2026-04-28 21:16:20Every single step Aroan took after the assimilation felt like stomping barefoot on thousands of glowing, red-hot glass shards.
His leg muscles screamed in absolute agony. The Shadow Fibers hastily stitching his severed tendons were completely foreign, refusing to smoothly integrate with his organic flesh. Every time he shifted his body weight, those threads of dark energy violently scraped against his bones, transmitting a destructive wave of pain—the kind of excruciating torture that could shatter a veteran knight's sanity in mere seconds.
Panting heavily, Aroan leaned against the damp cavern wall. His blurred vision focused on the towering, cloaked giant before him. Sargon—the iron-masked executioner—sat calmly on a massive boulder. His leather-gloved fingers were busy carving that same, imperfect eclipse symbol into the stone surface.
"Who... who exactly are you?" Aroan’s voice was hoarse, sounding like coarse sandpaper grating inside his throat. "How do you know my mother’s crest? What is your actual connection to Arlene?"
Metal screeching against stone abruptly ceased. Sargon stopped carving. A suffocating silence draped over the cavern. Through the slit of his rusted iron mask, Sargon’s solitary golden eye stared coldly at Aroan—a gaze that peeled back layers of the soul, silently judging whether the boy in front of him deserved an answer or was simply wasting precious oxygen.
Standing up at a glacial pace, the giant seemed momentarily affected by the name 'Arlene', yet he buried it perfectly beneath an impenetrable fortress of apathy.
"Call me Sargon," the man answered flatly, his tone colder than the blizzards at Silver Peak. "And bury that useless curiosity of yours, boy. Down here, the past is nothing but dust. A name will not magically reattach your head when a monster’s fangs sink into your neck."
Without warning. Without even the slightest shift in his stance. Sargon moved.
His speed was absolute nonsense for a man of his colossal build. He launched a devastating sweeping kick directly at Aroan’s ribs.
BAAM!
"Gahhk!"
Launched like a broken ragdoll, Aroan slammed violently into a stalagmite, shattering the rock upon impact. Blinding pain erupted in his chest as fresh blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
From within Aroan’s shadow, pitch-black mist flared wildly. Nyx—the Shadow Primal Wolf—let out a vicious snarl. It wasn't the yip of a pet; it was the ancient, bloodthirsty roar of a predator preparing to kill. Yet, Sargon simply tilted his neck, locking eyes with the shadow wolf for a fraction of a second. Instantly, the sheer oppressive weight of Sargon’s killing intent crushed all the oxygen in the cave, forcefully suppressing Nyx's instincts and driving the beast back into Aroan’s shadow.
Sargon casually strolled toward the coughing, bloodied boy. "On the surface, you might have been the weeping son of an Alpha. But down here, you are nothing more than a slab of rotting meat waiting in line to be devoured."
Looming over Aroan, he commanded, "Stand up. Do not use your muscles to support that broken body. If you keep relying on your ruined Lunaris muscle fibers, you will be permanently paralyzed in five minutes."
Grinding his teeth, Aroan forced his violently trembling legs to support his weight. He was beginning to understand Sargon’s brutal lesson. He could no longer fight like a traditional werewolf. He had to learn how to manipulate Void energy to act as an artificial exoskeleton for his shattered anatomy.
"I... can't control it yet," Aroan growled through the blinding pain.
"You don't need to control it. You just need to stop resisting it," Sargon cut in sharply. Reaching into a nearby pile of bones, the masked man pulled out a heavy, pitch-black object and hurled it straight at Aroan.
Catching it purely on reflex, Aroan was nearly dragged face-first into the dirt by its sheer weight.
[Ding!]
[Item Detected: 'Eclipse Blade'.]
[Grade: Unknown (Sealed).]
[Warning: This weapon will passively siphon the Host's Void Points (VP) to activate.]
It was a massive broadsword forged entirely from pure obsidian. Its edges and blade were utterly devoid of sharpness—blunt, jagged, and seemingly useless. Yet, its surface was freezing cold, actively absorbing the body heat from Aroan’s palms.
"That blade does not require physical sharpness to sever its target," Sargon said, crossing his massive arms like an executioner training his successor. "The Lunaris Clan worships physical light and the superficial sharpness of a razor. But you... you will cut exactly what they cannot see: their very souls."
Jutting his chin toward the blunt sword, he added, "That blade will only awaken when you feed it with your darkness."
"Every time you swing, discard the foolish pride of your arm muscles," Sargon ordered, beginning to circle Aroan like a predatory bird. "Focus on the hollow abyss inside your solar plexus. Channel that absolute emptiness through your Eclipse Mark and straight into the hilt. Let the agonizing pain in your legs become your fuel. Lift it!"
Roaring, Aroan engaged his organic muscles. He managed to lift the heavy blade, but his movements were sluggish and incredibly stiff.
