Chapter 173
Chapter 173
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 173
Chapter Title: The Crushing Shadow
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1.
Sharon, having depleted all her mana, couldn't provide any real assistance in the fight.
In fact, with the situation forcing him to protect her from the swarming black dogs, she was more of a liability if anything.
Guarding Sharon, battling the writhing masses of black dogs, and preparing a finishing blow for the mother beast still clawing desperately up the side of the building.
It was the very definition of triple trouble.
But he'd been through similar ordeals plenty of times before.
The "magic" that Siwoo had steadily honed in situations with no room for retreat had always ensured the success of his plans.
All he could do now was trust in his own abilities.
"Stay back a bit more!"
Siwoo thrust his shadow spear with all his might as he shouted to Sharon.
Sharon knew full well she wasn't being helpful.
But standing there stomping her feet in frustration while watching him struggle was infuriating.
If only she hadn't burned through the mana she'd gathered earlier to hurl that ice spear, she might have been able to lend a hand.
"Hng... hang in there! Siwoo!"
In the end, all she could manage was a cheer.
The spear bent at an odd angle, skewering two charging black dogs at once, while he bashed another coming from the side with his shield.
His left and right hands moved in completely different motions, yet it flowed as smoothly as water, without a hint of awkwardness.
"Spread out!"
At the same time, Siwoo amplified his mana.
Absorbing mana through his left eye—which he'd grandly named the Mana Eye—and amplifying it.
Amplify, amplify again.
From a conventional standpoint, this was an incredibly dangerous act.
Mana amplification generates noise in the process, so it must be done with extreme caution and precise calculations.
Failing to do so risks the noisy mana short-circuiting the mana circuits, potentially inflicting severe internal injuries on the caster themselves.
It's certainly not something to attempt while moving one's body so vigorously.
But mana amplification and noise purification were among Siwoo's greatest strengths.
Back in his slave days, when his body couldn't store even a drop of mana, he'd refined this skill endlessly to activate large-scale magic formulas.
"Ah..."
Sharon watched the acrobatic, death-defying feat with bated breath.
Her sense of helplessness faded momentarily as the astonishing sight left her gaping.
The total amount of mana Siwoo was amplifying was growing denser, rivaling what she could handle at full strength.
And Siwoo wasn't just amplifying mana—he was converting it straight into shadows on the spot.
Along the edge of the rooftop where Sharon and Siwoo stood, an enormous mass of shadows was piling up layer by layer.
These shadows looked different from usual.
Before, the particles had been so fine they resembled smoke, but now they were closer to iron sand.
"Ngh!"
Siwoo swung his shield to knock away a dog that had latched onto his arm.
Its teeth had pierced his armor and bitten into his forearm, sending a burning pain radiating through him.
Apparently, performing calculations mid-combat took a toll on his execution.
Still, he had no other choice.
If he was a dead man walking either way, all he could do was bet it all.
Siwoo recklessly extracted shadows using the amplified mana.
Judging by the particles, these weren't his usual shadows.
Compressed to a density surpassing mercury, far heavier than normal.
He'd maximized their weight by blending in earth elements.
It was similar in principle to crafting shadow wings or reinforcing his entire body with shadow armor.
But right now, he wasn't thinking about finesse—he was just piling on the mass.
The shadows, laden with the maximum mass he could imbue, were steadily growing on one side of the rooftop.
At first glance, it seemed pointless.
Having a lot of mana and the ability to control it are two different things.
Likewise, no matter how much Siwoo amplified his magic to duplicate shadows, he couldn't really utilize them.
All he could manage was keeping them gathered without dispersing.
But this groundwork would become his trump card.
-Rumble rumble crash!
The building swayed violently.
The mother beast had leaped from afar and latched onto the middle of the over-30-story skyscraper.
The entire structure shook like it was caught in an earthquake, tilting like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
"Si... Siwoo! They're swarming even more! The building's gonna collapse at this rate!"
Sharon looked down with a pale face at the hundreds of black dogs surging toward them.
It wasn't even a drizzle anymore—it was pouring.
No matter how overwhelmingly Siwoo dominated these pathetic mutts, sheer numbers changed everything.
And now that they were on the rooftop, there was nowhere left to run.
"Just a bit more..."
It still wasn't enough.
He needed to gather more.
If he couldn't end it in one strike, they'd be the ones cornered.
Siwoo kept amplifying relentlessly, extracting more shadows.
His head and eyes were starting to ache.
The mana circuits threading through his body screamed in agony from the blatant overwork, delivering waves of pain.
It felt like scorching flames licking through every corner of his veins.
-Grooooarrr!!!
"Almost! It's almost up here!"
The triumphant roar of prey within reach tore at their eardrums.
The mother beast, digging its claws into the building for a precarious climb, was close enough for its foul stench to hit them.
"Now!"
Siwoo swung the ribbon hard, smashing all the homunculi around the rooftop.
He leaped back, wrapped his arm around Sharon's waist, and poured mana into the accumulated shadows all at once.
"Spread out."
And simultaneously...
-Screeeeech!
A bone-chilling groan echoed as the building lurched and toppled.
2.
The idea Siwoo came up with was simple.
In a way, you could say he'd drawn inspiration from watching the department store collapse earlier.
The impact from that falling building had been a weapon of pure mass.
Nothing like the commonplace accidents you see around—no, it was a force bordering on catastrophe.
Buildings aren't indestructible fortresses.
Even the Twin Towers, meticulously designed against terrorism and accidents, crumbled after a mere plane collision, didn't they?
