Chapter 78: The Boy Without a Shadow

Chapter 78: Chapter 78: The Boy Without a Shadow

Every gaze turned toward the tall primordial demon standing among the nobles. The crowd that had been desperately trying to escape moments earlier suddenly stopped moving. Bodies froze mid-stride. Voices died in throats.

Some nobles exchanged nervous glances with one another, their eyes wide with dawning understanding.

Others lowered their heads, unwilling to meet the accusing gaze of the mysterious silver-haired girl.

A few among them already understood exactly what she was accusing Duke Asmodeus of. But they had heard the whispers and had seen the signs. But has chosen to remain silent, as nobles always did when inconvenient truths threatened their comfort.

Ifrith’s eyes narrowed to dangerous slits.

He slowly turned toward the noble, his father’s sword still held loosely at his side. The blade caught the torchlight, reflecting flickering flames across the arena floor.

"You?"

Duke Asmodeus did not answer immediately.

For several agonizing seconds, he remained completely still. His black-red eyes shifted rapidly between Ifrith and the mysterious girl standing before him. His breathing became heavier, each breath more labored than the last.

Then he finally spoke.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

A murmur spread through the nobles like ripples across a disturbed pond. Some nodded in agreement. Others appeared uncertain.

Asmodeus straightened his clothes, smoothing down the fabric with trembling fingers. He forced his expression into one of dignified offense.

"I have no idea what you’re accusing me of."

The mysterious girl continued staring at him. Her crimson eyes remained fixed on his face, unblinking and unwavering.

She did not look convinced.

Not even slightly.

Her gaze moved over his trembling hands, his twitching fingers, the nervous way he kept adjusting his collar.

Then she asked calmly, "Then why are you trembling?"

Asmodeus froze.

He immediately looked down at his own hands. His fingers were indeed shaking, visible tremors running through them despite his attempts to still them.

He clenched them into fists so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Of course I would tremble in front of a monster like him."

He pointed toward Ifrith with an unsteady hand.

The mysterious girl narrowed her eyes. "You have been calling him a monster this entire time."

Asmodeus’s expression hardened, but his eyes continued darting nervously.

She continued, her voice calm and measured. "The others have called him a lesser demon."

Her gaze moved briefly toward the surrounding nobles. "Some called him a peasant. Others called him a child. A few called him an upstart who didn’t know his place."

Then her eyes returned to Asmodeus with renewed intensity.

"But you..."

She paused, letting the word hang in the air.

"You specifically keep calling him a monster."

The arena became even quieter. The nobles held their breath. Even the torches seemed to burn more dimly.

"I find that strange."

Asmodeus’s face tightened. His jaw clenched. His eyes darted left and right as though searching for an escape that did not exist.

"I already told you. I’m terrified of him."

He took a step backward, his heel striking against the stone floor.

"He killed a primordial demon with one strike."

Another step backward.

"He slaughtered two demonic beasts as though they were nothing more than insects."

Another.

"And now you’re standing there accusing me while that monster is staring directly at me."

Sweat rolled down the side of his face, tracing paths through the dust and grime that had accumulated during the chaos.

"I have every reason to be afraid."

The mysterious girl did not move. Her feet remained planted firmly on the ground. Her posture remained relaxed, almost casual.

"You still haven’t answered my question."

Asmodeus’s breathing became heavier. His chest rose and fell with increasing rapidity.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"Stop."

His voice suddenly became harsher, cracking with desperation.

"I am a noble of the Primordial Demon Realm."

He pointed toward her with an unsteady finger.

"I can destroy you if I want."

His voice shook despite the authority he tried to project. The words came out wrong, lacking conviction, sounding more like a child’s tantrum than a noble’s command.

"So stop with these questions already."

The mysterious girl remained silent. Her crimson eyes continued watching him with that unnerving calm.

Then footsteps sounded.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Ifrith walked forward, his movements measured and deliberate. Each step brought him closer to the trembling noble.

He stopped directly in front of the mysterious girl, positioning himself between her and Asmodeus.

"If you won’t answer her because you’re a noble..."

His eyes slowly moved toward Asmodeus, fixing him with that cold, unblinking stare.

"Then answer me."

Asmodeus swallowed hard. His throat bobbed visibly.

Ifrith lowered his head.

For a moment, only half of his face could be seen in the torchlight. The shadows played across his features, making him appear almost inhuman.

Then he slowly raised it.

His eyes opened fully.

The moment their gazes met, Asmodeus felt his entire body freeze.

His breath caught in his throat. His lungs refused to expand properly. His heart hammered against his ribs like a trapped beast.

The pressure surrounding Ifrith became suffocating. It was not simply an aura. It was not merely magical power radiating outward.

