Since his underlings were physical beings rather than dark energy constructs, the enemy Lord ruthlessly ordered them to charge straight into the Shadow Dimension.
Luke waved his hand, sending a tidal wave of dark energy crashing down to annihilate the vanguard that had breached his territory.
The strike drained thousands of dark energy points. Watching his reserves rapidly regenerating, Luke frowned. Deciding to conserve his strength, he ceased his personal attacks and let the Shadowkhan take the frontline.
The enemy Lord expended a massive amount of his own dark energy to force the spatial rift open even wider. Though it was only about ten meters across, it allowed over a dozen hostile creatures to flood through at a time. Faced with an endless, surging tide of monsters, the Shadow Ninjas were steadily pushed back.
While the ninjas boasted superior individual combat strength, it wasn't enough to cause a qualitative shift in the battle. They were being entirely suppressed by sheer numbers.
At the same time, Luke remained wary of the opposing Dark Dimension Lord. He didn't dare launch reckless attacks, terrified of leaving himself open to a decapitation strike.
"While constructs made of dark energy possess boundless potential, their steep cost severely throttles your growth!" the enemy Lord mocked, floating safely behind his army. "Just look at you! You can't even fight back!"
Watching his ninjas get overwhelmed by dozens of enemies at once and dissipate into shadows, Luke scowled. He immediately deployed 20 Razor Claws.
The moment the Razor Claws hit the battlefield, their terrifying agility made them look like they were flying. With ruthless precision, they instantly tore through swathes of the enemy horde. Compared to the standard Shadow Ninjas, the Razor Claws were built purely for combat—especially for brutal slaughters like this.
Seeing the immediate, devastating impact of the Razor Claws, Luke was thrilled.
Checking his dark energy reserves, he permanently sacrificed 1,500 points of his maximum capacity to convert 150 Shadow Ninjas into 30 more Razor Claws.
He now commanded 50 Razor Claws. However, no [Stat Enhancement] prompt appeared, meaning the upgrade threshold likely only applied to the base Shadow Ninjas.
He was briefly disappointed but quickly shook it off.
His army now consisted of 300 Shadow Ninjas and 50 Razor Claws. Although his total numbers had significantly decreased, he reorganized them into elite squads: six ninjas paired with one Razor Claw. This new formation instantly stabilized the frontline, halting the enemy's advance and even beginning to push them back.
The elite shadow squads relentlessly chipped away at the horde, their killing efficiency skyrocketing as they steadily exterminated the invaders within the Shadow Dimension.
Seeing the tide of battle turning against him, the enemy Lord cloaked himself in dark energy and charged forward.
A concentrated blast of dark energy shot toward Luke. With a simple wave of his hand, Luke conjured a thick dark energy shield to block it.
He clapped his hands together, summoning two massive tides of dark energy that swept out in a pincer movement toward his opponent. Realizing the danger, the enemy Lord rapidly retreated, staring at Luke with a deep frown.
"You can actually manipulate dark energy flawlessly!"
Even as a dimensional lord, he could only utilize dark energy to a certain extent; he absolutely couldn't bend it to his every whim like this.
Luke looked at him and instinctively channeled his voice through the ambient dark energy. "Can't you?"
Assuming Luke was mocking him, the enemy Lord's temper flared. "Hmph! So what if you can manipulate it perfectly? With your pitiful energy reserves, what can you actually accomplish?!"
Luke glanced at his internal tracker. He was regenerating 480 Energy Points per second. By the time they finished exchanging words, the thousands of points he had spent on that tidal wave attack had already completely refilled.
'What the hell is this guy talking about?'
Suddenly, a realization hit him. Thanks to the System, Luke genuinely had absolute control over his dark energy. In contrast, this guy had merely claimed ownership of a Dark Dimension fragment. He could use dark energy, but he had to follow specific rules and techniques to do so!
It was like the difference between a wizard needing to painstakingly chant spells and draw runes to cast magic, versus a god simply willing the magic into existence.
'So... is this my true power?'
Luke looked down at his hands as streams of dark energy effortlessly coiled around his fingers. Following his will, he launched a concentrated beam of dark energy straight at the enemy.
With a roar, the unknown entity expelled a massive surge of his own dark energy to neutralize the attack.
"I swear it! I swear upon the name of Andrews, I will crack your secrets!"
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Andrews bellowed. The dark energy within him pulsed outward, resonating with his words. As the energy swirled around him, it forcefully amplified his strength. With a wave of his hand, the energy formed intricate magical arrays, launching a barrage of diverse attacks at Luke.
Luke casually swiped his hand, warping through space to reappear on the opposite side of the Shadow Dimension, effortlessly dodging the volley.
Watching how Andrews resonated with the energy, Luke felt a spark of inspiration.
"Andrews, huh? Alright then, I swear upon..."
Currents of dark energy frantically gathered in front of Luke, drawn to him like moths to a flame.
He paused for a second, then locked eyes with Andrews.
"I am who I am! I am Luke! I am the Lord of the Shadows! And in my name, I declare you my enemy!"
"The Dark Energy will no longer welcome you!"
The moment Luke affirmed his identity and established his absolute authority over the dimensional plane, the surrounding dark energy practically cheered, as if it had finally found its true master.
Across the battlefield, Andrews suddenly realized he could no longer command his own dark energy.
Desperately trying to force his power to obey, Andrews roared, "Who do you think you are?! You can't just rewrite the rules of reality!"
