Huh?
’So, does this mean I unwittingly devoured an offspring born from the remains of a fallen god?’
"What are the consequences?" he asked instinctively.
"CAW..." Count Brand considered this carefully, his beak opening and closing a few times. His tone grew uncertain. "Shadow Descendants are all over the place deep in the Shadow Mountain Range. You only ate one. They shouldn’t be so petty as to go out of their way to cause trouble for Your Majesty... right?"
His voice tapered off, clearly lacking conviction.
"Ahem!" Count Brand cleared his throat, striving for a serious expression. "In any case, Your Majesty, under no circumstances should you easily reveal this power to outsiders. While this power may seem... caw, temporarily useless, it originates from a part of the essence of Erin, the Dragon of Shadow. It could very well attract unnecessary trouble."
Chen Yu bobbed his round, jiggly body up and down to show that he understood.
’What’s eaten is eaten; I can’t spit it back out anyway. If they really come looking for trouble... I’ll just eat them all.’
With this simple and brutish foodie mindset, Chen Yu quickly put the worry out of his mind.
His attention returned to the shadow he had split off from himself.
[Animate Shadow]
A power that seemed capable of twisting the boundary between reality and shadow descended. Life was injected into the mass of shadow, and its silhouette changed rapidly, "rising" up from the ground.
In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a round, jiggly Slime, jet-black all over, as if formed from the purest shadow.
This newborn "Shadow Slime" hopped about on the ground, letting out a faint SQUISH.
It seemed curious about everything. One moment, it hopped to the side and picked up an icicle, having a grand time playing with it.
The next, it scooted over to a Graystone Crystal, lowered its head, and began to nibble at the shadow cast by the ore. As it ate, its jet-black body seemed to swell slightly, its color growing a little deeper.
Once it had eaten its fill, it hopped back to Chen Yu’s side and affectionately nuzzled his shadow on the ground with its own round, shadowy body, as if expressing its reliance and affection.
Chen Yu watched all of this in amazement.
This Shadow Slime didn’t seem like a simple clone or summon.
It was more like a living being—independent from him, yet still connected, and completely obedient to his will.
It seemed he had truly created the first Shadow Slime in all of Zeyarira.
To his greater surprise, while the little one was still very weak, it had inherited some of his traits, including the ability to grow by devouring shadows.
Chen Yu couldn’t help but imagine what kind of behemoth it would become if he just let it keep eating and devouring shadows.
Shadow and reality were typically two parallel lines that rarely intersected. Pure Shadow Creatures had difficulty directly affecting the physical world.
However, some special individuals existed among the Shadow Creatures, and others could directly interfere with reality by forming contracts with practitioners of the prime material plane.
What would happen if one of these ever-growing Shadow Slimes formed a contract with a member of the Stone Race?
It seemed that he had unwittingly paved a new path to the Extraordinary for the Stone Race.
Nili, who had witnessed the Shadow Slime’s birth nearby, seemed to realize this as well.
Her breathing quickened, her gaze fixed on the lively little black creature, her eyes shining with excitement and longing.
She rubbed her hands together sheepishly, squatted down, and sidled up to Chen Yu. "Our revered and great Slime Majesty," she said with a chuckle, "as you know, I have always been loyal to you. I’ve devoted myself to the Kingdom, body and soul, with unwavering loyalty..."
Chen Yu paid no mind to her pledge of loyalty. He was busy trying to split off more shadows.
Once, twice, three times...
Only after splitting off a third mass of shadow did he feel he had reached the current limit of his Shadow Splitting ability.
He then commanded the four jiggly, jet-black Shadow Slimes to hop over to Nili. Two of the bolder ones even leaped onto her, clinging to her with their shadowy bodies.
"I’m leaving these four little ones in your care."
"Help me find suitable partners for them from among the Stone Race and have them form contracts. We can use this opportunity to establish a Shadow Guard, one that can protect the Kingdom from the shadows and prevent any more Wanderers from infiltrating our borders."
"Nili, you will serve as the captain of this Shadow Guard."
Chen Yu was very pleased with this arrangement.
He chose Nili for no other reason than her trustworthiness. Besides Yano, she was the member of the Stone Race he knew best, making her the most suitable person to entrust with such an important force.
Nili clearly understood his intentions and his trust. This time, she didn’t refuse or joke around. For her, the most important thing now was to seize this rare opportunity for the Belmont family.
This opportunity could very well decide the future of her family.
After discussing a few more details, Nili carefully cradled the four Shadow Slimes—who were full of curiosity toward her and kept nuzzling against her—and hurried back to Gor.
The incident of the Demon invasion of the Snowfield was concluded for the time being.
Since Yano had yet to return from Fey City Smaragdum, and worried there might be other uninvited guests in the Snowfield, Chen Yu left Arthur behind to guard the rift.
As for Count Brand... he absolutely refused to stay in the frozen wasteland a moment longer and insisted on returning with Chen Yu to the warmth of Mudu.
Chen Yu, however, suspected he was actually afraid of Olivia.
「Two days later.」
Thanks to the tireless construction efforts of the Slimes, sturdy little outposts had finally been built near every known planar rift in the Snowfield, each equipped with a monitoring Magic Array.
Meanwhile, among the Stone Race, the Belmont family held an internal meeting and selected three candidates for the Shadow Guard.
To Chen Yu’s surprise, the chosen candidates were none other than the Stone Race trio he and Yano had met upon first entering the Dark Land: Ryo, Ira, and Max.
They may not have been the most talented of the Stone Race’s younger generation, but for the sake of political consideration and balance, they were the perfect choice.
By the time Nili arrived in Mudu to report, with Ryo, Ira, and Max in tow, the four Shadow Slimes were already visibly plumper.
The moment they saw Chen Yu, they affectionately hopped over and nuzzled him with their cool, shadowy bodies, letting out cheerful SQUISHES.
Their once jet-black bodies now seemed even more profound. Clearly, they had been well cared for by the Stone Race and had not missed any meals.
After a brief report from Nili, Chen Yu arranged for the trio to go out with her to gain some experience.
Of course, the main purpose of this so-called "training" was to allow the four little ones to devour enough shadows and grow stronger.
Chen Yu stood on the highest terrace of the Mudu Royal Palace, his round little belly sticking out. He gazed at the distant Swamp Forest, now painted in autumn colors, and watched the group of four depart. His gelatinous head gradually sank in thought.
Everything in the Kingdom was now developing in an orderly fashion, but a considerable crisis still lurked in the shadows.
Casaric... the Demon Lord of the City of Cremation. He wouldn’t let the matter rest simply because one assassination attempt had failed.
Chen Yu knew the nature of Demons all too well, especially an Abyss Lord who coveted his Crown. Since Casaric had already taken notice of the Slime Kingdom, he would only employ more numerous and covert methods against him and his Kingdom.
The Slime Kingdom was now like a seedling just breaking through the soil—full of potential, but also exceptionally fragile.
If Casaric were to mobilize more of his Demon Legion, or join forces with other factions within the White Horse Kingdom to launch an attack... the Kingdom’s current defenses would be sorely tested.
’Perhaps... it’s time to make a trip back to the Void Profound Heaven.’ The thought grew clearer in his mind.
It was the perfect opportunity to show these Demons what power from beyond their world truly looked like.