Chapter 68 | I, the Ogre

Ogre's words left the shadow demon in silence.

Wait... You don't care, but I do! The shadow demon desperately wanted to murder this cross-dressing pervert, but unfortunately, it lacked the strength to match its desire.

“Um, Master, an equal contract actually has a lot of benefits. For example, you could enter the shadow world for a brief period, or...” The shadow demon still wanted to push for better terms.

Right now, it felt like it was risking its life just to earn a pile of shit.

If only the alternative weren't even worse.

“I don't need that. Besides, you have two sentences left,” Ogre interrupted the shadow demon's chattering inside his forearm.

“If we only sign a master-servant contract, not only will it be difficult for me to recover from my injuries, but Master will also miss out on those benefits...”

Without the life connection of an equal contract, if the shadow demon wanted to recover from its injuries, it had to absorb shadow power or fear energy. Human essence could play a role, but the effect was minimal. Its main purpose was to serve as an anchor while offering resistance against light damage. For a fundamental loss of vitality like this, human essence could only prolong its life at best. However, what the shadow demon didn't mention was that, using the anchor of a master-servant contract, it could actually return to the shadow realm to recover and then jump back using that anchor.

(Note: The shadow mirror world is a ‘door’ located between the shadow world and the real world. The essence of a rogue's Stealth spell is entering the mirror world via a dual anchor of shadow and reality, though one cannot enter entirely—a part must remain outside, or something truly horrific will happen! Living beings in a Stealth state can still be attacked by energy. Because they are trapped in the rift of the mirror world, energy damage is actually amplified. Shadow Leap involves fusing with a shadow creature to bypass the mirror world, enter the shadow world, and then pop back out, completing a short teleportation. Its downside is that during use, one might be attacked by shadow creatures, and it causes difficult-to-reverse shadow assimilation, so it should never be used frequently.)

“You have one sentence left.” Ogre's gentle tone made the shadow demon feel a chill for the very first time.

“I only need a servant who is useful and obedient.”

Ogre had zero compunction about dealing harshly with this kind of predatory monster variant. He didn't need shadow power; shadow energy conflicted too severely with his own lightning. Unless Ogre was out of his mind, he wouldn't choose to become a rogue with little room for growth. As for becoming a so-called Shadow Warlock—he would have to be a Mage first anyway.

“Wait, wait, wait! Master, I agree! I agree!” The shadow demon finally gave in, choosing to die later rather than die now.

It's fine... Who knows when this guy might suddenly drop dead? Then I'll be free, and at worst I just won't ever come back to the main world. The shadow demon consoled itself internally.

Establishing a master-servant contract meant its life would be controlled by its ‘master,’ losing its free will. But there was still a chance to regain freedom—as long as this master died unexpectedly.

A master-servant contract dissolved upon the death of either party and didn't inflict massive damage on the survivor like an equal contract did. The catch, however, was that the master could kill the servant at any time.

Thus, many masters would either transfer their servants or drag them along to death before dying themselves. Servants could not disobey their master's will in any aspect...

Hence, servants rarely met a good end. Unless the master willingly released them.

“Let's do it.”

Ogre released the shadow demon's true body—a cluster of black mist weakened to the extreme.

Sigh... The shadow demon sighed inward over its bad luck, then opened up its black mist body and separated a tiny gray crystal node from within.

This was its spiritual core, something akin to a monster's mana core—and the key to establishing the contract.

Contracts fell into two categories: voluntary contracts and forced contracts. The former merely required extraordinary lifeforms to complete a process of separation, while the latter relied on the power of magic circles. Aside from contracts formed through certain powerful abilities, once a contract was established, whether forced or voluntary, there was little difference in effect.

The only difference lay in the subjective will of the contractors, and that a magic circle contract could enable non-contract-capable beings or non-living objects to form a contract while bearing the cost.

“Very good.”

Ogre touched the gray node lightly with a fingertip. As a mysterious, inexplicable sensation arose in his spiritual perception, he knew—the contract was complete.

Now, if Ogre wished, he could destroy this tiny soul core at any moment to kill the shadow demon in his grip, or use it to forcibly summon the demon directly.

(Note: A Mage controlling a monster by injecting mental mana into its soul falls under a forced contract. Strictly speaking, Ogre's was an unforced, voluntary contract.)

“Master...” Having lost its core, the shadow demon grew even weaker.

Although losing its black mist body now wouldn't directly kill it, it wasn't much different from dying...