It felt like something enormous was pressing against his very soul. Something ancient. Something hungry. Something that had been waiting for this moment.

Asmodeus tried to breathe.

Nothing.

His chest refused to expand properly. His legs trembled beneath him. His vision began to blur at the edges.

He stumbled backward, nearly colliding with the nobles behind him.

"What..."

His voice barely escaped his throat. A whisper. A whimper.

Ifrith continued staring.

No words.

No threats.

Just that gaze.

And it was enough.

Asmodeus’s knees nearly buckled. He had to grab onto a nearby noble’s shoulder to keep himself upright.

He finally understood.

There was no point lying anymore.

Not now.

Not with those eyes fixed upon him.

Not with that pressure pressing against his soul.

His lips trembled violently.

"Yes."

The arena went completely silent.

Asmodeus lowered his head in defeat.

"I ordered it."

Ifrith’s eyes remained fixed on him, unwavering.

"I was responsible."

The words echoed through the arena like stones dropped into still water.

Several nobles gasped. The prince’s expression shifted from fear to shock. Even the Primordial Demon Sovereign’s eyes narrowed with cold interest.

The mysterious girl stared at Asmodeus with her crimson eyes.

"Why?"

Asmodeus slowly raised his head.

His expression had changed. The arrogance was still there, buried deep beneath layers of fear, but something else had begun to surface.

"I heard rumors."

"What rumors?"

Asmodeus took a deep, shuddering breath.

"About the Blood Moon."

Ifrith remained silent, watching.

Asmodeus continued. "When you were born, a massive Blood Moon appeared over the lesser realm."

He looked toward the sky beyond the arena, as though seeking answers from the darkness above.

"At first, I dismissed it as nothing more than an unusual celestial event. Such things happen from time to time. The heavens are not always predictable."

"But then..."

He paused, gathering his thoughts.

"Strange things began happening."

His voice became quieter, more intimate, as though sharing secrets he had never spoken aloud.

"A few days after your birth, beasts began appearing around the lesser realm."

The nobles listened with rapt attention.

"Creatures that should never have been anywhere near that region started appearing. Demonic beasts. Powerful ones. Beasts that even experienced demons wouldn’t dare approach."

He looked at Ifrith with growing unease.

"And they kept appearing around your home."

Ifrith’s fingers tightened around his father’s sword. His knuckles turned white.

Asmodeus continued. "Then there were the livestock."

His eyes became darker, more haunted.

"Any livestock raised within a certain distance of your house would die. Sometimes they would collapse without warning, their bodies simply giving out. Sometimes their bodies would stop functioning altogether, as though something had drained the life from them."

"And the closer they were to your house..."

He paused, letting the implication hang in the air.

"The worse it became."

The nobles exchanged glances. Some shifted uncomfortably.

Asmodeus continued. "Then the rumors started spreading."

"Demons who walked past your house said they felt strange. They found it difficult to breathe. Some said they felt as though something was pressing against their bodies. Even high-ranking demons reported experiencing the same thing."

He looked at Ifrith with new understanding.

"I became suspicious."

The mysterious girl asked, "So you investigated?"

"Yes."

Asmodeus nodded slowly.

"I searched the ancient records."

He paused.

"And eventually, I found something."

His eyes became serious, filled with dark knowledge.

"An ancient record describing the Blood Moon."

The arena became silent again.

"It stated that when a massive Blood Moon appeared during the birth of a demon..."

He looked directly at Ifrith.

"It meant that a potential new Sovereign had been born."

A murmur spread through the crowd.

The sovereign eyes widened with shock. Some nobles exchanged nervous glances. Others stared at Ifrith with renewed fear.

Asmodeus continued. "That was when I realized you weren’t an ordinary lesser demon."

His voice became colder, more clinical.

"You were born with extraordinary magical power. You possessed an aura that shouldn’t have existed in someone of your rank. And the Blood Moon had appeared on the night of your birth."

He clenched his fist.

"I couldn’t ignore it."

The mysterious girl asked, "So you decided to kill him?"

Asmodeus did not deny it.

"Yes."

Ifrith’s eyes became colder. The temperature around him seemed to drop.

Asmodeus continued, his voice flat and emotionless. "I believed that if you continued growing, you would eventually become a threat to the Demon Realm."

He paused.

"You had the potential to become a new Sovereign. Another power center. Another force that could challenge the established order."

"So I decided to eliminate you before that possibility became reality."

Asmodeus explained his actions in chilling detail.

He began sending assassins. At first, they were ordinary assassins, the kind that could be hired for a handful of gold coins. They were dispatched with simple orders. Kill the child. End the threat.