When demolishing a building, they just remove a few key support columns, and the rest collapses under its own weight.
The skyscraper Siwoo had evacuated was already tilting, its midsection and base partially collapsed from the homunculi's rampage.
In other words, it was a structure that could give way at any moment.
So why not use it?
Siwoo merely added his own twist.
The shadows were to dictate the "direction" and "timing" of the building's fall.
Dozens of tons of shadow had piled up on one side of the rooftop.
Of course, even a rundown building could withstand that much.
But what if he injected mana in an instant and issued a simple command?
No need for complex orders like shaping spears or armor—his mana control wasn't up to that right now.
But something basic like "amplify mass for a few seconds" was feasible.
Siwoo dumped every bit of amplified mana he'd gathered into the shadows, granting them all the mass he could muster.
Now, the question.
What happens if thousands—no, tens of thousands of tons of sudden mass shift toward the building's weakened side?
The answer is simple.
It collapses in the direction the beast had been rampaging.
The heavy shadows and the full weight of the building crushed the homunculus scaling the outer wall.
Even its screams were buried under thunderous booms like lightning striking right beside them.
A timely downpour quickly settled the thick dust clouds.
3.
"Urk... bleeech...!"
Siwoo retched up bile on all fours, his stomach churning like he'd taken a punch to the gut.
Sharon, covered in dust, patted his back.
"Y-you okay?"
The ruins of Sinchon Rotary.
The familiar landscape he'd frequented for food tours and flyer postings looked like it'd been through a bombing run—utterly desolate.
"I feel like I'm dying..."
Long story short, Siwoo's gamble of toppling the building to wipe out the homunculi had succeeded spectacularly.
The mother beast, pinned under the shadows' sudden tens-of-thousands-of-ton surge, was then pummeled relentlessly by the collapsing debris until it was crushed flat. Siwoo had extended the ribbon to a neighboring building for a hair-raising escape with Sharon in tow.
It was a stunt he never wanted to repeat.
Fortunately for Siwoo, the smaller homunculi spawned from the mother beast all dropped dead the moment she did.
Given his condition, if they hadn't, he'd have taken down the boss only to get done in by the minions.
"Ngh..."
"Siwoo! Don't die on me!"
As Siwoo groaned and sprawled out on the ground, Sharon burst into tears like he was on his deathbed.
No matter that he was a spirit body—even he knew this level of abuse spelled trouble.
"I'm not dying... Just let me lie here for five minutes."
"Here, use this."
Sharon knelt swiftly and lifted his head onto her lap.
"Hey, no need—the ground's hard enough to hurt your knees."
"I'm fine. I couldn't do anything, so at least let me do this."
Sharon said, eyes glistening with tears.
Knowing her aversion to owing debts, and with no energy left for bickering, Siwoo quietly accepted the lap pillow.
"Ah... you really went through hell."
"All the hard work was yours..."
"Nah, if you hadn't stepped up in the middle of that building, we'd have been dog chow."
"I'd have been eaten ages ago if you hadn't carried me. And when we jumped inside, you grabbed me so I didn't get dragged away. I was so grateful."
The two traded praises for each other's contributions to the raid.
But Siwoo thought so himself, and Sharon agreed—the fight had been his one-man show.
Escaping the collapsing department store, fleeing the pursuing monster, figuring out the culprit's true nature, and landing the final blow all by himself.
Still, admitting it outright felt embarrassing and awkward.
It wasn't pure skill—luck had played a huge part.
Siwoo lay comfortably, raindrops pattering lightly on his cheeks.
The sense of accomplishment when every plan clicked into place.
The thrill of analyzing the enemy's forces, comparing them to his own, and devising a strategy.
It was a dizzying, exhilarating rush, born from sheer survival.
"I must've lost my mind..."
"Huh?"
"Nothing."
Siwoo turned his head slightly to gaze at the rubble—the homunculi's grave.
Twisted rebar jutting from massive concrete chunks, bent I-beams and wires, unrecognizable debris piled high, with acrid smoke seeping out.
Here and there, the black dogs that had tormented them lay mangled or bisected.
-Rumble...
"Oh, come on..."
But peace was short-lived.
The debris shifted, and precariously stacked concrete blocks began tumbling down.
A homunculus buried deep below was struggling to rise and escape.
Insufficient damage?
After free-falling dozens of meters and getting buried under all that rubble, it was still alive?
Siwoo marveled at the homunculus's monstrous durability.
"Siwoo! Hop on!"
As regret over not finishing it sooner hit him...
Sharon scooped him up swiftly.
"I can walk."
Siwoo staggered to flee but halted.
-Grooo...
The largest chunk of rubble finally split, revealing the homunculus.
Its form was far from normal at a glance.
All limbs save one foreleg were severed, and the red-glowing eyes across its body were burst or crushed, oozing black ichor.
No more ear-shattering howls—just the rasping death rattle of a dying beast.
"Perfect."
He'd been regretting not recovering his ice spear, but this worked.
Siwoo shrugged off Sharon's support and forged a shadow spear.
As sharp and keen-edged as possible, he positioned himself before the homunculus's head.
Even decapitated, the head alone was sedan-sized—enough to survive that impact.
Siwoo could see it.
The four pairs of eyes on the dog's head, still gleaming with light.
The eerie gaze, direction unclear, locked straight onto him as he loomed over its dying form.
"Take your comeuppance."
It felt oddly hollow striking a foe that offered no resistance, but this monster had devoured humans, unleashed calamity, and tonight aimed to make Sharon and him its main course.
Siwoo aimed the spear at the center of its head and thrust deep.