Triple-Seven stood at the edge of the battlefield, fully transformed. His body, larger than his brothers', was covered in black fur, his muscles thicker and more defined. His sharpened ears twitched at every sound. He kept his hands open because his claws could easily tear through his own skin and had two fangs peeked from beneath his lips.
He glanced at his opponent, now fully cloaked in shadows, and grumbled in thought, 'This prick's class was the worst to experiment with. We shouldn't have tried this on a stealth class. I wasted a damn day chasing after him.'
He sent a message to his brothers: 'We only have to kill him once. Everyone, get ready to attack.'
Touching his chest with the energy orb, he felt a powerful tremor going through his body, reinforcing each part of his body, and turning all his skin golden. Looking at his brothers and getting the confirmation that his brothers were ready, he darted toward his opponent.
In the back, Sixty summoned his lightning and filled the sky with the element. Twelve and Ninety gathered vast amounts of Soul Power. One Hundred-Seven and the sword company followed close behind Triple-Seven, moving in perfect sync.
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I could guess their intentions. The one with lightning was flooding the field with light, trying to weaken my shadows.
'The golden one charging ahead… He probably thinks I'll have trouble piercing his skin.' I snorted at the thought.
The other six all wielded swords, their attacks infused with a strange white light that moved too fast to follow.
'What is that?' I wondered. I didn't know but I had no intention of letting it touch me. After studying their lineup, I realized one thing: they were underestimating me.
Turning to my partner, I said, "Take care of the lightning man."
Midnight didn't answer and simply vanished. When he reappeared in the distance, I nodded. His opponent was already on the defensive, and the lightning polluting the battlefield had been trapped around its caster. Satisfied by Midnight's performance, I turned my head just as the golden human slashed at me with his claws.
"What?!" He exclaimed. I expected his confusion as his hand passed through the shadows that made up my body. Sensing the incoming white light from the swordsmen, I enveloped the golden man with my [Shadow] and vanished. When he found himself in a foreign space, the man looked around excitedly, seemingly unaware of his impending doom.
"Is this your [Shadow Realm]?" he asked, curious.
"[Umbral Realm]," I corrected, trying to sound human. I hated using my voice. It felt off, unnatural compared to all other voices I've heard today. But I had to speak. I couldn't let him mistake this space for something weaker. Sensing his surprise at the sound of my voice, I regretted speaking.
He opened his mouth to speak again, but I had already lost patience. I raised my hand to attack and used my strongest skill. A gigantic beast formed from [Shadows] materialized between my enemy and me. It was massive, ancient and regal. When seeing it, I couldn't help but feel a hint of pride.
'It really is perfect.'
It was a majestic creature. Ten times taller than me, I had to tilt my head back just to meet its eyes. Its body, though entirely dark, was covered in scales. Its neck, chest, and legs revealed a musculature worthy of the kings of beasts. Its massive wings stretched across the sky, completing the image of a creature born to rule.
Though this creature was a monster of physical strength, its mastery over the elements was rivaled only by my own.
'Now that this marvel has become a shadow, it sadly no longer controls anything but shadows, having lost its command over the other elements,' I recalled. I shook my head. There was no need for other elements when darkness and shadows were my servants. Noticing that the strange golden man was staring at my servant in disbelief, I took the opportunity to give an order.
'Kill him.'
My [Darkness Dragon] bowed its head respectfully. Like all of my shadow beasts, it seemed to hold an innate fear of me. Only Midnight was spared from that instinctive terror that shadow creatures felt in my presence.
'Perhaps that's why I like him more,' I thought. I watched the battle unfold with growing curiosity. I had never truly paid attention to how my dragon fought, and I still knew very little about the human. The dragon struck first. It was cautious, starting with ranged attacks, relying on the overwhelming abundance of the elements it commanded in my [Umbral Realm].
'Not a bad move,' I mused. It covered its opponent in a massive torrent of [Darkness] and [Shadows], aiming to rob him of sight. Without giving him a moment to escape or retaliate, it followed up with a barrage of elemental strikes.
'Simple tactics, but probably effective...' I nodded to myself, thinking there was a decent chance the enemy would take the full hit to the face.
But of course, things weren't that simple. The man was clearly a seasoned fighter. He dodged the attack at the last moment, just barely escaping. Still, I noticed something in his expression. A flicker of unease. Though he'd survived the first strike, his confidence had vanished. The smile on his lips was gone.
'He's probably just realized he's in trouble.' I understood now. These men who had surrounded me had seemed so sure of themselves, so certain of their strength. Untouchable. Infallible. But now that my creature posed a real threat… he was beginning to suspect that I might be an even greater danger. Because I needed to understand the true extent of this man's abilities, I ordered my dragon to prolong the fight.
'The battle with these people is a chance to test my limits, to discover the true extent of my power,' I thought, remembering the words they spoke while surrounding me.
'They said the creatures I was eliminating were too weak to contribute to my growth… Does that mean I need to find stronger enemies to continue evolving?' I was slightly confused, but as I reflected on my past battles, I began to see some truth in their claim.
'After my birth, my growth was explosive, but it started to stagnate once my enemies posed no threat.'
Looking at the [Darkness Dragon] before me, I had a realization. 'That one was alone in a valley, and the creatures around it seemed terrified of its aura. Was it special? Is that why it's now the strongest among my shadow beasts?'
Curious, I made a promise to myself: I would seek out stronger enemies to test my theory. Suddenly sensing Midnight's call for help, I urged him to fight harder and buy more time.
I knew he wasn't in any real danger... He had already died once, after all, and though it had been a painful experience—for him, my dog seemed to be tied to my existence — as long as I lived, so would he.
Still, I couldn't allow the battle in front of me to drag on much longer. The battle raged on, and I waited for a moment of weakness from my opponent. I didn't have to wait long. The instant he managed to slice off my dragon's tail, the creature turned the severed piece into a duplicate and attacked from two opposing directions, catching the human by surprise.
The man vanished from his spot and reappeared at the far edge of the [Umbral Realm]. But this fight was happening in my domain.I slipped behind him unnoticed and plunged my hand into his chest, gripping his heart.
Flesh-bound creatures almost always lost their composure when I targeted their hearts. 'It seems this one is no exception,' I thought. However, dead, he would be of no use to me. So I held back from delivering the final blow. Before he could react, I gave a silent command to my shadow to steal his own.
As his shadow peeled away from his body, his expression collapsed. His gaze went blank. He was staring at something in front of him, eyes wide and unfocused. But when I turned to look in the same direction… I saw nothing.
I did what I always did after stealing someone's shadow. I slapped him across the face and he vanished. Sensing that Midnight had fallen and that my enemies in the real world were searching for a way into my domain, I let out a sigh.
'If they want to come in... I can grant their wish,' I thought, releasing my elements into the outside world and dragging all of my stunned opponents into my domain by force.
As they screamed and hurled insults at me, I pretended not to hear or understand any of it and simply summoned the newest addition to my army.
This shadow beast, like all of my shadows beasts, had a unique name derived from when it was in the world of the living.
[Seven Hundred-Seventy-Seven]
The name was too long for my taste and lacked elegance. But it would serve as a warning to anyone who dared stand in my way.