Clicking his tongue in disappointment, Sargon mercilessly kicked the back of Aroan’s knees. Aroan collapsed instantly, the heavy sword slamming into the earth with a deafening thud.
"Wrong! You are still using your organic werewolf strength! Use the shadow, you imbecile!"
For the next six hours, the Velmora cavern transformed into a merciless torture chamber. The sickening sounds of physical impacts, Sargon’s brutal insults, and Aroan’s agonizing groans dominated the damp air. Sargon treated him like a piece of rusted scrap metal, forcefully forging him upon an anvil of pain. Every single time Aroan subconsciously relied on his physical muscles, Sargon battered him without a shred of mercy.
Until the seventh hour.
Hovering on the absolute brink of unconsciousness, Aroan finally stopped relying on his flesh. He closed his eyes. He blocked out the agonizing throbbing in his severed ankles. Instead, he reached out to the presence of Nyx lurking within his shadow, harmonizing their heartbeats into a singular, dark rhythm.
[Shadow Sync: Synchronization Rate 15%... 25%... 40%!]
Pitch-black smoke cascaded down from Aroan’s shoulder, slithering down his arm before completely enveloping the blunt obsidian blade. Suddenly, the twenty-kilogram chunk of stone felt as light as a dried twig.
Snapping his eyes open, Aroan’s pupils flared with an intense, burning purple glow. He pivoted his waist and executed a flawless horizontal slash with the *Eclipse Blade* aimed directly at a massive stone stalagmite beside him.
The blunt blade produced no sound of a heavy collision. Instead, it phased smoothly through the solid rock as if slicing through thin air.
A brief moment of total silence followed.
Then... CRAAACK!
The top half of the massive stalagmite slid diagonally and crashed heavily onto the cavern floor. The cut was impossibly smooth, as if severed by a high-tech laser rather than a jagged, rusted sword.
[Ding!]
[New Weapon Mastery Acquired: Shadow Swordsmanship Lv.1!]
[Physical Attack Power successfully converted into Soul Damage.]
Panting heavily, Aroan stood perfectly still, staring in absolute disbelief at the destruction he had just caused. This blunt sword was genuinely a god-slaying weapon!
Across the cavern, hidden behind the rusted iron mask, the corner of Sargon’s lips twitched upward into an invisible smirk. He actually grasped the concept in a mere seven hours. Just what kind of monster did Arlene give birth to?
"Enough for today," Sargon interrupted, his tone snapping back to an emotionless flatline to mask his internal shock. He glanced at the terrifyingly blackened veins bulging on Aroan’s sword-arm. "If you push any further, your blood vessels will detonate."
Sargon turned his back, stepping into a pitch-black tunnel that descended even deeper into the bowels of the earth.
"Rest your broken body and feed your mutt. Because tomorrow, we descend to the second level of Velmora." Sargon paused, glancing over his shoulder. "The nest of the *Abyssal Stalkers*. Assassins of the dark."
"If you cannot use that blunt toy to bifurcate them in a single strike tomorrow..." Sargon scoffed coldly, "...then you will become nothing more than a pile of excrement at the bottom of this abyss."
The masked giant vanished completely into the shadows, leaving Aroan alone.
Aroan plunged the Eclipse Blade into the ground and leaned heavily against its hilt. Nyx phased out of his shadow, curling up beside his leg and gently licking the bleeding wounds on his master's hand. Aroan stared up at the semi-transparent blue interface hovering in the air, a ruthless, bloodthirsty smile creeping onto his face.
[New Daily Quest: Survive the Nest of Abyssal Stalkers.]
[Objective: Slay 10 Abyssal Stalkers (Rank-C).]
[Reward: 500 Void Points (VP) & Unlock 'Shadow Shop' System.]
"Just wait for me, Valerius," Aroan whispered. His voice no longer belonged to a discarded, exiled prince. It sounded exactly like a demon king locking onto his prey. "Your time on the throne is running out."
