I'm the Villain, But the Heroines Keep Choosing Me-Chapter 150: Ascension Through Slaughter I

The first wave hit like a black tide against stone.

Thousands of demons surged up the walls using ladders, grappling hooks, sheer climbing strength. Their war cries shook the air – inhuman shrieks mixed with organized battle commands.

Damien didn’t wait for them to reach the top.

He jumped.

Thirty feet down into the seething mass of demons, shadows cushioning his landing, exploding outward on impact.

Twenty demons died in the first second.

His shadow blades formed mid-fall, extending from his hands like extensions of will. They cut through demonic flesh with surgical precision – throats, hearts, the gaps in armor where death came quickest.

[DEMONS SLAIN x20]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 49.2]

[CORRUPTION: 30.3%]

More demons rushed him. He moved like water through their ranks, each motion flowing into the next without wasted movement.

Duck. Spin. Shadow spear through a demon’s eye.

Pivot. Shadow tendril wrapping around a throat, crushing.

Step forward. Blade through a ribcage.

The shadows responded faster now. Anticipated his intent. Manifested before conscious thought completed.

A demon twice his size swung a massive axe. Damien didn’t block – he melted into shadow, reforming behind his attacker. Blade through the spine.

[DEMONS SLAIN x5]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 49.4]

[CORRUPTION: 30.7%]

The corruption climbed with each kill. He could feel it rising like warmth through his chest, spreading through his limbs, sharpening his perception.

Colors became more vivid. Sounds clearer. His tactical awareness expanded – he could track a dozen demons simultaneously, predict their movements, position himself perfectly.

It felt incredible.

A group of demons formed a defensive circle, spears pointed outward. Standard anti-cavalry formation adapted for ground combat.

Damien smiled for some reason.

Shadows erupted from beneath them. Spears of solid darkness punching up through the formation, impaling all six demons at once.

[DEMONS SLAIN x6]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 49.7]

[CORRUPTION: 31.2%]

He was moving faster now. The increased corruption granted enhanced physical capabilities – strength, speed, reflexes beyond human baseline.

An elite demon engaged him, skilled warrior with twin blades. They exchanged strikes at blinding speed, metal and shadow clashing, each testing the other’s defense.

The demon was good. Centuries of combat experience evident in every movement.

Damien was better.

He feinted left, the demon committed to the block, and Damien’s shadow blade came from the right. Through the neck. Clean decapitation.

[ELITE DEMON SLAIN]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 50]

[CORRUPTION: 31.8%]

Level 50 shadow comprehension unlocked something new. Damien felt it immediately – his understanding of shadow manipulation transcended technique and became instinct.

He could shape darkness without thinking. Create constructs while fighting. Maintain multiple shadow forms simultaneously.

A demon archer fired from the wall. Damien raised his hand without looking. Shadow shield manifested, arrow shattering against solid darkness.

The shield transformed into spears, launching toward the archer, killing it before it could nock another arrow.

[DEMON SLAIN]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 50.3]

[CORRUPTION: 32.1%]

More demons poured through a breach in the lower defenses. Damien moved to intercept.

His shadows spread across the ground like liquid night, flowing toward the breach. When demons stepped into the darkened area, tendrils erupted – grabbing limbs, necks, weapons. Pulling demons down, crushing, strangling, drowning them in tangible darkness.

[DEMONS SLAIN x15]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 50.8]

[CORRUPTION: 33.4%]

The battle raged around him. Valdaran soldiers fighting desperately on the walls. Mages launching elemental attacks. The air filled with fire and lightning and the screams of dying.

Damien existed in a bubble of pure efficiency. Killing with mechanical precision, each death pushing him higher, stronger, closer to the threshold he needed to reach.

An elite demon captain organized a unit against him. Fifteen demons in tight formation, coordinated assault, trying to overwhelm through numbers and discipline.

Damien didn’t retreat.

He charged directly into their formation.

Shadows exploded outward in a sphere, pushing demons back, breaking their cohesion. Before they could reform, he was among them.

Blade through a throat.

Shadow tendril crushing a skull.

Leg sweep, demon falling, spike through its heart.

Spin, slash, another head rolling.

The formation collapsed. The captain tried to rally, but Damien’s shadow wrapped around its chest and squeezed. Ribs cracked. Internal organs ruptured.

[DEMONS SLAIN x15]

[ELITE CAPTAIN SLAIN]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 51.5]

[CORRUPTION: 35.2%]

Thirty-five percent. Nearly a third of the way to his target.

The corruption’s influence was becoming pronounced. Emotions felt distant, filtered through analytical framework. He registered that people were dying on the walls – Valdaran soldiers, civilians who’d taken up arms, people with families and futures.

He registered it. Catalogued it as relevant information.

Felt nothing about it.

The lack of emotional response to death should have triggered concern.

Instead it just felt efficient. Useful. One less thing cluttering his decision-making.

A massive demon – twelve feet tall, covered in thick armor – smashed through a wall section. Stone and bodies flew. It wielded a club that looked like a tree trunk.

Damien assessed. Too large for normal blade work. Too armored for standard shadow spears.

He needed a new approach.

He formed shadow chains, thick as his arm, and launched them at the giant. They wrapped around its limbs, its neck, its torso. Damien pulled, the giant staggered.

More chains. More pressure. Constricting.

The giant roared, struggling against the bindings. Its strength was immense – shadows straining to hold.

Damien poured more power into the technique. The shadows tightened, cutting into demonic flesh beneath armor gaps.

The giant fell to its knees.

Shadow spike through the back of its neck, severing spine.

[GIANT DEMON SLAIN - ELITE]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 52.3]

[CORRUPTION: 37.1%]

Over a third of the way there.

Damien’s tactical awareness expanded further. He could sense demon positions through their shadows, track movement patterns, predict assault vectors before they materialized.

The eastern wall was buckling under concentrated pressure. Demons scaling it by hundreds, overwhelming the defenders.

Damien shadow-transited to the wall’s top.

Landed among a group of demons that had just crested the battlements. They turned toward him, weapons raised.

He gestured. Shadow blades erupted from the stone beneath their feet, impaling all of them simultaneously.

[DEMONS SLAIN x8]

Valdaran soldiers nearby stared at him with mixture of awe and fear. Good. Fear meant they’d stay out of his way.

More demons climbing. Damien created a shadow wave – a tsunami of darkness that swept along the wall’s exterior, catching climbing demons and smashing them against stone.

[DEMONS SLAIN x23]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 53.1]

[CORRUPTION: 38.9%]

Getting close to forty percent. The halfway point.