Damon felt his head throb as his shadow energy slowly recovered. He sat still, shoulders slightly hunched, watching the amorphous blob roll across the floor. Its body rippled and folded in on itself as jagged teeth spread wide, crunching down on what had once been its cocoon.

The sound was wet and unpleasant. The creature was not even the size of an adult cat, barely half that but its appetite was disturbingly ravenous.

He lifted a hand and pressed it against his temple, fingers digging in as irritation crept through him. His mana reserves were in shambles. Even after absorbing seven rank three mana cores, the recovery had been insignificant.

With a quiet click of his tongue, Damon pulled out a mana crystal he had taken from Aetherus. He crushed it in his palm, instinctively trying to draw the mana into himself.

The energy vanished.

It was ripped away before it could even brush against his heart, seized by the world itself and denied to him outright.

Damon froze for a moment, then let out a slow, controlled breath through his nose. The amount of mana he recovered was laughable, barely enough to register at least by his standards.

As soon as the creature finished devouring the last fragments of its shell, it turned toward him. Even without eyes or a fixed shape, Damon knew—knew—that it was looking at him. It sat there for a brief second, its body quivering slightly, then began to crawl toward him.

Slowly. Deliberately.

When it reached his feet, it opened its massive maw and snapped forward, trying to bite down.

Damon didn't move.

"If you bite me, I'll make sure you regret it."

His voice was calm, cold, utterly devoid of emotion. Even this newly formed thing, this blob forged into his shadow, understood the meaning behind those words.

It froze.

The maw remained open, trembling slightly, but it did not close.

It did not want to mess around and find out.

Damon bent down and picked it up with both hands. Its body felt dense despite its size, faintly warm, and as he turned it slightly, he noticed thin strands of black fur beginning to form along its surface. The sight made him pause.

Cute.

That was new.

This was the first time a shadow had even considered trying to eat him.

Matia didn't count, she had been his friend before her death. Ghost had been an enemy before becoming a shadow, and even then, obedience had come naturally.

This one was different.

Damon lifted it closer to his face, studying it as it wriggled weakly in his grip.

"You are quite interesting," he muttered. "Hmm… I wonder what I should call you."

The danger the creature posed didn't concern him. If he couldn't control it, he would simply devour it.

He glanced at it again as it opened its mouth wide, stretching as if yawning.

"Maw…" Damon said slowly. "Yes."

He nodded once. "Maw is your name. A real glutton."

As soon as the name left his lips, Lazarak wiped the blood from beneath his nose and walked toward him, his steps uneven but steady.

"Now comes the next part," Lazarak said. "Feeding this thing to maturity. Then getting it to birth minions."

Damon narrowed his eyes.

Right.

What was this thing, really?

Now he could finally know. When he had asked Lazarak before, the god had mentioned that four of them had once entered the world and nearly destroyed it. Only this one remained.

Damon opened his system panel and glanced at the shadow tab. A new addition was visible.

He hesitated.

Instead of opening it immediately, his gaze shifted, and he opened Matia's tab instead.

….

[Shadow: Ruined Fairy]

"A fallen fairy's final grace now walks behind you, silent and bound."

Once a beautiful fairy of a frozen land, now a powerful shadow.

[Rank: Three]

[Class: Dancing Fairy]

"Oh, little fairy, dance upon the strings. Sway to the whims of your master, a fleeting waltz between beauty and death."

Skill – [Lethal Grace]

Your movements are fluid and deadly, turning every attack into a flawless dance of death.

[Class: Dark Fairy]

"You rise in darkness."

Skill – [Wings of Ruin]

Your blade freezes wounds, making them slow to heal. Each strike leaves an icy scar that saps vitality, hindering recovery and spreading a chilling curse. The more you dance, the deeper the frost sinks, making each injury a lasting mark of your deadly elegance.

[Ruined Fairy]

There is beauty in ruin. Share this beauty with the world.

[Ruin's End]

Rarely does one receive three blessings in succession. A certain god watched her dance in the darkness and bestowed a boon.

From the wings you gained from your lost kin, a chilling winter spreads around you. All shall fall to Ruin's End.

[Minions: 1]

[Soul Bound Armament]

[Armor of Shattered Ice]

[Description]

This armor carries a faint aura of home, invoking melancholy in a god who can never return. Still, home waits, loyal in its yearning.

The bearer of this armor holds the same unyielding loyalty, even if it is unrewarded.

[Enchantments]

Frost Arsenal – Generates ethereal weapons of soul-infused ice at will, freezing flesh and soul.

