My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

When morning came, they resumed their climb.

The mountain was steep.

The drop beneath them was endless.

Ric and Ranar had it much easier than everyone else. Their bodies were far stronger, allowing them to scale the rugged slopes with relative ease.

The other children struggled.

The higher they climbed, the thinner the air became. Every breath grew heavier than the last, their lungs burning as they forced themselves onward.

Even so...

They were children of these mountains.

They had spent their lives clawing out a miserable existence here.

Compared to starvation...

Compared to monsters...

Compared to the cold...

This was simply another hardship to endure.

Step by step...

They persevered until they finally reached the second path.

Gunter climbed up first. Planting both feet firmly on solid ground, he leaned over the edge and offered each of them a hand, pulling them one after another onto the narrow mountain trail.

Soon everyone stood with their backs pressed against the sheer cliff wall.

On the other side...

Only a bottomless drop awaited them.

Gunter nodded before turning sideways and pressing one hand against the rough stone.

Carefully placing one foot after another along the narrow ledge, he moved to the front of the group before motioning for everyone to follow.

Ranar couldn’t help but pause.

She glanced over the edge.

Far below, the world stretched endlessly beneath her.

Dense forests.

Rolling valleys.

Tiny rivers that shimmered beneath the sunlight.

From this height...

Everything looked peaceful.

Beautiful.

”Don’t be too impressed.”

Gunter spoke without turning around.

”It only looks beautiful from up here.”

”When you get close enough...”

”...it’s just as filthy and cruel as everywhere else.”

Ranar quietly nodded before continuing after the others.

They climbed higher.

Hours later, they squeezed through a narrow crevice separating two towering peaks.

Their journey continued throughout the entire day.

They encountered a few mountain goats with traces of monster blood roaming the cliffs, but nothing they couldn’t deal with.

Surprisingly...

There were no mana anomalies.

That alone left Gunter deeply puzzled.

He had expected violent mana storms capable of throwing them off the mountainside.

Instead...

They enjoyed unusually safe passage.

No storms.

No disasters.

No one died.

By sunset, they finally emerged onto a broad peak overlooking a massive city hidden among jagged mountains.

Gunter looked toward the sinking sun before letting out a slow breath.

”Well...”

”Looks like we made it here faster than I expected.”

”Alright!”

Ric immediately started walking forward.

”Let’s go.”

Gunter quickly reached out and grabbed him by the shoulder.

”Not yet.”

”The city is dangerous after dark.”

He glanced toward the distant walls.

”And you don’t exactly have a home there.”

”You planning to sleep on the streets?”

Ric paused.

”...No.”

”Exactly.”

Gunter folded his arms.

”We’ll camp here tonight.”

”We head into the city tomorrow morning.”

”I know a place that can take you kids in.”

Ranar gave a small nod.

”Very well.”

”Thank you for your consideration.”

Her words carried the refined politeness expected of a young noble lady.

Gunter simply nodded before beginning to prepare camp.

As he bent to gather firewood...

He suddenly stopped.

The wind had changed.

His expression sharpened.

Slowly raising his head, he looked toward the sky.

A single roc soared overhead.

His eyes widened.

Without hesitation, he waved everyone down.

”Hide!”

The group quickly slipped behind the jagged rocks.

Fortunately...

The enormous bird showed no interest in them.

It streaked across the sky at tremendous speed, flying in a single direction.

Then another appeared.

And another.

Soon dozens of rocs filled the heavens.

Each of them was racing toward the same destination.

Ranar carefully peeked over the rocks.

”Where are they going?”

Gunter narrowed his eyes as he watched the growing flock disappear into the distance.

”What could possibly make the rulers of these mountains move together like this...”

He fell silent for a moment before exhaling.

”They’ve either found an enemy powerful enough to threaten them...”

”...or some unbelievably unlucky fool is about to have the worst day of his life.

Ranar couldn’t help but wonder who... or what... could possibly draw the attention of so many rocs.

Humans within the Anarchy Mountains were restricted by the barrier.

None of them should have been stronger than her.

She slowly lay back against the cold stone, folding her hands beneath her head as she gazed into the endless night sky.

Countless stars shimmered overhead.

Their pale light reflected in her golden eyes.

Before long...

Her eyelids grew heavy.

She drifted into sleep.

...

As for unlucky fools...

Damon was undoubtedly one of them.

No one in the entire mountain range could compete with his terrible luck.

After all...

All of this had started because he had killed a single roc.

...

He leaned against the side of a snow-covered peak.

One of his wings hung at an awkward angle while deep cracks covered the Shadow Drone’s body.

Its torso had twisted unnaturally from repeated impacts.

Fortunately...

