“So, what does it mean?” Elliana brought up an excellent question. My shadows had shown similar behavior before, they never quivered like they did currently.

Didn’t Agnis tell you that they’re pointing at something and that you should check it out before it gets worse? Now there’s 2! Doesn’t that mean it got worse?

That is a possibility now. Are you guys healthy enough to investigate?

I didn’t do much… Elliana and I had been bored for the last 3 days. You are the one that’s… ehh whatsit called? The deciding factor, yes!

I feel fine. Let’s go.

Raishin grabbed us and teleported in the direction my shadow was pointing.

This way?

More to the south.

This way?

No more south!

Which way is south? Is it this way?

Look at my shadow! It’s pointing where to go!

Which shadow?! You have 3! I’m getting confused!

Fair enough.

I concealed my original shadow and the other shadow that was pointing southwest.

Oooh so this way!

You are doing this on purpose right? That’s Elliana’s shadow!

Raishin chain teleported, and we arrived at a large crater.

Hey there’s a bigger crater over there! It's quite far but whoa it’s huge!

How unfortunate. Itris seemed to have been wiped off the map. It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to find out who is responsible, this crater here however isn’t Agnis’ style. What could have caused this? And why is this area seeped in shadow magic?

You’re doing it again!

“So this is what you mean with edgy?”

Guys! Can’t you feel it? There’s shadow magic mixed in the ambient mana! Quite heavily!

I feel nothing.

I rubbed my temple. I am uncertain if Raishin is doing this on purpose or if he truly is unable to detect something is amiss here.

“It feels a bit oppressive. What could have caused this?”

A ghost! Whooo!

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

You do know that ghosts are actually spirits right? And we know that they are quite nice in general.

How about a monster! Grrr!

We encounter monsters all the time, they’re nothing special…

Hmm, oh! How about this! How about a demon!

That! Hmm. Has Agnis told you about his meeting with a demon?

Yeah, it sounded creepy, all is fun and games until they throw around [Spite]. I want none of that.

Well, he did say that dealing with demons is also something I should be tasked with. But I can't help to think that we know nothing about demons.

Their boss is the Demon Lord, and he wants to take over the world! The humans will have to choose a hero. The hero will create a party and slay the Demon lord! The end!

This is not a game…

Is what I said, but I acknowledge that Agnis and Raishin were occasionally spot on with their game comparisons. I might have to try some too, just to broaden my horizons.

Do you have better ideas? Because I want to be that hero! I will get all the chicks, hahaha! But don’t worry, I will leave some for you and Agnis. I will get a handsome elf dude for you, Elliana.

“Uhh, thank you, I guess?

” But don’t you think that demons using shadow magic makes… too much sense?

I don’t see what the problem is.

Expectations don’t always match with reality. I just am under the impression that in thinking this limited, we will box ourselves in and eventually get met with nasty surprises.

So, demons don’t use shadow magic? What happens if one appears that does use shadow magic?

“Greg, I think that you’re overthinking it. There must be a reason for why the image of the demons is how it is. Shadow magic might be their main element, just like it’s for your race. That doesn’t stop them from also using other elements.”

You might be right.

So, did we solve the problem? Your shadow disappeared.

Wait what? I didn’t hide it.

My intuition tells me that we need to get out of here!

Raishin grabbed us and teleported away. Something heavy crashed down where we stood several seconds ago. An oppressive energy flooded us.

It was a large humanoid figure. It resembled the recently appeared red minotaurs, but it was black and seeped in shadows. Red eyes pierced from the shadowy fog that was covering its body. I got a dark and oppressive feeling from it.

I’m sorry guys, my intuition tells me this thing is more dangerous than that edgelord god, we’re getting out of here!

Raishin chain teleported away and put us down on a mountaintop. Elliana was breathing heavily, as if hyperventilating.

Are you ok?

She was having difficulties trying to breathe, and was close to asphyxiating.

Greg, what was that? I’m a bit scared… look what it did to Elliana and it didn’t even do anything…

I don’t know… that might actually be a demon… I didn’t expect it to be that strong…

I took out several aromatic oils which would soothe Elliana. She looked in pain while she was hyperventilating. There were no curses on her except… [Terror]. I was unfamiliar with this status and needed Agnis to get more details on this. It might be a stronger version of [Fear], but this was just a hypothesis. For now, all we could do was to make sure Elliana calms down.

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