Only I Am A Reader

Leo's starting journey inside the Gate was neither long nor short. He didn't come upon any more monsters as he passed through the wide expanding tunnels, but things started to look different soon.

Just as the passages became more and more narrow, the shimmering walls dimmed down as Leo progressed forward.

'I should be getting closer.'

The structure so far felt like it was meant for sightseeing rather than fighting. However, once Leo passed it, he could already hear the sounds from afar.

After a period of monster drought, Leo now found a half dozen of them prowling through a tight passage.

Although there were more of them, they all still did the same. Gnawing at the walls!

'Single-minded desire.'

Leo had an idea why they targeted the mesmerizing walls, but it was irrelevant to his quest. He wanted to quickly pass the tedious part!

Emerging from hiding once more, Leo didn't bother taking out Shadow Armament this time. Instead, he pointed his palm downward, beckoning his shadow to spread forward.

Splitting into thin threads, the shadows slithered towards the gargoyles like devious snakes before jumping into form.

The 2d structure of the shadow could barely be recognized. In the same way that Leo emerged from his shadow, the thin threads had now become full-fledged snakes with glowing eyes.

If not for their lack of grandiosity, they could even pass as eastern dragon hatchlings!

Opening their mouths to their full capacity, the dragonlings revealed their grotesque set of fangs before biting into each gargoyle's neck!

"Gaahkk!"

What Leo's creations lacked in impression, they compensated for it in sheer horror. As their teeth further sank in, the upper part of their head twisted to stare their prey in their eye.

Although the gargoyles looked just as terrifying, the ghastly purple glow in the dragonlings' eyes naturally evoked a sense of helplessness in the targeted abomination.

"Ahk! Ahk!"

With their throats already caught, the pitiful gargoyles couldn't even scream in horror properly. Instead, their hands flailed everywhere without any proper purpose.

Some of them tried to run, only to find themselves incapable of doing so. It wasn't that their bodies were frozen in horror. Rather…

'That's a nightmare, alright.'

The gargoyles' shadows were caught by the dragonlings' tails! With their shadows trapped, the bodies that created these shadows were in turn unable to move!

It would have been a different story if the gargoyles were actually strong enough to break out of the dragonlings' binding, but just as they perished easily before, the monsters couldn't handle this ability either.

After a dozen seconds or so of struggling, froth bubbled out of the gargoyles' mouths before they completely gave up.

Feeling their prey turning limp, the dragonling flung them into the air, preparing to swing the corpses into rags. However…

"That's enough, come back."

Leo closed his hands into a fist, causing the increasingly horrifying creatures to melt into shadow once more, going back to where they belonged.

This was yet another prominent ability of Cassian's! And even Leo was slightly shocked to see it with his own eyes!

'They almost have a consciousness of their own.'

Shadow Nightmare was supposed to be an extension of the creation branch, the same branch that Shadow Armament originated from. However, in contrast to Shadow Armament's inanimate convenience, Shadow Nightmare was much more… Interesting.

'It's not a summoning ability, but it's not normal manipulation either.'

Among the many unique special abilities, those that could summon or even generate their own kind of monsters existed, but what Leo just did was different from that.

He simply set a part of his shadow free and let it be itself, there was no further manipulation involved.

Leo didn't tell it what shape to take or what mode of attack to use. He only gave it the simple command to end the gargoyles, everything it did beyond that was by its own free will!

'Is it my nightmare?'

Remembering that Cassian's Shadow Nightmare took different forms than the ones he had just conjured, Leo couldn't help wondering about the source of the nightmare.

Was this a manifestation of his personal fear? Or was it the representation of the fear he could bring out of people?

Perhaps… It was just a pool of nightmares imagined by those who fear their own shadows?

'Another question left unanswered.'

Leo was constantly intrigued by Cassian's abilities, but he was starting to get used to them being his.

Rather than dissecting the gargoyle's corpses, Leo passed by them before swallowing them into his shadow. He had an important use for them, so he kept them in his Shadow Pocket.

'...'that' should appear soon, but I need to make sure that I won't ruin it.'

Currently, Leo was only collecting the materials to get the true raid started. However, before he could really pick up the pace, he still had to take some precautions!

"Gyaakkk!"

Running straight into the next gargoyle group, Leo took out the shadow sword and sliced their heads off… All except one.

Considering the place that they appeared in and the size of their Enigma Stones, these gargoyles would still be considered terrifying enemies for A-ranked Ability Users.

Nonetheless, Leo walked toward the last Gargoyle, collecting the corpses of its friends with a calm face. He actually had no ill intentions for this specific monster.

"Stay still."

Leo's shadow spread forth on the ground, but it didn't split out of it this time. Instead, it surged into the gargoyle's shadow before dragging it into the wall.

Following that, long tendrils stretched out of the gargoyle's shadow and grabbed hold of it, pinning the monster to the same spot.

"G-G-G-"

The gargoyle also wanted to react, but the shadow tendrils held its neck alongside the rest of its body, just enough so that it wouldn't suffocate, all while still completely incapable of struggle.

Even after Leo took his shadow back, the gargoyle remained bound by its own shadow. This wasn't a separate ability on the list, just the basic application of Shadow Domination itself.

"Just stay here for a while. I won't take long."

Since Leo had a specific location that he needed to find for his target, he couldn't really risk killing all the monsters before he found it.

What if this Gate automatically ejected him as a result? As such…

'You will be my safety pin.'

This heroic gargoyle had to suffer a little for the sake of the big picture!