Shadow Drones were built to endure punishment.

Damon pulled a small straw doll from his storage ring.

For a brief moment...

He stared at it.

’I could end this.’

’I could kill them all.’

His fingers tightened around the doll.

Then...

He calmly put it away.

”No.”

”My trump card stays hidden.”

He drew his bow.

The instant he stepped out from behind the mountain peak, he loosed an arrow before diving away.

A heartbeat later...

Hundreds of invisible wind blades carved through the cliff where he had been standing.

Stone exploded into the air.

Damon folded his wings and let gravity pull him downward before sharply angling upward again.

He shot through the sky.

Then...

He slammed shoulder-first into a charging roc.

Both of them crashed through the snowy slopes.

Blood stained the pure white mountainside.

Damon dug deep into the snow.

With a surge of magic power, he shattered the unstable mountain face.

A deafening rumble echoed across the peaks.

An avalanche.

A sea of snow thundered down the mountain, swallowing everything in its path.

Hidden beneath it...

Damon suddenly burst upward.

He grabbed another roc by the neck and dragged it into the avalanche with him.

The flock became even more agitated.

Furious screeches echoed across the heavens.

They began bombarding the mountains indiscriminately with storms of razor-sharp wind.

Entire cliffs vanished beneath the relentless assault.

Meanwhile...

Damon lay buried beneath layers of snow far from where the attacks landed.

His lips slowly curved upward.

”They’re stronger...”

”But not smarter.”

The rocs possessed overwhelming strength.

Each one far surpassed the Shadow Drone.

But Damon possessed something they lacked.

Experience.

Skill.

And absolute ruthlessness.

”Hmm...”

”Speaking of which...”

A shadow passed overhead.

One roc descended onto the snow only a few meters away.

The instant its talons touched the ground—

Damon exploded from beneath the snow.

He landed on its back.

His fist smashed into its skull.

At the same moment...

His soul left the Shadow Drone.

Like a bolt of black lightning, it shot straight into the roc’s body.

The moment his soul emerged...

The barrier surrounding the Anarchy Mountains pressed against it with crushing force.

It felt as though the heavens themselves wanted to erase him.

Damon ignored the pressure.

His soul plunged into the roc.

Compared to the beast’s soul...

His own was overwhelmingly stronger.

The resistance lasted only an instant before he completely overwhelmed it.

The roc’s consciousness disappeared.

Damon seized control.

He carefully lifted the now lifeless Shadow Drone with the roc’s beak before soaring back into the sky.

The other rocs saw their companion return.

They let out triumphant screeches.

Seeing the motionless Shadow Drone dangling from its beak...

They naturally assumed their kin had won.

They circled proudly overhead, their cries filled with arrogant dominance.

Damon finally allowed himself to relax.

’I just need one opportunity...’

’Then I’ll head toward Anarchy City.’

’Ric and Ranar are definitely going there.’

Just as he angled his wings toward the city...

Every Shadow Drone he had hidden throughout the mountains vanished from his senses.

One after another...

Their connections were severed.

Instantly.

Something was hunting them.

Before Damon could react—

A flash.

The roc’s body split cleanly in half.

Blood rained from the sky.

His soul was suddenly exposed once again.

Without hesitation, Damon abandoned the dying roc and forced his soul back into the damaged Shadow Drone below.

The transfer completed—

Thud.

Something pierced straight through his chest.

The force nearly tore him in half.

He staggered backward.

A gaping hole had opened where his heart should have been.

Something writhed inside the wound.

Damon slowly lowered his gaze.

A creature made entirely of fog stood before him.

Its long, ghostly tail had pierced completely through his chest.

The already battered Shadow Drone had suffered catastrophic damage.

Damon merely smiled.

Seeing his body take that much damage meant that if it were destroyed, he was finished.

The reason was simple.

He was in the middle of the Anarchy Mountains.

If this shadow drone was destroyed and he was left without a body, his soul, which had already reached the Sixth Class Advancement, would be exposed to the open air.

The mountain barrier would instantly lock onto it.

Then it would erase him.

The fog creature let out a shrill hiss before lashing out again. Its claws tore through Damon, sending him tumbling across the snow. He crashed through a rocky outcrop before finally coming to a stop, leaving a long trail carved into the mountainside.

Snow exploded around him.

His shattered body twitched once before slowly forcing itself back up.

Damon lowered his gaze to the gaping hole in his chest where ghostly mist still writhed inside the wound.

”So that’s how it is...”

He rolled his shoulder with a sickening crack, straightening his broken posture as black shadows leaked from every fracture in his body.

His dark eyes slowly lifted toward the creature.

The smile on his face never disappeared.

Instead, it grew wider.