Chapter 9: The ruler of darkness

Of all the shadow beasts that have ever formed in this dungeon the strongest was without a doubt the one that made its nest directly next to the black box. Shadow beasts generally take on the form of already existing monsters, forming their general body with something that resembles black chitin. The hardness and durability of the outer chitin layer is directly corresponding to the power of that beast. And of all shadow beasts here this giant shadow dragon was definitely the strongest. The strongest beasts take on the form of the strongest monsters. And dragons were without a doubt one of the strongest races in the entire continent.

On top of that this is below dragonking castle. The influence of dragons was quiet high here. The shadow beast king was slumbering next to the black box most of his time but something was different today. All instincts were telling this beast that there was something not normal. But what was it. It started to test out its surroundings. No hostile presences. Ah. It is the smell. And suddenly the beast becomes visibly excited. It is blood. It can smell blood. It quickly became aware of the direction the smell was coming from. The way to the weaklings above.

Normally he wouldn’t leave his den but if there was fresh prey to catch, maybe it was worth it. With that the shadow dragon started to move. Faster and faster it moved and just before it arrived at the top dungeon it smelled living prey. This smell was… Wind and water and so gentle and so tender. Even more excited the beast sped up. When it was just a short way away from its target it let out a deafening roar. To let everyone know not to mess with his prey. Today it would feast on fresh meat.

After the shadow dragon left it was quiet within his den. No sound could be heard as no other shadow beast would dare to come the den of the king of this dungeon. But suddenly a very quiet cracking sound could be heard. A small crack had appeared on a corner of the black box.

In both of my lifes i never ran as fast as i did now. I ignored pain, wounds and caution. With top speed i jumped from stalactite to stalactite destroying them in the process just from the force i use propelling myself to the next stalactite. I left her three caves to the south and i only needed around 20 seconds to cross two of them. Then i hear i high pitched scream and while roaring: “MIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAA!” I speed up even more. Faster. FASTER. I draw on my last bit of shadow power and burst out of the corridor into the cave where i left Mia.

While flying out of the corridor i see a ten meter long shadow beast in form of a dragon dive towards Mia from the 50 meter high ceiling. I wont make it. I am 20 meters away from her while he only needs ten to reach her. Fuck fuck fuck. And he is faster due to the downwards momentum. I gather my last bit of shadow power: “SHADOW SPIKE! SHADOW SHIELD!” I form a shadow spike behind Mia and protect her back with a shield. The spike shots out, hits the shield and shots Mia away from the dragon towards me. BOOM. The dragon hits the ground but misses Mia.

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The next moment I’ve got her. Even with her lower deer body she only has the total size of a golden retriever so i can handle that. I kick the ground in front of me hard and propel myself in the opposite direction. We need to get away from here. With top speed using the stalactites as footholds i speed through the cave to the corridor. But as I am about to reach it I have to kick the ground hard again to stop. My path and any other path for that matter, was blocked by shadow beasts maybe not as big as the dragon but all massive and they all gave off a dangerous aura. They were no small fries. If i were on top of my game not hurt and with full shadowpower then maybe only maybe i could have gotten rid of them.

But in my condition? And protecting Mia on top of that? No fucking way. Even now i might have been able to get away.. but that would mean to abandon Mia. And well this might sound stubborn and stupid but when i have decided something i stick to it. That was one of my problems in my old life, i would not repeat the same mistakes. I would live and i would live the way i want to. Free. And now i want to protect Mia so no absolutely not an option. Besides i had this feeling, i don’t know why but i had this feeling i have to protect her. Well lets do what we can for now. I released all my killing intent with no restraint.

The advancing beasts all stopped. One has to know by now i have killed hundreds: Mercenaries, shadow beasts, monsters, even children in case of my siblings. This was true unrefined killing intent. The real deal. Even me hurt and they with the number advantage. Its not easy to advance against this kind of oppression. But it wouldn’t last i knew that. Shit. I was starting to sweat. Damn talk about a freaking tight situation. Mia had already fainted due to my killing intent. Well can’t really be gentle right now.

And the worst part was: my strength was leaving me i was going on the reserve of my reserves. And then came the rage. From deep within my soul, honed in two lives my rage is not something that can easily be compared to anything. My killing intent rises to even newer heights and i shout with all my might: “COME AT ME FUCKERS!” and at that moment the ground exploded. A black mass darker that anything i have ever seen pours out of the hole in the ground. It is as if a black hole became a mass alive and started moving. This black mass suddenly shot out towards all the shadow beasts in the cave.

And within seconds… all beasts even the dragon were swallowed whole. I was dumbfounded. I mean yeah i was pretty fucking angry but well i have a pretty good grasp on how powerful i am. I am absolutely not that powerful! That wasn’t me right? No that… “thing” is not moving by my will. But it is true that is killing all the shadow beasts and not hurting me whatsoever. Well. That’s fine then. Right? When all beasts had vanished the mass suddenly started to flow towards me. I would have tried to get away but honestly? I can’t even move anymore. I am spent. As in empty tank. Nothing left. Ugh.

But instead of attacking me it surprisingly started to form a figure before me. After a few moments the mass had built the perfect form of a human woman. And that was not the end of the surprises. That woman suddenly kneeled before me a voice that sounded as if it came from a grave spoke: “Kam’ya empress and ruler of darkness greets her master.”