The Witch Hunter System

Chapter 1198: An Ominous Passing Shadow

Empyrean Oceanheart was quickly startled before checking the sensor displays of the Azure Wanderer’s rear. Indeed, there was a strange shadow following along their hyperlane route, creeping ever closer.

The rear sensor display was also the first thing Vaan picked up with his Omni-Sense after noticing the abnormality.

After all, the Azure Wanderer was the size of a planet, and the distance between the moving shadow and it was several more planets in length. Such a long distance was beyond his current sensory reach.

"There is a shadow following us, indeed!"

Empyrean Oceanheart deeply frowned before actively exerting her Empyrean Power to accelerate the Azure Wanderer further in an attempt to create distance.

Unfortunately, this was only a temporary solution.

As long as the moving shadow was following their hyperlane route, it would also arrive at their destination. The only way to lose its tailing was to switch to a different hyperlane route before it could ride it again with them.

However, this option was clearly impossible.

In order to switch to a different hyperlane route, the Azure Wanderer would have to first exit the hyperspace before re-entering a new one. This involved a period of deceleration.

If that happened, the moving shadow would surely catch up to them.

"What is that thing?" Seraphina asked with a startled expression. She failed to make out the form of the moving shadow.

On the rear sensor display screen, the moving shadow in the distance appeared without a fixed form, like a small cloud of dark gaseous substances, weathered by windstorms. It seemed nonliving, yet spiritually alive at the same time.

If it had been found anywhere else in the void, they would have thought much about it. After all, dark gaseous substances were found throughout the vast and boundless void, especially in places like the Dark Horizon and Umbral Edge.

However, this small cloud of dark gas was pursuing them, even gradually closing the distance.

That was not normal and definitely unsettling.

Although Seraphina didn’t know what kind of danger the moving shadow posed, she at least knew it wouldn’t be a good thing if it caught up to them. After all, it showed up right after they left the Star River Realm.

Considering the Star River Realm was devoid of life, there was even a chance that the moving shadow was responsible for it!

"That thing followed us right after leaving the Star River Realm. Could it be responsible for the Star River Realm’s current state?" Seraphina voiced her thoughts.

"If it is, then we definitely can’t let it catch us!" Empyrean Oceanheart stressed.

Despite being an Empyrean God, she treated the unknown shadow with absolute caution. This was rather rare, considering that few things could threaten her in Chaos. It could be that Vaan’s horrific fate had unnerved her, making her more conscious of potential dangers. ȐâNОВĘṧ

Nevertheless, it was never wrong to adopt a cautious attitude to everything unknown. It was always better to be safe than sorry.

In an instant, Empyrean Oceanheart made a quick decision: Since they couldn’t outrun the shadow, they would take an offensive approach to slow it down, or even cut it off their tail.

Click! Click! Click!

Under Empyrean Oceanheart’s command, the Azure Wanderer’s hydro-powered turrets were deployed, aiming at their rear. Once they locked onto their targets, they immediately fired.

Zing!

Multiple superheated beams of blue light pierced straight through the moving shadow in the rear.

The Azure Wanderer’s hydro-based laser turrets were rather common, not exactly powerful, but still destructive enough to eradicate low-level Divine Beings. It was well-suited to probing the shadow’s strength.

Unfortunately, the blue beams of light failed to eliminate the unknown threat chasing after them.

Although the blue beams of light punctured multiple holes in the moving shadow, the consecutive attacks did not harm it in any way, not even reduce its mass. They simply scattered its form, which quickly regathered.

Everyone on the bridge narrowed their eyes with scrutiny at the rear sensor display.

"Hydro-based laser attacks are effective against both material and spiritual beings, especially the latter. Yet, they had no effect on that thing. Could it be some form of Outerworlder?"

At Seraphina’s speculation, Vaan quickly frowned in thought.

Although her speculation was reasonable, the shadow’s unfixed form was quite different from the Outerworlders in his memory. Strictly speaking, the shadow didn’t seem like any form of life.

On the other hand, Outerworlders were at least higher-level life forms.

Boom!

Shortly after the laser-based attacks failed, Empyrean Oceanheart initiated a barrage of magical attacks. She bombarded the stubborn shadow, hoping to blast it far off their tail.

Whether it was a curse, a phantom, an illusion, or any form of material or immaterial, at least they should have produced some effects. Unfortunately, the stubborn shadow’s scattered mass reformed without any surprises.

Neither its mass decreased nor did their distance from it increase. On the contrary, their distance shrank further.

