I Ascend to the Divine Throne through Arcane Means

Lonely Mountain City,

After a moment of pause, the Shadow Monster's body suddenly began to twist wildly.

Lis frowned slightly.

He could feel a great resistance while trying to control the Shadow Monster in front of him.

However, it's not an impossible task.

Lis's Strength broke through layers of barriers, and his spiritual power continually explored within Richie's body, searching for the core of control.

Kelleb stood beside Lis.

Although he didn't know what Lis was doing, he didn't dare to disturb him.

No matter how Richie struggled, Lis easily suppressed him tightly.

Lis patiently searched within Richie, missing no possible location.

Even though Richie was much stronger after transforming into the Shadow Monster, there was no real difference in front of Lis.

A moment later, Lis's eyes lit up, and he gripped with his right hand.

Only to see Richie's struggling body suddenly freeze in place.

Then, the Shadow Monster transformed back into Richie's appearance, obediently staying in front of Lis.

Kelleb looked at Richie with a heavy expression.

The current Richie was completely different from when he was drinking before, showing no expression, like a wooden figure.

Lis breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Kai Qi in front of him.

Controlling this shadow monster disguised as Richie was much more difficult than he had imagined.

As a Legendary Arcanist, Lis's spiritual power and control power were much stronger than Kent Holden of the Shadow Veil.

Kent Holden of the Shadow Veil was not a Mage Professional; it seemed to be a special Profession created specifically to control the Shadow Nest.

The opponent's own Strength was not strong, as it was entirely invested in the Shadow Nest.

Since breaking into the Legend, Lis's mastery over Shadow Power had rapidly advanced.

Although the mastery of the Shadow Domain hadn't broken into the Legendary Rank, it wasn't far off.

Previously within the Shadow Nest, Lis had attempted to try to control those Shadow Monsters.

Unfortunately, Lis did not succeed.

If Kent was here, Lis would find it difficult to seize control of the Shadow Monsters from him.

But now, with Kent not present, Lis could sever the connection between the Shadow Monsters and Kent.

Lis felt that with his current control power over Shadow Power, he could control at most a few Shadow Monsters.

Unlike controlling a Faith Avatar, he felt various dark and violent impulses transferring over from the Shadow Monsters.

Lis needed to devote considerable effort to control this Shadow Monster.

He wondered how Kent managed to control so many Shadow Monsters; was it due to the Shadow Nest?

Lis looked at Richie in front of him, thought for a moment, and then asked aloud:

"How did you disguise yourself as Richie?"

"Or in other words, are you Richie himself?"

Judging by the behavior of the Shadow Monster previously disguised as Richie and the perception gained after controlling it, Lis understood that the Shadow Monster before him had Wisdom and an independent ability to speak.

"Master, my ability allows me to devour the target, and after completing digestion, I can obtain the target's appearance, memories, and Wisdom."

"I devoured Richie by arrangement of the Mother Nest, thereby disguising myself as him."

"Devour?"

Kelleb's face turned unpleasant, and he asked in a deep voice.

"Does that mean the real Richie is already dead?"

"Yes."

Richie in front said expressionlessly, like a repeating machine mechanically repeating.

After its disguise was torn off, the Shadow Monster seemed to detach from Richie's mind.

"If that's the case, how did you manage to conceal yourselves from the Dwarf Royal Court's scrutiny and those Legends?"

Lis continued asking, as this was his primary concern.

In fact, it would be very challenging to deceive the Dwarf Royal Court's investigations.

Especially for an important figure like Richie, who, upon entering the Dwarf King Palace, would inevitably undergo various inspections.

Moreover, there were many Legendary Strongmen in the Dwarf King Palace, and possibly even a Demigod present.

Yet under such circumstances, this Shadow Monster was still able to remain hidden for so long without being discovered.

It was conceivable how unique the Shadow Monster's disguise ability was.

In fact, if Lis were not a World Tree Favored with special blessing from the Gaia Main World, he likely wouldn't have been able to detect any anomalies with Richie either.

"After devouring Richie, our consciousness enters a dormant state, and the body continues to be controlled by the devoured personality."

"We merely secretly guide the personality's thoughts, allowing it to follow the Master's orders."

"What?!"

Kelleb exclaimed in disbelief.

If that's the case, wouldn't the devoured person remain unaware of their Death and continue acting according to previous habits?

Wouldn't that equate to living as a dead person?

No wonder they managed to deceive the Dwarf Royal Court and the Legendary investigations.

In this way, instead of saying the Shadow Monster was disguised as Richie, it was more like they transformed Richie into a puppet of the Shadow Monster in a more special way.

Still, it remained an entirely consistent puppet, with no change in consciousness, and unchanged abilities.

In this manner, it indeed becomes incredibly difficult to identify.

Lis looked at Richie in front of him and decided to stop asking further questions.

The Shadow Monster's devouring method was indeed unheard of to him.