'Oops!'

A thought flashed by in my head.

'I shouldn't be wasting time like this.'

I had witnessed the power of my new skill. I could now turn the defeated monsters into my soldiers.

If that was the case, then wasn't there a monster nearby that I just had to turn into my lackey right away?

I climbed up the pile of armour that seemed like used to be the giant Iron Golem and stood on top. By being so high up, I could take in the entirety of the boss room.

'...'

I searched around as my glare became sharper.

Found it!

Confirming the direction, I immediately ran over there. Perhaps I was feeling really psyched, I arrived there in the blink of an eye, even though I didn't use the any skill.

Gulp~

I looked at the 'corpse' of the monster that I was planning to extract the shadow from, and swallowed dry saliva.

The creature remained in the exact same spot where I had killed it.

'...Paimon the Obedient.'

The sight of the midnight black-armoured figure half-buried in the thick, sturdy wall told how powerful that Divine Departure attack was.

I stood before Paimon.

It might have been a fearsome enemy that threatened to kill me only a few hours ago, but now, it was probably the best ingredient I could find. Fortunately enough, I saw the black smoke slowly oozing out from Paimon, just like how it was with other fallen knights.

[It is possible to perform King's Call on the selected target.]

My expression brightened.

'Nice.'

I already knew the drill. I took a short but deep breath and spoke out the command phrase.

"Rise up."

I spoke the activation phrase for the skill, King's Call. However, the skill didn't activate.

'.....??'

I tilted my head this way and that way, and was about to say the command phrase again. But then, following a 'Tti-ring', several warning messages popped up.

[You have exceeded the number of shadows that can be extracted.]

[If you wish to perform King's Call, you must return a portion, or all, of your soldiers back to the world of nothingness via 'Extraction Cancellation'.]

[Once returned to nothingness, the shadow soldiers can't be summoned back.]

'Oh, yeah. There was something like that, wasn't there?'

At the end of the skill's explanation, there was something I should've taken note of.

[Number of shadows that can be extracted: 30/30]

The maximum number of extractions I could perform was 30. Which meant the number of my soldiers was currently 30….

I looked behind me.

The shadow soldiers had followed me even before I had noticed it, and they were standing at attention.

'When did they?'

Perhaps fitting their title of 'shadow soldiers', they seemed to move around without making a single sound.

Whatever the case might have been, if I wanted to extract Paimon's shadow, I had to get rid of one of these guys, just as the System had alluded to.

'But….'

It had only been a short while, yet when I thought about them being my soldiers, I kind of didn't want to dismiss any one of them.

Did I get attached to them already?

With a rueful, unwilling expression, I slowly scanned each and every one of my shadow soldiers. As my eyes swept past the soldiers, their names and levels appeared before my view.

[Shadow Infantryman Lv. 1]

— Regular grade

[Shadow Infantryman Lv. 1]

— Regular grade

Everyone possessed the same name and level.

'Oh well, their origins were exactly the same, so…'

But then, I discovered three somewhat different-coloured soldiers right at the back of the infantrymen.

'Are those….?'

Unlike the regular infantrymen, these guys were wearing robes.

[Shadow Magic Soldier Lv. 1]

— Elite grade

"Oh."

I quickly figured out what they were. The three mages who were exposing my position must've been revived as undead as well when I gave out my 'Rise up' command just now.

'So, 27 infantrymen and three mages, eh?'

This was why being 'rare' was a good thing. I excluded the low-numbered mages and selected the closest infantryman for me to cancel the extraction.

….And I was really sorry about this.

"Extraction Cancellation."

Phush….

The soldier turned into black smoke and scattered in the air. Not even a trace remained of it.

'...'

I gazed at the spot of the disappeared soldier for a little while with an apologetic expression before shifting my attention back to Paimon.

My preparation was complete.

I even had to sacrifice one of my wonderful soldiers just so I could turn Paimon into a shadow. So, I simply had to see some results here.

Time to act while the sun still shone.

I tried the King's Call right away.

"Rise up."

When I did that, the shadow cast beneath Paimon began to wiggle as if it came to life. It was the same reaction as when I extracted the shadows from the knights just now.

'Okay, good!'

I clenched my fists tightly. I had a good feeling about this.

[King's Call has commenced.]

[Attempting to extract….]

What would Paimon look like after its extraction? My hands became slick with the sweat of anticipation.

Unfortunately…

Ting!

A mechanical beep akin to a metal plate breaking in half rang inside his head.

[King's Call has failed.]

