The Shadow Monarch path in Anime Zero turns Sung Jinwoo into a late-game melee class built around fast sword attacks and a summoned knight. At its final stage it carries the Demon King’s Longsword and a fully upgraded Igris, enough firepower to solo the hardest version of the Shadow Gate raid in about a minute.
Quick answer: Shadow Monarch has three evolutions, culminating in Stage 3’s Demon King’s Longsword. The weapon adds +50% M1 damage and extends reach. With Igris maxed, the Deadeye trait equipped, and the S-Rank Hunter title selected, a solo Nightmare Shadow Gate clear takes about 60 seconds.
Shadow Monarch evolution stages
Sung Jinwoo’s Shadow Monarch path moves through three distinct stages, each unlocking a new signature ability. The progression starts with The System, gains the Arise: Igris summon, and finishes with the Longsword stage and its Demon King’s Longsword.
| Stage | Name | Unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| I | The System | Base kit |
| II | Arise: Igris | Igris summon |
| III | Longsword | Demon King’s Longsword |
Reaching Stage 3 costs between 6 and 8 million coins, and that price does not include the separate upgrades for the Igris summon. The Demon King’s Longsword at Stage III extends basic attack (M1) reach, adds +50% M1 damage, and makes the class’s skills shadow-charged.
Igris summon stats and upgrades
Igris, the Shadow Knight, fights alongside the player as a summon. Out of the box he deals 720 damage, swings every 0.96 seconds, and carries a small 0.2% lifesteal. Four upgrade nodes raise those numbers and add extra summon slots.
| Upgrade | Effect | Range |
|---|---|---|
| Crimson Blade | Igris damage | up to +260% (MAX) |
| Knight’s Pace | Attack speed | +15% → +30% |
| Loyalty | Lifesteal | 0.2% → 0.4% |
| Commander | ARISE shadow slots | +0 → +1 |
Crimson Blade carries most of the summon’s damage output when maxed, pushing Igris far past his base 720. Commander is the only node that changes how many shadows can be summoned at once, raising the limit by one.
Shadow Gate raid on Nightmare
Shadow Gate is a Raid mode, and its Nightmare tier is the toughest version. The fight takes place in the Throne of the Red Knight, where waves of honor guards appear before Igris, the Blood-Red Commander, rises as the boss.
A fully built Shadow Monarch clears these waves with M1 slashes and skill abilities, finishing with an ultimate animation before the Igris boss goes down. Solo Nightmare runs land in the one-minute-and-a-half range even before adding the strongest traits and titles.
| Run | Setup | Damage dealt | Clear time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Base build | 77,286 | 1:16 |
| 2 | Base build | 71,260 | 1:26 |
| 3 | Deadeye + S-Rank Hunter | 72,139 | 1:00 |
On the third attempt, the clear takes exactly one minute. The improvement comes solely from Deadeye and the S-Rank Hunter title, with no further evolution involved.
The Deadeye trait
Traits are character modifiers rerolled at the Enchants station in the hub city, where the Matilda the Hunter NPC handles the process. Each trait has its own pull rate, and the index lets you lock in a target before spinning.
Deadeye is a Mythic trait with a base pull rate of 0.01%, the same odds as Supernova. It grants +20% Damage, +50% Critical Damage, and +6% Crit Chance, which is why it drives such a large jump in clear speed. An Auto Reroll toggle cycles enchant crystals on its own and counts up toward the pity threshold, so the trait is guaranteed once enough rolls accumulate even at those odds.
For comparison, the common pulls on the same table are far more frequent. Ferocity and Sniper each sit at 0.04%, while Overkill hits at 1%.
S-Rank Hunter title
Trait bonuses are supplemented by title combat stats, and you can change titles through the Titles library at the hub. To unlock S-Rank Hunter, clear the Shadow Gate raid twice as Shadow Monarch without dying.
- +15% Damage
- +20% Critical Damage
- +3.5% Crit Chance
- +3% Cooldown Reduction
Stacked with Deadeye, that adds up to +35% Damage, +70% Critical Damage, and roughly +9.5% Crit Chance over a bare build. Together they are what take the Stage 3 Shadow Monarch from a comfortable Nightmare clear to a one-minute solo of the Throne of the Red Knight.
