The Awakened Shadow Demon

Chapter 14 The Awakened Shadow Demon In the game, searching Veronica's corpse yields [A Letter Someone Sent to the Noble Red Society].

This is a guaranteed drop for the early main quest item, used directly to unlock the next stage of the main quest.

And this "someone" is the agent of "a certain minister" who was later implicated in the incident.

Iver couldn't remember exactly who this someone was, nor did he remember which minister it was... but knowing a general range was enough.

It was like the teacher defining the exam scope in advance for the final exam.

Excluding those Iver had no impression of, and those he knew for sure couldn't be, there were only three possible candidates left.

The Minister of Finance, the Minister of Justice, and the Minister of Trade.

The common point was that all three were high-ranking officials, over half a century old, usually amiable and well-liked, and middle-aged fat men who couldn't see their shoes when looking down while wearing casual clothes—this was Iver's impression of this "certain minister."

A classic multiple-choice question.

One of the three had been bought off by a spy sent by the Stibium Kingdom, regularly and secretly sending some top-secret high-level intelligence to the Stibium Kingdom. The remaining two were innocent.

—The medium they used to transmit intelligence was the "Noble Red Society."

The Stibium Kingdom behind the Noble Red Society intended to subvert the Avalon Kingdom—this was the main storyline up until version 2.0.

This minister was the inside man connecting the Stibium Kingdom and Avalon.

A genuine traitor.

The letters exchanged with him were naturally top secret. Such important things would definitely not leave his body.

After all, there were many thieves in Avalon. If such a thing was stolen silently and made public, they wouldn't have enough lives to pay for it.

If this letter fell into the hands of the Bureau of Supervision, it might not be effective. If he had planted spies in the Bureau of Supervision, it might have been directly cleared.

But if Iver got it, the situation would be different.

He could completely follow this letter and track down that "someone" in reverse. Then he could know which of the classic three choices was the traitor.

[...My master]

A deep, rumbling, and hoarse voice, like a lion just waking up, sounded in Iver's ear.

It was the Shadow Demon beneath Iver.

A pure shadow construct, a slender black snake the thickness of a girl's arm, crawled up Iver's left leg, waist, chest, all the way to his throat.

The shadow snake's eyes glowed with scarlet light, hissing with smoky black forked tongue.

Then the lion-like voice turned into a snake-like hissing voice:

[What... are you doing?]

"As you can see, destroying my own criminal evidence."

Iver showed no fear, not even looking down at the black snake wrapped around his neck.

He just focused on retrieving evidence from Veronica, while casually replying, "And searching for other people's criminal evidence."

When communicating with these demons, you must not appear tired or afraid.

Because the more you fear it, the more the demon will look down on you.

The so-called "demons" are not otherworldly creatures from the abyss as in other fantasy settings, but a type of Phantom Demon.

To be precise, only Phantom Demons from the Path of Transcendence are called demons. But after the term became generalized, other Phantom Demons who commit evil from other Paths, Phantom Demons of the dark attribute, and Phantom Demons who look like demons, are all generalized as demons.

Phantom Demons are special life forms without material bodies, without lifespan, and that cannot be completely killed. They belong only to a single Path, have self-awareness, and the potential to gradually become stronger. In most cases, they are born by drawing power from different Paths, and a small number are transformed from living beings.

Iver's younger sister, Yulia, was in very poor health, specifically in a state of near-perpetual fever—this was because a Phantom Demon seed was gestating within her body. From this perspective, she could be considered a sacrifice for the birth of a Phantom Demon.

And a Demon Scholar who advances incorrectly can also transform themself into a demon through a complex ritual. That is to say, the person directly becomes a Phantom Demon.

These are the two main ways to transform into a Phantom Demon.

Because orthodox demons all come from the Path of Transcendence, they all have the pure characteristic of "intending to surpass the strong and despise the weak." That is, they have the strength and ability to act, and are extremely proud and ambitious.

And a demon who has signed a contract can gain experience in practicing the Path while its master walks the Path of Transcendence. They cannot do this on their own.

Because native demons lack their own desires—they lack a goal they want to surpass.

As long as one's future is promising, and one has a clear goal and strength... that is, proving one's determination and ability to walk the "Path of Transcendence," the demon will not betray its master for the time being.

