Reincarnated as a failed hero?! Watch me Defy Fate! - Chapter 166

Chapter 166: Fighting the Nightmare
The ground trembled beneath my feet as Canis unleashed his true power.

A maelstrom of shadows burst from his towering form, distorting the space around us. The very air warped, trembling under the weight of his energy. Before I could react, a chilling system notification appeared before me:

[Unique Skill Activated: Endless Shadow World]

In the blink of an eye, the world around me changed.

Everything was devoured by shadow. The sky turned to pitch-black void, and the ground beneath me melted into a swirling ocean of liquid darkness. It was like falling into a nightmare—one I couldn’t wake from. The pressure of the domain pushed against my lungs, making each breath feel like poison.

I reached for my domain skill, desperation rising.

[Error: Unable to activate “Shogun Dominion” within “Endless Shadow World”]

“Tch.” I clicked my tongue, frustration boiling in my chest.

Canis kept attacking me with a combination of claw attacks, bites, and his nine tails. I dodged them and deflected them using the [Future Sight] skill. But I was still overwhelmed by his relentless attacks.

Canis had trapped me in his domain. I couldn’t access my own—his power held absolute dominance here.

However, I refused to give up. I chose to use Aura and hope that my attack could penetrate Canis.

I gathered everything I had and pushed my aura past its limit.

[Force Aura: Supreme Level – Activated]

Dark energy crackled across my body, seething like wildfire. My katana began to hum, resonating with my fury. I surged into the air and roared, unleashing one of my most devastating techniques:

[Blackmore Katana Style: Judgment]

A deep purple aura exploded from my blade, growing into a massive arc of energy that blazed like a dying star. I swung downward, crashing toward the earth like a meteor.

Canis used the skill [Darkness Bomb Impact] which made him release a bomb ball of dark magic with a very high concentration, which when released would bring destruction. He released it and launched it to meet my skill.

BOMB!!!

The impact was cataclysmic.

A deafening boom ripped through the void, obliterating shadows in a wide radius. The shockwave shredded the darkness like paper, sending debris and void dust scattering in every direction.

I landed in a crouch, chest heaving.

For a moment, everything was still.

But then… he emerged.

Canis stepped out of the smoke, untouched.

My heart dropped.

[Unique Skill Activated: Invincible Shadow]

A veil of shimmering black surrounded him. A barrier—one that made him completely immune to physical and magical damage for a short time. My strongest technique had done nothing.

“You’re still just swinging wildly,” a voice echoed.

It wasn’t Canis.

It was him.

The God of Darkness.

He hovered above us, seated on an obsidian throne that floated in midair like a king of shadows. His voice was smooth and cold, laced with a cruel kind of amusement.

And in his hands…

Was Envi.

Still sealed. Still unconscious.

My system. My guide. My closest ally.

“Struggling without him, aren’t you?” the god said with a smirk. “Defeat Canis, and I’ll release him. That’s the deal.”

His words hit like a slap.

He watched me like I was part of a twisted game—a failed experiment struggling to survive in a rigged trial. I could hear the mockery behind his calm tone. The confidence. The certainty that I would fall.

“You can’t defeat Canis with Dark Magic alone,” he continued. “Not within my domain.”

His words echoed in my mind like a taunt carved into stone.

And the worst part?

He was right.

In this cursed place, darkness was king. And I couldn’t fight shadow with more shadow. My magic flickered like a dying flame, smothered by the very power I was trying to command.

I clenched my fists.

My whole body trembled—not just from exhaustion, but from something deeper.

Anger.

Desperation.

Refusal.

No matter how impossible this trial seemed, I wasn’t done.

I couldn’t be.

I looked at Envi—helpless, trapped in the arms of a god who thought this was all a joke.

And I made a silent vow.

If dark magic wasn’t enough… then I would find another way.

I closed my eyes.

Beneath the silence, beneath the chaos of this shadowed realm, I reached deeper—far deeper than I ever had before. Down past the surface of my power, beyond the familiar touch of dark magic, and into something far older, far more dangerous. Something primordial. Buried in the very core of my being like a burning coal waiting for the wind to ignite it.

And then it did.

My soul caught fire.

[Power of Incarnation – Activated]

A surge of forgotten strength flooded my limbs, my vision warping as reality itself bent under its force. From that searing memory came the forbidden technique I had once used to slay Canis before.

