single-handedly beat up my shadow clone with 50% of my strength. I don’t doubt your accomplishments for one bit." Kaelen said as he uncrossed his legs and stood up from the table, making the Governor stumble back subconsciously.
"But you’re going to be explaining to me now what you meant by everything you just said."
The Governor’s eyes were wide in terror before he shut his eyes as he relaxed his shoulders.
"I see," he mumbled to himself. "You’re truly the monster you make yourself out to be..." He trailed off as he slowly opened his eyes. "BUT YOU WON’T GET SHIT OUT OF ME!" He suddenly flared as a pill materialized in his hand and he shoved it into his throat.
Kaelen was taken aback as he watched the man go down with a cocky grin after poisoning himself, which made him wonder if the man always carried the lethal pill around for this exact scenario.
That only proved that the situation surrounding Evolution Online was more serious than Kaelen gave it credit for, that this man would choose to lose an evolution Tier than to reveal anything.
"Y-You’ll... never find me." The man said with a creepy, amused grin before he slumped and disappeared into light pixels.
Kaelen stood there for a moment, staring at the empty spot where the man died, before he exhaled softly and began rolling his sleeves up.
At the same time, the Governor materialized back in light particles, only to meet Kaelen standing there, and looking around to see he hadn’t respawned at his save point, but had come here instead.
His eyes widened in shock, and his pupils constricted.
But before he could ask, Kaelen spoke up first.
"Ever heard of the claim that says your eyes are the windows to your soul? But have you ever wondered what the doors are?" Kaelen asked as his lips curled up in a cold smile.
"It’s your Shadow."
This was the latter part of the Shadow Prison ability Kaelen chose to call...
Hell’s Gate.
As long as your shadow was under his trap, it didn’t matter how many times a player died... they’d always respawn back at that same spot.