I'm the Villain, But the Heroines Keep Choosing Me-Chapter 115: Hollow Man

Lieutenant Kross attacked first.

Fire erupted from his hands – A-rank battle magic, intense enough to melt stone. The flames roared toward Damien in a wave of superheated death.

Damien raised one hand, and shadows condensed into a shield. The fire hit the darkness and simply... stopped. Not extinguished or absorbed. Just ceased to exist where it met the shadow barrier.

"Impossible," Kross breathed. "Fire can’t be – "

Damien flicked his wrist. The shadow shield transformed into spears, launching toward Kross faster than the mage could react. One punched through his shoulder, another through his thigh, pinning him to the wall behind.

[DEMON SLAIN x0, MAGE INJURED x1]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 43]

The demons attacked en masse – thirty trained soldiers moving in coordinated assault. They came from all directions simultaneously, weapons raised, mouths open in battle cries.

Damien’s shadows exploded outward.

Tendrils of darkness erupted from his position like a bomb, each one seeking demon flesh with predatory intent. They wrapped around throats, pierced through eyes, crushed limbs with bone-breaking force.

Five demons died in the initial explosion. The rest scattered, their formation broken, trying to regroup.

[DEMONS SLAIN x5]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 43.2]

Captain Veyra launched her attack – lightning this time, crackling blue-white energy that could fry a person instantly.

A-rank battle magic at full power, enough to level a building.

Damien didn’t dodge. He walked into it.

The lightning hit him and the shadows around him devoured it. More than blocking – consuming. The electrical energy disappeared into darkness like water into sand, leaving Damien completely unharmed.

"What are you?" Veyra screamed.

"Evolving," Damien replied.

He gestured, and shadow blades formed in the air around him – dozens of them, each one perfectly crafted, each one tracking a different target.

They launched simultaneously.

Three more demons died, blades punching through armor and flesh like they were paper. Sergeant Tyrus threw up an earth barrier – solid rock manifested from A-rank magic – and the shadow blades shattered against it.

The barrier exploded a second later as Damien’s shadows punched through from multiple angles, finding weaknesses in the stone structure that shouldn’t have been exploitable.

Tyrus stumbled back, his defensive magic broken, his confidence shattered.

[DEMONS SLAIN x3]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 43.5]

Lord Veyrix was casting something complex – multiple element combination, the kind of high-level magic that required preparation but delivered devastating results. Fire and wind combining into a superheated storm, confined and compressed, building toward explosive release.

Damien felt the magic gathering. Recognized the pattern. Knew exactly how dangerous it would be when completed.

He let Veyrix finish the spell.

The magical storm erupted – a maelstrom of fire and wind that filled half the warehouse, temperature spiking to levels that would incinerate anything organic.

Damien stood in the center of it and smiled.

His shadows formed a sphere around him, a perfect protective bubble that the magical storm couldn’t penetrate. But more than that – the shadows were feeding on the magic itself, growing stronger, denser, more substantial with every second the storm raged.

When the spell finally exhausted itself, Damien’s shadow sphere had doubled in size and intensity.

He released it.

The sphere exploded outward in a wave of pure darkness. It crashed through the warehouse like a tsunami, overwhelming everything in its path.

Demons were swept away, slammed into walls with bone-crushing force. The remaining lanterns shattered, plunging the space into near-total blackness.

[DEMONS SLAIN x8]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 44]

[CORRUPTION: 25.3% → 26.1%]

In the darkness, Damien was supreme.

His shadow sense showed him every position, every movement, every desperate attempt at defense or escape. He moved through the blackness like he was part of it, appearing behind demons to end them with surgical precision.

A demon warrior swung its blade where he’d been a second before. Damien materialized behind it, shadow blade already moving, and took its head off in one smooth motion.

[DEMON SLAIN x1]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 44.2]

Two demons tried to flank him. He created shadow clones – solid enough to fool them, long enough for Damien to position himself. When they attacked the illusions, he struck from their blind spots.

[DEMONS SLAIN x2]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 44.4]

Captain Veyra had recovered from her shock and was casting again – trying to generate light, to push back the darkness, to create any advantage in this impossible situation.

Her light spell activated, illuminating the warehouse in harsh white brilliance.

Damien was standing three feet from her, so close she could see the emptiness in his eyes.

She screamed.

He grabbed her throat with one shadow-wrapped hand, lifting her off the ground. Her lightning magic activated reflexively, electricity coursing through her body and into him.

The shadows devoured it. Damien felt the energy flow into him, feeding his power, making the darkness stronger.

"You were right about one thing," he said conversationally, watching her struggle. "I am corrupted. Just not by demons."

He squeezed. Her neck broke with an audible snap.

[MAGE SLAIN - CAPTAIN VEYRA - A-RANK]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 45]

[CORRUPTION: 26.1% → 27.3%]

Sergeant Tyrus tried to run. His earth magic created a tunnel through the warehouse wall, an escape route that would take him away from this nightmare.

Damien’s shadows caught him before he’d gone three steps.

Tendrils wrapped around his legs, his waist, his arms. They pulled him back into the warehouse, dragging him across the floor despite his desperate struggles.

