"I won’t give up, I won’t die here," Michael said, giving himself hope. "I am the Shadow Monarch, one chosen by the gods. I bear the mark of shadow, I wield divinity; I am the ruler of the shadows, chosen by the god of death. I can’t die to a mere wolf... No, I won’t!" Michael shouted. Immediately, all the shadows rose, obeying the call and commands of their ruler, their monarch.
Michael’s breath hung in the icy air as the wolf barreled toward him, jaws wide and eyes blazing. No way out. No backup this time. His heart hammered. He dropped his bow and, in one swift, desperate motion, summoned his obsidian blade dagger a midnight blade, as dark and sharp as a nightmare. Michael channeled his essence into the dagger, summoning its enchantment.
{Blade of Shadows: Hidden and discarded, the Obsidian Blade Fang is able to blend in with the shadows, allowing the user to wield it in stealth.} Michael could never figure out why this enchantment was called Blade of Shadows instead of Dagger of Shadows. Maybe the forger had a thing for blades, Michael always told himself. For original chapters go to novel~fire~net
The wolf lunged, fangs flashing. Michael dove sideways, the beast’s teeth snapping just inches from his throat, spraying frost and spit. Rolling to his feet, he slashed upward, the dagger catching fur and drawing a line of black blood across the monster’s side. The wolf spun on him, enraged, hate in its eye.
Moving so fast it was a blur—a living storm of muscle and shadow.
"Ever since Michael awakened his system, a lingering fear clung to him—a fear of wielding a power that once belonged to a god. But now Michael decided to embrace the shadow."
Michael ducked under a swipe of massive claws, feeling the rush of air. He summoned the shadow. He vanished in a blur of shadows, flickering across the battlefield like a living phantom; he appeared behind the wolf, aiming a vicious stab at its hind leg. The wolf howled in pain, kicking back and hurling Michael against the dungeon wall. Dazed but defiant, Michael surged to his feet, breathing hard, blood trickling from a split in his brow.
"I won’t die here," Michael growled, his voice raw. He let the shadows coil around his limbs, boosting his speed, matching the beast. Even though Michael could use his shadow abilities more freely due to his title of Shadow Monarch, it still drained him considerably. It didn’t, however, seem as dangerous as his lightning power, which felt ready to explode in his face at any moment.
He darted in again, shadows twisting the air, ducking beneath another deadly snap. The dagger flashed, stabbing deep this time into the soft flesh beneath the wolf’s jaw. The wolf shrieked, rearing back, blood gushing from the wound. Michael didn’t hesitate; he twisted the blade, blood surging from the wound, weakening the monster as its strength bled away.
The wolf lashed out in desperation, claws raking across Michael’s side. Pain seared, but he pulled free, relentless, refusing to fall. With a cry, Michael leaped, planting his foot on the wolf’s crashing shoulder, and drove the dagger straight into the monster’s glowing eye.
"Die, you piece of shit, die!" Michael shouted as he continued stabbing the wolf repeatedly.
For a second, everything went still. Then the wolf crumpled to the icy stone, twitching, blood pooling, its eyes dull and lifeless.
Chest heaving, Michael stood over the fallen dungeon boss, victorious but shaking. He’d survived not with overwhelming power, but with grim determination and the shadows; his fate was reclaimed.
Even though he won, he was almost completely depleted of essence and couldn’t stand the reason he was even standing right now was duo to his will. Even with the cool shadow ability, it was too essence-consuming for him.
{You have killed dungeon boss: Fiend Wolf.
Michael finally heard the sweet voice of the system, confirming his kill.
"Wait... What?" Even though Michael felt like fainting, he couldn’t help but be happy. Who knew this dungeon would give him so much reward? It looked like Lady Luck was truly watching over him. He felt like thanking David Blackwood for giving him this opportunity he wouldn’t thank him for leaving him to die, of course but a familiar was incredibly rare in the hunter world. They could be used as weapons, for defense, or even as mounts.
Michael would have loved to summon the fiend wolf and check it out, but he was almost out of essence and couldn’t summon it; trying to summon the fiend wolf would be a waste right now as it wouldn’t appear.
Since he couldn’t summon the wolf, he decided to retrieve the wolf core. With the cores he had, absorbing them all would boost his abilities. The wolf core was warm to the touch and blue in color. Michael pocketed it with his other cores, ready to exit the dungeon. Since the dungeon boss was dead, the dungeon would start falling apart and expel everything inside it mostly humans cause even scientist couldn’t figure out what happened to the dungeon creature after the dungeon falls apart .
Just as Michael was waiting to be expelled from the dungeon, he heard a footstep behind him.
He turned to see David Blackwood walking toward him, his footsteps calm and graceful as if he hadn’t just left someone to die and be eaten by a wolf.
"Hand it over," David Blackwood said, immediately stretching out his hand. "Hand over the wolf core."
Michael couldn’t believe the nerve of the man, who had left him to fight the fiend wolf alone.
"Why should I? You left me there; you abandoned me when I needed you most. You left me to die here ." Michael said.
"But you couldn’t have killed it if I hadn’t injured it for you. I softened it up, so hand it over... In fact, hand over all your cores, you loser. You don’t deserve them."
Even if David was right about injuring the wolf, Michael didn’t believe he did it to help. And he certainly wouldn’t hand over his cores to someone who’d betrayed a comrade in battle and would surely not hand it over to someone that had tortured him for months.