2026-04-28 21:25:40Hidden 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 happened. But on the fourth second, Aroan’s entire world violently collapsed.
"AAARRGGHHH!"
Collapsing to his knees, Aroan clawed desperately at his own chest. It felt as though someone had injected boiling lava directly into his spinal cord. The pill worked with ruthless efficiency; it violently incinerated the bone marrow inherited from his Lunaris bloodline. The sheer agony quickly mutated into a brand new, terrifying affliction: A gaping, bottomless hunger.
An abyssal void tore open inside his solar plexus, aggressively demanding to be filled with life essence.
"You feel it, don't you?" Sargon’s heavy voice pierced through Aroan’s screams. "Your new marrow requires sustenance. Down here, you do not cultivate through peaceful meditation. You cultivate by devouring!"
Aroan couldn't answer. His eyes, now blazing with a dark purple hue, stared blankly ahead. He watched in horror and awe as his fingernails unnaturally elongated, mutating into razor-sharp obsidian claws that emitted faint black smoke—a physical, organic manifestation of the Eclipse Blade fusing with his anatomy.
Suddenly, the ground beneath them trembled violently. The temperature plummeted to sub-zero. From the absolute darkness emerged an entity far more terrifying than the Hollowed.
An Elite Abyssal Stalker.
The monstrosity towered at three meters tall, possessing disproportionately long limbs and translucent, pale skin that revealed thick black energy flowing through its veins. It had no eyes; its face was entirely consumed by a massive, unhinged jaw lined with saw-like teeth. Hanging from its hunched frame were the rusted remnants of Solari armor—a warrior of the sun who had met the same doomed fate as Aroan.
"Do not just sever its neck," Sargon commanded, stepping backward into the shadows. "Use your claws as a direct conduit. Do not let a single drop of its essence go to waste!"
The Stalker launched itself with absurd, logic-defying speed. Gliding across its own shadow, it moved with a disjointed, lethal rhythm. Its highly toxic claws cleaved through the freezing air, aiming straight for Aroan’s heart.
Aroan’s feral instincts reacted faster than human logic. Simultaneously, he felt a violent surge of energy within his own shadow. Nyx was no longer hiding.
[Skill Unlocked: Shadow Step!]
Just as the monster’s massive claws were about to bisect him, Aroan’s body seemingly 'dissolved' into the shadow dimension, leaving behind a phantom illusion of smoke. He instantly rematerialized one meter directly above the monster’s back.
But he did not attack alone.
[Partner Skill Activated: Shadow Sync!]
The moment Aroan reappeared, Nyx’s shadow violently erupted from the ground beneath the Stalker. The shadow did not manifest as a whole wolf; instead, it materialized as tendrils of dark, massive fangs that viciously clamped onto the Stalker’s hind legs! The freezing shock of pure Void energy instantly paralyzed the giant monster in its tracks.
It was the fatal opening Aroan needed. Without a shred of hesitation, he plunged his smoking obsidian claws deep into the base of the Stalker’s neck.
"Devour...!" Aroan growled. The sound escaping his throat was no longer human; it was the chilling snarl of an apex, primordial predator.
[Skill: Devour's Touch - Brutal Mode Activated!]
An ear-piercing shriek that could shatter glass erupted from the monster’s jaws. Thick, pitch-black smoke—pure life energy—was forcibly siphoned through Aroan’s claws. It felt like swallowing molten lava, yet simultaneously, an explosive, intoxicating surge of absolute power flooded his collapsing veins.
Down below, Nyx wasn't just restricting movement; the shadow fangs actively 'shredded' the monster’s essence from the bottom up, draining the energy from the enemy's legs and channeling it back into Aroan’s core. This flawless synchronization created an absolute cycle of predation.
This wasn't an elegant martial arts duel. This was a one-sided slaughter.
[1x Elite Abyssal Stalker (Rank-C+) Eliminated! Acquired 300 VP.]
[Energy Assimilation Complete. 'Marrow Cleansing' process reached 100%!][Congratulations! Host's skeleton has successfully evolved into 'Dark Iron Bones'.]Drained of every single drop of its life force, the massive Stalker rapidly shriveled into a dry husk before crumbling into a pile of gray ash.
Aroan dropped heavily to the ground, panting like a wild beast. Pitch-black veins bulged dangerously across his neck. His muscles visibly densified, and the open lacerations on his back violently stitched themselves shut, leaving behind dark, pulsating scars. He could feel the monster’s chaotic energy rebelling inside his body—a wild, feral turbulence that threatened to shatter his sanity.
His eyes glowed entirely purple. Snarling, he turned, ready to lunge at Sargon.
Sargon approached with terrifying calmness. He executed a highly specific two-finger strike—The Umbral Tranquility—striking a precise nerve cluster at the base of Aroan’s neck. Instantly, the feral turbulence was extinguished, replaced by a cold, absolute, and stable emptiness.
"Your vessel is finally formed. Your bones are now as impenetrable as dark iron," Sargon assessed, his golden eye piercing through the boy's fading feral state. "But remember this: if you cannot suppress this beastly instinct using the Umbra Clan's techniques, you will eventually devolve into a mindless monstrosity."
Aroan slowly looked up, his mind clearing. He stared at Sargon with deeply rooted suspicion. "You are far too skilled at using the Umbra Clan's forbidden arts. Why are you teaching me this, Sargon? What exactly do you want from me?"
Sargon remained silent for a long moment. The masked giant turned his gaze toward the bottomless chasm at the far end of the cavern.
"I am preparing a vengeance that has been rotting for over twenty years," Sargon finally answered, his voice as heavy as an anchor, dripping with pure, unadulterated hatred. "And you... you are the fang I will sharpen until it is lethal enough to rip out the throat of the Lunaris Clan. You are my blade."
Aroan stood up fully. For the first time since his exile, there was absolutely zero pain in his tendons. He clenched his fists, feeling a massive, catastrophic strength he had never possessed during his entire life as a pampered prince. Nyx fully manifested beside his leg, the wolf now standing at waist height, radiating a suffocating killing intent.
"I do not give a damn about your grand ambitions, Sargon," Aroan replied, his tone flat yet undeniably deadly. "I discarded my conscience the exact moment they discarded me. The Lunaris Clan will pay for every single drop of blood I shed. And Valerius... I will snap his golden neck with my own hands."
Sargon let out a low grunt—a subtle note of absolute approval. He turned around, his tattered cloak fluttering in the sulfurous wind.
"Good. Save that hatred. Because tomorrow, we descend to the Third Tier of Velmora." Sargon glanced over his massive shoulder. "The nest of the Shadow Doppelgangers. Down there, what tries to kill you will not be a monster... it will be the darkest side of your own shadow."
Aroan unleashed a faint, ruthless smirk. Without another word, he stepped forward, following the masked executioner deeper into a thick fog that had never once been touched by the sun.
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Chapter 60
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