Damien couldn't help but be impressed by the monster's resilience—it refused to surrender, still struggling fiercely against the restraints in a desperate attempt to break free.
However, being impressed and happy were two different matters.
The Shadow's hand holding it down trembled slightly as the monster's body bulked up, its sinewy muscles inflating grotesquely beneath its tattered, scaled hide.
Their thick and bone-like spikes jutted from its back. It was coated in a layer of sickly green venom. Its barbed tail grew longer, twitching ominously.
Amidst their transformation, Damien wanted to completely suppress it to prevent a successful transformation. He would never understand why anyone would stand still in such a position and allow them to undergo the transformation.
In a situation like this, the best method was to suppress them effectively before their transformation was completed.
However, when Damien attempted to control the force of the Shadow's hand, he felt a strong resistance from both the monster and the Shadow itself.
His eyes quickly turned cold. 'As expected… the Shadow has a mind of its own.'
With the clear disobedience from the Shadow's hand itself, Damien was unable to do anything else but watch the transformation process.
He had tried to stop it. Alas, he was just a regular human unlike what others addressed him as such.
Nevertheless, Damien would keep this incident in mind. If there were ever a chance of him gaining power that was completely submissive and in his control. Then he would discard the Shadow within him in a heartbeat.
A power that could not be controlled by him—was no power, but a time bomb.
While Damien was determined with his mindset, the monster's transformation was near its completion.
Time went by, and with a surge of newfound strength, the monster let out a guttural snarl and pushed against the Shadow's grip. The surrounding air trembled as a shockwave of raw force rippled outward, momentarily destabilizing the Shadow's hand.
Soon, the monster tore itself free from the suppression and hurriedly distanced itself from Damien. Its eyes filled with wariness as the Shadow's hand subsequently returned to Damien's side.
'What's the point of returning to my side when you allowed it to happen?' Damien was displeased internally but remained nonchalant on the surface. As a veteran poker player, the very basic rule was keeping a poker face no matter what kind of cards were dealt at the table.
Therefore, he never allowed others to easily read what was on his mind.
While he kept his emotion inside, the reptile monster, on the other hand, had increased in size. However, the increase in size didn't seem to affect its movement speed. In fact, their movement speed appeared to have surged.
With terrifying speed, it suddenly lunged forward, its barbed tail lashing out like a whip. This time, its tail's movement was faster and more refined.
'Too fast.' Alarmed by the attack speed, Damien barely tilted his body, evading the deadly strike by a hair's breadth. But the tail didn't stop. Instead, it curved mid-air, swinging toward him again in a deceptive feint.
Splash!
Blood splattered across the tunnel, and Damien's left arm was slashed.
Damien clicked his tongue, his brows furrowing slightly as he glanced at the wound. The cut of the wound began to seep out blood, dyeing the concrete floor in red. The pain was sharp but fleeting, given his body had already begun adjusting to the damage.
However, what concerned him more was the unnatural sting spreading from the cut.
'Poison?' He quickly assessed the sensation creeping through his veins. It wasn't immediate, but there was definitely something off.
Since the reptile monster was able to spit out toxic-like substances, it was only logical to believe its barbed tail was laced with some type of poison as well.
While the situation was starting to get out of hand, especially with the way the Shadow had openly disregarded his safety, Damien realized he had been quite naive. Just because his perception had increased, and had some unknown changes in his body, he became complacent.
Although he had repeatedly mentioned how he wouldn't rely on or trust the Shadow, he still ended up over-relying on it for safety.
Due to his overreliance on the Shadow. It resulted in him being injured, having mistakenly believed the Shadow would tank the damage or deflect it in response.
'Phew, what an amateur move I made.' Damien didn't curse at the Shadow or the situation. He admitted his fault and understood how it occurred.
The only grateful part was that he seemed to be able to narrowly keep up with the reptile monster's movement.
He was indeed hit and injured, but only because the reptile monster was able to forcefully change the trajectory movement of its barbed tail. Otherwise, he would have dodged the attack and remained unscathed.
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'If I perceive its body movement better, then I can deduce whether it wanted to feign an attack or not.' Having kept his distance since their strike landed, Damien made a mental note to pay attention carefully.
This wasn't some kind of video game where he would get a second chance, but reality. The slight numbing sensation of pain from his left arm was evidence of such.
While Damien remained cautious, the reptile monster in the meantime, became more exhilarated than ever.
Having witnessed its attack was successful, it growled ferociously in joy. Its sunken red eyes gleamed with sadistic satisfaction. Encouraged by the success, it lunged forward again and whipped its barbed tail around like a deadly scythe.
As the barbed tail threatened to slash at Damien again—this time, he was more prepared than ever. Rather than micro-dodging the attack, Damien did the unthinkable.
He did something the reptile monster would never be able to anticipate—he dashed forward, completely ignoring the danger of the barbed tail.
Startled, the reptile monster was taken aback by Damien's sudden aggression.
It hurriedly tried to shift their position to get a clearer angle, but Damien wasn't affected by their shifting. Their distance became closer, and the reptile monster's instinct was warning him to widen the gap.
Unable to use the barbed tail to threaten Damien away, the reptile monster resorted to spitting out toxic spit.
