Chapter 24: Chapter 23: The Penalty of the Master of Shadows

[If you succeed through the penalty of the Master of Shadows, the class, Radiant Blacksmith, will be granted to you. But if you fail, the quest: Master of Shadows will remain. No other class will be available to you anymore, your path to becoming the Shadow Blacksmith will be forever cemented, and the Master of Shadows will also impose a punishment upon you.

Warning: If you die during the penalty… your real body back on your own planet also dies with you, Julian Winters.]

"My real body… will also die?"

Julian stood there, not really knowing how to process what he was feeling right now. He was so confident before—but that was before he knew his real body was also going to die as well.

"And… it knows I'm human?"

Of course, the Guidance of Artemis would know.

It was considered the voice of the gods of Artemia, the voice of the world. What kind of god would it be if it didn't know?

The thought that Artemia actually knew he was a human from another world should have terrified him, but instead, it felt like it did not matter at all for now. Because for now, Julian's mind quickly wandered to the most critical fact—He would die in the real world too.

"I need… to fight that thing?" As soon as that reality clicked into place, Julian's eyes snapped to the creature standing before him.

The monster stood motionless, its body a mass of shifting shadows, swirling ominously. Its form resembled a daemon, but not just quite. It had more limbs than he could count, more than the tentacles writhing from its face.

But something about this one felt different. More… sinister.

"Ki…kikiki."

"Huh…?" Julian mumbled as a sound hit his ears. It was faint at first, like a faraway echo, but then it grew. Something familiar, but also incredibly unnatural.

The creature… it was laughing.

It was laughing at him. As if mocking him for the decision he made.

"What the…?" The laugh chilled him to his core.

It wasn't like a normal laugh—no. Not like anything Julian had ever heard before. It was a high-pitched, squealing click that repeated itself, like the kind of sound a lizard might make. But this… this was loud.

So loud it drowned out everything else. The echoes of its shrieks filled the air, vibrating through his skull, shaking his bones until he thought his head might split open.

"Sh…!!!" Julian pressed his hands against his ears, trying to block out the sound. But the vibrations that ran through the darkness caused his entire body to tremble, his heightened senses betraying him as the laughter wormed its way through his mind.

And soon, the monster shifted, but it didn't charge at him—No. Instead, it moved to the side, slowly circling him like a predator toying with its prey—very much the same as what Julian's crazed self did to him earlier in his visions.

The monster's eyes—if they could be called eyes—never left him. It wasn't as large as the daemon he had killed in the Below. But something about this one was far more… terrifying.

And his instincts… it just screamed at him to run.

"I don't have a weapon!" Julian shouted to the [Guidance of Artemis], desperate for any response. But there was only silence. "How am I supposed to beat this thing without a weapon!? How—"

"Kikikiki."

The creature was amused. Julian could feel it. The way its twisted body curled and moved with ease, it was… toying with him. Like what a cat would do.

"Kii!" And soon, the monster finally moved, and when it did, it moved fast.

It closed the distance between them like a shadow in the night, its body stretching as its limbs reached for him.

"What the!?" Julian's heart leaped into his throat as he quickly bolted in the opposite direction, but the creature's laughter only grew louder, filling the air until it was all he could hear. It became an overwhelming, mocking chorus, echoing in his mind, drowning out his thoughts and even his breaths.

Then… something changed.

"...Huh?"

Then, in an instant, the laughter quieted—a soft, eerie whisper in the distance. It made Julian confused at first. But… that's when he felt it—something was wrong. His body felt… lighter.

He looked down…

…only to see that his right arm was gone.

"Kh!" Julian gasped, his heart slamming into his chest. The pain finally hit him as he saw his severed arm lying on the dark floor, and the shadow creature holding it with its tentacles..

"Kikiki…" The creature waved his arm at him, as if mocking him, before tossing it lazily toward him.

"..." The severed limb hit Julian square in the face, the pain mixing into a breath of terror and confusion.

What… what was this thing? Was this the Master of Shadows? Was it punishing him personally for ignoring the quest?

"Kikiki!" The creature's eerie laugh echoed once more. And Julian's instincts screamed at him to run again, but he knew it was useless.

His heightened senses were working against him now because there was something weird with the monster.

It was loud when it's far, and it became quieter the closer it got, and since Julian is used to relying on his ears, his heightened senses were somewhat failing him. He needed… to do something.

He needed to focus. He needed to feel it, to sense it not only through sound, but through the very air it disturbed—very much like his test when he woke up in the space station of Humanity Engineering above the skies of Artemia.

"Ho…" Julian steadied his breath, his frantic heartbeat slowing as he focused everything on the creature. The laughter still echoed in his mind, but he pushed it aside.

He would not let fear rule him. He had been in the shadows before. He had survived. He would survive again.

The creature seemed to have felt the shift in him. It paused, the high-pitched laughter turning into something colder, even more sinister.

And then, without warning…

"Kii!" It lunged.

The shadow monster moved like lightning, its limbs striking out at Julian from all directions. But instead of retreating and running again, Julian stood his ground, dodging and weaving… almost like an amateur boxer luckily avoiding a punch.

His body twisted, dipping under each strike, his feet dancing away from the blows.

But, of course, the creature was fast—too fast even with Julian's increased agility. Its many limbs made it impossible to predict where the next attack would come from.

