Damien stood over the remains of the Ice King, frost still cracking and popping as the last traces of mana bled out into the frozen floor. His breath fogged the air as the system's voice rang clearly in his mind.
[You have Leveled Up]
[You have Gained the Job Skill: Shadow Exchange]
[You have Gained: Ice King's Staff (Legendary)]
He paused, letting the notifications settle, then raised his hand toward the shattered body.
"Arise."
Silence.
The shards of ice and flesh did not stir. A moment later, the system responded, its tone flat and final.
[Unable to extract the Shadow of a mere body. A soul must be housed within.]
Damien's eyes narrowed. "That makes no sense," he muttered. "I extracted the bears. The Ice Elves too. Why not him?"
The system did not answer.
Instead, the corpse did.
The fragments of the Ice King trembled. One by one, they lifted from the ground, melting into a viscous black fluid that twisted and coiled in the air. It merged, folded into itself, and formed a grotesque approximation of a face. Features sagged and shifted as if they could not decide what they were meant to be.
"Hmmm… the elf died…" the thing murmured, its voice wet and layered, as though several throats spoke at once.
Damien instinctively shifted his stance, daggers half raised.
The thing turned toward him. "Oh. I see. You killed him."
Its formless eyes focused, sharp despite their instability.
"A Shadow Inheritor? Here?" It sounded almost amused. "Interesting. I assumed only the gods of the underworld still lingered in this world. But it seems an Outer God has interfered."
Damien's jaw tightened. "What the hell are you?"
The thing's surface rippled, a mockery of a smile forming. "What I am is irrelevant. The real question is what are you?"
Its voice hardened.
"You do not belong to this world. You do not belong anywhere but the Beyond. Spawn of evil."
The temperature in the room seemed to dip further.
"If fate allows us to meet again," it continued calmly, "I will slay you."
Before Damien could speak, before he could even form another thought, the black substance collapsed. It splattered against the ice and evaporated instantly, leaving nothing behind. No residue. No mana. No trace that it had ever existed.
Damien stood still for several seconds.
Outer Gods. Beyond. Spawn of evil.
None of it aligned with anything he knew. Not Danmachi's gods. Not the Dungeon. Not the System.
"Tch."
He exhaled sharply and shook his head. Whatever that thing was, it was gone. Chasing answers here would get him nothing.
"Later," he said quietly.
With a thought, his status window unfolded before him.
[
Name: Damien Ardent
Job: Necromancer
Level: 37→62 (65000EXP for Next level)
Title: Spark Of the Monarch. Shadow Spawn
HP: 11000
MP: 13500
Stats:
Strength: 68→93→105
Agility: 68→93→113
Sense: 59→84→85
Health: 69→94→110
Intelligence: 85→110→135
Available Ability Points: 75→0
Passive Skills:
Tenacity
Sacred Flame
Demi-God of ███████
Active Skills:
Quicksilver
Mind's Eye
BloodLust
Stealth
Job Skills:
Shadow Preservation: (Capacity 60/60)
Shadow Extraction
Shadow Exchange
Shadows:
Elite Knight: Igris, Adonis, Diana
Normal Grade:
Adventurers 23
2 Infant Dragon.
1 Silverback.
3 Hellhounds.
3 Minotaurs.
9 Ice Bears
10 Ice Elf Archers
6 Lizard Knights)
Authority:
Ruler's Authority]
Damien let out a low whistle as he finished scanning the screen. The jump was massive. He distributed every remaining point without hesitation, reinforcing the foundation of his power.
Then his eyes lingered on the skill he had been waiting for.
Shadow Exchange.
He tapped it.
[Player may exchange positions with any active summon.]
[No cooldown]
For a moment, he just stared.
Then he laughed softly.
"No cooldown?" he murmured. "That's… generous."
Unlike Sung Jin Woo's version, his carried no restriction. No delay. No punishment for overuse. The implications were absurd. Positioning, escape, ambush, rescue. The battlefield itself had just become fluid.
As if responding to his thoughts, the dungeon began to tremble. Cracks spread across the frozen walls, light bleeding through them as reality itself started to peel away.
Damien looked around calmly and gave a silent command.
One by one, his shadows dissolved and returned to his own, sinking back into the darkness at his feet.
The system's voice echoed one last time.
[C-Class Dungeon has been Conquered]
[You have Gained: B-Class Dungeon Key]
Damien reappeared in the normal Dungeon corridor, the oppressive cold gone in an instant. He turned the newly acquired key over in his hand. This one was different. Heavy. Dense. And for the first time, fully described.
[Key that opens the door to the Realm of Monsters.
Region: Killer Ants.The King of Ants awaits, along with his army.]
Damien's smile returned, sharp and eager.
"So that's next," he said quietly.
Somewhere deep below, something monstrous waited.
And Damien was already on his way.
...
Damien felt the world fold in on itself.
One heartbeat he was standing alone in the aftermath of the collapsing system dungeon. The next, the shadows twisted, space inverted, and he stepped out from behind Ryuu as if he had always been there.
Ryuu had just finished cutting down a monster. Its body was still dissolving into ash when instinct took over. She spun instantly, her short dagger flashing upward, the blade aimed cleanly at his throat.
Damien raised a hand and caught it mid-motion, stopping the strike an inch from his neck.
"Hi, Ryuu."
Her eyes went wide.
"Damien?!"
She froze, then immediately pulled her dagger back, staring at him as if he had just crawled out of a nightmare. "How did you do that?" she demanded. "You were gone. You vanished. Where were you?"
"Not far," he replied lightly. "Just had to deal with a few things. I'm done now."
He glanced around, taking in the dense greenery, thick roots curling through the ground and massive leaves blocking most of the light. The air was heavy, humid, alive.
"So," he continued, "where are we?"
Ryuu exhaled slowly, still trying to process what had just happened. "We just passed the thirty third floor. Jungle zone. The desert should be next, which means…"
She didn't finish the sentence, but Damien already knew.
"Udaeus," he said, a grin tugging at his lips. "I've been wanting to see that one for a while."
He stretched his shoulders once, as if shaking off the last traces of cold from the ice dungeon, then turned back to her.
"Let's go tell the others I'm back."
Ryuu nodded, then paused as he suddenly leaned a little closer, his expression turning curious.
"By the way," Damien added casually, "can you use ice magic?"
Ryuu blinked. "…huh!?"
/*\
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