The city groaned under the weight of its own collapse. Streets split open, fissures crawling like living scars, and faint, pulsing glows hinted at the emergence of mini void rifts. Tharyx's shadow threads thrummed nervously, sensing distortions in the very fabric of the environment. Every pulse of energy resonated with his own, as if the fragments of the Void were aware of him, responding to his presence. The shadows coiled tightly around debris, probing fissures, lifting loose rubble, and stretching far beyond the visual field, moving with a preemptive intelligence that both exhilarated and unnerved him. Zalivra clung to the edge of a collapsed wall, muttering incoherently about "surviving physics" as a cloud of dust trailed every movement he made.
Without warning, the first mini-rift ignited. A jagged crack tore across a nearby street, black and purple energy pulsing from it like a heartbeat. The air shimmered violently, and from the fissure, a grotesque void beast emerged, a small, malformed creature, skin like molten shadow and eyes glowing faintly with predatory intent. It skidded forward, claws scraping the rubble, teeth bared, dripping black ichor onto the cracked stone. Tharyx's shadows reacted instantly, coiling around debris, striking preemptively, extending beyond human reach. One thread whipped the beast into the air, another pinioned its limbs, while a third struck a chunk of rubble, smashing it against the creature's torso.
Zalivra tried to contribute, crouching and attempting stealthy maneuvers, only to trip over a jagged piece of stone. He tumbled forward, flailing wildly, and by sheer accident, his motion redirected a shadow thread, which slammed the void beast with devastating force. "I'm saving you… accidentally!" he shrieked, scrambling upright, blinking at Tharyx.
Tharyx barely acknowledged him, focused entirely on the battlefield. The beast was down, but the shadows sensed more. From the same fissure, two identical void beasts emerged simultaneously, appearing from nothing. The first blink of an eye, and the second pair of creatures was already moving, faster than natural predators, instincts honed by the rift itself. The air thickened with the tang of void energy. Threads twitched frantically, coiling, striking, intercepting multiple paths at once. It was no longer merely combat; it was an experiment in chaos, and the shadows were responding beyond his conscious input.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Mini-Rift Detected: Multiplication Active.]
[Shadow Threads: Response Speed Critical.]
[User Status: Void-Touched | Shadow Threads Autonomy Rising.]
[Recommendation: Extreme Caution – Rapid Threat Assessment Required.]
Tharyx moved like a phantom among ruins. Shadows wrapped around entire streets, lifting and hurling debris, striking with impossible precision, intertwining strikes as if orchestrated by a master conductor. He could feel each thread stretching past perception, coiling, reacting faster than thought. Even when two void beasts lunged simultaneously, shadows struck preemptively, blocking, constricting, and flinging them into walls, yet adapting instantly as they split into unpredictable patterns.
Zalivra stumbled again, attempting "stealth," tripping over a stray beam and colliding into one of the fissures. His flail inadvertently caused a mini collapse, which the shadows immediately exploited, pinning a void beast under a shard of rubble. "I meant to help! I swear!" he yelled, scrambling upright, hair plastered with dust and sweat.
The city rumbled again, the fissures multiplying. Mini void rifts pulsed across streets and alleys, each spewing malformed creatures, some too small to register easily, some already fully formed and aggressive. Tharyx's shadows had to anticipate, extend, strike, and adapt simultaneously, their semi-conscious movements predicting the multiplicity of attacks. He realized, with a mixture of exhilaration and horror, that his power was becoming a battlefield in itself, a sentient mesh reacting with lethal intelligence.
One of the creatures lunged unexpectedly from behind a collapsed wall. A thread lashed outward faster than the eye could follow, intercepting it mid-air, twisting it around a broken pipe, and hurling it into the nearest void rift, where it screamed as the energy devoured it. Another pair of monsters emerged from a fissure directly opposite him, identical in every form and movement to the first. His shadows adjusted instantly, splitting into multiple autonomous threads, weaving a deadly lattice of defense and offense. The pulse of absorbed life essence tingled through him, heightening reflexes, accelerating perception, and intensifying the symbiosis between himself and the threads.
Zalivra peeked from a safe distance, mouth hanging open. "I don't know what kind of monster science you're doing, but it's terrifying… and kinda cool… maybe…?"
Before Tharyx could respond, a fissure opened almost beneath him. He felt the ground shift, dust and debris erupting from the split as if the city itself were alive, reshaping in response to the rifts. Shadows surged automatically, coiling beneath him to brace against collapse, lifting rubble, and striking emergent threats preemptively. His reflexes were instantaneous, but even he could feel the limits being tested. The threads were moving faster than his conscious mind could process, coiling, striking, anticipating.
Then, from the largest fissure nearby, a new creature emerged. Identical to the previous void beasts, but larger, malformed in ways that defied natural symmetry, pulsing with void energy that resonated with Tharyx's absorbed essence. The shadows reacted instantly, yet he could see the anomaly. The new creature was not merely aggressive; it was calculating, testing, and probing his threads, almost as if the rift itself had created a sentient predator in response to him.
SYSTEM MESSAGE:
[Void Anomaly Detected.]
[Mini-Rift Multiplication Active: Threat Level Rising.]
[Shadow Threads: Autonomy Required.]
[User Status: Void-Touched | Life Essence Residual Active | Extreme Threat Detected.]
Tharyx's eyes narrowed, shadows twitching, threads extending beyond his immediate control, instinctively striking at multiple targets, creating a lethal dance of destruction and defense. He could feel the creatures sizing him up, predicting movement, and testing limits in a combat scenario unlike any human or monster could fully comprehend. Each split-second was a calculus of survival, instinct, and power.
Zalivra, in his usual chaotic fashion, attempted to hide behind a broken pillar, only to tumble into a small fissure. Somehow, the shadows reacted to an errant thread wrapped around him, lifting him clear of immediate danger, then pivoting to strike another void beast. Zalivra squealed. "Okay! Fine! I didn't do that! It's… your shadows are doing it! I'm free, I'm fine… maybe not!"
Tharyx's pulse quickened. Shadows twitched, not only following commands but initiating attacks, predictive strikes, adaptive movements, and defense simultaneously. It was clear the threads were evolving, integrating absorbed life essence, environmental factors, and enemy behavior to create an almost self-directed combat network. The fissures pulsed again, and more creatures emerged in rapid succession, multiplying faster than before, testing the limits of even his semi-autonomous threads.
Then, in a flash that made the world seem to pause, two void beasts appeared identical to the first, emerging simultaneously from areas that had just been cleared. Tharyx froze for a heartbeat, observing their impossible symmetry. His shadows surged, threads moving in a lethal rhythm, yet he realized with chilling clarity: this was no ordinary combat. The rifts themselves were learning from him, spawning enemies in response to his actions, forcing adaptation in real-time.
Zalivra, tangled in rubble, shouted, "I swear I didn't do this! I wait… did I just save you again by tripping?!"
Tharyx didn't answer. Shadows twisted, coiled, and struck. The battlefield was alive with sentient threads and multiplying void beasts, rifts pulsing violently, and the air thick with void energy. Every second was a test of instinct, anticipation, and adaptation. He felt the pulse of absorbed life essence coursing through him, every nerve a conduit for power, every shadow a sentient weapon.
And as the twins from nowhere lunged forward simultaneously, the threads extended in a blur, coiling, striking, intercepting, but somewhere in the mist, a new pulse resonated, larger than the previous rifts, hinting at an even more intelligent force observing, calculating… waiting.
The fight had just begun.