My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Chapter 931: Chapter 932: Across And Above

The wind was still. A faint fog covered the vines and beneath them was a drop that promised only death.

Damon didn’t want to know what lurked below. When he had once poked his head over the edge he saw vague silhouettes, shapes that felt inhumane. Since then he had learned to stay silent and keep walking.

Seras stood at the very front holding a map, or rather the route Amadeus the lich had carved out for them.

It had been two weeks since they entered this place. The slow creeping thought that they might never return spread among them like rot.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, high above the fog the distant silhouette of a dragon still patrolled the skies. Rexagon was searching for them. Searching for Damon.

His legs felt heavier with every moment of unease. Here fear had weight. Gravity thickened around them like invisible chains.

Renata hadn’t said it out loud, but Damon could tell their supplies were running low. There was still no sign of escape from this cursed maze.

He brushed sweat from his neck and watched a soldier ahead carry an unconscious comrade.

That was how they had survived these two weeks. Those consumed by fear were knocked unconscious and carried. Even so fatigue was catching up to them. Superhuman or not, they still carried human limits. And not all of them were human. The expedition was a reminding mix of races, each dragging their own weakness forward.

Damon spread his shadow perception further down the foggy path. Nothing. He exhaled heavily, his gaze drifting to Kael who quietly sipped from a bottle of water.

At least no one had died. All they had to do was find the path and leave.

Seras raised her hand and gestured ahead. Damon followed her line of sight and understood instantly.

Relief loosened something in his chest. The pressure of gravity eased. His lungs felt lighter, his posture straightened without him noticing.

Ahead the vines opened into a new route. Hundreds of smaller vines braided together along a massive central one that stretched into the fog. At the end of that path rested a giant skull the size of a mountain. Beyond it lay a landmass littered with white bones and ancient corpses.

The Bone Hallows.

Seras nodded once and stepped forward onto the massive vine. The others followed her lead, faces worn and hollow.

Damon glanced back toward the Orchard of Regrets and saw the distant flutter of Rexagon’s wings. Two weeks had passed and the dragon still hunted.

Was he that angry? That patient? Or simply unwilling to let Damon live?

He turned away.

He’ll never see me again once I reach the other side.

A scream shattered the silence.

One of the soldiers carrying an unconscious comrade slipped as panic surged through him. His body lurched downward toward the fog.

Kael reacted instantly, diving and grabbing him by the arm. For a brief moment they hung suspended between life and oblivion.

Then the weight came.

Fear doubled. Gravity answered.

The unconscious man woke in terror, and the sudden spike crushed them both. Kael’s arm bent at a wrong angle with a sickening crack as the two plummeted into the mist below.

Their screams echoed long after they vanished.

Here screams lingered. They stretched through the fog for hours, refusing to die even after the person had.

And that scream was exactly what Rexagon had been waiting for.

The dragon had known he couldn’t find them easily within the Hanging Paths. So he waited. Sooner or later one of them would fall. They were mice after all. Failure was inevitable.

A thunderous rumble rolled across the sky.

”Rwaaggh... hahahaha little mice.”

His voice shook the heavens. Vast wings spread, stirring violent winds through the fog.

”I have found you. Now you die.”

Seras didn’t wait for him to descend. The moment she sensed his presence she abandoned the rule of silence.

”Run. We need to reach the giant skull,” she shouted.

The Bone Hallows were their only chance. Among the endless white remains they might hide from the dragon’s sight.

But terror spread faster than their feet.

Rexagon’s mountain sized form loomed through the fog, and simply seeing him was enough. Fear pressed down on their backs. The Hanging Paths responded instantly.

A female knight’s breathing grew ragged. Panic flooded her veins. Gravity thickened around her body until her armor creaked.

Then she burst into a cloud of blood.

Her fear had risen faster than her body could endure.

”Stay calm. It is not over yet,” Seras shouted, her voice cutting through the chaos. ”Remember who you are. We are the goddess races. We are chosen.”

Her eyes burned with desperate conviction.

”Goddess races feel no fear.”

The soldiers roared back, forcing courage into their bones. The oppressive weight lessened just enough.

They ran.

Damon didn’t waste time. While Seras rallied morale he sprinted forward, the giant skull growing closer with every heartbeat.

Seras suddenly leapt, clearing several meters in the air. She landed in front of Damon, blocking his path.

”Come on. We need to buy time so the others can escape that dragon,” she said, voice fierce.

Damon slowed, staring at her like she had lost her mind.

”We? Who is we?”

He tried to melt into the shadows and flee, but Seras grabbed his wrist and yanked him back.

Her eyes were sharp as she pulled a sword from her storage box.

”We as in me and you. Stay alive and I’ll give you a kiss.”

Damon glanced from her to the approaching dragon, whose wings churned astral winds through the sky.

”No. No thanks. I choose life. Beautiful lips come and go but my life is—”

She dragged him onto a branching vine as a pillar of destruction tore through the path they had stood on moments before.

The vines themselves rose from the fog, lashing toward the dragon in retaliation.

Damon crashed onto the branch, rolling before catching his footing.

”You owe me a lot more than a kiss after this,” he muttered.

Then he reached into his shadow and drew out a giant sword.