At this moment, Ciel looked at the obsidian gargoyle with eyes like he was viewing some rare treasure.
He had just been thinking about how shadow creatures were hard to obtain and he didn't want to take risks—and now one had come to him?
Though different from the life forms he'd seen in the shadow world's depths, the emanating feeling was identical. Combined with its ability to wield ancient shadow magic, the possibility of it possessing shadow will was very high.
He felt delighted—wasn't this delivering itself right to his door?!
Perhaps his appraising gaze made the obsidian gargoyle feel contempt. After all, for so long, every time it attacked, even the most powerful dark wizards would feel panic and fear when caught off-guard by shadow assault. A little wizard as calm as Ciel, even showing joy, made the obsidian gargoyle increasingly want to drink his blood.
So the next moment, the obsidian gargoyle sank back into shadows. Simultaneously, countless shadows instantly condensed into sharp fangs and claws on the ground, tearing toward him as if to shred him into countless pieces.
But he remained completely unhurried. He could see that the ancient shadow magic this obsidian gargoyle used wasn't very powerful—not even as strong as Shadow's performance on Delia Island. For current Ciel, this magical power posed absolutely no threat.
He waved his wand, chanting the runic incantation of ancient shadow magic: "Perthro!"
Instantly, shadows rapidly spread from beneath his feet, tangling with those attacking "fangs and claws", preventing them from approaching him.
From the shadows, the obsidian gargoyle's figure emerged again. Now, its crimson eyes couldn't hide shock. How could this little wizard also know ancient shadow magic?! Hadn't ancient magic long vanished? If not for its special origins, such magic wouldn't exist in the world. Where had this little wizard learnt it?
Before it could understand these questions, he flicked his wand. On his system panel, not only did ancient shadow magic light up, but Diamond-level Shadow Control also blazed with pure radiance.
Instantly, the surrounding shadow magic became like subjects worshipping an emperor, all obeying his commands. Even the shadow magic surrounding the obsidian gargoyle broke free from its control after he snapped his fingers.
The obsidian gargoyle, trying to burrow back into shadows, crashed solidly to the ground. Obviously, it was completely confused—how could a little wizard strip away even its control over shadow magic?
He looked at this scene with satisfaction. Shadow Control truly deserved to be a Diamond-level reward from the Shadow Thorn tree—such a high tier. With the obsidian gargoyle's status, it couldn't resist Shadow Control at all.
He stepped toward the obsidian gargoyle, whose crimson eyes flashed. Though losing shadow magic control and being unable to use ancient shadow magic anymore panicked it—having never encountered such situations—now this little wizard was approaching voluntarily?
Even with shadow magic ineffective, it could instantly tear apart this frail little wizard. So the obsidian gargoyle immediately pounced at him, its sharp claws ready to disembowel him.
He shook his head: "Poor intelligence—no matter. Since this still can't make you recognise the situation, I happen to know some martial arts too."
The next second, he extended one hand, steadily catching the obsidian gargoyle's claw, then lightly squeezed. Teeth-aching cracking sounds followed as the obsidian gargoyle's statue-hard body developed cracks under his grip.
This feeling of potential disintegration immediately cleared the obsidian gargoyle's vision. Its statue-stiff brain seemed to finally remember something. Looking at him with first disbelief, then full fanaticism and awe, the obsidian gargoyle bowed to him as devoutly as worshipping a deity.
Initially, he thought this might be the gargoyle's strategy, but soon his mental eye detected a clear line extending from the obsidian gargoyle—faith power, extremely devout faith power, even more pious than most trolls provided.
Now he was stunned. What was this situation?
The obsidian gargoyle struggled to speak in harsh, stone-grinding sounds: "Shadow God... descendant... my lord..."
He painstakingly listened to its fragmented words, guessing its meaning. It recognised him as a bloodline descendant of the Shadow God?
According to the gargoyle, it was originally an unremarkable sculpture outside the Shadow God's temple. After the Olympian Age collapsed, the Shadow God disappeared without trace. Instead, it had survived for thousands of years until some wizards dug it out again.
It thought all traces of the Shadow God had completely vanished, never expecting to see the Shadow God's bloodline here. As for why it was so certain—according to the obsidian gargoyle, controlling ancient shadow magic while possessing such a powerful body at this age—how could this not be Shadow God's Titan bloodline descendant?
His expression was somewhat strange. By now, quite a few ancient beings had identified him as Titan giant bloodline descendant. But since the obsidian gargoyle believed this, it saved considerable trouble.
Moreover, strictly speaking, this was the most ancient being he had encountered—even just a brick from outside a temple was still an Olympian Age product. Maybe it could tell him secrets about that era?
But when he asked about this, the obsidian gargoyle's answer disappointed him. It had only been created shortly before the Olympian age's collapse—a late-period product. It knew nothing about the era's peak secrets.
Furthermore, after creation, it had hung outside the temple with other obsidian gargoyles, mostly in long slumber, knowing nothing of external situations. It didn't even know how the temple collapsed.
He disappointedly shook his head but soon regained spirit. Not obtaining Olympian secrets didn't matter much—the key was improving his own strength. With sufficient power, previously unexplorable secrets might come to him voluntarily.
So instead of focusing on shadow temples, he asked the obsidian gargoyle about shadow will. Fortunately, this time it provided answers: "Shadow will... erosion... inclusion..."
He frowned, and before he could understand the meaning, the obsidian gargoyle suddenly burrowed into his created shadows.
Then he felt a strange sensation from his ancient shadow magic—like in strategy games when the map gained a new controllable unit. The obsidian gargoyle's stone-grinding voice now reached his mind much more smoothly:
"My lord, this is how shadow will spread—eroding life, corrupting them into your shadow magic, or plundering other shadow lives, seizing their shadow will. The more erosion and inclusion, the more shadows expand and strengthen."
Hearing this, he suddenly understood, remembering the vision from receiving ancient shadow magic insight—that Titan giant controlling shadow magic, whose shadows seemed to replace the entire world. Unimaginably powerful shadow will, having devoured countless lives with shadows.
But now, eroding life and corrupting them into shadows was impossible—that would mean facing Dumbledore's wrath.
"Currently, the feasible method for increasing shadow will is plundering shadow creatures from the shadow world."
He exhaled softly. Though he didn't plan this short-term, at least he'd confirmed this path's viability—not without gain.
Moreover, he looked at his system panel. Due to the obsidian gargoyle's integration, though its shadow wasn't much, it was sufficient to compensate for his ancient shadow magic deficiency.
On the system panel, bronze radiance finally covered all ancient shadow magic text: [Ancient Shadow Magic (Bronze Level)] advanced!
Simultaneously, new insight flowed into his mind. He took a deep breath, eyes showing surprise. He'd thought completing ancient shadow magic would merely strengthen shadow attacks, but now he understood—no ancient magic was simple.
Like now, truly mastering ancient shadow magic revealed its real power. He looked at his system panel, seeing new text extending after ancient shadow magic:
[Ancient Shadow Magic Trait—Shadow Legion (Bronze Level)]!