SSS Ranked Shadow Monarch: Summoning Infinite Shadows-Chapter 245: Chimera

Aren and Peter moved quickly through the tunnels, their footsteps echoing faintly along the narrow passage as they hurried toward the main house.

After a while, Aren began noticing something.

Metal doors.

They appeared on both sides of the tunnel, evenly spaced along the walls. Aren narrowed his eyes and activated his shadow sense, trying to peer inside. But something blocked him completely.

It was as if his ability hit a wall and simply stopped.

He frowned.

’Something in the walls... or the doors.’

Aren slowed slightly and looked at Peter.

"This place," Aren said, "what kind of experiments do they run here?"

Peter stiffened.

The question clearly bothered him. He glanced around the tunnel as if searching for a better answer, but eventually he sighed.

"Honestly... you wouldn’t want to know," Peter said quietly. "Dark things happen here. Diabolical things."

He walked over and placed his hand against the wall.

"I was almost one of the people dragged down here," he continued. "All in the name of serving the Blade family."

Aren listened silently.

"The Blade family hates wasted resources," Peter said. "To them, every child born into the family is a resource."

His hand slid down the cold wall.

"You’re either naturally useful... or they make you useful."

Aren’s expression hardened slightly.

"Every Blade child must reach a certain threshold," Peter continued. "Physical strength, combat skill, certain traits... all before their awakening."

"If you fail to meet that threshold..."

He paused.

"You’re sent here."

Aren said nothing.

"You become part of the experiments."

The tunnel felt colder.

"Among us," Peter continued, "there were those who awakened abilities before the age of fifteen. Those children were considered special."

"They were immediately transferred to the special classes of the academy."

Aren looked at him.

"The academy?"

Peter nodded.

"It’s where all Blades start their training."

He let out a small breath.

"The moment you can walk, your indoctrination begins. They teach you what to think, what to believe, how to act."

"The laws of survival. Kill or be killed."

Aren’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"They drill it into you every day. Every year you advance to the next class. Harder training. Deadlier lessons."

Peter’s voice grew quieter.

"But every year... someone disappears."

Aren looked at him.

"They don’t just stop coming," Peter said. "That’s impossible. So it means only one thing."

"They were taken. To become something else."

Aren finally understood the picture forming.

The Blade family wasn’t just strict. It was ruthless. Everything revolved around usefulness. What could you contribute? What value did you have?

If the answer was nothing...

You became a test subject.

Aren walked silently for a few steps before speaking again.

"What about you?"

Peter glanced at him.

"Did you make it through?"

Peter gave a faint, humorless smile.

"I wouldn’t be alive if I didn’t."

"But even after graduating... I barely survived."

"If I hadn’t awakened my ability at fourteen instead of fifteen, I would’ve ended up down here."

He shrugged.

"My ability was unique enough that they decided I was worth keeping alive."

Aren nodded slowly.

"And June?" he asked.

Peter’s expression changed slightly.

"June was different."

"She awakened her ability when she was ten."

Aren raised an eyebrow.

"That early?"

Peter nodded.

"And it wasn’t just a normal ability. It was an innate ability."

"Then at fifteen, she awakened her trial ability."

Aren stopped walking for a moment.

"Two abilities?"

Peter nodded.

"That’s extremely rare. She was almost considered a genius."

"Almost, not a genius?" Aren asked.

Peter shook his head slowly. "Not by Blade family standards."

Aren frowned. "What do you mean?"

Peter’s voice grew heavier. "In the Blade family... true geniuses are different. They carry the purest royal blood. Blood that’s directly connected to divine power. That allows them to awaken not just unique abilities... but divine abilities. Abilities that can change everything around them."

Peter glanced ahead as they continued walking.

"One of those people... was a guy named Casper."

Aren stopped.

Just for a second.

Casper.

The same Casper he had fought. The same Casper he had killed.

Peter didn’t notice the shift in Aren’s expression and continued.

"Casper wasn’t just blessed with a divine ability," Peter said.

"He was practically loved by it. His mind was... questionable. But his power?"

Peter shook his head. "Untouchable."

"He and a few others in our class were the ones considered true geniuses."

Peter’s voice softened.

"June always wanted to stand among them. She pushed herself harder than anyone, trained until her body nearly broke. In the end, she became extremely valuable to the family..."