They failed.

Then stronger demons were sent. Warriors with reputations. Killers with impressive histories. They were told to bring back proof of the child’s death.

They failed as well.

Eventually, Asmodeus began sending high-ranking demons. Those with magical abilities. Those who had faced impossible odds and emerged victorious.

Even they could not get close.

"They were terrified of you."

Asmodeus’s voice became quieter, almost reverent.

"Some said your aura made their bodies freeze. They couldn’t move. They couldn’t breathe. They couldn’t even think."

"Others said they couldn’t even breathe when they approached. The air itself seemed to reject them."

"And every time they returned..."

He stopped.

Something dark appeared in his eyes.

"There were fewer of them."

The arena remained silent.

"I eventually sent primordial demons."

The nobles stiffened. Even the Primordial Demon Sovereign’s expression flickered with surprise.

"Primordial demon assassins. The best I could find. The strongest. The most experienced."

"Even they couldn’t kill you."

Asmodeus shook his head slowly.

"They couldn’t even get close enough to attack."

One noble whispered, barely audible, "That child..."

Another immediately silenced him with a sharp gesture.

Asmodeus continued, his voice growing more disturbed. "Then one of them came back."

His expression changed. Something dark flickered behind his eyes.

"That was when things became even stranger."

The primordial assassin had returned in terrible condition. His body had been suffering from a rare disease, something that shouldn’t have been possible for a being of his power. His flesh was slowly dissolving. His organs were failing one by one.

His body was breaking apart while he remained conscious, trapped inside his own decaying vessel.

"As he lay dying..."

Asmodeus swallowed hard.

"He said only one thing."

The entire arena waited with bated breath.

His voice dropped to barely a whisper.

"The boy without shadows."

Ifrith remained still, his expression unreadable.

Asmodeus continued. "I didn’t understand what he meant."

"So I sent another."

"That one returned with the same warning."

"He said..."

Asmodeus looked directly at Ifrith.

"The boy doesn’t have a single shadow."

The moment those words were spoken, the mysterious girl looked down.

The nobles did the same.

Their eyes moved toward the arena floor.

Toward Ifrith.

Toward the space beneath his feet.

Silence.

Then their expressions changed.

There was nothing.

No shadow.

Not even a faint outline. The light from the arena torches illuminated Ifrith’s body from every angle, casting illumination upon him from all directions.

Yet beneath his feet, nothing.

The ground was bare. Empty. As though light itself refused to touch him.

Several nobles instinctively stepped backward. Their eyes widened with primal fear.

"He really doesn’t have one..."

Another whispered, "That’s impossible."

A third noble shook his head vigorously. "Even demons have shadows. Everyone has shadows. It’s a fundamental law of existence."

Some began whispering among themselves. Old rumors resurfaced. Stories passed down through generations. Tales told in hushed voices around dying fires.

Stories about beings that walked without shadows.

Stories that claimed such creatures were never ordinary. Never natural. Never meant to exist in the natural order of things.

The mysterious girl continued staring at Ifrith.

Her crimson eyes remained fixed on the ground.

Ifrith himself did not seem concerned.

He looked at his own feet. For a moment, even he appeared to notice the strange absence. His brow furrowed slightly. His head tilted as though considering something.

Then his expression returned to its previous coldness.

Asmodeus continued, his voice trembling. "When I heard that, I went back to the ancient records."

He clenched his fists so tightly that blood began to drip from his palms.

"I searched deeper."

"Older records."

"Forbidden records."

"Records that even many primordial demons had never seen."

His voice became increasingly serious.

"I searched for anything related to beings without shadows."

"And eventually..."

He paused, his throat working as though swallowing something bitter.

"I found something."

The mysterious girl asked, her voice soft, "What did you find?"

Asmodeus looked toward Ifrith.

His expression was no longer arrogant. There was genuine fear in his eyes now. Deep, primal terror that he could not hide.

"I found a description."

"A description of a type of being that shouldn’t exist in this realm."

The Sovereign’s expression became serious. His fingers tightened on his throne.

The prince stared at Asmodeus, his earlier arrogance completely forgotten.

"What did it say?"

Asmodeus did not answer immediately.

His gaze remained fixed on Ifrith.

Then he slowly spoke.

"The information frightened me so badly that I took it directly to the Crown Prince."

The prince’s expression shifted.

He remembered.

He knew exactly what Asmodeus was referring to. That night. That scroll. The conversation in his private chambers.

The mysterious girl took another step forward, her silver hair catching the torchlight.

"What did you see?"

Asmodeus looked at her.

Then back at Ifrith.

His voice became serious, heavy with ancient knowledge.

"He is a Voidborn."