Taesan entered the darkness.
The further he went, the more shadows he saw, and these shadows were fighting each other.
Kugugung!
They collided with force, engaging in battle. The stronger shadows devoured the weaker ones to grow even stronger.
And then another shadow would attack.
The shadow that had consumed energy during the fight couldn’t properly react to the ambush and was instantly trampled and disappeared.
The shadow that succeeded in the ambush moved leisurely, having grown even stronger.
The two shadows that lost all their strength slowly vanished into the darkness.
“Wild.”
They devoured each other, stealing strength.
Taesan observed the process of the shadows consuming each other.
The theft of strength and the process. Taesan realized something as he watched.
“It’s similar.”
The method Zhenlong, who had made a pact with a beast that craved life, used to absorb strength by killing other players was not much different.
“Are they the same species?”
The beast that craved life must have originally been a mortal being.
It devoured everything, grew stronger, and ascended to the position of an immortal with sheer strength.
[Who knows? There are few who know where that immortal came from. The beast that craved life devoured even its dwelling and homeland.]
Leaving nothing behind. It consumed everything that came into its reach, thus gaining the strength to become an immortal.
[But... yeah, it seems similar. Like you said, it could be a similar species. Does that mean the beast that craved life originally existed as a species?]
The ghost murmured with interest. Taesan continued to move through the darkness.
Chwaaak!
At that moment, a shadow lunged at Taesan.
Taesan swung his sword. With a rough sound, power clashed.
Kaakak!
The shadow pressed its entire body against Taesan, trying to swallow him whole. The strength it radiated was much stronger and larger than any other shadow.
Taesan gripped his sword tightly and took a step forward.
After quite some time, Taesan managed to defeat the shadow.
[Your Soul Ascension has been activated.]
[Your proficiency in Seed of Life has increased by 1%.]
[Have you broken the Declaration of Concealment?]
“No.”
Taesan was still hidden by the Word of Command. He stepped on the fallen shadow.
“It seems like it doesn’t work on particularly strong ones.”
The shadow that had attacked Taesan was noticeably stronger than the others. For an ordinary adventurer of the lower floors, it would have been difficult to win even if they fought with all their strength.
The purpose of the lower floors was not to defeat the shadows.
The goal was to find a way to avoid the shadows and navigate through the darkness to find a path.
This was clear just from the strength of the shadows. Each one was slightly weaker than the Broken Man, but there were more than a thousand of them. Defeating them all wasn’t the correct strategy.
But Taesan wasn’t aiming for a normal strategy.
‘There’s a limit to defeating small fry.’
Experience couldn’t be gained from enemies below a certain level, and the same applied to Soul Ascension. After defeating dozens more shadows, both would reach their limits.
Taesan quietly organized his thoughts and spoke.
“The strength of the shadows varies.”
There were some he could defeat easily and some that gave him a hard time. This was because the shadows devoured each other and stole strength.
“If that’s the case, there must be one that’s the strongest.”
The shadow that had devoured more shadows than anyone else, possessing immense strength and ruling this place.
The ghost quietly agreed.
[Yeah, there should be. But how are you going to find it?]
The darkness here blocked vision and senses.
Even if he activated Leraje’s Territory Detection, the shadows would devour the detection’s power. And then they’d charge at Taesan.
For Taesan, who had forced duels before, it wouldn’t be a significant problem. However, with over a thousand of them, it would take time to deal with them all.
Moreover, he had no idea how large this area was. For all he knew, it could be as big as a planet.
“It doesn’t matter.”
Would the detection power be consumed?
Then he just had to pour in enough power that they couldn’t consume.
[You have activated Apostle Transformation [Darkness and Chaos].]
How far had he gone?
Taesan stopped.
“It’s here.”
[Wait.]
The ghost groaned in awe.
[What... is that?]
Kagagagak!
A massive roar echoed. A gigantic shadow was rushing toward them from the other side.
It was devouring all the shadows that stood in its way.
The shadows tried to resist, but they were buried under its overwhelming power, like animals caught in a natural disaster.
The shadows that had been charging at Taesan scattered in an instant. It was as if they were terrified of the gigantic shadow.
[The Shadow Maw has appeared.]
The torrent of the Shadow Maw surged toward Taesan.
Taesan gripped his sword and charged forward.
Kaaaang!
A massive wave echoed. The collision shook the space violently.
Both Taesan and the shadow were flung back. Taesan gathered his strength.
“It’s strong.”
In terms of sheer power, it was above the Guides’ leadership.
[Isn’t this supposed to be the start of the lower floors? Why is something like that here?]
The ghost murmured in disbelief. It was a monster with power far beyond the level of the lower floors.
[Karrk.]
The Shadow Maw chuckled quietly.
The shadow spread and began to devour the space around it.
Taesan laughed. This was a sufficiently satisfying opponent.
[You have summoned Minerva, the Spirit King of Wind.]
[You have summoned Barkaza, the Shield of Many Colors.]
“Master. What is...”
Minerva, who was about to greet him happily, froze when she saw the gigantic shadow.
“...What is that?”
[You’re always fighting peculiar beings. So, I just need to defeat that, right?]
“That’s what you need to do, but it won’t be easy.”
Barkaza clapped his hands. A rainbow-colored light poured over the shadow.
Kugugugung!
The body of the Shadow King shook violently. Barkaza murmured in confusion.
[Why isn’t it defending itself?]
It was a simple restraint. A being with that much power should have been able to dodge or block it easily, yet the shadow didn’t.
It didn’t take long for them to realize the reason.
Kadeuk.
A chewing sound echoed.
The power Barkaza had unleashed on the shadow was gradually being absorbed.
“...Huh?”
[Karrk.]
With a rough laugh, the shadow surged forward. Barkaza, who had been watching in a daze, hurriedly emitted more rainbow light. Minerva used that power to summon the wind.
“Go.”
At her master’s command, the wind turned into blades and rushed toward the shadow.
Minerva had grown significantly stronger by consuming the essence of nature. Even if she were to fight Vishnu again, she would be able to put up a good fight with Barkaza’s support.
Kwa-gwang!
Indeed, the body of the shadow, struck by the wind blades, was pushed back.
However, Minerva’s expression stiffened.
“...Is it devouring my power?”
Kudeuk. Kudeuk.
The wind blades were slowly disappearing into the shadow’s body.
[Karrk.]
The shadow joyfully swelled its body even more. The shadow filling the space rushed toward Taesan.