"What?!'

[Two more attempts remaining.]

"Whew-woo…."

Hearing that I still had more chances remaining, I let out a long sigh of relief.

'Hang on, now that I think about it….'

The skill's explanation definitely said that the odds of extraction failure would rise up depending on the target's Stat values.

But having experienced it personally, I couldn't help but be dumbfounded. It felt like I got slapped in the back of my head, this taste of my first failure.

Not only that, there was a restriction on the number of attempts I could try, too.

'So, I have two more attempts remaining….'

If I failed in both attempts, then did that mean Paimon's shadow would disappear into that 'nothingness', just as the sacrificed infantryman did?

Imagining the worst possible scenario, I felt dizzy for a second. I quickly shook my head to clear my mind.

'Let's stop thinking negatively about this.'

Indeed, only positive thoughts…

Didn't someone say that if you believed earnestly enough, the universe would find a way to help you out?

While stewing inside anxiety and anticipation, I attempted the extraction for the second time.

"Rise up."

Too bad, my expectation was shot down grandly once more.

Ting!

[King's Call has failed.]

[One more attempt remaining]

'…..'

This guy gave me so much trouble while it was still alive, and even in death, it was managing to give me some serious headaches.

And here I was, hoping against hope.

Now that I had failed twice in a row, my vision seemed to have blurred; everything looked a bit bleak.

"Fuu….."

I deeply inhaled and exhaled my breath.

There were no more attempts remaining after this. I had only one more shot left. I closed my eyes and reorganised my thoughts.

'Well, it could be nothing more than percentages and odds, but….'

But, it was possible that my desire to possess Paimon's shadow wasn't earnest or strong enough.

I slowly reopened my eyes.

I sensed the black smoke rising up from Paimon, reaching out to me, pleading with me to save it. I became a lot more serious than before.

And I reached out with my right hand as if to grab that pleading hand of the smoke.

"In the name of Morningstar House, I command thee to— Rise Up!"

I didn't do it deliberately; I myself didn't quite realise it then, but my voice sounded much heavier and graver than ever before, and it reverberated throughout the boss room.

It was then!

Uwaaahhh-!!

A deep scream could be heard coming from somewhere, and a chilling, eerie wind swept by the boss room.

'Isn't this it…?'

My expression brightened.

I remembered encountering a similar situation to this one before.

….Back when my infantrymen first popped out from the shadows.

Aaaaah-!

Just as I had hoped for, as the lengthy scream came to an end, a long black hand emerged out from the shadow. And when that hand pressed down on the ground, a new message popped up in my view.

[King's Call was a success.]

I let out a cry of happiness.

"Yes!!"

I tightly clenched my fists. The taste of success was so much sweeter since I had to go through two failures to get here.

However, the good news didn't end there.

[The King's voice had awakened the departed's fighting spirit.]

[You have succeeded in strengthening your shadow soldier.]

[The shadow's level will now start at 7.]

'I succeeded in strengthening? What?'

A shadow's starting level could be higher than 1?

My eyes widened once more. Just as the message said, the black knight emerging from the shadow carried 'level 7' in its status.

"Mm!!"

I spat out a short gasp.

The newly emerged shadow looked exactly as it was in my memories.

The mane attached to the helm; the highly fashionable armour wrapped around its entire body; that noble, dignified cape.

There was no difference other than the shadowy-like texture of its already midnight black armour. Everything else was exactly the same.

I'd have probably believed it if someone told me that Paimon had returned to life just now.

However…

'…..'

The newly born Paimon didn't display a single hint of animosity towards me. No, it just stood there quietly, waiting for me to give it a new order.

Thump, thump.

My heart began pounding in excitement as I stared at Paimon. And there was a big grin etched on my face. Even though my heart was palpitating, there was something I was curious about.

My gaze shifted just above Paimon's head.

'Why doesn't this guy have a name?'

[?? Lv. 7]

— Knight grade

For some strange reason, there were a couple of question marks instead of its name.

'And its grade is also different.'

I understood that its level was high because of that strengthening thing, but still, this guy exhibited quite a few differences from the regular infantrymen.

Perhaps it read my mind, because the System sent me a new message with excellent timing.

Tti-ring!

[You can bestow a name to a knight-grade soldier.]

[The bestowed name will be maintained until the shadow soldier is dismissed.]

[Please set the soldier's name.]

'A name, is it?'

At first, I was at a loss with this unexpected demand, but soon enough, I recalled that this 'guy' already had a name, and a smile crept up on my face. There should be no problem calling it by its original name, no?

