Shadow's Hand-Chapter 27: Transformation

Damien couldn't help but be impressed by the monster's resilience—it refused to surrender, still struggling fiercely against the restraints in a desperate attempt to break free.

However, being impressed and happy were two different matters.

The Shadow's hand holding it down trembled slightly as the monster's body bulked up, its sinewy muscles inflating grotesquely beneath its tattered, scaled hide.

Their thick and bone-like spikes jutted from its back. It was coated in a layer of sickly green venom. Its barbed tail grew longer, twitching ominously.

Amidst their transformation, Damien wanted to completely suppress it to prevent a successful transformation. He would never understand why anyone would stand still in such a position and allow them to undergo the transformation.

In a situation like this, the best method was to suppress them effectively before their transformation was completed.

However, when Damien attempted to control the force of the Shadow's hand, he felt a strong resistance from both the monster and the Shadow itself.

His eyes quickly turned cold. 'As expected... the Shadow has a mind of its own.'

With the clear disobedience from the Shadow's hand itself, Damien was unable to do anything else but watch the transformation process.

He had tried to stop it. Alas, he was just a regular human unlike what others addressed him as such.

Nevertheless, Damien would keep this incident in mind. If there were ever a chance of him gaining power that was completely submissive and in his control. Then he would discard the Shadow within him in a heartbeat.

A power that could not be controlled by him—was no power, but a time bomb.

While Damien was determined with his mindset, the monster's transformation was near its completion.

Time went by, and with a surge of newfound strength, the monster let out a guttural snarl and pushed against the Shadow's grip. The surrounding air trembled as a shockwave of raw force rippled outward, momentarily destabilizing the Shadow's hand.

Soon, the monster tore itself free from the suppression and hurriedly distanced itself from Damien. Its eyes filled with wariness as the Shadow's hand subsequently returned to Damien's side.

'What's the point of returning to my side when you allowed it to happen?' Damien was displeased internally but remained nonchalant on the surface. As a veteran poker player, the very basic rule was keeping a poker face no matter what kind of cards were dealt at the table.

Therefore, he never allowed others to easily read what was on his mind.

While he kept his emotion inside, the reptile monster, on the other hand, had increased in size. However, the increase in size didn't seem to affect its movement speed. In fact, their movement speed appeared to have surged.

With terrifying speed, it suddenly lunged forward, its barbed tail lashing out like a whip. This time, its tail's movement was faster and more refined.

'Too fast.' Alarmed by the attack speed, Damien barely tilted his body, evading the deadly strike by a hair's breadth. But the tail didn't stop. Instead, it curved mid-air, swinging toward him again in a deceptive feint.

Splash!

Blood splattered across the tunnel, and Damien's left arm was slashed.

Damien clicked his tongue, his brows furrowing slightly as he glanced at the wound. The cut of the wound began to seep out blood, dyeing the concrete floor in red. The pain was sharp but fleeting, given his body had already begun adjusting to the damage.

However, what concerned him more was the unnatural sting spreading from the cut.

'Poison?' He quickly assessed the sensation creeping through his veins. It wasn't immediate, but there was definitely something off.

Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.

Since the reptile monster was able to spit out toxic-like substances, it was only logical to believe its barbed tail was laced with some type of poison as well.

While the situation was starting to get out of hand, especially with the way the Shadow had openly disregarded his safety, Damien realized he had been quite naive. Just because his perception had increased, and had some unknown changes in his body, he became complacent.

Although he had repeatedly mentioned how he wouldn't rely on or trust the Shadow, he still ended up over-relying on it for safety.

Due to his overreliance on the Shadow. It resulted in him being injured, having mistakenly believed the Shadow would tank the damage or deflect it in response.

'Phew, what an amateur move I made.' Damien didn't curse at the Shadow or the situation. He admitted his fault and understood how it occurred.

The only grateful part was that he seemed to be able to narrowly keep up with the reptile monster's movement.

He was indeed hit and injured, but only because the reptile monster was able to forcefully change the trajectory movement of its barbed tail. Otherwise, he would have dodged the attack and remained unscathed.

'If I perceive its body movement better, then I can deduce whether it wanted to feign an attack or not.' Having kept his distance since their strike landed, Damien made a mental note to pay attention carefully.

This wasn't some kind of video game where he would get a second chance, but reality. The slight numbing sensation of pain from his left arm was evidence of such.

While Damien remained cautious, the reptile monster in the meantime, became more exhilarated than ever.

Having witnessed its attack was successful, it growled ferociously in joy. Its sunken red eyes gleamed with sadistic satisfaction. Encouraged by the success, it lunged forward again and whipped its barbed tail around like a deadly scythe.

As the barbed tail threatened to slash at Damien again—this time, he was more prepared than ever. Rather than micro-dodging the attack, Damien did the unthinkable.

He did something the reptile monster would never be able to anticipate—he dashed forward, completely ignoring the danger of the barbed tail.

Startled, the reptile monster was taken aback by Damien's sudden aggression.

It hurriedly tried to shift their position to get a clearer angle, but Damien wasn't affected by their shifting. Their distance became closer, and the reptile monster's instinct was warning him to widen the gap.

Unable to use the barbed tail to threaten Damien away, the reptile monster resorted to spitting out toxic spit.

"That's what I've been waiting for." Damien suddenly narrowed his eyes, his hand conjuring some mana.