A Shadow

Although he was expressively neutral, Luke was almost going crazy inside his head, because he had never even heard of a monster that could talk.

Not to mention the strong presence that strange creature had, much more significant than the scary Knight the man had defeated.

"You're an A or S rank monster, aren't you?"

"A monster?! Oh! No, no... I'm not a monster. I mean... not like you're thinking."

"What do you mean?" Luke questioned confused, after all, they were inside the Dungeon and an ordinary person would not look so funereal.

"I'm more like an angel than a monster. I help people, people like you."

The half-wolf arched his eyebrows. "My instincts tell me that— No, even without my instincts I would realize that is an absolute lie."

The wide-smiling shadow closed his mouth and his white eyes had their sharp edges, expressing his anger. After that, he crossed his small arms behind his head and turned on his back, looking at the lava tubes above.

"Luke, Luke... you really think all this is a coincidence, don't you?" He said, with a pensive tone. "I'll be honest with you, you're not here because you had bad luck. You're here because we want you here."

Taking advantage of the shadow on his back, Luke began to slowly backtrack to the Egg.

"We?"

"You never wondered how easy things have been for you so far, did you? Your real problem is your selfishness."

As soon as he heard that, the half-beast braked his way over to Egg, realizing the hint.

"You have a good job, a beautiful woman who is genuinely interested in you, and yet you haven't totally ruled out the possibility of destroying all that for mere childhood chums."

"H-how do you know all this?"

"Come on, why wouldn't we know? We're the ones who gave all of this to you. Come on Luke, you weren't thinking that an illiterate man would get a good job in a big family without some underhand influence, were you?"

Luke knew they were just empty, unfounded words from someone who somehow knew too much. Still, he could bear to hear all that quietly, because he is human.

"Tsk... Liar, the selection process was fair and I got it on my own merit."

"We don't say it wasn't on your merit, not least because if you couldn't get over something so silly, you would disappoint us. Hihihi!"

"You're with him, aren't you? With Chaos?" The only being who demonstrated that he knew that much about Luke, was the Entity worshipped by the fanatical followers who had caused such a ruckus in Vasconcelos in recent weeks.

The shadow turned to Luke again and replied, "Who knows? We can be allies or enemi—" At that moment, the half-wolf split the shadow's face in half with a swift wind caused by the use of the ability.

"You know what the downside of chatty things like you? It's that you guys are way too boring." Said Luke, who then ran toward the Egg.

The half-beast knew that his problem was selfishness, yet he would risk any job or woman in the world, to make his friends have a happy ending, even if it meant fighting against his own desires. At that time, Luke did not know that this was not selfishness, but altruism.

Within moments, the shadow's face parts began to come together again, however, this time there was something different. Before, its interior looked like a dense, black mist, made of nothing. Now, the parts that came together and braided themselves, resembled an abuzz goo.

As it regenerated, the creature questioned Luke with a fearsome smile:

"You will not hear my propos—" Again he was interrupted by a gust of cylindrically shaped wind. "Perfect...I knew you were a waste of time from the beginning. Know that you will lose everything I have given you."

Luke knew he had no chance in a direct fight as the presence of that thing was too strong, so he didn't even look back as he jumped onto a metal tube high above and held on tight.

'My only chance of winning will be by running away, and there is only one way to go.' He judged, pushing hard to make it up with only one arm free. For a thief, there was no shame in running away when you are alone.

Using the little strength left in his legs, Luke jumped from pipe to pipe, avoiding the crystal tubes with lava inside.

However, when he went to jump to reach the next pipe, the object disappeared, as did everything around him, which became an empty, dark expanse in the blink of an eye.

Although he knew it had risen several feet in height, when Luke landed on the ground, the fall seemed too low for the amount it had already increased. 'What the fuck is going on?'

"Hihihi! You are strong, really stronger than a regular adventurer, and more talented than you think. You only have a weak mind for such a promising body, that's why I'm going to take it from you." Said the Shadow, stepping out of the darkness, still standing out somehow amidst that endless darkness.

Right after threatening Luke, at the same time coming out of the darkness, the shadow stretched one of its ghostly arms dozens of times and held the half-wolf's neck, giving him no chance to run once more.

Personally, Luke wanted to ask that creature a thousand questions, but he understood that it would not answer him willingly, so he focused on his own defense.

In a desperate move, he kicked the back of the shadow, which despite crumbling, remained static, just smiling her characteristic smile.

'It had no effect? Urghhh!' Next, Luke felt a sharp pain in the left side of his chest. As soon as he looked down, he saw the creature's other hand running through him. Vulppt! The half-wolf was pulled close by that mysterious thing.

"Hihihi! Do you know what is the most fragile part of the human body? Many would say it is the heart or the brain."

With a hard pain, which made him wish he would faint constantly, Luke answered him with a dry throat:

"I don't know anything about organs, but I would say that if you have a dick, it must be pretty small. That's the only way to wish you had another body. Hahaha! Cof... Cof."

Shadow had his smile deflated again and just as he was about to say something, he was interrupted by a bang. BLAMMM!

When they both looked away, they realized that this sound came from the dark immensity. After that, drag could be heard, which reverberated all over the place, at the same time that this sound proliferated, a flash of light flashed under the situation.

"What the fuck is that?" The shadow questioned, still confused.

Then a long-haired silhouette appeared, making Luke smile, thinking it was Nathalia.

"Oops, I guess I'm late for the dance? I don't need an invitation, right?"

______

Discord for illustrations of the characters: 

https://discord.gg/qz2vDAn7Kb