[Incarnation Skill: Yami Gui no Giri]

I screamed as I lunged forward—more beast than man now. Shadows coiled around my feet, hurling me forward with terrifying speed. My katana blazed with dark energy, pulsing with every heartbeat. The void howled around me as I slashed diagonally across Canis’s massive chest.

I felt the blade dig deep. I felt bone crack and flesh tear.

The void trembled.

Yes. I had landed it.

But then… something unnatural happened.

The wound—disintegrated.

As if time rewound itself.

The slash I carved was swallowed, consumed by the very shadows I tried to cut. Darkness crawled up the edge of my blade, undoing the damage before my eyes.

I stumbled backward in disbelief. “No…”

Canis straightened, unfazed. His glowing crimson eyes pierced into mine as he spoke with a guttural, mocking growl, “The darkness here has no end. You cannot cut what is infinite.”

His words were like a chain wrapping around my heart, tightening with every syllable. I gasped, choking on air.

“I defeated you before!” I shouted, desperation seeping into my voice. “I watched you fall!”

He laughed.

A thunderous, guttural sound that made the whole realm shudder. “You only defeated a fragment of me… a mere 30% of my power,” he said. “What you fought was a whisper of my being. What stands before you now… is all of me.”

The weight of that revelation crashed into me.

So… the Canis who murdered Rosan, who destroyed so many innocent lives, was only at a third of his strength?

My knees buckled slightly. My mind reeled. Was all of this… truly hopeless?

“No,” I whispered to myself. I dug my fingers into my palms until I felt blood. “I don’t care.”

I gritted my teeth. My rage became a storm in my chest.

I didn’t care about honor. I didn’t care about trials. About rules. About what I was supposed to be.

I only cared about ending this nightmare. Ending him.

I activated the Blessing of Sealing Magic—a divine blessing from Miranda. My Dark Magic instantly sealed, melting off my skin like steam.

[Mode: Yami no Shogun – Deactivated]

My breath hitched. I could feel the emptiness left behind.

And then, I reached for the katana that King Aslan gives to me.

[Grimoire of the Darkness – Inventory Accessed]

[Summon: Divine Dawn]

The katana appeared in my hand, its pure white scabbard humming with restrained power. The seal crafted by the master smith Edwin still held, binding the divine force inside. A weapon of light, hidden in a tome of darkness.

I had vowed to never draw this blade unless there was no other way.

But this was that moment.

My hand tightened around the hilt. I drew it.

And the world ignited.

A blinding column of golden light erupted from the blade, bathing my body in divine radiance. My skin shimmered with glowing runes, ancient symbols of light and order tracing across my arms and chest.

[+30% Divine Magic Damage]

[+30% Strength]

[+30% Vitality]

Canis howled, reeling back from the holy light as if it physically burned him. “You dare… bring that into my realm? Into my domain? You coward!”

“Call it whatever you want,” I said, my voice steady. Cold. “You slaughtered Rosan. You bathed in the blood of the innocent. If this is cheating—then I don’t give a damn.”

My heart was a forge now. Every beat hammered my purpose deeper into me.

I vanished.

[Blackmore Katana Style: Inazuma]

A streak of divine lightning exploded through the battlefield. I reappeared behind Canis, blade already dripping with shadow blood.

Three of his massive shadow tails fell to the ground, writhing like dying serpents.

Finally I managed to break through his [Invincible Shadow] skill. It turned out he couldn’t absorb Divine Magic. I thought this was my chance.

Canis got shocked and roared in agony, stumbling forward, clutching at the missing limbs. The air thickened with his bloodlust. For the first time in this battle, he was bleeding. He was afraid.

“You bastard!” he bellowed, voice ragged and shaking. “You have no honor as a Dark Magic user like you, ending up using Divine Magic!”

I stepped toward him, the glow of Divine Dawn cutting through the shadows with every step.

“I’m not here for honor,” I said, katana raised. “I’m here to end you.”

But even as I stood tall, I felt the toll.

My body trembled.

My vision blurred.

The Divine Magic—I wasn’t meant to wield it. It wasn’t mine. The katana was keeping me stable, but it was draining me, burning me from the inside out. My bones ached. My heartbeat slowed.

I only had one more strike in me.

Canis, sensing my weakness, gathered a massive magic energy. The shadows bent toward him like servants to their king. His form warped—becoming a monstrous fusion of wolf and shadow deity. Ten eyes opened along his body. His jaw unhinged, and pure darkness poured from his throat.

This was it.

Everything came down to one last moment.

One final clash.