Julian dodged, again and again, but it wasn't enough. And soon… the creature's sharp legs finally found him, slashing across his chest in a vicious upward strike.

"Kh!" Julian grunted, stumbling back as the pain seared through him. Blood poured from the wound, but there was no time to react. The creature pressed the attack, striking at him relentlessly, not giving him a moment to breathe as he desperately rolled on the ground several times like some sort of clown.

He was being overwhelmed.

"...Hm?" And then, in a moment of desperation, Julian's hand found something cold on the ground—his severed arm. Without thinking, he grabbed it, gripping it tightly in his remaining hand. The bone, sharp and jagged… and in the crudest of definition, it felt like a weapon.

Without hesitating, Julian stabbed the shadow creature through one of its limbs.

"Kreeek!?" The creature shrieked, recoiling in surprise, its body writhing and almost shrinking as it pulled back.

"F… finally, ha…" Julian grinned, the pain and exhaustion momentarily forgotten as he watched the creature falter.

The monster's dark eyes narrowed at him, almost as if it was looking at Julian from head to toe—and as it saw Julian also smiling now… the monster's eerie laughter returned, louder this time.

"Kii!" The creature lunged again, and this time Julian didn't just dodge. He struck back, stabbing at it with the jagged bone of his own severed arm.

Each time the creature slashed at him, he stabbed back, the two of them locked in a brutal dance.

Blood poured from Julian's wounds, but he didn't stop. He couldn't stop. After all, it wasn't only him that was hurting, that was dying.

And soon, the dance came to an end.

"Kh…" Julian gasped as the shadow monster landed one final blow, stabbing straight through his chest, the pain so sharp it nearly made him black out. But even as he felt his life slipping away…

…Julian's grin remained.

After all, he wasn't the only one who had taken a fatal wound.

The creature collapsed to the ground in front of him, its body almost disappearing into the dark floor beneath them.

"Ha… ha…" Julian fell to his knees, gasping for air as he stared at the monster's remains.

"I… I did it," Julian wheezed, his vision fading. He stabbed at the creature's body one last time, just to be sure. And another, just in case the last one wasn't enough.

"I did… let… let me out of here…"

He had won, but barely. His body was broken, his strength all but gone. And the large hole on his chest did not really help at all. He knew he would die if he stayed here much longer.

"Let me become the Radiant Black—"

[Defeat the enemy in front of you (Shadow Crawler 1/10)]

And then, a message appeared before him.

"Huh…?" Julian froze, the words entering into his mind like ice. One… one out of ten? Does that mean…

As if on cue, the sound of clicking filled the air. More laughter—this time, from all around him.

His eyes darted to the shadows, and that's when he saw them—nine more. Nine more shadow creatures, their forms crawling toward him from the darkness.

"Were… were they watching this entire time?" Julian's breath hitched, the reality of his situation sinking in. He had fought so hard, but now, he realized…

…they truly were just playing with him from the beginning.

"Ha…" Julian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He wanted to scream, but instead, he simply let out a small, bitter chuckle.

His hand trembled as he just let go of his severed arm—but he wasn't surrendering. Instead, he grabbed one of the sharp limbs from the dead shadow crawler in front of him, yanking it apart.

"Well…" a soft chuckle escaped his lips as he looked at the remaining shadow crawlers, their forms slowly circling around him, "...Let's just get this over with then. I'm not... I'm not returning to the darkness."

And with a guttural roar, but silent roar, Julian pushed himself to his feet, his body shaking with the effort. His chest burned, the hole in his torso still bleeding freely, but he didn't care.

He had nothing left to lose.

He rushed at the nearest shadow crawler, roaring as he swung the sharp limb in his hand, slashing at the creature with all his remaining strength. The other monsters lunged at him in unison, their claws tearing at his flesh, but Julian didn't stop.

He fought with everything he had, his roars echoing through the dark void, even as the pain consumed him.

But it wasn't enough, it never would have been.

Even with his heightened senses, even with the strength of his will, Julian was already dead even before the nine remaining crawlers revealed themselves.

His body couldn't keep up. His vision blurred, his limbs grew heavy… and finally, his strength gave out.

"Aah… fuck," Julian cursed as he dropped to the ground, his body convulsing as the shadow crawlers circled him like vultures. He doesn't usually curse, but this situation feels like it deserves it. He could feel them prodding at him, playing with his broken body, "I really…

…I really should have gone straight to the smith—"

And before he could finish his words, one of the shadow crawlers lunged at him, its massive leg crashing down on his head.

Crack.

And everything went silent.

[...]

[You have failed the penalty of the Master of Shadows. No other class will be available to you anymore, your path to becoming the Shadow Blacksmith will be forever cemented. But that no longer applies to you, Julian Winters.]

And there, Julian Winters, a man who had lived his life shrouded in darkness, died alone as he lived, in a void.

[...]

[...I did not expect for him to die, Artemis.]

[...]

[I might have been a little impulsive.]

[...]

[Artemis, please!]

[The pitiful Master of Shadows has decided to give you a second chance at life, Julian Winters. But for two lives to be dug from the grave, many will suffer…

…that is the punishment that has been imposed upon you for failing the penalty.]

"!?" And out of nowhere, a sharp gasp filled the air, followed by a deep breath as Julian suddenly sat up. The shadow crawlers, all gone,

"I'm... I'm alive...?"