Lord of The Karmic Armada -
Chapter 60: Shadow Demon
Chapter 60: Shadow Demon
So, now that everything was as ready as it could be, he commanded the ghostbounds to follow, and with an astonishing speed they all vanished from the spot and started marching towards the shadow mountain where the shadow stealer lay.
Rustle.....Rustle.....Rustle..........
All of them were running at an insane speed that shook the surroundings of everywhere they ran through. Their dark clothes fluttered in the shadowy air that flowed throughout the forest. In their path, they encountered many shadow beasts of countless types and bizarre natures that Valtar himself could not understand. But there were indeed no more beasts on the level of a pathwalker though there were many that were at the peak of the third stage.
Of course, none of them slowed down Valtar and his ghostbounds. Any beasts that came to hinder them, not knowing their place, were swatted like a fly with one swing of the large snake’s tail.
From the place they were resting, it only took them about 10 minutes in total to reach the foot of the mountain. As soon as they entered the range of the mountain, the shadow mixed in the air became palpable and thick. Thankfully, now because of his passive ’Darkvision’ skill no matter how much shadow gathers, how can it block his vision, the shadow is but an indication of the absence of light and not a real self-dependent presence.
With small but firm steps they all started walking upwards the mountain. The mountain wasn’t exactly thin but it had a mostly 40-45 degree angle upwards, as such they could simply walk upwards without much of a problem. From afar Valtar could judge that the mountain should be approximately 1 km in height though he wasn’t particularly sure of it.
They encountered many beastly creatures in the mountain and the average strength of the beasts in the mountain was much higher as well. As they slowly reached the peak, there was a faint sense of danger Valtar could feel increasing bit by bit. There’s also a great incongruity that he noticed. His ’survival instinct’ only detected a faint sense of danger. Like a small prickle.
However, his ’Karmic intuition’ skill gave him a greater sense of foreboding. There was a distinct difference in how both of these danger sense type skills notified him of the danger. ’Survival Instinct’ gave him a piercing feeling in the skin when in contact with danger. While the skill ’Karmic Intuition’ notified him through feeling.
By now they had climbed 2/3 of the mountain. Suddenly the shadows stirred and then began to flow from the top as if a dam had broken and waves of shadow unendingly flowed down. Valtar’s senses sharpened because of the sinister presence that he could feel at the peak of the mountain. His eyes then suddenly caught onto something else.
Wraith-like unrecognizable creatures made of shadow numbered in thousands rushed out of the top part alongside the tidal wave of shadow elements. Valtar narrowed his eyes, these things looked eerily similar to his own summoned ghosts. All of the wraith-like creatures in different numbers rushed inside all of the ghostbounds reflected shadows. However, not a single one of them rushed into his own shadow for some reason.
All of the ghostbounds froze in their tracks just as all the shadow wraiths got inside of their shadows. Valtar tried to command them, but none of them were responding as they simply remained unmoving. The system also did not seem to be able to do anything about the situation. If he’s not wrong the shadow wraiths were trying to possess his ghosts? He didn’t think the ghosts could be possessed by something else. Some kind of soul battle must be going on inside of them. The ones to win will have control over the bodies.
Valtar internally commanded the ghosts to use their darkness element as much as possible to defeat those shadow wraiths. But this situation indicated something to Valtar, the reason why not a single one of the shadow wraiths entered his own shadow or tried to possess him or something, is because the one controlling them ordered them not to.
The shadow stealer was basically telling him not to bring his minions to the top of the mountain and simply come alone. He was naturally reluctant to simply do as his enemy wished, not to mention he was totally unwilling to give up the possessed he got through so much effort. Unfortunately, there is nothing for him to do here, as such he could only face his enemy alone. Perhaps that would actually be better in a way.
Of course, the system assured him that his Ghosts simply held the upper hand in this situation because they were made of darkness, unlike their enemies who were made of shadow. Valtar also thought of this, the reason the ghostbounds were restricted was because almost every single ghost of his was facing many shadow wraiths at once. That is the reason they were able to hold back his ghosts.
So, with a firm resolution, he ran towards the top of the mountain, even if it was a trap. He simply needed to win no matter what. In just one minute of running at his full speed, he reached the top.
There he finally saw the enemy who was waiting for him. A tall being, from its body, shadows seem to be oozing out nonstop. Its body looked slightly thin, its skin was like tough tree barks rugged but strong. It had two large horns on its head and eyes that looked like where a tornado of shadow was playing. Its entire body was black.
It smiled at him and said in a deep but beastly voice,
Valtar’s eyes narrowed, and he activated all of his passive skills. He could tell this thing in front of him was very dangerous. Its voice was utterly alien and inhumane. Its broken speech felt more like dry wood rubbing against each other with a lot of force. Words cannot describe just how eerie this thing in front of him was. Its existence simply felt wrong in every sense of the way. As for its comment, Valtar was confused but he simply ignored it. This thing could simply be trying to divert his attention. There was no need for him to play detective at this moment and think of solving mysteries.
He stood there silently without saying a single word and looking at the Shadow stealer ready for a life-and-death battle at the slightest notice of discrepancy. Shadow stealer asked the human in front of him showing his white teeth,
’ It’s asking for my name?’ thought Valtar. He reluctantly shared his name, "Valtar."
It nodded its eyes closed slightly and said,
Valtar tilted his head and said, "The queen said you’re the Shadow Stealer?"
It smiled even widely and laughed, "Ha...ha...ha...heh-heh...kreeee!"
Valtar’s expression turned sour, ’This disgusting creaking noise is too annoying.’
His eyes turned cold, there’s no need to waste time with this thing whether it was a demon or thief didn’t matter. With a loud stomp on the ground, he crossed more than 10 meters distance in just 2 seconds with all his agility and even the skill ’Tiger Speed’ which boosted his speed then there was the skill ’Gorilla Strength’ that passively increased his strength without doing anything.
The shadow demon continued to laugh without a care in the world that his enemy was attacking him, but this only increased Valtar’s anxiety further. Valtar manifested a sword of darkness with his ’Darkness Manipulation’ and slashed at the demon’s body with full force.
The sword simply went through him like air. The laughing figure of the Shadow demon disappeared then it appeared 10 meters away from him. Its laughter abruptly stopped in the middle. With its eyes that held a cyclone of shadow, it stared deep into Valtar and said in a malevolent voice,
Valtar wasn’t paying attention to its words anymore rather he was trying to think of a solution with an indifferent gaze, ’If this damn thing is a fully ethereal being then how the hell do I hurt it? Even the weapon of darkness that was supposed to work against it easily, is not doing anything to it. Or is this simply a shadow avatar maybe? Not his real body.’
But the next moment his thoughts were stopped midway as countless chains made of shadow shot out of his own shadow. Almost 100 different chains or even more bound his legs, hands even wrapped around his throat. Just as he was about to use the binding howl, another chain wrapped around his mouth, and words got stuck in his throat before it could come out.
KRAAAAACK! CLANGGG! CRREEEEAK!
Valtar struggled with all his might and the sounds of chain breaking could be heard constantly. Almost 50% of the chains were broken down by now. Yet he was still a tad too late......
Step....Step....Step..............Step....
With powerful steps, the Shadow Demon came to stand right beside Valtar and simply stepped into his shadow, and vanished. Valtar’s blood-red eyes turned totally grey right at that moment.
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