Absolute Dweller-Chapter 183
‘The other shadow creatures didn’t provide experience or settlement rewards upon defeat.’
Normally, when using Absolute Dweller’s Eye, even ordinary humans, monsters, and animals like cats and dogs displayed a level.
The only exception, when levels didn’t appear, was for summoned entities, like the Iron Knights controlled by Kang Deok-soo.
Creatures brought into existence through an awakening ability had no displayed level.
‘That means all of these shadow creatures...’
They must have been summoned by that monster’s ability.
That explained why they provided no experience or rewards.
‘Level 71, huh.’
Excluding the Ice Dragon, this was the highest-leveled monster I had encountered so far.
‘But... its actual strength doesn’t feel that overwhelming.’
Right now, my avatar was fighting it alone.
If the Shadow Master truly possessed the full power of a level-71 creature, there was no way my avatar could handle it alone.
Even with my retainers taking care of everything else, allowing the avatar to focus all its strength, the level gap was absurd.
The avatar was only level 50.
Even with the Avatar title buff, which increased all stats tenfold, there was still too large a difference.
Sure, my avatar was exceptionally strong for its level.
But the monster was also exceptionally weak for its level.
‘It’s probably a combined level, factoring in all the shadow creatures it controls. And...’
I used Absolute Dweller’s Eye to observe the battle more closely.
The avatar’s entire body was clad in a dark blue aura, forming a suit of armor—a fusion of Aura Protection and black energy.
Normally, merging awakened abilities with enhancement skills resulted in a synergy boost.
But for the avatar, the efficiency was on an entirely different level.
Using Teleport, the avatar suddenly reappeared right in front of the Shadow Master.
And struck forward with its fist.
At the same time, the dark blue energy that had been spread across its body concentrated entirely into its fist.
And then—
FLASH—
A burst of black holy radiance exploded, and in an instant—
The avatar’s fist pierced through the Shadow Master’s head.
BOOOOOOM—!
A massive explosion followed.
The avatar immediately teleported again, escaping the blast radius.
‘That was an insane amount of power.’
With one punch, the monster’s massive head had been blown off.
In terms of raw combat power, no retainer could compare.
For a brief moment, the avatar seemed stronger than even my father when receiving his Bloodline Buff.
But unfortunately—
Ssssssk—
The Shadow Master’s shattered head instantly regenerated.
‘That regeneration speed is ridiculous.’
In fact, calling it regeneration was misleading.
The explosion of its head didn’t even seem like real damage to the creature.
The pattern kept repeating.
The avatar’s attacks would rip apart the Shadow Master’s body.
The shadow tendrils emerging from the monster would lash out in retaliation.
But they shattered before even reaching the avatar.
A powerful telekinetic barrier shielded it.
Even if they broke through that, they would still be blocked by the Aura Protection surrounding the avatar’s body.
The fight looked one-sided.
But it wasn’t hopeful.
‘Mental energy is depleting too quickly.’
Even though each strike caused massive destruction, the Shadow Master simply regenerated instantly.
A complete stalemate.
‘About six hours have passed.’
By now, an entire day must have passed in the outside world.
The domain expansion had advanced over a kilometer into the Inner World.
In total, I had reached about the halfway point.
‘At least twelve more hours to go.’
But as time passed, my avatar’s exhaustion became more apparent.
Unfortunately, since I couldn’t assign a quest, I couldn’t use tricks like healing it.
And—
‘At this rate, the domain will eventually expand to where that thing is.’
I had to force it back before that happened.
Despite the avatar’s relentless assault, the pushing momentum was slowing down.
It was time for a change in strategy.
[Kim Ga-young.]
I called out to her.
She had been soaring freely with her wind wings, annihilating shadow creatures.
[Do you see the massive monster in the center?]
Given how deadly her light arrows were against ordinary shadow creatures, they should be just as effective against the Shadow Master.
[Can you land the strongest attack possible on it?]
“I’ll try.”
I relayed the plan to the avatar as well.
[Time your attack with Ga-young’s strike. Pour everything into it.]
Even though our consciousness wasn’t synchronized—since he wasn’t inside the domain—he was still another version of me.
Just hearing the plan was enough for him to understand my intent.
He responded through telepathy.
He was too busy dodging attacks to speak aloud.
[So—instead of smaller attacks, we’re going for one big hit?]
[Exactly. You set the timing. You already know Ga-young’s strongest attack, right?]
[Of course.]
[Then, I’ll leave it to you.]
Kim Ga-young landed on the rooftop of a nearby building, getting a clear line of sight on the Shadow Master.
‘Enhancement.’
I reinforced her.
WUUUUUUNG—
Black energy seeped into her body.
A black bow and arrow appeared in her hands.
Then—
CRACKLE—!
Black sparks crackled as the bow and arrow grew in size.
FZZZZZT—
The immense energy concentration must have been detected.
The Shadow Master stopped fighting the avatar.
And turned its focus toward Ga-young.
Then—
THOOOOM! THOOM!
It charged toward her.
The black arrow had triggered its survival instincts.
It sensed danger.
Even as the monster charged toward her at terrifying speed, Kim Ga-young never lost focus.
BOOM—!
At that moment, the avatar appeared beneath it.
And delivered a monstrous uppercut to its stomach.
