Hero of Darkness

Amidst the loud white cloud-like mushroom-shaped explosion, Atreus completely disappeared from everyone's sight under the unified onslaught of the white wolfkins. 

"It's just the beginning but they all fell for it." said Romulus in an exasperated voice.

Priscilla on the other side was taken aback by her husband's words 

"What do you mean? He couldn't even dodge in time against their perfectly coordinated attack." spoke the saintess. 

In response, the peak 7th stage saint only shook his head in denial. 

Bang! 

On the battlefield, as soon as Atreus appeared again, he was again slashed by the light elemental sword skills and almost got cut in half. 

Huff! 

Huff! 

The blue wolfkin took deep breaths as he dodged the massive sword's blade at the last moment which was enough to kill him. His figure appeared as if he was barely managing to escape from the onslaught. 

Clink! 

And just like before, Ivaar made another attempt at the Atreus' life without giving him a chance to react. 

Shoot!

Boom! 

Right then, Mephisto also shot dozens of elemental beams from his summoned formations but this time… they actually hit the target. 

Atreus was catapulted and crashed against the wooden wall created by the assassin werewolf. His figure appearing as if he took great damage. 

Crackle! 

Thunderclap! 

But before he could even recover from the impact, a massive 10 meter wide lightning bolt struck from the dark sky as Juno, the lightning enchantress was waiting for the very opportunity. 

Sizzle! 

Sizzle! 

Atreus was roasted and his fur was almost charred after getting struck by this attack which was enough to destroy an entire building in a single strike. 

"Argh!" 

His countenance now appeared extremely haggard while he groaned in pain. 

Slash! 

BOOM! 

The 3rd sword from Dorian struck again as part of their premeditated team combo and Atreus was swatted down like a fly, thrown into one of the water currents flowing in this battlefield. 

This time, he barely looked like he was alive. 

"Hah! That should teach you how to be humble." spoke Juno. 

"Ha ha ha! 

Ha ha ha!!" suddenly, Atreus emerged out of the stream and started laughing. 

"Is that the best all of you can do? 

Sheesh, what a letdown." spoke the wolfkin with glowing blue eyes as he openly declared his grievance. 

"This bastard!" exclaimed Dorian in rage. 

The other 3 were also riled up after this provocation and revealed a hateful countenance. 

----------------

5 Hours Later. 

"Again, you weak ants!" shouted Atreus as his figure was burnt and bleeding under the constant onslaught of the 4 wolfkins. 

So far… all he did was get beaten up and dodge in nick of time. 

In the meantime, he would keep taunting and berating these opponents of his.

Calling them children, weak and pathetic losers, cursing their clans and even going as far as calling them a waste of time. 

By now… He had successfully pissed off all the 4 disciples but no matter how well-coordinated attacks they made or how badly Atreus was injured… He just wouldn't give up and kept mocking them again and again. 

Their bodies were now drenched in sweat and all of them barely had any world energy reserves to keep fighting despite pushing their limits by activating their bloodlines and attacking Atreus. 

Many of their combined attacks were enough to kill a 4th stage saint easily but for some reason, this Shadow Disciple would just get back up as if nothing happened. 

"Are we done playing?" asked Atreus in a mischievous tone. 

The group of wolfkins who were panting heavily had an ugly and gloomy expression.

"Alright then… My turn." 

----------------

One after another, the surrounding suddenly changed as storms and hurricanes formed and strong gusts of winds filled the surrounding 15 kilometers radius. 

This span encompassed the entire battlefield and the range was 7 times wider than their team battle formation. 

Out of nowhere, the entire surroundings were filled with highly condensed waterblades as Kahn aka Atreus activated Waterblade Hurricane, a legendary rank ability he acquired from Cthulhu. 

Violent surging tides of water erupted from the ground and he used Ocean Eddies, another legendary rank skill that allowed him to create massive reserves of water using world energy. 

Now… all of them had a mortified countenance because unlike how people wouldn't even be able to lift their fingers after getting beaten to a pulp… 

Atreus was full of vigor and revealed an elated expression as if everything went according to plan. 

Unlike the wolfkins, Kahn wasn't using his own reserves but Rathnaar's core as the source for these skills so in a way… There was no restriction on him in any way. 

"These fools haven't even realized what he was doing while getting beaten up." said Romulus, greatly disappointed in his own disciples. 

"What exactly is happening here?" asked Priscilla as she also didn't understand how things transpired the way they were now. 

Logically, Atreus should be half-dead or out of breath to even continue fighting. But instead… He was as energetic as before and was full of energy. 

"It's not him who lost the initiative. It's them." he responded to his wife. 

"When they were beating him with their combat techniques and unique abilities again and again… 

He saw most of their skills, speed, reaction time and team battle synergy. 

Atreus actually lost the first exchange on a purpose. His real goal was to make his opponents reveal their hand and all the tricks. 

In the end, all of them were forced to use their bloodlines and raise strength by at least half a realm.

But now… they are all weakened to the point that none of them can fight for long." he iterated, almost praising his new disciple in a way. 

"He strategically drained them down both mentally and physically. And Atreus doesn't just plan to beat them in a simple exchange of fists anymore." his expression turned somber as he predicted what was about to happen next. 

Given the centuries of experience, he had seen through Kahn's devious and ruthless plan. 

"He intends to break their will to fight."