Mimic Slash – Copies enemy weapon techniques after observing them once.

Frozen Timestep – Slows perception of time when switching weapons or after landing a critical hit.

Flake of Cold Eternity – Summons a frozen double to fight alongside her briefly.

….

Matia was still a menace even now that she had regained her personality. Damon's gaze drifted to the corner of the chamber, where the female knight stood motionless in the shadows, posture rigid, presence cold.

'I get that she looks cool and all,' he thought, irritation flickering through him, 'but the least she could do is have a conversation every now and again.'

He grimaced.

'We have chairs here, damn it.'

Still, he let it go. As an aura farmer, he knew it would be rude to disturb someone's aura.

With that aside, Damon turned to the second tab.

His second shadow.

This panel was different from Matia's.

…..

[Shadow: Maw]

All demons obsess over the abyss. The true demon kings are no different. I just want my silence.

Race: Vor'Thal (Growth Variant)

Classification: Hive Entity – Abyssal Devourer

Rank: Unclassified (Extinction-Class Potential)

State: Larval / Bound

[Description]

A remnant of an almost extinct extra-cosmic species created by a certain True Demon King for the purpose of consuming the Abyss itself. The great demons long for the abyss, but the abyss longs for silence.

Vor'Thal is a self-evolving predatory race entity designed to consume, analyze, and adapt to all forms of existence. That true demon longed for the mysteries of the abyss. His creations failed and became part of the countless horrors within it.

[Abilities]

[Negation]

The devour race's extinction-class design grants resistance to conceptual and divine laws affecting its base nature.

[Vor'Thal is protected by the authority of the Demon King ***** REDACTED. Maw is now protected by the authority of an unknown god.]

[Skills]

[Abyssal Consumption]

Devours matter, energy, mana, shadow, and conceptual residue to fuel growth and evolution.

[Adaptive Evolution]

Instantly develops biological, metaphysical, or conceptual traits in response to sustained stimuli or threats designed on its Feeding habits.

[Hive Genesis] (Sealed)

Capable of producing subordinate organisms once sufficient mass and authority are achieved.

[Extinction Directive] (Suppressed)

Original prime directive to consume reality overwritten by shadow binding.

[Shadow Subordination]

Absolute loyalty enforced. Vor'Thal cannot act against its creator's will.

Rank Limit

Extinction Rank

…..

It had been a long time since Damon had seen a system panel that interested him this much.

More than anything else, his attention locked onto a single word.

Extinction.

He had never heard of a rank beyond the original nine of his world. He knew higher ranks existed, but never their names.

"What's… the extinction rank?" Damon asked.

Lazarak, who had been watching him stare at nothing, narrowed his eyes.

"Extinction rank," he repeated. "That's not a rank I recognize. Probably one of the nine transcendent ranks."

Damon's eyes flickered.

"Nine transcendent ranks?"

Lazarak sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Something I learned from my brother. All ranks are divided into two groups, the nine mortal ranks and the nine transcendent ones."

Damon silently counted them. The first through seventh class advancements. The hidden thresholds beyond.

His gaze dropped to the small blob wriggling in his hand.

"This little blob has the potential to reach extinction rank."

Lazarak inhaled deeply.

"Then this thing is the most dangerous existence in the world," he said quietly, "on potential alone."

He paused, realization dawning. "You know what it actually is."

Damon nodded slowly. "A race created by a certain True Demon King. They were designed to eat even reality itself, meant to consume the abyss. They failed."

He dropped Maw onto the ground, watching it wobble and roll aimlessly.

"This race is called Vor'Thal. Abyss Devourers."

He glanced down at it.

"I'm calling this one Maw. And like I expected, it's completely useless for now."

Lazarak crossed his arms as Maw slowly rolled toward him, its maw opening wide, clearly eager to eat him.

"Yes," Lazarak said dryly. "So we feed it."

Damon nodded. "It has abilities, but all the useful ones are sealed."

Lazarak bent down and picked Maw up just before it lunged, holding it at arm's length.

"Hmmm. I'd love to experiment with it," he said. "Don't you have somewhere you need to be?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Fine. I need to find a way to recover my mana anyway. I'll head to the inner city and track down my friends. We'll stay in touch through the brands."

He stood and walked toward the shadows as Lazarak playfully shifted his hands, keeping them out of Maw's snapping reach.

Damon stopped and turned his head.

"Maw. Obey Lazarak while I'm gone. And I forbid you from eating any ally."

Maw froze, its mouth hanging open.

Lazarak slowly placed his hand inside its maw.

Despite its frantic attempts to bite down, its body refused to obey.

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