But all it managed to do was briefly slow it down.
The Shadow Master resumed charging forward, reaching the building in an instant.
And then—
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BOOOOOOOM—!
Its massive front legs demolished the building.
However—
‘Perfect.’
Kim Ga-young had already moved.
Just before the monster’s attack landed, she had spread her wind wings, launching herself into the air.
And then—
-KYAAAAAAAAAK—!
As the Shadow Master realized the danger too late, it lunged at Kim Ga-young, jaws wide open.
At the exact moment—
Tuk!
She released the arrow.
KWAGWAGWAGWAGWAGWA—
The furious projectile pierced straight into the Shadow Master’s mouth.
And—
FLASH—!
A massive dark-blue fist slammed down on the Shadow Master.
Unlike the previous attacks, which had only shattered its body in smaller fragments, this one contained several times more energy.
And then—
BOOOOOOM—!
The monster’s body erupted, obliterating the surrounding area.
RUMBLE—
A storm of dust and darkness swept through the battlefield.
Just as it seemed to be over, Absolute Dweller’s Eye still displayed information about the Shadow Master.
Which meant—
[Both of you, fall back!]
It was still alive.
-KIIIIIIIEEEEK!
The mangled, half-destroyed Shadow Master let out a wretched scream.
Immediately, every shadow creature in the vicinity was sucked toward it like a black hole.
It devoured them all.
Its obliterated body regenerated rapidly.
However, due to the sheer extent of the damage, it failed to fully restore itself.
As ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) a result, its size shrank to half of its original form.
And in the next moment—
A sinister black mist poured from its body.
‘...What is this?’
Thanks to Absolute Dweller’s Eye, I noticed the change immediately.
The black mist wasn’t just spreading from its body.
It was expanding from the outer regions, from the ceiling—
The black mist was rapidly reclaiming the battlefield.
The frontlines, which had once cleared the mist, were soon swallowed again.
But that wasn’t all.
FWOOSH—
Like a waterfall, the black mist cascaded downward.
The shards of glass on the ground, which had once emitted light, dimmed and faded.
Darkness was returning to the Inner World.
The black mist now threatened to consume everything.
And—
CRACK—
The Shadow Master, now merged with the black mist, began undergoing a mutation.
FLASH—
Dozens of new eyes sprouted all over its body.
Where once only its head had eyes, now its entire body was covered in them.
Then—
It lashed out at the avatar with a vicious swipe.
SWISH—
The avatar dodged skillfully, but in the next moment—
CRACK! BOOOOOM—!
For the first time, the Shadow Master’s counterattack landed a direct hit.
The avatar was sent crashing into a building, an explosion shaking the surroundings.
It had happened instantly.
The moment the avatar teleported, black tendrils had intercepted him.
‘Its reaction speed has improved.’
The extra eyes must have enhanced its perception.
It was now responding faster to the avatar’s movements.
And the avatar had exhausted itself delivering the previous all-out attack.
‘Quest Assignment—Kim Ga-young. Quest Reward: Full Recovery.’
[Citizen Kim Ga-young has completed the quest.]
[Quest cost: 100,000,000 won deducted.]
Using the quest mechanic, I could restore Ga-young’s stamina and resources.
But I couldn’t assign quests to the avatar.
I couldn’t heal it with money.
However—
‘This is already over.’
The situation had vastly improved.
The Shadow Master had absorbed every shadow creature, meaning the battlefield was now empty.
I no longer had to worry about defending the frontlines.
The monster had thrown everything into taking out Kim Ga-young and the avatar.
This meant her arrows had been far more effective than expected.
As I predicted, the Shadow Master ignored everything else and charged straight at Kim Ga-young.
This meant I didn’t even need to give further instructions.
It was playing into my hands.
As a retainer with Trust 100, Loyalty 100, Kim Ga-young had access to "that" ability.
‘Domain Expansion.’
WUUUUUNG—
A dark radiance expanded outward from her, forming a 15-meter radius of influence.
‘Descent.’
FLASH—
And at that moment—
[A hostile entity to the Absolute Dweller has been detected.]
[Eliminating.]
BOOOOM!
The Shadow Master’s head detonated.
-KYYAAAAAAAK!
However, as before, it didn’t die.
Its head regenerated instantly, emerging from the surrounding shadows.
Then it lunged again, frenzied.
But every time it entered the domain—
[A hostile entity to the Absolute Dweller has been detected.]
[Eliminating.]
BOOM!
Its body continued to explode apart, yet it couldn’t harm me.
During this process—
‘...I see now.’
Just as I had understood the nature of the True Ancestor among the vampires, I now grasped the truth behind this monster.
‘So that’s how it works.’
Its weakness was located at the top of this world.
At the highest point in the Inner World—
A black stone, encased in thick layers of mist.
That was its core.
‘Teleport.’
SWISH—
I forcibly moved the avatar to that location.
‘Enhancement.’
Since he was another version of me, he immediately understood what needed to be done.
SHLICK—!
With the sharpened power I had poured into him, he drove his attack deep into the black stone.
[You have hunted the Shadow Master (Lv. 71).]
At last, the avatar’s true worth was proven.
[The avatar has converted the monster’s experience and settlement rewards.]
[Skill points acquired.]
[Skill points acquired.]
[Skill points acquired.]
