My Milf System-Chapter 340. Shadow System Online
In a terrifying blur of motion, Tama became a streak of light. Her claws found the throats of the encroaching monsters before they could even register her presence. Without breaking stride, she lunged toward the Behemoths of Terror.
As her claws scraped against their metallic hides, the air filled with the shrill screech of rending steel and a shower of sparks.
She pivoted, executing a series of precise back-spins that landed her squarely among her Shadowlings.
Behind her, a mountain of lesser monsters lay slumped in a bloody heap of dead bodies.
"Hah! I’ll admit, I’m impressed you handled the fodder in seconds," the Revolutionary leader scoffed, though his eyes betrayed a flicker of unease. "But the Behemoths and my puppets aren’t so easily broken."
Tama didn’t offer the dignity of a response.
Her heart twisted at the sight of the puppets—the bodies of her own kind, experimented upon and jerked around like macabre dolls. The weight of it was suffocating. She could feel the doubt creeping in, a coldness in her chest that threatened to let the shadows she commanded turn against her.
She remembered the warning of her ancestor: he had been consumed by this very power. To reach her full potential, she had to master the darkness within before it mastered her.
"Let’s raise the stakes," the other enemy leader shouted, a cruel grin spreading across his face. "Summon the Kobolds! These nasty bastards have reflexes that make dogs look slow. The perfect natural predator for a little catgirl!"
His fellows cheered as the summoning circles flared. From the light stepped a massive beast, standing on two legs and towering over three wolves combined. It gripped a rusted, colossal greatsword, its grey fur matted with filth and smelling of ancient rot.
"Ugh... gross," Silla muttered, recoiling from the stench.
As more Kobolds manifested, the Revolutionaries’ confidence surged. Sensing the shift, the two Behemoths unhinged their jaws, unleashing a torrent of molten lava-fire toward the group.
Tama didn’t flinch. With a whisper of "Shadow Step," she and her Shadowlings vanished into the gloom, the fire washing harmlessly over empty stone.
She took a sharp breath, centering herself. ’l have to believe. Stop worrying about the dangers of the dark. Command it.’
She threw herself into the fray, engaging the puppet-kin. They were resilient, their movements unnatural and jerky, but with every one she brought down, she whispered a silent prayer: ’Rest now.’
A strange warmth began to bloom in her chest. With every puppet laid to rest, the heat grew, not the burning of the Behemoths’ fire, but a radiant, grateful strength. It was as if her murdered kin were reaching out from the beyond, shedding their torment and gifting her with their essence.
The doubt she had been feeling vanished. She felt invincible.
Mid-swing against the final puppet, a Kobold General lunged from it’s behind.
It swung its massive blade in a horizontal arc, intending to cleave through both the puppet and Tama in a single treacherous strike. Tama’s feline reflexes saved her; she sensed the displacement of air and leaped back just as the steel whistled past her nose.
As the last of her kin finally fell still, Tama took a steadying breath. "System? You there?"
[Shadow System Online.]
A predatory smirk crossed her lips. "Activate False Night."
An oily, ink-like smoke hissed from her pores, expanding outward with impossible speed.
"W-what is this? A smokescreen?" a Revolutionary mocked, his voice cracking. "You think you can run?"
But this was no mere smoke. The darkness was absolute, swallowing the light of the fires and burning buildings around them.
The Revolutionaries and their monsters were instantly plunged into a sightless void.
To the Shadowlings, however, the world turned into a high-contrast playground. The False Night acted as a massive buff, surging through their veins with increased agility and strength. Their wounds began to knit shut and their mana began to replenish. Their eyes ignited with a piercing yellow glow that cut through the murk.
Stellani stood tall, flexing her rejuvenated fingers. The exhaustion was gone. "Wow... thank you, my Queen," she said, bowing deeply.
"Raise your heads," Tama’s voice echoed, cold and resonant. "We have monsters to slaughter."
"Yes, my Queen!" they roared in unison.
Sylvester stepped forward, his tactical mind whirring. "Listen up! The Kobolds rely on scent. Even in the dark, they’ll swing if they smell you. We are Shadowlings—use Shadow Step to displace your scent and strike from their blind spots. Stay vigilant!" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
"You don’t have to tell us twice, genius," Stellani chuckled, though she gave him a brief, respectful nod before vanishing into the gloom.
"Leave the big ones to me," Tama commanded.
In the center of the False Night, the only sounds were the rhythmic thud of behemoths collapsing, the wet tear of blades, and the terrified whimpers of men who had realized too late that they were no longer the hunters.
Tama dispatched the first Behemoth with a barrage of Shadow Spears, driving them repeatedly into its armored joints and it’s biggest weakness, the testicles until the titan toppled.
[You have leveled up!]
She ignored the notification, moving like a reaper through the remaining ranks.
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
When the last monster fell, the darkness of her skill remained. The Revolutionaries were spent, their mana pools bone-dry and their spirits shattered.
They huddled together, hearing only the slow footsteps of death approaching from all sides.
Tama emerged from the smoke, her eyes gleaming with murderous intent.
"I’m sorry! Please!" one man screamed, throwing himself onto the pavement. "I have a wife! A child! Have mercy!"
Tama’s expression didn’t soften. "After the havoc you’ve wrought, you dare beg for the mercy you denied my people?"
"We were just following orders!" another cried, trembling. "We hated the catfolk killings, but we couldn’t say no to the leader! We were forced!"
The silence that followed was heavy. Tama watched them shiver for a long moment.
"If you were truly against the killing," she said, her voice like ice, "then why didn’t you kill yourselves? That would have stopped you from doing what you ’didn’t want’ to do, wouldn’t it?"
The men froze, their faces turning pale. "W-what? Kill ourselves? You’re insane!"
"Then die," Tama whispered.
She raised a hand. Before they could scream, dark blades manifested in the air. In four clean flashes, their heads rolled, painting the stone in a grisly red.
Stellani appeared at her side, bowing. "Well done, my Queen."
[Ding! You have leveled up!]
[You have reached Level 51.]
[You have proven your worth as the Shadow Queen. The Shadows respect you.]
[2 Locked Skills Unlocked. Receive skills?][YES] / [NO]
Tama tapped [YES].
Before she could read the descriptions of the new skills, the shadows whispered a warning directly into her mind. Her ears perked up, twitching.
"Everyone, move! There are more monsters in the city... and Queen Nyxa is in danger!"
"Yes!" the Shadowlings responded quickly.
As they dissolved into the shadows to race toward the palace, a flicker of hope warmed Tama’s heart. ’If I save Nyxa... if I can broker a peace treaty... my dream of a world where black-cats live in safety and freedom might finally come true.’
But for that dream to truly manifest, she knew she had to be at Shangani Kingdom by morning to stand beside Mark and kill that rotten fallen God, Moriel who had been the enemy of her ancestor, and the entire Blackcat folks as a whole.
Easy peasy.
Or so she thought.
But reality was far crueler.
TBC
