My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

This was as desperate a situation as any Damon had ever found himself in.

His life was genuinely in danger.

If he lost this body, he would be at risk of dying. His soul had already reached the Sixth Class Advancement, and within the Anarchy Mountains, that alone was enough to make him a target for the mountain’s strange laws.

Damon glanced down at the gaping hole in his chest.

The wound was filled with writhing shadows and remnants of the mist creature’s attack. Whatever that mist was made of, it was powerful. It was slowly corroding the Shadow Drone’s body, eating away at the darkness that composed it.

Damon narrowed his eyes.

He had no idea what the mist was made of.

That alone made it dangerous.

The creature itself was even stranger.

It was formless, its body composed of countless drifting shapes that constantly changed. One moment it resembled a claw. The next, a twisted humanoid figure. Then a mass of fog with no discernible shape at all.

It was as if the creature itself did not know what it was supposed to be.

So it simply became anything.

Damon stared at it for several seconds.

Then the weight pressing against his chest suddenly lifted.

His eyes narrowed.

He finally understood.

This creature had been born within the Anarchy Mountains. Yet somehow, it had adapted to the mountain’s restrictions.

The mountains limited creatures of a certain rank.

So the creature had learned to change its rank depending on the form it took.

”What an interesting creature.”

A loud screech echoed through the sky.

Damon glanced upward.

The Rocs were fleeing.

They were not attacking the mist creature.

They did not even dare approach it.

”Tch. Cowards.”

Damon’s expression darkened.

Those damn birds were the reason he had ended up in this situation in the first place.

”Well, get on with it.”

His voice was cold.

The mist creature suddenly vanished.

Damon’s expression did not change.

Years of fighting had taught him one thing.

Never relax simply because your enemy disappeared.

Sure enough...

A faint gust of air swept across his face.

Damon’s pupils contracted.

A claw suddenly descended from above.

He twisted his body and dove beneath it, simultaneously swinging his sword toward the creature.

The blade passed straight through the mist.

Damon did not hesitate.

His free hand snapped forward.

A surge of magical energy erupted from his palm and detonated the moment it entered the mist creature’s body.

BOOM!

The explosion tore the creature apart.

Mist scattered in every direction.

Damon landed lightly on the snow and slowly straightened.

He crossed his arms.

”You didn’t really think I couldn’t hurt you just because you’re formless, did you?”

His eyes were cold.

He had fought too many horrors and monsters to be intimidated by something simply because he did not understand it.

Every strange creature had a weakness.

You simply had to be creative enough to find it.

Damon glanced at the damaged Shadow Drone.

”You’ve been hunting my Shadow Drones.”

His eyes narrowed.

”Perhaps you didn’t know, but those things are expensive to make.”

Black flames flickered around his body.

”You’ll be paying for them with your life.”

Damon vanished.

The mist creature reformed just in time to meet him.

Sharp claws emerged from its shifting body and snapped toward him.

Damon ducked beneath the first.

He leaped over the second.

His body twisted in midair as another claw swept past his face.

He extended one hand.

Black flames erupted from his palm.

BOOM!

The flames exploded against the creature, scattering its mist across the mountainside.

Before it could reform, Damon raised his other hand.

Runes began appearing in the air.

One.

Then another.

Then dozens.

They spread outward in every direction, covering the surrounding space as Damon poured his magic and will into them.

He slowly lowered his hand.

”Close.”

The space suddenly trembled.

The scattered runes lit up simultaneously.

A barrier descended from the sky, forming a massive dome around Damon and the mist creature.

The creature immediately slammed its claws against the barrier.

BOOM!

The entire dome shook.

Damon stood calmly in the center.

His eyes remained fixed on the creature.

”Creatures like you are quite easy to figure out.”

He raised one finger.

”This is your core.”

His finger shifted toward the creature.

”And you regenerate whatever is lost or destroyed by drawing from the mountain’s fog.”

His smile widened.

”Or rather...”

He glanced at the endless mist surrounding the mountains.

”The fog is part of your body.”

The creature suddenly became still.

Damon’s smile turned colder.

”And it fuels your core.”

The creature slammed its claws against the barrier again.

BOOM!

Cracks briefly appeared across the surface before repairing themselves.

Damon did not even blink.

”But what happens...”

He stepped forward.

”...if I cut you off from the fog that makes you powerful?”

The creature stopped moving.

Damon’s eyes sharpened.

”Killing you becomes much easier.”

For the first time, the creature seemed to hesitate.

Damon smiled.

”I once made the mistake of underestimating something like you.”

His expression darkened.

”A stalker hiding in the shadows.”

His grip tightened around his sword.

”My friend died because of it.”

The memories of Lysithara and Fuska flashed through his mind.

Damon had learned his lesson.

He would never leave something this dangerous to chance again.

He had already suspected that whatever was hunting his Shadow Drones would eventually come for him if enough of them gathered in one place.

So he had deliberately gathered them here.

He had not been cornered.

He had been setting a trap.

Damon stared at the trapped creature.

”You thought you were hunting me.”

His smile became utterly devoid of warmth.

”But I was the one who lured you here.”

That was true.

However, Damon was still in danger.

The creature was far more dangerous than he had initially thought.

The mist slowly began to churn.

Its formless body twisted and stretched, countless shapes appearing and disappearing within it before finally settling on one.

Damon’s eyes narrowed.

The creature had taken the form of one of his Shadow Drones.

A knight.

It carried a great sword in one hand and a large shield in the other. Its armor was already mangled from the creature’s previous battle with the Shadow Drone, dents and deep gashes covering its body.

If the body had been biological rather than made of condensed shadow, it would have already bled to death.

Damon scoffed.

”So you can copy what you consume.”

The creature raised its sword.

Its posture changed.

It took a perfect battle stance.

Damon’s expression became slightly more serious.

Then both of them moved.

BOOM!