Shadow of the Midnight King
Peterson summoned his invisible by turning his weapon back into the staff, the beast mouth, crashed onto the shield which caused it to reflect a heavy pulse that pushes the beast back like 20 feet away from them, at the sametime the shield shattered instantly.
[Shield Durability: 0/6] .
it angered, it grinned its teeth looking at Peterson with a sinister look in its eyes. Peterson face darkened, sweat dripping down his entire body.
"I think may have angered it, I gotta switch to Greatsword " He span his staff switching to the weapon in mind. The beast open its mouth and let out a loud roar that shook the entire area.
The air felt heavy.
Peterson's grip on his greatsword tightened as the Great Demon Hyena's roar shook the ground under their feet. But this wasn't just a roar. No… this was aswel a command.
The sound tore through the night like a cannon blast. All around them, the surviving demon hyenas froze for a fraction of a second, then their eyes shifted — glowing red like molten metal fresh out of a forge. Their snarls deepened, and their movements became jerky, frantic. The smell of bloodlust filled the air.
[System Notification: Great Demon Hyena has activated Frenzy Command]
[All surrounding demon hyenas have entered Berserk State: Attack power +20%, speed +15%]
Peterson's jaw dropped. "Oh yeah… that's just freaking great. Sure. Why not? Let's give them a power-up. That'll make my night easier."
"They're coming!" Lili shouted, already raising her katana in a defensive stance.
The first wave hit like an avalanche. Three demon hyenas lunged at Peterson from different angles, tails slashing like blades. He spun his staff into hammer form and smashed the ground, sending a shockwave that knocked one back — but the other two closed in fast.
He flipped the hammer into sword form mid-spin and parried the tail strike of the first, while ducking under the second's bite. Sparks flew as metal clashed with the beast's bone-like tail edge.
Meanwhile, Lili was a storm of motion. She cut down one beast with a clean upward slice, pivoted, and shot a crossbow bolt through the eye of another. She didn't stop moving — a blur of steel and precision, keeping a small zone around her clear.
"Peterson, watch out! behind you!" she warned.
He didn't look. He just slammed his weapon into staff form, the Veve glow intensifying, and an invisible shield flared to life.
CLANG! BANG! CRACK!
Three hyena tails hit at once, the shield sparking from the impact.
[Shield Durability: 3/6]
"Love this shield, I keep forgetting that I have this skill" Peterson muttered, before snapping his staff into chain whip form. He wrapped it around the neck of the nearest hyena and yanked hard, smashing it into the ground with a bone-crunching THUD.
Still, there were too many.
The boss didn't just stood there and watch — it moved like a predator waiting for the right moment. It circled the chaos, its eyes locked on Peterson, there is a red energy pulsing from its body.
"I think I could use some help even if its not much, but they can be used as a good distraction, rise my beautiful skeletons soldiers " Peterson growled.
He pulled up his system menu and slammed his hand down.
[Skill Activated: Summon – Skeleton Warrior]
[Skill Activated: Summon – Skeleton Archer]
"I have to think of a name for you two if you help us surviving this with all you got "
He grin
Two skeletal forms emerged from swirling black mist at his side — one wielding a battered sword and shield, the other holding a jagged bow with arrows that glowed faintly green.
"Warrior, keep them off Lili! Archer, target eyes only!"
The skeleton warrior roared soundlessly and charged, shield raised. The archer began firing, each arrow finding a weak spot.
It bought them seconds — nothing more — but seconds mattered.
Peterson rotated through his weapons like a man playing a deadly instrument. Axe for cleaving, hammer for stuns, sword for precision, whip for control. Every movement had its purpose, every transformation were smooth from muscle memory built in blood and panic.
"Peterson!" Lili called. She was panting now, her swings slightly slower. "If Jean-Daniel and Wilkens were here, they would've been a great help, I didn't anticipate this outcome, as far as I know, this one of the easiest training ground for young loa warriors"
"Yeah, well, unless they teleport in with snacks and extra weapons, we're stuck!" he shouted back, deflecting another tail strike that cracked his shield.
[Shield Durability: 1/6]
The invisible barrier flared once more before shattering into fragments of light. The force of the next attack sent him tumbling into a pile of bones.
"Darng it, that hurt, but not as much as getting hit by the big boss"
He got up slowly, chest heaving, vision swimming. "Not… done… yet…"
All sudden the boss starts charging towards them.
"The boss must have sensed weakness, because it finally charged" Peterson said.
The ground tore up under its massive paws as it barreled forward, its charges mouth wide open, all four eyes locked on him.
Peterson barely managed to block, but the impact sent lightning pain down his arms. His weapon almost flew from his hands.
[System Warning: Veve Energy Capacity at 92%]
[Risk of Midnight King Possession Imminent]
"Not now… I can handle it—"
Another warning flashed.
[Capacity: 97%]
His legs buckled. The air thickened around him. The glow of his Veve marks pulsed faster and faster, almost frantic.
Lili sliced down another hyena and turned toward him — her face paled. "Peterson… your eyes!"
He didn't need a mirror to know something was changing. His vision blurred, everything tinted in deep crimson. His skin felt like it was boiling from the inside out.
[Capacity: 100%]
[Warning: You are no longer in control]
Peterson's body straightened against his will. His muscles bulged, his bones stretching until he loomed at least ten feet tall. His skin color deepened to a pitch-black shade that swallowed light. His clothes melted into a long coat made from the same darkness, flaring behind him like smoke.
On his head, a wide-brimmed hat formed, shadowing eyes that now burned a glowing, violent red. His hair spilled long and dark down to his waist. The Veve marks across his skin vanished completely, replaced by a terrible emptiness.
In his hand, the staff warped — elongating, curving, becoming a massive black scythe with a blade that shimmered like the edge of night itself.
Lili froze, her katana half-raised. "Peterson…?"
But the thing that stood there didn't answer.
The shadow moved. One moment it was still — the next, it blurred forward so fast the air cracked. Demon hyenas were ripped apart without even seeing what killed them. Bodies fell in grotesque halves, heads rolling, tails severed.
The Great Demon Hyena roared and leapt into the fray as it seeing its pack getting shredded like its a slaughter house.
The shadow caught the strike with the scythe's haft, spun it, and carved a deep gash along the boss's side. Black blood hissed as it hit the ground.
The boss howled, spinning with its mace-tail — but the shadow ducked under it effortlessly and slashed upward, nearly taking off one of its horns.
Lili could only watch, rooted in place. Every movement was too fast for her eyes, every swing precise and lethal. But this wasn't Peterson's fighting style — it was something different and stronger. Something colder.
The boss lunged again, but the shadow vanished mid-swing, reappearing behind it, his scythe raised high ready to strike. The blade came down, forcing the beast to roll away, tearing a trench in the earth where it stood.
The demon hyenas still under frenzy charged, but they were just small fries — they died faster than they appeared, their corpses littering the battlefield.
Lili's mind screamed at her to help, but something inside told her not to get too close to the strange new being that Peterson had become. This wasn't just Peterson anymore from what she's seeing, the skills, the power, the being was fearless.
The Great Demon Hyena and the shadow clashed again, this time mid-air, each blow sending shockwaves through the forest.
For a brief moment, red eyes met crimson eyes, and the two forces grinned — predator against predator.
And then they collided again.
To be continued…