The spear stopped an inch from Vell's chest. Not because Cain hesitated, but because Vell was laughing.
It started as a quiet chuckle, then grew into full, manic laughter that echoed through the chamber. Blood trickled from his mouth, but he couldn't stop.
"What's so funny?" Cain pressed harder with his foot, cracking more ribs.
"You really think..." he coughed up more blood, but his eyes glead with sothing dangerous. "...that I didn't notice?"
His hand shot up, grabbing the shadow spear. The weapon sizzled and hissed as it started dissolving, being absorbed into Vell's palm.
[Master, what are you—]
"Shut up for a second," he grinned, his teeth stained red. "I'm trying to eat here."
Cain's perfect features twisted in surprise as he tried to pull the spear back, but it was too late. The shadow weapon completely dissolved, and Vell's body pulsed with new energy.
"Your attacks..." his voice changed, becoming deeper, more distorted. "They're not just shadows. They're pieces of you. Little fragnts of power that you've been feeding this whole ti."
He grabbed Cain's ankle and squeezed. The aristocratic being tried to step back, but for the first ti, he couldn't break free.
"I wasn't losing..." Vell's body began to change, his skin cracking like a shell. "I was just... very, very hungry."
The chamber filled with a sound like breaking glass as Vell's human form shattered. What erged wasn't human or monster – it was sothing worse. His body beca translucent, like living crystal, with swirling darkness visible inside. His eyes multiplied, each one a different color, all filled with hunger.
"What are you?" Cain's voice held real fear now.
Vell stood up, his crystalline form towering over Cain. "I am what happens when the abyss gets hungry."
[Oh. OH. YOU UNLOCKED IT!?]
The tables turned instantly. Vell glided on the ground, his new form flowing around Cain's attacks instead of blocking them. Each ti a shadow touched him, it was absorbed, making him grow stronger.
"No!" Cain backed away, his perfect composure crumbling. "This is my domain, my palace. How did you—"
"Turn the tables against you in your own house?" His many eyes blinked in sequence. "Simple. I just ate."
He reached out with a hand, and the shadows in the room began flowing toward him like water down a drain. Cain tried to maintain his form, but pieces of him were being pulled away.
"You know the funny thing about being a predator?" He stepped closer, his form rippling with absorbed power. "Sotis you forget that bigger predators exist."
Cain launched a desperate attack, his body exploding into a storm of shadow blades but they all vanished into Vell's crystalline body, making the darkness inside him swirl faster.
"Thanks for the al," he said, his voice echoing strangely through his crystal form. "But I think it's ti we ended this ga."
His body suddenly expanded, filling the chamber with prismatic light. Each facet of his crystalline form reflected a different reality, a different kind of hunger. Cain scread as his body was torn apart, not by force, but by pure consumption.
The mighty being of shadow and terror disappeared piece by piece, absorbed into the crystal labyrinth that Vell had beco. The process was beautiful and horrifying, like watching a galaxy being devoured by sothing impossibly vast.
When it was done, Vell's form contracted, returning to sothing almost human. But his skin remained slightly translucent, and his eyes... his eyes held universes of darkness.
[Well... that was unexpected.]
"Really?" He cracked his neck, feeling his new power settle. "I thought it was rather obvious. A tower full of powerful beings, each one feeding different kinds of mana? It's like a buffet."
He walked to the throne and sat down, running his fingers along the armrests. The entire chamber seed to pulse in response to his touch.
"So," he smiled, but it wasn't the playful smirk from before. It was the smile of sothing that had rembered its place at the top of the food chain. "Who's hungry for the next course?"
The tower trembled, recognizing its new master. Above and below, countless beings of power sensed the change and shuddered. The predator hadn't just won – he had evolved.
[Mission complete]
[Reward: Gold card]
The card appeared infront of him. He grabbed it, looked at it and threw it in his inventory. "What's the point when the feature to use them isn't even available yet." He got up, stretching his muscles, "strange though, Cain is gone, so why is the dungeon not closing?"
Slow clapping echoed through the chamber.