[Please set the soldier's name.]

The message blinked as if to urge me on with the naming already.

I opened my mouth.

"Paimon the Obe…."

No, hang on a minute.

When the System asked me to set the name, it meant that I'd have to use that name to call this guy from here onwards. So, didn't that also mean that I'd have to call it Paimon the blah-blah all the time from now on?

Just thinking about that gave me a nasty case of goosebumps.

'…..That's way too cringey.'

In the end, I decided to shorten the name somewhat.

"Paimon."

[Will you set the name as 'Paimon'?]

"That's right."

As soon as I spoke, the question marks on the guy's head disappeared, and the name Paimon appeared there.

[Paimon Lv. 7]

— Knight grade

All I did was to simply give it its original name, yet I still felt like I had accomplished something pretty amazing. I was filled with contentment, knowing that this guy was my loyal soldier now.

'My own loyal soldier, eh….'

I took a look behind me.

29 shadow soldiers were still there, waiting for my orders.

For now, the number was too small.

'Only 30, huh….'

Either this was because the skill level of 'King's Call' was too low, or because something on my Stat hadn't been raised high enough yet.

But, I was sure of one thing, and that was the number of my soldiers would gradually swell up.

'Yup, I really have myself a new army.'

Not only that, they weren't some skeletons and corpses, but an army of shadows.

Now, there was only one problem remaining.

And that was how I'd walk around with these guys. Now that gave me a bit of a headache.

'Doesn't matter skeletons or shadows….'

It'd be way too eye-catching if these guys freely walked around in the streets.

Would that be all?

Tti-ring!

[King's Call can now be expanded through 'Abyssal Synchrony.' Would you like to synchronise your shadow soldiers into your inner domain?]

'Abyssal Synchrony?'

The notification blinked again, as if the System itself were urging me.

'So that's how I store them without parading thirty black ghosts around the city, huh?'

I smirked faintly. Convenient.

"Yes."

A pulse of shadowy energy rippled through the chamber. The thirty soldiers—Paimon included—straightened at once, their hollow eyes burning faintly with midnight light before collapsing into liquid darkness. The entire army dissolved into a tide of black smoke, streaming toward my feet and disappearing beneath my shadow.

The air grew still.

Then—

[All shadow soldiers have been bound to the Abyssal Domain.]

[You may summon or dismiss them at will.]

The message faded, leaving the room echoing with quiet stillness.

I exhaled. "…Good. That's one problem solved."

The silence stretched. I glanced at the spot where Paimon had stood moments ago.

'A knight-grade, Level 7 shadow. You're something else, old relic.'

It was strange—Paimon had perished long before the original Dominic had even been born, yet now his remnant served me, a foreign soul wearing that prince's skin. Fate really was twisted.

'You fought for a Morningstar once, didn't you?'

I could almost feel the faint hum of acknowledgement from the abyss beneath me, a wordless vow of fealty echoing from beyond the dark. It wasn't emotion, not exactly—but it was close enough to loyalty.

"Then I'll make sure you don't fall again."

A quiet ripple of power ran along my spine, almost like approval.

I smiled thinly. "Heh. Thought so."

[Job Change has now been concluded.]

[Exit Gate will now be generated.]

'So, it's finally over, huh….'

Without hesitation, I turned around. The Gate connecting to the outside world was quietly waiting for me as if to congratulate me on my successful adventure.

When I took a step outside, the surroundings changed in an instant. And I was back in my room, the faint scent of sandalwood and black rose returned to my senses.

Warm air brushed past my damp hair, and the gentle hum of the mansion's enchantments replaced the eerie silence of the dungeon. I blinked once, twice—my hand still half-raised, fingers faintly trembling from the residue of shadow energy.

"…I'm back," I muttered, exhaling a shaky breath.

The faint glow of the system window flickered once before dissolving, leaving no trace of the hellish trial I'd just endured. Not a single ripple of mana escaped.

Only I knew what had just transpired.

The Job Change Quest… and Paimon.

A knock came from beyond the door—soft, rhythmic.

"Darling?" Zeraphira's voice.

I turned slightly, flexing my hand as shadows swirled faintly around my palm before fading. "Come in."

The door opened with a soft creak. Zeraphira entered, her expression shifting from mild curiosity to faint relief when her eyes landed on me.

"You disappeared for a moment," she said, closing the door behind her. "Your aura… flickered. I thought something happened."

"Nothing serious," I replied.

***

Stone me, I can take it!

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