Rhodes and Kai could barely process what was happening when Shannon and Trevaris suddenly vanished before their eyes.
Kai gasped in surprise, while Rhodes quickly pulled him back. "Don't panic. It's probably her mind domain."
Realization struck Kai, and he couldn't help but ask, "How do you know that?"
Rhodes proudly lifted his chin. He might not be a strong fighter, but he was a thousand-year-old Fenris jerboa and prided himself on being quite experienced.
Aside from the two of them, no one else in the mall seemed to notice Shannon and Vlad's disappearance.
As the thread of malice Vlad had released was also pulled into the domain, the man heading down the escalator didn't encounter the accident.
The woman holding her child stood behind him and glared resentfully at the back of his head. But she dared not act on her thoughts and risk getting caught.
Both parties made it down the escalator unharmed. The woman scoffed at the man before turning to walk in the opposite direction.
…
In the domain, the scene before them had shifted dramatically. Lush green grass stretched beneath their feet, and vines had snaked up to bind Vlad's legs the moment he entered.
But that wasn't what surprised him most. What truly shocked him was that the thread of malice he'd released should have been intangible, but it was also bound and tightly coiled by vines.
Though he knew Shannon had reached nine tails in just two years, he hadn't realized how deeply she'd mastered her powers. Sure enough, she was the one he'd been looking for all along.
"Is this your domain? It's so full of life and different from anything I've encountered before."
Half of his body was nearly swallowed in vines and golden light when Vlad's gaze turned cold. Dense threads of malice burst from him.
As the threads of malice spread out like evil spirits, black smoke surged to invade every corner of Shannon's mind domain.
Before she could think of restraining him with a few vines, his malice would first erode her inner world.
Shannon watched as her domain was nearly swallowed whole in an instant. Compared to the evil she'd seen on Dexter, this was overwhelmingly crushing.
Even within her domain, she could feel the crushing pressure of the malice. No wonder Benjamin had solemnly warned her not to consume malice.
But now that Vlad had challenged her, Shannon wasn't about to back down.
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