If a demon recognizes its temporary master, even if the master falls into a desperate situation, they will not defect, and may even fight to the last moment for them. Because demons do not disappear along with the death of their master, they are not afraid of death. If the master can survive a deadly outcome, this strong fate of overcoming adversity will greatly satisfy the demon.

Therefore, if the demon thinks you are not pure enough, lack ability, and have no hope for the future, and cannot provide it with enough food from the act of overcoming the strong with the weak, it will plan how to leave you.

It doesn't sound like much, or rather, it sounds quite normal—if you think your boss is not good, you just quit and change companies.

But after signing a contract, the demon cannot leave his body unless the Demon Scholar dies. So once a demon dislikes the master who signed the contract with it, it will try to kill him. Demons cannot harm their own masters, but there are many ways to kill a person.

Many Demon Scholars only summon demons that are only slightly stronger than themselves. This is because they are too afraid of demons, worried that they will not be able to satisfy the demon's appetite.

But Iver was not afraid at all.

Because in Iver's eyes, these demons are like very ambitious workers.

He felt very close to them.

Some who are capable and motivated will look for large companies, that is, submit resumes to high-level Demon Scholars; but there are also some demons who like to respond to low-level Demon Scholars, those are like workers who like to go to start-ups.

Some are simply not capable enough and are not wanted by large companies, these are lower demons and lesser demons; some want to start their own company but have no capital, so they invest their technology in start-up companies, intending to usurp power one day, these are high-level demons who deliberately respond to the summons of low-level Demon Scholars, coming because they know the summoner cannot control them; and some are simply tricked into it—they submitted a resume to a large company, but were assigned to a subsidiary with a lot of work and little pay.

This is like being summoned by a high-level Demon Scholar, and then being controlled and handed over to a low-level Demon Scholar to sign a contract. In the Stibium Kingdom, where the Path of Transcendence is legal, their mentors are like this, catching demons for their students.

Iver's Shadow Demon is also this type.

Of course, the Shadow Demon's situation is even more complicated—because Iver himself is the sacrifice who tricked it into coming.

It's like the salary card became a spirit and turned into the boss.

If only the Shadow Demon was a little stronger... When Iver feeds it some other demons as food, and lets it evolve again, it will be qualified to be sealed as a Great Beast. At that time, it will no longer be a demon, and it will no longer be possible to betray him.

But now, Iver still needs to show off his abilities.

...No way, it's a labor market now.

He still has to perform a little.

Once he signs a lifetime contract later, he won't have to worry about the Shadow Demon devouring its master.

Even though the Shadow Demon was sealed by Iver with a wheelchair, it has always stayed in Iver's shadow. It must have seen everything that happened before.

This was also another purpose of Iver's trip—to stabilize this job seeker who had been tricked over by demonstrating his layout ability, conspiracy level, and lying skills along the way. To send the Shadow Demon spiritual food that would be enough for it to recognize him.

"Now, what do you think of me?"

Iver casually asked.

Hearing this, the black snake on his neck melted and dripped, turning into a pure black hound.

It intimately rubbed against Iver's calf, making a low sound.

[Perfect, delicious, excellent...]

Obviously, the Shadow Demon was very satisfied.

The black dog opened its mouth and said, word by word, with intonation: [I am extremely looking forward to your future... our future.]

"—In that case."

Iver casually discarded his letter: "Then destroy it and leave."

[Hehehe...]

The Shadow Demon chuckled lowly.

After several seconds, it responded: [Your will... Master.]

[Looking forward to you, waking me up next time...]

[At that time, I hope to gnaw on real flesh and blood.]

The black dog jumped up, picked up the letter, and disappeared into the mud-like shadow when it landed.

The letter was directly melted by it into nothing. Just like a plastic bag being roasted by fire, it blackened, withered, wrinkled, shrunk, and disappeared without a trace.

There is no doubt that if it bit a living thing, it would be directly dragged into the shadows and melted.

This is definitely not something that Iver's level one "Shadow Ability" can do. It was the result of the Shadow Demon taking action itself.

—This is exactly the Shadow Demon showing off its "hunting" ability to its master.