Vell's eyes snapped toward the sound. A figure stepped out of thin air, as if walking through an invisible door.
"Bravo," the newcor said. She was tall, with silver hair that moved like rcury. "You managed to defeat my pet's illusion quite beautifully."
[Master... her power level... it's...]
"Illusion?" He stood from the throne, his form catching the light. The power he'd just absorbed from Cain swirled inside him uneasily.
The woman smiled. It wasn't a kind smile. "Did you really think that pathetic shadow was the master of this tower?" She gestured at the room around them. "This isn't even the real throne room. You're still on the testing floor."
The chamber flickered like a dying fla. The grand walls, the marble pillars, even the throne – all of it dissolved into mist, revealing a simple stone room with glowing runes on the walls.
"Well, shit." Vell's many eyes narrowed. The power he'd absorbed from Cain wasn't dissolving though. That, at least, had been real.
[We might be in trouble.]
"You think?" he muttered.
The woman stepped closer, each footfall leaving ripples in the air itself. "Don't feel too bad. Most candidates don't even make it past the first guardian. You've shown... potential."
"Candidates?" His form rippled with irritation. "For what?"
"For ascending, of course." Another figure appeared beside her – a man wrapped in chains of light. "We need to test those who wish to climb the tower properly."
[Master, there are more coming.]
Figures began appearing all around the room. Each one radiated power that made Cain's presence feel like a candle next to a sun. There were twelve in total, forming a circle around him.
"The Shadow Lord you just defeated?" the woman continued. "He was rely the first test. Congratulations on passing... but now the real trials begin."
Vell looked around slowly, 'sothing is not right here, Cain was an illusion, then what was all that bs he was talking about and the town folks?'
The woman looked at him in amusent, "I know what you are thinking and yes, Cain and the people outside were all made to believe whatever we planted in their heads. Clever right?"
"Tch, let guess," he said, his voice dry. "You're the real dungeon masters?"
The man in chains laughed. "Close. We're the Guardians of Ascension. The true keepers of the tower's power."
"And you," the woman's smile turned predatory, "have caught our interest. Few beings can absorb power the way you do. Even fewer can adapt so... creatively."
Vell's many eyes blinked in sequence. The power he'd gained from Cain and the other guardians churned inside him, eager for more.
[They're not lying about their power. Each one of them could probably crush us right now.]
'Hah, dont overestimate them so much.' A familiar smirk spread across his face. 'they're making one big mistake.'
"Oh?" the woman raised an eyebrow. "And what's that?"
"Great, you can read minds too?"
"No, you just broadcast your thoughts quite loudly," she replied, taking another step forward. "Most beings who reach this level are... overwheld by our presence, but you?" Her rcury hair rippled with interest. "You're already thinking of ways to fight us."
[Master, let's think about this carefully...]
"You know ," he interrupted, "You all keep talking about 'ascending' and 'trials' and 'testing,' but I just realized sothing."
The man in chains tilted his head. "Oh?"
"This floor? It's the highest point in the tower. I can feel it. There's nothing above us but sky."
The woman's smile faltered slightly. "Very perceptive. But what does that—"
"It ans you're all full of shit. There's no ascension. No higher trials. You just want to use for sothing."
The twelve figures exchanged glances. The temperature in the room dropped several degrees.
"Use is such an ugly word," the woman said, her voice hardening. "We prefer to think of it as... recruitnt. Your ability to absorb and adapt to different types of power is unique. With proper guidance—"
"Let stop you right there." His smirk turned predatory. "I didn't co here to join your little club. I ca here to eat."
"You dare—" the man in chains began, but Vell was already moving.
His form exploded outward, filling the room with prismatic shards. Each piece reflected a different reality, sa as before. The power he absorbed wasn't an illusion—it was very real, and now it sang through him like a symphony of shadows. Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire
"Twelve of you?" He laughed, his voice echoing strangely through his fractured form. "Perfect. I was still hungry anyway."
The woman's beautiful face twisted "Fool! You think you can challenge the Guardians of Ascension? We've existed since—"
"Blah blah, fuck you."
"Wha-"
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