My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Damon—or rather Amon—stood before Aetherus.

For the first time, that human form was gone.

What stood before Damon now was a colossal entity that bore no resemblance to mankind. Countless faces were embedded across its immense body, each one carrying a different expression, some weeping, some laughing, others forever frozen in silent screams. His head was the sun itself, burning with impossible radiance as its light illuminated the world beneath it. Across his broad chest and stomach stretched towering mountain ranges, vast rivers, deep valleys, and endless forests that seemed to breathe with life.

Entire cities rested upon his flesh. Some stood upon fertile lands while others floated atop translucent oceans whose waters shimmered with every movement. His body was formed from the nine great continents themselves, while immeasurable seas revolved around a burning core that pulsed like the heart of creation.

Then...

The oceans moved.

Great arms formed from the vast seas rose from his sides, torrents of water twisting together into colossal limbs capable of grasping mountains themselves.

The world...

The world itself had come alive.

Before Damon could even comprehend what he was seeing, he felt it.

It was not an attack he could see.

It was as though the world itself had reached out and laid its hands upon him.

His entire body suddenly constricted as invisible force wrapped around every inch of him. Bones groaned beneath unbearable pressure before he was violently hurled toward the earth. He struck the ground with enough force to split the land apart as the earth opened its maw beneath him, rivers of molten lava erupting skyward in an attempt to swallow him whole.

Damon reacted almost instantly.

His shadow exploded outward like a tide of living darkness before folding back around him, countless layers compressing together until they formed an enormous sphere of shadows that endured the inferno battering against its surface.

Yes...

There was no longer any doubt.

The world was alive.

Every continent trembled beneath Aetherus’ awakening.

Every mountain shook.

Every ocean churned.

Every living creature, no matter where they stood upon the nine continents, felt the world itself stir from its ancient slumber.

Then Aetherus moved.

His impossible body shifted as entire continents flowed across one another with a deafening roar. Mountains crumbled only to rebuild themselves elsewhere while oceans bent into impossible shapes.

The continent of Soltheon folded into an immense sword whose edge stretched across the horizon.

The Demon Continent, Centros, rose and wrapped itself across his front, becoming armor thicker than kingdoms.

The Voyage Continent unfurled into an unimaginably long whip that coiled around his body like a celestial serpent.

One after another, each of the nine continents became either weapon or shield.

Only one remained untouched.

Vuldren.

The Sky Continent.

Within his colossal body Aetherus deliberately left it alone, preserving it exactly as it was.

The continents quaked.

Then Aetherus spun.

The rotation alone overturned reality.

Night and day inverted with each revolution as though the entire world itself had begun to rotate around him. One instant Damon looked upward and saw an endless sea of stars.

The next—

The blazing sun filled his vision.

The next—

A deep gash ripped across his chest.

His body staggered backward as shadows burst from the wound like black blood, pouring through the air before dissolving into wisps of darkness.

Even without eyes in this form...

Aetherus looked at him.

Damon felt the unbearable weight settle across his shoulders.

Not merely pressure.

Not merely killing intent.

The weight of the world itself.

For Aetherus...

Was the world.

Damon laughed.

Even as shadows poured endlessly from the wound...

Even as cracks spread throughout his shadow clone and his body threatened to tear itself apart...

Even knowing that a single strike had brought him to the verge of destruction...

He laughed.

Slowly he pushed himself upright, wiped a trail of shadow from his chest, and faced the god once more.

”Why do you laugh... before your death?” Aetherus’ voice echoed across heaven and earth, every word causing mountains to tremble. ”You cannot flee from me. I am the world, and above us the Goddess’ barrier prevents you from leaving this realm. There is no escape.”

Beneath his faceless mask Damon smiled.

Whether Aetherus could perceive that smile...

He did not know.

”Yes... that is true.” Damon spread his hands slightly. ”However... I never planned on escaping.”

He slowly gestured toward the horizon.

”Look around you, Aetherus... the Holy City is gone. There is no longer a seat of power for the Temple.”

”What is destroyed,” Aetherus replied calmly, ”can always be rebuilt.”

Damon merely shrugged.

He raised one hand.

A wave of destruction erupted from his palm and crashed into the colossal god with enough force to flatten entire mountain ranges.

It vanished.

No...

It simply disappeared against Aetherus’ body without leaving even the slightest mark, as though someone had tossed a pebble into the heart of an endless ocean.

”I see...” Damon muttered, lowering his hand. ”You’re immune to attacks in this form, huh...”

Aetherus slowly raised one colossal hand.

The mere motion eclipsed the heavens.

His shadow swallowed continents as that divine palm descended toward Damon, intending to crush him completely.

However...

Damon calmly reached into his shadow.

His fingers closed around something hidden within the darkness.

Then he drew forth a staff.

The instant it emerged...

The world disappeared beneath an endless tide of destruction.

Power erupted outward in every direction, consuming everything within countless miles. Mountains vanished beneath the expanding wave. Rivers evaporated. Forests dissolved into nothingness as the heavens themselves seemed to crack beneath the overwhelming force.

...

Far away, aboard the fleeing airship...

Damon’s true body suddenly coughed violently.

Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth as his knees buckled beneath him. He stared through blurred vision toward the distant horizon where an enormous cloud of destruction swallowed the Holy City whole.

”Daddy!”

He barely heard Ranar’s frightened voice before she ran toward him.

Evangeline lunged forward, reaching out to catch him, but she was a heartbeat too late.

Damon collapsed onto the deck.

The impact echoed softly beneath him.

His vision blurred further.

Above him he could make out familiar faces rushing toward him.

Evangeline.

Luna.

Iris.

His daughter.

Even the knights and maids had abandoned their stations, their expressions filled with unmistakable worry as they crowded around him.

A faint smile tugged at Damon’s lips.

He had done everything he needed to do.

It was safe now.

Slowly...

He let the darkness take him.