The person she had been trying to kill had spared her after ripping off her mask and revealing her true self. She thought it was weird. At first, she believed that he was enchanted by her beauty and wanted to win her heart. But then, he wasn't very proactive, and it was her who was charmed by his handsomeness when he slimmed down. Then, she thought it might be because he wanted a useful subordinate. But he had grown so stronger in a short time that she couldn't help but feel useless.
Only now did she understand why he spared her.
Everything made sense!
It was all because of that certain someone.
But why did he tell him to leave her be?
'This person that he trusts so much… Just who is he?' she wondered.
"Take me with you, please."
In her opinion, Roy was shrouded in a thick layer of mystery, and she wanted to explore him thoroughly. Consider it as her curiosity getting the best of her.
"Okay, you can come along. That is if you can keep up with me."
The more, the merrier.
Having a badass sidekick would lighten his burden, Roy thought.
In Ashen Mountain, it was very dark and cold, with thick mist rolling everywhere. Only a little bit of moonlight illuminated the surroundings. You couldn't see more than three meters ahead of you. But Delilah and Roy walked freely in this environment as if they could see through the curtain of darkness and the walls of mist.
One was an assassin.
The other was the owner of the Night's Mist soul shard.
They had adapted to the dark and fierce environments. She was trained against her will to withstand it, and he accepted the darkness the moment he fused with the soul shard of the God, Night!
It was their home territory.
Delilah followed after Roy, doing her best to run. Sweat ran down her temple and her hair stuck to her milky white skin as she did her best to not lose sight of him.
Soon after, Her legs hurt, her bones ached, and she started to pant all because she overexerted herself.
But even then, she failed.
He was fast.
So fast!
That she couldn't keep up with him.
She just blinked once, and he was out of her sight.
As she was blankly standing there, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.
Who was there?
It was Roy.
"You are too slow," he said to her as his left hand broke down into the mist, which rolled before her and shaped into a demon dog. It was black and had the same physical features as a dog, but it was pretty big, almost as tall as Roy, and three times wider than him.
"What's this?" Delilah blinked her eyes and asked.
Just then, Roy tapped its head, and its body solidified.
Force was an inexplicable great power that every aura master desired to learn, and a grandmaster wouldn't be respected if he hadn't learned it.
After learning about it, he was certain that masters of force were no worse than Realm Lords. His second awakening brought him great benefits and further verified his guess. Now that he was able to fuse the Forces he had learned with his soul-herding ability, there was no doubt that he could accomplish the impossible.
Roy turned around to look at Delilah and answered, "A ride created to let you keep up with me."
Delilah: "I see."
A metallic dog was created just like that.
"It's for you to sit," he said.
"Oh, ok." Delilah jumped and sat down on its back.
It was completely unmoving.
"Does this thing not work?" she asked after a moment.
"It's lifeless now, so it doesn't. But maybe it will after I imbue it with life," he replied calmly as if what he said was a piece of cake that any Tom, Dick, or Harry could accomplish.
Anyone would be shocked hearing his words, and so was Delilah.
She saw him looking at his shadow as if doing that would imbue life into the metallic dog.
"Shadowless enter its body." Roy conversed with his first shadow telepathically.
"Master, I am sorry, but I can't complete this task."
He gave him a reply instantly.
"I know what you are worried about, but trust me and let my power guide you." (Roy)
"Okay." (Shadowless)
…
Miracle.
This skill did what it said.
It let him fuse not only his force but also his skills and technique with his soul-herding ability.
Shadowless was a product of his skill.
Maybe that's why he succeeded in doing something ridiculous!
The system's notification rang in his mind.
『You have fused Shadowless with the metallic dog』
『Ding! Congratulations! You have fused your night's mist ability with your Sword and Shield Force to create a pet dog with extremely high defensive and offensive abilities.』
『It lacks magical abilities, but its body is so sharp and sturdy that it won't be bullied by aura monsters below 100 years of age!』
『You have created a new ability. How would you like to name it?』
Roy named it as "Creature Creation."
『Ding! The skill creature creation has been registered to the database!』
"Open your eyes."
Following his command, the dog opened its eyes. Its cold metallic eyes were brimming with life. She was surprised to see that it was not lifeless. It was as alive and functional as Tevenlor, the metallic puppet she was amazed to see.
"Simply unbelievable!"
She exclaimed in disbelief.
"Master, what orders do you have for me?"
"Follow me." Roy tapped it again, giving the dog-like body that Shadowless was trapped into half of his agility. This meant that it had become as fast as him.
Moreover, as it was made out of two types of Force and the mist ability, It could shred a row of aura monsters to pieces in seconds and survive the assault of a grandmaster.
Roy took this chance to explore the limits of his second soul-herding ability, and he had to say, it was well worth it!