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
CHAPTER 10 VELMORA'S CREST, REPORT OF A DEMON
The air at the precipice of the Cliff of Regrets was both poison and medicine.It was no longer as heavy and suffocating as the lethal gas at the bottom of the abyss, yet it carried scents Aroan's senses had nearly forgotten: the crisp aroma of pure oxygen, the sharp tang of snow pine sap, and the faint, disgusting stench of the Lunaris Clan's arrogance carried on the wind. High above, beyond the thick, impenetrable clouds that perpetually guarded Velmora, the surface world was waking up, completely oblivious that a soul they had discarded as trash had just clawed its way out of its own grave.Aroan stood on the jagged edge of the cliff, his gaze cast down upon the endless vertical path he had just conquered. His breathing was perfectly stable. Beside him, Nyx in its full Shadow Primal Fenrir form kept a low profile, its black-fire fur fluttering violently in the piercing mountain winds. The giant wolf let out a low, guttural growl, its purple eyes staring up at the faint glimmer of d
CHAPTER 9: LEGION FROM THE ABYSS, TRIAL OF A SHADOW
Velmora’s third tier was the tomb of a forgotten civilization.Unlike the upper levels, which were merely a labyrinth of natural caves, these depths revealed the silent, sprawling ruins of an ancient city. Towering obsidian structures, eroded by eons of darkness, reached up like the colossal skeletal fingers of dead giants trying to claw at a cavern ceiling that had never known light. The air here was heavy and oily, saturated with dense Void particles capable of shattering an ordinary human’s sanity within minutes. The only illumination came from the faint, pale-purple glow of corrosive crystals that snaked across the walls of the dead metropolis.Aroan strode down the center of a cracked main road, his every step now steady and utterly soundless. Beside him, Nyx, in its full Shadow Primal Fenrir form, moved with an intimidating, predatory grace. Each exhale from the giant wolf released a plume of purple vapor that instantly froze the air, leaving a thin, black layer of frost on the
CHAPTER 8: EVOLUTION OF A SHADOW FENRIR
The lingering, searing embers from the Abyssal Meridian Elixir still pulsed violently within Aroan's veins as Sargon ruthlessly forced him back to his feet. There was no time to rest. In Velmora, recovery was a luxury that did not exist."Walk," Sargon commanded coldly. "If your meridians did not detonate, it means you can still kill."They descended into the third tier of Velmora. The air here was no longer just freezing; it was actively toxic. A thick, dark-purple fog slithered across the ground, blanketing heaps of fossilized bones thousands of years old. Down here, the concept of a "silver moon" was nothing more than a childish fairy tale. Only the most primal law of the jungle reigned supreme: Devour or be devoured.Aroan now walked with a straight, rigid spine. His newly forged D+ Rank meridian channels felt like a freshly opened superhighway. The violent torrent of Void energy no longer felt like torture; it now surged powerfully through his body, creating an intoxicating, cold
CHAPTER 7: SHATTERED VESSEL, AWAKENING OF A LEGEND
Victory over the Elite Abyssal Stalker did not last more than a few fleeting minutes before absolute destruction knocked on the door of Aroan’s consciousness in the most agonizing way imaginable.As soon as the pitch-black aura from the massive monstrosity was entirely absorbed, solidifying into the Dark Iron Bones beneath his flesh, the intoxicating surge of power instantly mutated into a lethal double-edged sword. Yes, his skeleton was now as impenetrable as obsidian steel, capable of withstanding devastating physical trauma. However, a fatal flaw lay hidden within something entirely invisible: The Meridians.[System Warning! 'Soul Vessel' capacity critically exceeded!][Energy density of Entity 'Nyx' violently surpasses the tolerance limit of Host's Rank-F Meridians!]Aroan’s body was a biological anomaly forced together by sheer desperation. His meridian channels—the microscopic, invisible pipelines that circulated mystical energy throughout the body—were still horrifyingly narrow
CHAPTER 6: CURSED HUNGER, AWAKENING OF DARK IRON BONES
Hidden deep within the darkest corner of Velmora’s second tier, Aroan’s agonizing groans echoed like two massive steel plates being violently scraped together.In his violently trembling hand rested a pitch-black, marble-sized pill—the Marrow Cleansing Pill (Void Edition) he had just purchased from the Shadow Shop for 1,000 VP. It radiated a biting, absolute cold. Sargon, leaning his massive frame against the cavern wall, simply observed the boy through the slits of his rusted iron mask."That pill was not designed for human consumption," Sargon stated flatly. "It will literally boil your old bone marrow alive and replace it with the essence of the void. Are you absolutely certain you wish to swallow it?"Aroan locked eyes with Sargon, his gaze blazing with lethal determination. "I would rather explode from the inside out tonight than spend another second crawling on my knees!"Without a single second of hesitation, Aroan swallowed the black pill.For the first three seconds, nothing
CHAPTER 5: NEST OF THE HOLLOWED, AWAKENING THE SHADOW SHOP
Descending into the second level of Velmora was not a journey; it was a psychological execution. Darkness down here was not merely the absence of light. It was a living, freezing entity that actively crawled into the pores of the skin, attempting to freeze the blood from the inside out. Aroan could not walk upright. Every single movement across the cavern floor, slick with ancient, putrid slime, was an extreme struggle.The Shadow Fibers forcefully stitching his severed Achilles tendons throbbed wildly, reacting like aggressive parasites trying to adapt to a hostile host. With every step Aroan took, the threads of dark energy violently scraped against his fractured bones. It felt as though thousands of iron centipedes were devouring his flesh from the inside. Yet, he refused to stop. Behind him, Nyx followed closely, the primal wolf’s solitary purple eye piercing the thick fog like a predatory beacon."If you stop, they will start eating you from your toes," Sargon’s heavy, gravelly
You may also like