"Please," Tyrus begged. "Please, I have information – valuable information – I can tell you everything – "

"I already know everything," Damien said. "I watched. I listened. I learned. You’re not valuable anymore. You’re just guilty."

The shadows constricted. Tyrus’s screams cut off as his ribcage collapsed inward.

[MAGE SLAIN - SERGEANT TYRUS - A-RANK]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 45.5]

[CORRUPTION: 27.3% → 28.1%]

Lieutenant Kross was still pinned to the wall, the shadow spears through his shoulder and thigh keeping him immobilized. He’d been trying to free himself, his fire magic burning against the darkness, making slow progress.

Damien walked toward him through the carnage. Bodies littered the warehouse floor – demons and mages alike, all dead, all bleeding, all testament to what happened when you threatened the wrong person’s anchors.

"Wait," Kross said, his voice breaking. "Wait, please, I’m sorry – I didn’t mean – we were just talking – "

"You threatened to rape and murder them," Damien said flatly. "That’s not ’just talking.’ That’s intent. That’s planning. That’s you giving me reasons to stop you from living."

"But I wouldn’t have actually – "

"Maybe not. Doesn’t matter." Damien’s shadow blade formed in his hand. "You thought about it. You discussed it with enthusiasm. You laughed. That’s enough."

"Please – "

The blade went through Kross’s throat, severing his windpipe and major arteries in one precise cut. He died choking on his own blood, unable to even scream.

[MAGE SLAIN - LIEUTENANT KROSS - A-RANK]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 46]

[CORRUPTION: 28.1% → 29.2%]

Lord Veyrix was the last one standing. He’d backed into a corner, his magic exhausted, his demonic allies all dead around him.

"You’re insane," he said. "Completely insane. The corruption has destroyed you. You’re exactly what they said you were – a monster wearing human skin."

"I am," Damien agreed. He was walking slowly, deliberately, giving Veyrix time to contemplate his approaching death. "But I’m a monster who protects his people. You’re just a traitor who sold out his Empire for power and gold."

"The demons will win," Veyrix spat. "You’ve killed us, but there are hundreds more. Thousands. Embedded throughout the Empire. You can’t stop what’s coming."

"Probably not. But I can start." Damien’s shadows coiled around Veyrix, pinning him against the wall. "Starting with you."

"The Emperor will find out," Veyrix warned desperately. "You killed his council member, his Imperial Guard. They’ll execute you for this."

"You’re quite delusional, aren’t you?" Damien’s blade pressed against Veyrix’s throat. "Any last words? Confessions? Pleas for mercy you know won’t be granted?"

"Go to hell."

"Already there." The blade cut deep, and Veyrix’s struggles ceased.

[TRAITOR SLAIN - LORD VEYRIX - EMPEROR’S COUNCIL]

[SHADOW COMPREHENSION: Level 46.5]

[CORRUPTION: 29.2% → 30%]

[WARNING: Baseline stability compromised]

[CORRUPTION STABILIZER: Failing to maintain 25% threshold]

[EMOTIONAL CAPACITY: Severely degraded]

Damien stood in the silent warehouse, surrounded by corpses, shadows still coiling around him like living things.

Thirty demons. Four A-rank battle mages. One B-rank noble traitor.

All dead.

The fight had taken maybe ten minutes total. His shadow comprehension had increased substantially – from level 43 to 46.5, each kill teaching him new refinements, new techniques, new ways to manifest darkness into deadly force.

And his corruption had broken through the stabilized baseline. Thirty percent now. Five percent higher than it should be, five percent beyond what the anchor bonds were designed to manage.

But he didn’t feel guilty. Didn’t feel horror at what he’d done. Didn’t feel the weight of thirty-five lives ended by his hand.

He just felt... powerful. And satisfied. And darkly pleased at how thoroughly he’d eliminated the threat.

The hollow man the corruption was creating felt no remorse for killing traitors who’d threatened his anchors.

He searched the warehouse methodically, collecting evidence – documents detailing the smuggling operation, ledgers showing gold transfers, lists of compromised officials throughout the Empire. Everything the Emperor would need to begin purging the conspiracy.

His communication stone pulsed. Seria’s voice, urgent.

"Damien. Status? The cathedral situation is resolved. Where are you?"

He looked around the warehouse. At the bodies. At the blood. At the evidence of violence so overwhelming that explaining it would be... complicated.

"Found the real operation," he said into the stone. His voice sounded distant even to himself. "Eliminated the threat. Collecting evidence now."

"Eliminated? What does that mean? Damien, what happened?"

"I’ll explain when you get here." He gave her the warehouse address. "Bring Elara. And prepare for... a significant scene."

"Damien – "

"Just come."

He ended the communication and sat down on a crate, waiting. The shadows around him were still active, still moving, responding to his corrupted state with eager hunger for more violence.

Thirty percent corruption felt different than twenty-five. Darker. Colder. More divorced from normal human emotion.

But also stronger. Significantly stronger. The power flowing through him was intoxicating, addictive, the kind of strength that made impossible situations manageable.

The kind of strength he’d need to face whatever was coming.

The kind of strength that might let him kill a hero.

Damien sat in the darkness, surrounded by the dead, and waited for his anchors to arrive and pull him back from the edge of what he was becoming.

If they still could.