Dungeon Corpse Stacker: I Absorb Everything to Become Ominous Monarch
Chapter 8: The Shadow Harvest

Chapter 8: Chapter 8: The Shadow Harvest

The shrieks coming from behind Vance’s teeth didn’t sound human.

It was the sound of a soul being unraveled, thread by thread. The dark violet lightning surging from Renan’s palm crackled through Vance’s skull, glowing through the assassin’s eye sockets and mouth like a dying lantern.

His muscle mass shriveled in seconds. His high-frequency lightning mana was violently drained, swirling into Renan’s skin like a river pouring into an endless ocean.

CRACKLE!

Vance’s dry, withered corpse collapsed onto the cold steel mesh of the catwalk, shattering into fine gray powder upon impact.

DING! DING! DING!

A streak of violet system notifications flashed across Renan’s vision.

[Forced Extraction Successful!] [Target: S-Rank Hunter (Vance - Speed Type) Extracted.] [Attributes Extracted!] [Agility +210] [Perception +140] [Skill Acquired: Active - Phantom Blitz (Rank-S)] [New Feature Unlocked: Shadow Puppet Creation (Rank-A)]

Renan flexed his fingers. His perception of time instantly slowed. He could hear the individual drops of condensation falling from the ceiling fifty paces away. He could see the microscopic vibrations of the dust particles floating in the air.

With his new Agility stat hovering over 1,000, the physical world moved around him like thick molasses.

He looked down at the ten elite Night Stalker guards writhing on the floor beneath his [Corrosive Aura].

"P-Please..." one of the guards wheezed, his mouth dripping blood as he looked up at Renan. "We were just... following orders... Guild Master Richard forced us..."

Renan stepped down from the catwalk, his boots clicking softly on the blood-slick pavement. "Orders don’t excuse weak choices."

Renan raised his right hand. A dark violet sigil erupted over his palm, expanding into a ten-meter magic circle over the incapacitated guards.

[Skill Activated: Shadow Puppet Creation]

"Rise," Renan commanded softly.

THWACK-THWACK-THWACK!

Ten pitch-black tendrils shot down from the sigil, impaling the shadows beneath the ten guards. Their bodies twitched violently as their shadows peeled off the floor, rising into solid, humanoid shapes made of condensed black smoke.

The ten guards gasped as their living mana was fused into the shadow puppets, binding their souls and obedience permanently to Renan’s will.

When the violet light faded, ten towering shadow knights stood in a straight line before Renan. They wore sleek, midnight-black plate armor with glowing purple visors, kneeling simultaneously on one knee.

[Shadow Puppets Created: 10/10 (Rank-A Night Stalkers)] [Loyalty: Absolute (Unbreakable)]

Boss Victor, who had been hiding behind a steel pillar, wiped a cold sweat from his forehead. His knees knocked together so hard he could barely stand. He didn’t just kill them... he turned their very shadows into his private army!

"V-Lord Renan..." Victor stuttered, shuffling forward with his head bowed to the floor. "What... what are your orders for these shadowy soldiers?"

Renan looked over the ten kneeling Shadow Knights, then turned his gaze toward Victor.

"Victor," Renan said, his voice flat and authoritative. "What is Apex Guild’s most critical financial asset in the Underground City?"

Victor’s eyes widened slightly. "That... that would be the Gilded Vault Bank in Sector 2, Lord Renan. It’s where Guild Master Richard stores his illegal dungeon trade profits, high-tier mana crystals, and off-the-books spatial rings. It’s guarded by two Rank-S defensive barriers and an entire battalion of mercenary Hunters."

Renan’s eyes flashed with a cold, ruthless crimson.

"Richard thinks he can hide behind his hospital bed and his private army while sending assassins after me," Renan said, his voice dropping into a dangerous register. "Tonight, we strip him of his fortune."

"Stripping the Gilded Vault?!" Victor gasped, clutching his stomach. "Lord Renan, that bank holds over three hundred million credits in raw mana-stones and protected assets! If we attack it, the National Hunter Association will treat it as an act of full-scale terrorism!"

"Let them," Renan replied coldly.

He waved his hand, and the ten Shadow Knights dissolved back into his own shadow, vanishing into his feet like ink dropping into water.

"A terrorized enemy makes mistakes," Renan continued, turning toward the exit of the vault. "Victor, use your intelligence network. Spread the news across the Underground: the Ominous Faction is collecting Richard’s debts tonight. Anyone standing in front of the Gilded Vault will be converted into raw stats."

Victor felt a chill run down his spine, but the unbreakable binding contract forced him to obey without hesitation. "It... it shall be done, Lord Renan! I will broadcast it to every sector within ten minutes!"

Renan walked out of the destroyed storage room, stepping into the foggy, rain-slicked alleys of Sector 4.

He opened his System window, checking his newly updated profile:

[STATUS PROFILE]

Name: Renan

Class: Ominous Monarch (Initiate)

Title: Shadow Sovereign of the Abyss

Strength: 920

Agility: 1,030

Vitality: 870

Mana: 1,150

Skills: Absolute Extraction (EX), Corrosive Aura (S), Shadow Step (B), Hardened Carapace (A), Phantom Blitz (S), Shadow Puppet Creation (A)

A faint, ominous smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he looked toward the towering, illuminated spire of Sector 2 in the distance—the location of the Gilded Vault Bank.

"Three hundred million credits in mana-stones," Renan muttered to himself, stepping into the shadows as his body dissolved into black smoke using [Phantom Blitz].

"That’s enough energy to evolve my System to Tier-2."

In Sector 2, inside the heavily fortified command room of the Gilded Vault Bank, the alarm sirens suddenly cut out as all external power grids went pitch black, accompanied by a heavy, metallic voice echoing from the ventilation shafts: "The Ominous Faction has arrived to collect."