My (Monster?) Hero Life

Chapter 127: Grasping At Shadows

Contrary to what he thought would happen, Shadow did not attack from one of his blind spots right away. Instead, Kace was left scanning his surroundings for a hint of his presence. 'Beneath you!' Sylvan yelled in his mind a moment too late.

Kace felt a splitting pain erupt from his calf as he glanced down. Only to see the shadowy scythe protruding from the earth and bypass his armour to slice at his flesh. 'How am I meant to stop that!' Kace asked in disbelief. A weapon that could ignore his armour would prevent him from attacking in ways that he would like to.

'Use me. I'll be able to do something about it. In the meantime, don't stand in one place. Keep moving!' Sylvan advised him. Since Kace had no other ideas, he decided to follow through on it. He briefly attempted to use his Tracking skill, only to discover that Shadow left no traces behind that would allow his movements to be followed.

'He's about to attack from below again.' Sylvan warned him. Kace fixed his sights on the ground as an idea struck him. 'I hope this works.' He thought, causing Sylvan to chuckle in delight as he read his mind and discovered what he intended to do.

The moment the scythe re-emerged, Kace used Stampede to gain some distance. At the same time, Sylvan wrapped his vines around the scythe and dragged Shadow's figure above ground. Shadow had a look of confusion on his face as to how Sylvan managed to make contact with his weapon. Kace was not going to give him the time to consider it, though.

Using Stampede yet again he flew towards to Shadow who hastily attempted to cut him in half. The blade of his scythe made physical contact with Sylvan as Kace swung the stave to intercept the deadly blow. Now, Shadow was wide open. Kace reached out with his open palm to get it as close to the creature as possible. Then a predatory smile appeared on his face.

Silence! Kace cast this curse skill at close range to prevent it from being avoided. The only question now was if it would work on Shadow's current form.

"What have you done!" Shadow's eyes bulged as he said each word slowly with malice.

Kace only smiled in response. Clearly, from this reaction, his plan had succeeded. 'That was an excellent move!' Sylvan praised him, making Kace feel quite proud. He had assumed that Shadow's ability utilised mana. If it did, then using Silence against him was the perfect counter.

Kace quickly grabbed his solid figure and lifted him off of his feet in an arch over his head. Before slamming him down on the ground behind him. Sylvan's vines reached out to wrap him up in their embrace. Essentially taking him captive. 'That was easier than I thought it would be.' Kace looked at the bundled up figure at his feet in confusion.

'Only because he was not serious just now.' Sylvan sighed in their collective consciousness. 'He was merely testing you. If I'm right, his skills are far beyond what he displayed just now.'

'Really?' Kace doubted this somewhat as he looked at Shadow who was glaring back. 'Let him speak, if he was holding back, he must have had a reason.'

Sylvan slowly released the vines that covered Shadow's mouth. Kace could see the spark of rebelliousness in Shadow's eyes and half expected him to bite on the vines in retaliation. A long, awkward silence descended between them as they stared at each other. Logret, on the other hand, was standing off to the side completely forgotten about.

'How! How could Master Shadow be captured so easily!' Logret was devasted. He had always been amongst the tribe members that had advocated Shadow's strength. Proudly saying that there was no need to seek out a new Lord as long as they had him. However, right now, Shadow lay defeated at Kace's feet. Destroying his confidence in the one he had served for all of this time.

'Were the others truly right? Do we really need to serve a new Lord? Why him, though? He does not even look like us!' Logret could feel his mind slipping into despair. No matter what happened next, Kace's strength was indisputable. He had to alert the others of this right away. With silent steps, he slowly snuck away.

"Well? Why did you summon here?" Kace asked, growing impatient with the silence between them.

"Hmm, you did not lie earlier, right? You are truly at least part goblin?" Shadow asked carefully.

'Why would he care about this? The Tu'thrag should not concern themselves with the social connections of their hosts? Unless I was right and they truly are a whole new hybrid species. Though it's extraordinary if they maintained the goblins way of living.' Sylvan was slightly speechless. This was an anomaly in his mind. Although he only existed for revenge, he still had a curious mind.

"That's right," Kace replied simply while nodding his head. Entirely unaware of Sylvan's thoughts. "Is there a problem with that?"

Shadow stared into Kace's golden eyes for a long time before finally breathing out a sigh of relief. 'He may not be what we hoped for, but he might just be stronger. This is good enough.' He shook his head slowly in response to Kace's question, indicating that it was no problem at all.

"Would you mind releasing me, so that we can have a proper talk?" Shadow asked solemnly.

Kace eyed him warily. Unsure of what he should do. Before he could make a decision, Sylvan began to untangle their captive of his own accord. In all honesty, Sylvan's curiosity had gotten the better of him. He wanted to know where this would go.

'Traitor.' Kace snorted in his mind, even though he was happy to have the decision taken out of his hands. He too was curious as to what the whole situation was actually about. As soon as Shadow was free, he looked into Kace's eyes once more. Before going down on one knee.

"My Lord..." Shadow said solemnly, as he began to explain...