All of Empyrean Oceanheart’s efforts proved fruitless. She never felt so helpless. It was like the same helplessness others have experienced when confronting Outerworlders.

Despite her arsenal of spells and methods, nothing could affect the pursuing shadow.

Before long, the shadow disappeared from their rear sensor display. It had invaded the interior of the Azure Wanderer and was rapidly making its way to the bridge. It was just a matter of time before it reached them.

"What the hell is this thing?!"

Empyrean Oceanheart couldn’t help but curse, feeling both a sense of desperation, urgency, and horror. Her anxiety soared as the inevitable approached.

Seraphina’s entire body tensed with anxiousness and dread as she braced herself.

After all, there was nothing else she could do when even Empyrean Oceanheart couldn’t do anything.

Abandoning the Azure Wanderer during its hyperdrive was also out of the question. Not even the strongest Divine Emperor in history would ever dare to attempt something so foolish. The extreme spacetime shear would end her instantly.

While the Azure Wanderer was extremely secure, it was also an iron-tight prison when faced with problems it couldn’t outrun in hyperdrive.

"It’s about to arrive!" Empyrean Oceanheart informed gravely.

In that instant, Vaan mentally prepared to defend himself. Things that even Empyrean Oceanheart couldn’t achieve weren’t necessarily things that he couldn’t achieve either.

Just as the unknown shadow phased through the back walls, entering the bridge, Vaan immediately made his move, commanding the thought of extinction to erase it before it could reach them.

’Disappear!’

Waves of Soul Power surged out of Vaan’s mind, transforming into the pure forces of annihilation as they collided with the seemingly unbeatable dark shadow cloud.

For a brief moment, Vaan’s move actually proved to be effective, halting the shadow’s advances, even pushing it back several paces. However, Vaan’s concentrated expression quickly morphed into terror as his Soul Power rapidly drained just to keep the shadow at bay.

Evidently, this shadow was far more powerful than he could imagine. Even if it was nonliving, the forced behind it was definitely at the True Divinity level or beyond, far above his current means.

In that split second when the shadow regained its momentum and advanced, Vaan decisively blasted it with the full power of his Nihility Law.

’Die!’

Swoosh!

Empyrean Oceanheart and Seraphina were both shocked by the dreadful power of nihility, which unexpectedly threw the shadow mass back with even greater force than the power of thought.

Unfortunately, despite its greater effect, the Nihility Law ultimately still failed to eliminate the shadow mass. At most, it only delayed the shadow mass for a bit longer before losing its effectiveness.

In that instant, Vaan’s Omni-Sense also scanned the shadow mass to understand its origin. The moment its information was revealed, he immediately froze.

"Be careful!" Empyrean Oceanheart cried.

With a wave of her hand, she summoned her strongest defensive spell to protect everyone. A thick blue barrier covered everyone as the shadow mass reached its surface.

Unfortunately, even the protective barrier failed to block its advance.

Empyrean Oceanheart and Seraphina’s hearts tightened instantly the moment they watched the shadow mass phase through the protective barrier, ultimately passing through their bodies.

They were both stunned for a while, even after the shadow mass exited the front of the Azure Wanderer and disappeared into the distant Umbral Edge.

"Huh?! I’m... fine?"

Seraphina and Empyrean Oceanheart quickly inspected themselves and found nothing amiss. They were perfectly unharmed, even though the brief encounter filled them with infinite dread and discomfort.

The stubborn shadow mass was like an evolved ghost, a true phantom existence unkillable by any form of energy, magic, or law. Such a thing shouldn’t exist, yet they felt like that was what it was.

Such a bizarre and incomprehensible experience left them confused as they tried to make sense of the matter.

Empyrean Oceanheart couldn’t help but wonder if everyone had been caught under some form of shared hallucination. She felt like that was the only possibility closest to the truth of their experience.

After all, how else could such a magic-immune ghost of the void possibly exist?

"Just what was that thing, exactly?"

Empyrean Oceanheart frowned in deep thought. In all her years of void travel, she had never encountered such a bizarre and incomprehensible situation.

The shadow mass seemed like all bark and no bite; it could scare, but couldn’t actually harm.

However, was that truly the case?

It didn’t take long before Empyrean Oceanheart and Seraphina both noticed Vaan’s silent yet grim expression, full of concern and uncertainty. He surely didn’t look good.

"Are you alright, Sir Vaan?" Seraphina asked with surprise and concern.