Ogre revealed the opponent's identity, merely to divert its attention.

But unexpectedly, the mutant responded.

Perhaps Ogre's current appearance was indeed too misleading.

"So... you're alone?" The hunter, who had been knocked to the ground with a blow to the forehead, suddenly stood up again.

It hadn't rushed to attack earlier, partly because it wasn't sure if there were others around, and partly because of Ogre's frail appearance.

'Attacking the body has no effect, it really is a shadow demon...'

Ogre focused on the shadow beneath the hunter, noticing something was off.

'As expected, I'm still lacking in professionalism...'

Ogre gathered strength in his calves and dashed in front of the hunter before it could stand up.

He lifted his leg and kicked!

With a burst of acceleration, Ogre's boot struck the "hunter" with immense force, caving in its chest.

"A Martial Artist, huh... Such a strong body, but too bad you haven't cultivated vitality, hahaha, now this perfect body is mine!"

The hunter's voice didn't fade away; the damage to the body didn't affect it much because it didn't care about this body at all!

Shadow demons only fear light and energy!

Conventional attacks can't harm it at all.

This human body was merely a disguise to absorb energy and avoid light damage.

After confirming that Ogre wasn't a Knight or Mage, the shadow demon was completely at ease.

"A beautiful and delicious body, how lucky." Black mist spread from the hunter's darkened skin.

It hadn't expected to find such a perfect host.

Normally, it was quite disdainful of female bodies—they were too fragile, and their vitality wasn't as nourishing as males'.

But the nun before it was an exception.

Upon getting closer, it sensed a strong essence from Ogre, even stronger than that of a Professional Martial Artist or Knight!

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More importantly, this guy didn't carry any holy weapons.

"Don't worry, I'll live well for you..."

The black mist's sinister laughter grew stronger, and its mist-like body completely enveloped Ogre, desperately trying to penetrate inside.

"Scared? Beg for mercy! Uh? Eh... you're a man?"

As the invasion deepened, most of Ogre's skin turned black, and after feeling Ogre's body, the shadow demon's first surprise was the unexpected gender.

But more than that, it was delighted.

'Wait, this guy isn't reacting at all...'

But after the delight, a moment of confusion followed, and the shadow demon realized something was very wrong with Ogre's reaction.

It noticed that the cross-dressing boy it was invading wasn't showing any fear at all.

"Have I been discovered?"

Silent until now, Ogre finally smiled—a hint of blue flashed in his eyes.

Blue arcs of electricity flickered under the night sky.

"Ah—! No—!"

Accompanying the flickering electricity was the shadow demon's scream.

"If you try to run, I might not catch you."

With the burst of electricity, the blackness on Ogre's skin quickly dissipated, leaving only a trace of weak black mist in Ogre's palm. The shadow demon was now at Ogre's mercy.

If he wanted, Ogre could destroy it anytime.

He had patiently listened to its nonsense for so long, just to wait for it to walk into his trap.

"I know you're not dead yet—if you dare to run or keep playing dead, I'll kill you!" Ogre gently reassured the creature that had tried to take over his body.

"I was wrong, please forgive me, from now on I'll be your servant, I can sign a symbiotic contract with you to help you become a shadow mage, I know many things..." The shadow demon's plea echoed from within Ogre's mind.

In fact, except for the initial words spoken using the hunter's body, the rest were the shadow demon using its innate ability to speak directly into Ogre's mind.

Because this could instill fear in the target, and the more fear, the more delicious it was to the shadow demon.

But clearly, this was wasted on Ogre.

Lightning energy was extremely effective against mutants, second only to the Holy Light of the Church of Dawn, which was why Ogre dared to come out so boldly.

Dealing with orthodox Professionals—like Knights or Martial Artists—might be a bit challenging for Ogre, and he might even fail.

But dealing with mutants of equal strength?

Ogre was confident he could take on ten!

Lightning was extremely effective against most mutants, like a father disciplining a son—the shadow demon, now without its physical protection, was precisely on the list of those extremely restrained by lightning.

"Shut up!" Ogre's shout instantly silenced the shadow demon.

'As expected, a little shock makes it behave.'

"Actually, I preferred your rebellious attitude before, revert to that." Ogre looked at the weak black mist in his hand and smiled kindly.

Seeing the shadow demon quiet down, Ogre roughly grasped the reason behind it.

'What an unexpected gain.'

With what was left of its body, even if he let it go, it probably wouldn't survive long, so if it wanted to live, it could only rely on the essence Ogre provided.

This was one of the reasons why the shadow demon's attitude towards Ogre changed so drastically.

"Huh?" The shadow demon was stunned for a moment, not quite understanding the human's play, but after a second of slow thinking, it decided to comply with Ogre's request.

Though it didn't understand, it respected its instincts.

Having spent a long time in human society, it had learned a lot, and its desire to live was deeply ingrained—after all, even the most mundane human life was a thousand times more exciting than the shadowy world of constant fighting.

In fact, not just it, most mutants gradually adapted to human rhythms after living in human society for a while...

When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes back at you.

"Ha ha... ah!"

The shadow demon's laughter echoed again from within Ogre's mind, but with a flash of electricity, it quickly turned into a scream.

"You really listened? And where did you learn that laugh, don't do it again, it's too awful." Ogre interrupted the shadow demon's performance, patiently criticizing it.

"Yes, yes, you're right, I'll change, I'll change..." The shadow demon wanted to retort, but its desire to live turned its words into flattery.

Because it heard hope for life in Ogre's words.

Even a sewer rat wouldn't give up the desire to live.

"Alright, hide in my body for now, we'll talk about the rest later—and without my permission, don't absorb my essence!" Ogre reined in his power, allowing the shadow demon to reside within him.

The shadow demon in his hand was now so weak it would die with any resistance.

If Ogre didn't relax his spirit, it wouldn't even have the power to reside.

"Thank you, master, from now on I'm your loyal servant, you can call me Little Shadow." The shadow demon instantly burrowed into Ogre's palm.

Then it spread along his arm, transforming into a diamond-shaped black dot on his forearm under Ogre's will.

"Little Shadow? That name is too awful... I'll think of one for you later." Ogre found the name too intimate and rejected it.

"Yes, yes, you're right, how could I have such an awful name, by the way, master, you should..."

"Shut up." Ogre coldly commanded in his mind.

This guy was a bit annoying...

Shadow demon: "..."

Fine, I'm nothing.

"Do you know where other mutants are?" Ogre kicked the hunter's corpse aside and asked.

"Uh, there's one right behind you..."

"Hmm?" Ogre turned sharply to find a snarling humanoid beast staring at him not far away—

A werewolf!

At this moment, it was a full moon.