Shadow Slave

Even though there was a considerable chunk of the colossus left uneaten, Sunny ordered Imp to return. By the time the small creature climbed back to the surface of the island, the members of the cohort had gathered around Sunny.

"Huh? Wait... the little rascal looks different!"

Indeed, Effie was right. The scrawny fiend was different from how he had been before. Firstly, he had grown - just a few days ago, Imp was barely as tall as Sunny's knee, but now his head was on the same level as Sunny's abdomen.

The vital areas on his wiry body were now covered by black plates that resembled a suit of light armor, each glinting with a dark metallic sheen. The same went for his long, sharp claws and triangular teeth..

Imp's face twisted in a grotesque grin, and he raised his chin with pride. After that, the little fiend threw a furtive glance at Nephis.

Sunny smiled. "Congratulations, ugly. You have officially graduated from an unseemly gremlin to an unsightly goblin."

Imp's grin grew a bit forced. He glared at Sunny and hissed.

Nephis looked at them for a few moments. "...I don't know. I think he is a little cute."

The little fiend froze, then swelled with smugness.

Sunny shook his head and sighed. "Are you blind? Well, whatever. Let's see what exactly changed..."

He summoned the runes, waited for the shimmering symbols to reveal themselves, and studied them with a focused expression.

Most of the runes seemed the same:

Shadow: Ravenous Fiend.Shadow Rank: Transcendent.Shadow Class: Devil.

the Rank nor the Class had changed. So, the evolution must have been tied strictly to Imp's

such a result, so he was not too disappointed. Curious, he continued

creature...]Shadow Attributes: [Lucky], [Marvel], [Ravenous], [Shadow Sworn], [Greater Steel

his head

not both of them. Not only had "lesser" changed to "great," but "iron" had also become "steel."

'I wonder...'

Imp's body

concentrated on the shimmering symbols and

Shadow's body

'Jackpot!'

had gone from merely possessing qualities of metal to being entirely like metal. What did it mean? It meant that the little fiend's whole body was now as resilient as a weapon forged out of Transcendent steel would be. In other words, nearly indestructible. More indestructible than the original Scavenger's already impregnable bone armor had been,

of toughening up the Ravenous Fiend. However, he still wanted to know just how tough his Shadow had become... There was only one way

chest, Sunny smiled pleasantly and gave him a

dull metallic ring and a piercing shriek. "Ah!

fallen on his butt with a startled expression. "Argh! Effie, whack this little bastard as hard

such thing, you heartless despot. Come here, poor thing... shall we bully your cruel master together? Ah, you're so adorable... in a hideous,

the scene in front of him with wide eyes. What the hell was happening?

'D-don't tell me...'

how people felt

'That must be it!'

glanced at Sunny with a vindictive grin. ...But there was something wrong

with fiery orange-red light, which contrasted sharply against the black metallic sheen of his face. Imp's sharp steel teeth had also been black a few moments ago, but now they were shining with a red-hot glow and radiated scorching heat. It was as though there

'What the...'

a couple of times, then