His expression grew increasingly grim. Inside this dimension, he was completely incapable of harming Luke. Worse, he had accidentally taught Luke how to assert his dominance, and it was actually affecting him!
'Is he truly the Lord of the Dark Dimension? The absolute master of dark energy?!'
'Impossible!'
Panic bleeding into absolute ruthlessness, Andrews reached into his robes. "Fine! You forced my hand!"
He pulled out an ancient, glowing scroll and tore it in half.
"Behold the forbidden magic of the gods!"
Strange, alien energies poured out from the torn parchment, morphing into glowing runes. Massive, ethereal chains materialized out of thin air, violently locking down the surrounding space and trapping Luke inside a cage of light.
"Lord of the Shadows?! Let's see you talk your way out of this!"
Luke watched as the massive chains formed an impenetrable prison, forcefully expelling all ambient dark energy from his immediate vicinity and sealing him within.
Realizing he could no longer feel his connection to the Shadow Dimension, Luke's heart sank. But strangely, he could still feel a dense pool of dark energy burning within his own body.
He immediately opened his System.
Just as he suspected, the interface displayed a massive warning indicating his connection to the Dark Dimension had been sealed. It stated that continuous energy output was required to break the seal. His maximum energy capacity hadn't changed, but the actual number representing his available energy was rapidly climbing. His energy was still regenerating!
'Wait... so my Dark Dimension isn't what supplies me with energy. I am the one supplying the dimension with energy!'
The Dark Dimension was literally just a storage tank for his power!
He had originally assumed the System fed the dimension, which in turn empowered him. In reality, the System empowered him, and his excess energy nourished the dimension!
Having completely grasped the master-servant dynamic of his powers, Luke nodded in realization and looked at Andrews.
"So what if you cut me off from the ambient energy in the dimension? Are you actually brave enough to come in here and kill me?"
Despite knowing exactly how his powers worked now, Luke played dumb, intentionally stalling for time while his internal energy reserves rapidly refilled.
"Hmph. Idiot!" Andrews scoffed. Since his dark energy had been completely locked out, he abandoned it entirely. Gathering a completely different type of arcane energy in his hands, he began weaving a highly complex spell.
He, Andrews, had not risen to power solely relying on dark energy! It was merely a higher-tier power he had acquired later in life.
Even though his dark magic was currently rebelling against him, Andrews wasn't worried. If he killed Luke right now, the restrictive rule would likely shatter, and he might even claim Luke's secrets for himself.
As for engaging Luke in close-quarters combat? He wasn't a fool. This kid had far too many terrifying secrets. It was too risky to approach him directly.
Once his arcane spell was fully prepped, Andrews hurled the devastating magical attack at Luke's cage.
Seeing that the enemy Lord hadn't taken the bait, Luke was slightly annoyed, but he stopped holding back.
Torrents of pure dark energy erupted directly from his body, forming a dense barrier that effortlessly absorbed the arcane attack. The defense cost him a few hundred points of energy, but Luke couldn't care less. He regenerated that much in less than a second.
Using his own internal dark energy for propulsion, Luke floated into the air, hovering face-to-face with Andrews once again.
The arcane chains were designed specifically to sever his connection to the surrounding Dark Dimension. Expelling the ambient dark energy from the cage was just a side effect, not a continuous suppression field.
Since Luke was the true Lord of the Shadows, his mortal body couldn't handle an infinite amount of dark energy—not unless he wanted to abandon his physical form and become a purely energetic entity like Dormammu, which he absolutely did not.
However, thanks to his 8x physical enhancement, his human body could now safely contain a localized reserve of exactly 800 Energy Points. He hadn't had a chance to test this limit until now; back when he had the 4x multiplier, his body could only store 400 points.
With a solid 800 points radiating within him, and his internal reserves passively generating a staggering 480 points per second, he was practically a walking cosmic generator.
"Alright," Luke said, staring Andrews down. "Now it's a fair fight!"
Watching the sheer volume of dark energy continuously venting from Luke's body, a profound sense of dread washed over Andrews.
He was just a lucky, high-tier mage who had stumbled upon a fractured micro-dimension when he had reached the limits of his arcane potential. He had merely laid claim to it.
But right now, his dark magic was completely disabled, his arcane spells couldn't even scratch this kid, and the monster standing in front of him was regenerating energy at a terrifying, impossible rate! If this dragged on, he was guaranteed to lose!
'I need to run! Forget the Dark Dimension, my life is more important!'
He could always sell the intelligence about this kid to stronger entities in his home world in exchange for protection and resources.
Making his decision, Andrews instantly conjured an arcane teleportation array. Completely abandoning his slaughtered army, he transformed into a streak of light and bolted straight for the spatial rift.
As long as he crossed back into his own Dark Dimension, he could use it as a transit hub to escape back to his material plane!
Seeing his opponent make a desperate break for the rift, Luke immediately tried to give chase. But he quickly realized a fatal flaw: flying through the void using pure dark energy propulsion drained his internal reserves exponentially faster than shadow-stepping across physical surfaces.
Given his current regeneration rate, even if he burned through his entire 800-point reserve, he would only barely reach Andrews in time. And once he got there, he would be completely out of energy, leaving himself wide open to get one-shotted by a simple arcane spell.
Watching Andrews get closer and closer to the spatial rift, Luke gritted his teeth in sheer frustration.
Suddenly, the unmistakable sound of shattering glass echoed through the void.
"Channel all of your energy into me."
A figure draped in golden yellow robes stepped out of thin air, appearing directly beside Luke.