My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Knowing they could not win the fight was all the self-awareness Lumberjack needed. Still, his pride as an underworld boss could not allow him to just die—especially at the hands of Damon Grey.

If this was an unknown enemy with this much power, maybe. But this was the runt—the little boy he watched grow.

How did he get this much power?

His huge hulking form punched towards Damon. Damon took a single step, flashing away with speeds that looked like teleportation. From behind, Lumberjack felt his hair stand on end. He quickly swung his lumber axe, but Damon didn’t move.

The axe passed through his body as if he were made of shadows.

Damon had naturally used the skill Flash Step. It was pretty handy.

[Skill: Flash Step]

[Description:]

A refined movement art once mastered by phantom assassins of the Forgotten Court, Flash Step allows the user to vanish from their position and reappear a short distance away, as though skipping between heartbeats.

[Effect:]

Moves instantly to a visible location within 15 meters.

[Type:]

Active.

[Cooldown:]

5 seconds.

This was just one of many skills he had gained from his time in the Chasm. Damon said he’d kill them all in three minutes—he wasn’t joking or being arrogant.

“Rrahhhh!” Lumberjack roared, his axe shattering the ground around Damon with his Second Class Advancement strength.

Damon could feel it—the emotions in Lumberjack’s heart. Fear.

Still, Lumberjack was his only real opponent. Different blasts of magic came from various directions, but Damon didn’t bother dodging the weak, skill-less, unadvanced, rank-less apes.

What were they going to do—kill him with weakness? Besides, his magic resistance was high.

The only attacks he bothered dodging were the needle attacks from Gubi. She was in the First Class Advancement. He had to be cautious.

Lumberjack’s skin grew redder. His eyes seemed bedeviled.

“Stay still!” he roared.

His fist barreled down at Damon. Damon didn’t move, his face cold.

“Fine. I’ll humor you.”

Their fists met. The ground shook. The air whipped as astral winds sent anyone weaker than them flying. Lumberjack felt his hardened body crack… his bones.

“Arrgh… ho… how…”

Damon glanced at his own fist. Lumberjack thought Damon’s bones would break from the impact. A shame. He had the Iron Bones skill.

“I’ve been taking my milk. Haven’t you?”

[Skill: Iron Bones]

[Description:]

A brutal defensive art originating from the war-prisoners of the Hollow Spire, Iron Bones transforms the user’s skeletal structure, reinforcing it through sheer will and arcane calcification.

[Effect:]

Passively increases bone density and durability. Reduces fracture risk and physical damage taken by 50%. Grants resistance to internal blunt trauma.

[Type:]

Passive.

[Cooldown:]

0 seconds.

Lumberjack raised his one good hand and swung forward. Damon turned into a shadow.

“Let’s end this already.”

[Blitz]

Lumberjack felt his skin get cut. He felt the air whipping as Damon moved around him with intense speed, leaving behind afterimages. He fell to his knees as blood pooled around him.

This particular skill was memorable. Damon had gotten it from devouring Fuska the Face Stealer—and it fit him.

[Skill: Blitz]

[Description:]

An ancient combat technique developed by lightning-wielding war priests of the Stormcradle Monastery, Blitz is a burst-movement skill that mimics a thunderclap’s sudden violence. It was used to break enemy lines before they could even blink.

[Effect:]

The user propels themselves a short distance at blinding speed, damaging and knocking back enemies in their path, leaving behind a brief afterimage that distracts foes.

[Type:]

Active.

[Cooldown:]

8 seconds.

Lumberjack raised his head, seeing a sword in Damon’s hands.

“Sin… since when did he have a sword…”

His tendons were severed, his arteries where damaged. He was brought to his knees… by a boy.

Steam rose from his hulking form as he shrank back to normal size. He felt his soul tearing apart from the inside out. Even if Damon did nothing more, he would die.

“A… a cursed weapon…” he rasped.

Damon rested the sword on his shoulder.

“Are those your final words?”

Lumberjack smiled with bleeding gums, eyes wide.

“I should have killed you all those years… demon scum.”

Damon pushed the sword into his throat slowly until he felt it touch the neck bone. Then he viciously lifted, ripping the head off in a fountain of blood. The body and head fell with a wet plop.

Damon heard the sound of despair—the members of Quick Hand, those left at least, lost the will to fight.

The boss was dead. He was the strongest… and he died.

Damon turned to a woman with purple lipstick, eyes wide with fear. She let go of the vial of poison in her hand and the canister.

He glanced at Matia, who watched in silence with two animals perched on her armor—a squirrel and a raven—both excitedly watching the slaughter. Her expression was indifferent, unmoved. He could tell by the calm glow of her visor.

He glanced at the trembling members of Quick Hand. He didn’t have time for them.

“Kill the rest.”

She nodded slowly. Her visor glowed brighter with cold killing intent. From her back, wings like glass appeared. She flapped them once, creating winter in the sealed space. These weaker fools had no resistance to her chilling cold. Like dominoes, they fell. The flames of their souls extinguished.

Damon’s eyes didn’t leave Gubi. She trembled, realizing he hadn’t killed her with the rest.

“I… I’m useful! I know things—potions, poisons—please… I can serve… I’ll do anything…”

Her voice quaked. Desperate to live.

“I… I… please don’t kill me! I beg you… you wouldn’t kill a beautiful woman… I… I can please…that..thats want men want..please..”

She forced herself to say that.

Damon smiled, looking at her fear.

“Beautiful woman?”

He smiled.

“Right… you are.”

She nodded furiously.

“Y… yes… you wouldn’t kill a beautiful woman.”

Damon sighed.

“That’s true. Why kill a beautiful woman…”

Gubi let out a sigh of relief. Then Damon grabbed her by the neck and Flash Stepped to a wall.

“Let’s fix that.”

He pressed her face against the wall. Like a carrot getting grated, he ran her delicate face across it. Her screams and flailing did nothing. Blood splattered. Her nose was crushed, her left eye mushed. Tears mixed with blood.

He looked at his handiwork. Half her face still persisted. The other half… ruined. Nose and teeth gone. He could see her nose bone.

“Ahr… ahrg… I… I… I don’t want to die… it’s… it’s not fair,” she cried weakly.

Life was fair.

His expression remained calm, ignoring her pain.

“Now… what about ugly women? I have no mercy for those.”

She sounded cheap.

“At least die with the dignity, you lacked in life.”

Black flames engulfed her body, leaving no trace.

A soft chime echoed.

[You have slain Gubina of Purity]

[You have leveled up]

[You have gained 140 attribute points]

[You have awakened the skill Shadow Reconstruction]

Damon sighed. That woman didn’t deserve that name… but maybe once, before she was ruined, she did.

He walked out as the building was consumed by black flames. He felt shadows waiting for him.

Hmm. It seems… they came a little early.

He checked the time on his pager.

“Two minutes early… they must really want to die.”