"That's what I've been waiting for." Damien suddenly narrowed his eyes, his hand conjuring some mana.
...
Ever since Damien was enlightened by the existence of mana, he had been secretly trying to experience what it was like.
Although he failed inertially, thanks to the sudden ambush from Jessica and Lucas, he was able to react instinctively in response to the danger.
From there, he had managed to succeed in conjuring mana despite it being a fluke.
So, when he forcibly snatched the tablet from Jessica once again. He was actually researching something more about mana and Mana Core.
It was thanks to the information that enabled him to become knowledgeable and explain some of the theory to Karl.
Simultaneously, his enlightenment caused him to realize that he really had a Mana Core within his body.
He never constructed one, but Damien had a feeling that the existence of the Mana Core had something to do with the incident back on Earth.
The mysterious shining Joker dancing card that had pierced through him. Maybe the piercing was never meant to harm him but was intended to inject him.
As for what it was precisely, Damien still didn't have much of an idea and dared not make any conclusion.
Having learned the lesson that the Shadow resides in him was not under his control nor was it his protector. He would be a foolish man to make any conclusive judgment.
Nevertheless, that didn't stop Damien from commencing the current action.
The weak point of a reptile, or better to say, for all monsters, was definitely the inside of their body. Hence, Damien had been waiting patiently for the moment when the reptile monster would use toxic spit.
With its mouth opened wide to do the spitting action, it would become the opening that Damien desired.
And at this moment, Damien's hand had already begun conjuring mana. It was not some great spells. It was just pure mana, considering he lacked the knowledge to physically form any spells.
However, what he knew was that when mana goes uncontrollable, it would result in a blast.
"Have a taste of an explosive powder keg inside your stomach," Damien shouted and launched the mana toward its mouth.
Simultaneously, the reptile monster managed to launch the toxic spit straight at Damien. Based on their current distance and trajectory, Damien knew he wouldn't be able to avoid the toxic spit this time.
Nevertheless, it was a price he was willing to pay in exchange for the reptile monster's death. Without any actual combat experience, a prolonged battle would only prove difficult for him.
Much to his surprise though, when Damien tried to shift his body to allow the toxic spit to land at this least vulnerable spot, the Shadow's hand suddenly emerged.
Like a shield, the Shadow's hand used its dorsal side to block the toxic spit from harming him.
Shocked, both the reptile monster and Damien were confused by its intervention.
Of course, the reaction from both sides differed. The reptile monster was clearly infuriated whereas Damien remained stoic. He wasn't thankful or grateful for the Shadow, given that the battle would have been over had it simply obeyed his command.
Despite the situation, the reptile monster soon felt a surge of foreign substance entering its body. Its eyes widened in horror as it quickly tried to distance itself from Damien and spat out the foreign substance.
Unfortunately, it was a little bit too late.
The surge of mana was volatile—uncontrolled, but powerful. It radiated out from deep within the reptile monster, erupting like an uncontrollable force of nature.
The reptile monster screeched in pain and banged its body everywhere in hopes of containing the explosion.
However, the explosive force was immense. Mana blasted out in a powerful burst, creating a destructive wave that collided with the inside of the monster's body. The explosion tore through the creature's organs, ripping them apart from the inside.
Its flesh shredded, and its body recoiled as the destructive force spread through it like wildfire.
"Kreeeeee," The monster groveled in pain, feeling its life force leaking out exponentially. It continued to groan and shuddered, its body constantly shaking as it struggled to stay alive.
Amidst its painful cries, Damien finally spoke up. "Now, will you answer my question from earlier?"
The monster shot a hateful glare at Damien. It hissed coldly, its tongue slithering as in a sign of telling him to scram.
"What a pity. I would have given you a less painful death had you answered." Damien uttered. He was about to conjure another mana and recreate the blast effect, only to be snatched of the opportunity.
The Shadow from within him surged forward and slammed its palm directly on the reptile monster. Pieces of flesh splattered across the ground, some landing on the nearby walls, and some landing in the murky water.
Surprisingly though, Damien didn't get hit at all. It was as if the Shadow had calculated every form of possibility before making its move to kill and consume the reptile monster.
Although there was no mouth from the Shadow, the reptile monster appeared to have been vacuumed away.
In the blink of an eye, only the splattered fleshes remained evidence of the reptile monster's existence. Its deformed body due to the explosion was consumed and vanished from the world.
Following the consumption, the Shadow returned to its original place, remaining nothing more than just an ordinary shadow.
Damien's expression, however, was cold and solemn. He had some form of connection and was able to discern the power of the Shadow seemed to have improved upon consumption.
Precisely because of that, Damien began to wonder if the Shadow had deliberately allowed the reptile monster to transform and grow stronger. Perhaps the Shadow had intended for it, knowing that only by consuming a more powerful being would its own strength be further enhanced.
'If my conjecture was right, then it's possible that my life would constantly be in near danger but not threatening enough to be killed.' Damien was appalled by the situation. His eyes shifted to his left arm.
The left arm, which had been slashed earlier by the reptile monster's barbed tail, began to show signs of recovery. The Shadow coated the wound, numbing the stinging sensation as it started to heal.