He sighed.

"But she still couldn’t reach the level of their geniuses."

The tunnel grew quiet again as they continued walking forward.

After that, the walk became silent. Only the sound of their footsteps splashing against the damp tunnel floor echoed off the walls.

Aren and Peter moved quickly, neither speaking. The air in the tunnels felt heavy, stale, and suffocating.

Then, as they passed a side tunnel to their right—

Creeeeak.

A low, dragging sound echoed from the darkness. Both of them froze. Slowly, they turned their heads.

Two glowing red eyes stared back at them from within the pitch-black tunnel.

"Oh shit," Peter muttered.

"I don’t have a good feeling about this," Aren added.

Before either of them could react, the creature in the darkness launched forward. Its feet slammed into the water-covered floor with explosive force.

The entire tunnel shook.

"Run, run, run, run, run!" Peter shouted, shoving Aren forward.

Aren didn’t hesitate.

He bolted. Peter followed right behind him.

They had no idea what that thing was, and they weren’t about to find out the hard way.

Sometimes the smartest decision in a fight was not to fight at all.

Aren ran ahead, activating his shadow sense as he moved. When the creature entered his perception, Aren’s mind stalled.

"What the hell..."

It was an abomination.

A twisted chimera of mismatched parts.

Its head was half human, half lion. Its body resembled a massive lizard. One arm looked human but grotesquely enlarged, its skin a dark purple-black. The other arm was a dragon’s claw. Its tail ended in a scorpion’s stinger. Its legs were reptilian—but each one different. A stitched-together nightmare. Its red eyes burned with raw rage.

And it was fast. Unnaturally fast. Aren could feel it rapidly closing the distance.

"I don’t think we can outrun this thing!" Aren shouted back.

Peter’s voice came from behind him.

"Then what do you suggest we do?!"

Aren scanned the tunnel with his shadow sense. There was nowhere to trap it. Nowhere to block it.

"How about collapsing the tunnel?" Aren suggested. "Cut it off behind us!"

Peter immediately shook his head.

"The integrity of these tunnels is already terrible!" he said. "It’s like a house of cards down here! If you collapse the walls too much, the entire place might cave in on us! And that’s assuming the monster even dies!"

The creature was getting closer.

Aren could already hear its claws slamming against the wet floor.

Aren’s mind raced. He needed something that wouldn’t destroy the tunnel.

"I might be able to slow it down," Aren said. "Even if just for a moment."

He focused. Within his shadow sense, the monster was already inside his range.

That was enough.

Shadow tendrils burst from the ground.

They shot upward, wrapping around the creature’s limbs, torso, and tail, dragging it down.

For a brief moment—

It worked.

The monstrosity collapsed to the ground, pinned by the writhing shadows.

But only for a moment. With a furious roar, the creature flexed its body.

Snap. Snap. Snap.

Every tendril broke apart.

"Well... that didn’t work," Aren muttered.

Peter clicked his tongue in irritation.

"Move," he said suddenly.

Aren glanced back.

Peter had stopped running. He turned and raised both hands toward the creature.

Peter gritted his teeth.

Then—

The air exploded with tremors.

Violent waves of vibration erupted from his hands, shaking the tunnel, the walls, the ground—everything.

The tremors slammed directly into the creature. Its entire body began vibrating uncontrollably.

Bones cracked.

Muscles spasmed.

The monster staggered forward—then collapsed to its knees.

Peter finally dropped his arms.

He stumbled backward.

Aren blinked.

"Whoa... that was insane."

But then he noticed something.

Blood trickled from the corner of Peter’s mouth.

More seeped from his nose.

Aren immediately understood.

Peter’s ability wasn’t easy for him to use.

It damaged him. That was why he avoided it. But there was no time to talk about it.

Aren grabbed Peter by the arm.

"Come on!"

He dragged him forward as they sprinted deeper into the tunnel.

Behind them, the monster began to stir again.

They had to put as much distance between them as possible before that thing got back up and started chasing them again.

They rushed ahead fast. Peter looked up, and then spoke, "if I recall well, the exit will be up ahead, we’ll come out right behind the main house.

And if we do, we have to be ready, because I’m certain trouble waits for us there."