Without the supply from an external black mist body, that soul core would quickly lose its consciousness and become a tonic for Ogre's soul.

This meant that if it wanted to live, it couldn't stray too far from Ogre.

Had they signed an equal contract, it would have received a strand of Ogre's true soul to strengthen their connection.

“I recall you saying that if you signed a master-servant contract, you'd die because you couldn't recover from your injuries.” Ogre only now seemed to remember helping the shadow demon recover.

“A master-servant contract doesn't allow me to recover through my master. However, Master only needs to provide me with fear energy. The more intelligent the species, the better the effect...” the shadow demon requested cautiously.

“Fear...” Ogre reckoned that if he brought the shadow demon to see Macar, it would probably be the shadow demon feeling terrified.

“Are there any other ways to recover? Scaring people all the time isn't great either. I can feed you some blood.” Ogre didn't want to stir up unnecessary trouble.

Mainly because he couldn't leave for too far right now.

Otherwise, spending some time tracking down a nest of goblins wouldn't be out of the question.

“I need a vessel to inhabit, living or dead—though in that case, I'd have to leave Master for a while. I need to take the vessel to the shadow world so shadow energy can corrupt it. After that, I can slowly recover through it.” The shadow demon presented its second option.

“And if you leave and I can't find you when I need you?” Ogre asked warily.

“You should be able to sense where my true self is. If my shadow vessel strays too far from my core soul crystal for too long, the connection will break completely, and I will die. Master can rest assured—I will adjust my position in the shadow world according to the connection between my perception and real-world coordinates so I can emerge at any time. When the time comes, Master will only need to provide me with a shadow.”

The shadow demon thoroughly detailed its convenience; it was genuinely terrified that Ogre would crush it to death if it lost its value.

Once a shadow demon's black mist body was severed from its core soul crystal, the soul crystal would grow entirely weak and turn into a tonic.

Meanwhile, the mist vessel would degrade into a mindless shadow beast, remaining so until enough time passed to birthed intelligence anew and become a shadow demon once more.

Of course, that future shadow demon would have nothing to do with its current self.

“You can jump back? Didn't you say it's hard for shadow demons to return once they go back to the shadow world?” Ogre asked suspiciously.

“That's because they lack a real-world anchor. Now that my soul core is in Master's hands, returning is naturally convenient...”

Whether a rogue or a Shadow Warlock, neither could be formed purely by shadow creatures. A shadow demon had to enter a symbiotic relationship with a human or another living being to cast shadow magic that drifted between the two worlds.

A master-servant contract could not achieve this effect.

It merely made it easier for controlled shadow creatures to enter the real world.

“Do you have any other abilities?” Ogre pulled down his sleeve and asked.

“If I recover enough, I can enter objects to become Shadow Weapons—provided you don't use lightning, of course. I can also control my shadow vessel to share its vision with you...”

In a symbiotic state, there would be countless ways to utilize it.

Unfortunately, this was merely a one-sided control.

“Transforming into weapons and scouting, huh? Not bad—more useful than I expected, though limited during the day.” Ogre opened his palm, drawing back the shadow demon's vessel.

His body certainly couldn't serve as a living space for the shadow demon for long.

That would hinder the performance of his lightning power.

The shadow demon's soul crystal was pure energy, immune to direct damage from non-holy attacks, which was why it could retain its intellect even under the damage of Ogre's lightning.

However, the shadow demon's vessel (the black mist) was solid shadow energy that could be damaged by various energy attacks. If the vessel was destroyed, the soul crystal would naturally be ‘starved’ to death.

“So, Master, which method will you choose? My current vessel won't last much longer.” The shadow demon was so eager to demonstrate its value precisely so Ogre would help prolong its life.

“Does the corpse have to be intact? What I mean is—can you split up and assimilate multiple ones?” Ogre carefully inquired about the shadow demon's characteristics.

In his heart, he already had a plan for how to use this tool.

“It's best if it's intact. The more intact and powerful the vessel is, the better the recovery effect. As for splitting my vessel... I've never tried it, but I can give it a shot.” The shadow demon's soul crystal could only control a limited amount of shadow mist vessel.

So aside from fleeing, they rarely resorted to splitting their vessel like that.

Apart from natural growth, a shadow demon's soul crystal could only grow stronger by absorbing enough fear energy.

Generally speaking, when a shadow creature in the shadow world was born (when its soul crystal condensed), its limits were largely predetermined. The more powerful the shadow beast, the stronger the shadow demon soul crystal it produced—though the gestation process was correspondingly slower.