Only I Am A Reader

Although shadow shared so much with darkness, both could never truly exist in the same place and for that reason alone, darkness was considered Cassian's greatest nemesis.

The majority of the time that Cassian had spent planning his revenge was focused on making sure that he wouldn't end up in his most powerless state.

While he eventually managed to develop his Shadow Bringer Eyes, total darkness remained Cassian's one and only weakness. However…

'Is this actually possible?'

Just like almost every other being on Earth, Leo couldn't see in total darkness. Still, he tried blindly initiating Shadow Armament and the laws of physics were broken just like that.

Leo could feel the handle of the recreated White Tiger in his hand. He even stepped forward and stabbed into the wall. Aside from his eyesight, every other sense of his confirmed the experiment's success.

His Shadow Law had shaken off its constraints! It even allowed him to partially 'see' in the darkness!

'This is the best tape that I could ask for.'

This was the result of the heavy and dark Enigma blending in with Leo's Shadow Enigma. Despite remaining under the label of shadow, this new talent had allowed him to fix the one hole in his ability.

Darkness Enchantment allowed Leo's shadow to share some of Darkness' properties!

Although Leo shouldn't even have a shadow in the darkness, the combination of Shadow Mastery and Darkness Enchantment allowed his shadow to be ever-present.

He could now use all of his abilities wherever the place and whatever the circumstances, but…

'This limit remains.'

Leo had just tried it to no avail. Creating shadows out of nowhere was impossible, and there were no already existing shadows to manipulate either. So in a way, Leo was still nerfed in the darkness.

'It's still more than good enough.'

Not to mention that it made sense for only his enchanted shadow to break the rules, total darkness itself was an already annoying situation for most other Ability Users.

With the help of his Sensory Shadow, retaining some navigating ability alongside his full attack arsenal guaranteed that Leo wouldn't be driven into a corner by blacking the place out.

Besides, as long as there was even a hint of starlight or moonlight, Leo would return to his new limitless state.

'I was bluffing before…'

The real reason the higher-ups had given up on properly imprisoning Cassian was that he prepared too well to hide his ability's weakness. He made it seem like nothing could truly stop him. Otherwise, things could have been a bit different. 𝘣𝑒𝘥𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝑙．𝘤𝘰𝘮

Clearing Gates was a different matter altogether, but when it came to hunting other Ability Users almost everyone with a brain followed the same protocol.

Whether the hunter was a Hero, a Villain, or even a group of normal people, they didn't take out their strongest attack from the get-go.

Instead, they focused on finding the ultimate weakness in their target's ability before building their strategy upon that point as a base!

'But now it's real.'

However, now that Leo truly had no weaknesses, no strategy could truly leave him helpless.

Being locked up in a dark enclosed room with a group of darkness-navigating ability wielders was no longer a threat to him!

'This really is a fortuitous encounter.'

Normal protagonists and side characters had to search for any chance that the story drove toward them, and it wasn't always a match.

In Leo's situation, however, he had a few choices to pick from, yet he landed on the one that suited him the best.

Although Leo couldn't deny that he considered that this method might be more beneficial than the rest, he didn't imagine that it would be such a perfect match.

Fate was truly a mysterious force, and even a Reader couldn't escape from its machinations!

This was truly the perfect Hidden Piece that Leo could wish for!

[ Hidden Event Occurrence has been detected. Hidden Piece, Darkness Enigma Seed, has been discovered. ]

[ You have received 978 Reading Points. ]

All the surprises that he received almost made Leo forget about the message that he should have received long ago.

'Isn't this a little bit too late?'

Was it because this seed had only been completely planted in his body now? Did that mean that he was truly tainted by something?

'No.'

For once, Leo felt like he had the answer to one of his questions. Whether it was his body, mind, or Enigma, none of them felt uncomfortable.

Let alone sensing something intrusive, it felt like everything was just rearranged to their rightful position.

Unless he was terribly wrong and it was already too late, this situation was as simple as a two-stage treasure.

The Enigma Stone itself wasn't the true Hidden Piece, it was the ability that resulted from its consumption, which was why the message was late.

'Besides, if something was wrong…'

Although Leo tried his best to not be overly reliant on the Personal Book, he felt that it would have represented a threat in a different way.

'I should get out of here.'

Since the preliminary ability analysis had already been concluded, Leo had no more reason to stay in this abandoned slum.

He had already checked his digital watch, only to find that three days had passed since he arrived here.

The time inside the Gate felt a bit shorter, but two days were spent there. Leo had just realized his little Enigma Absorption lasted for a full day.

'Hmmm… Let's go there.'

Considering his current location, Leo recalled the few safehouses that Cassian had prepared and chose the closest one.

No one said anything about not taking advantage of an alternate self's preparations. Despite pulling off such a huge job from the start, Leo still needed all the help he could get.

'From now on…'

There were more than a few milestones that he needed to focus on along the way, but the key to saving this world was forcefully shoved into one person's hand.

'It's all about Aurora Dawnbringer.'

The poor protagonist did need a lot of saving.