My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

His shadow drones were occupied, and the one coming was a bit far away, so Damon was trapped in a doll’s body while also not being able to remove his soul without getting completely obliterated by the barrier.

In fact, right now his soul had taken some serious damage, and he was at the edge of death. He could even feel a small, subtle touch of death upon him.

This wasn’t just a feeling. It was something that came with being at the peak of the world. Those in the Seventh Class would, to some extent, feel the embers of the world, the metaphysical things that were hard to reach, things like Fate, Time, Dreams, and even vague things like hope.

While they didn’t have control over all these things, they could subtly reach out to them. One of the most amazing displays of such power Damon had seen was when a fragment of Valerie Sunwarden had slowed down time.

He could do something like that, but it was because he dominated time, not because he had a conceptual understanding of it.

That said, he was in no position to be thinking about such things.

”Young lady, don’t do anything reckless. Think about it. The City Lord is dead. You can have anything you want. Yes, I can make you ruler of this city.”

She didn’t budge. Her expression didn’t even flinch.

”Why would I want that curse? Only fools want to rule over madness. Just die.”

She wasn’t seeing reason, so Damon had to do what was needed to live. He kicked her with the doll’s body, but she didn’t even move.

”Right, this is a doll.”

The spear slammed into the center of the straw doll’s chest.

Damon felt it reach his soul, and then he gritted his teeth, rushing out of the body. He charged into her body.

”Fine. You forced my hand.”

As soon as his Astral Form was revealed, it began to fade out of existence due to a vast law that did not allow his powers here. He shot towards her forehead and sank down with every ounce of willpower he could muster, and then, when he got into her soul, he didn’t hesitate to crush her mind.

Her body fell to the ground and convulsed for a few minutes. Then her hands moved, and she let out a gasp.

Damon placed his hand on her chest, or rather, his chest now.

”Huh, huh, that was close. I almost died,” he said, standing up.

”Tch.” Ashcroft scoffed in his head.

”Useless. The straw doll has been damaged. Now we can’t remove the barrier.”

Damon glanced at the spear that had impaled the body of the straw doll.

He felt irritated. He did not know how much trouble Sylvia went through to create this doll, but she had given a lot of warnings about its functions and importance. It was because it was so important that Damon didn’t use it even when his daughter was in danger.

It could take damage in place of his body and transfer the burden of the barrier onto it, allowing him to use his full power in the mountains for a while, but that was not why Sylvia made it. She had made it for a different purpose.

The Throne of Anarchy.

The barrier around the Anarchy Mountains limited the rank of creatures that got inside. However, what if the barrier allowed anyone to enter but increased the rank to, say, above the Seventh Class Advancement?

The purpose was to allow anyone to come into the mountains, but at the same time, Sylvia was designing a killing field. Just like Damon had almost died without a body, what if outsiders who were far higher ranked than the Seventh Class were to come in here with Seventh Class bodies but were to lose those bodies? Their souls, which were far more powerful, would be crushed and destroyed by the barrier.

Sylvia had already told Damon of a vision she had on these mountains. Outsiders most likely already deduced the Pillar was here as well. After all, they had been in the world of Aetherus for over three hundred thousand years. That was vast amounts of time, but for them, the price was worth it.

They would not just give up on their prize.

Damon picked up the doll. Even though it had a hole in its chest, he placed it on the Throne of Anarchy and hoped it would work.

He closed his eyes for a moment, but nothing happened. He sighed and lowered his head.

”Damn.”

As soon as he said those words, the red energy began to rise and seep into the doll. White runes that carried Sylvia’s magic power began to glow and form a complex tapestry of magic that Damon couldn’t even begin to understand. It was as if she had reached a whole new level of magic that he could not even touch.

However, the runes at the center were damaged due to the hole in the doll, so the red energy seeped through.

”Did it work?” he asked Ashcroft.

”Yes and no.” Ashcroft was quiet for a moment. ”Thanks to the damage, it will take months to fully tamper with the barrier. However, the magic itself has worked, so we should be glad it didn’t fail.”

Damon let out a breath of relief. He picked up the woman’s spear and walked out. He looked at the city. All over, there were corpses, men, women, and even children. The battle was not over, and even the walls were stained red with blood.

A red mist rose toward Damon. He tried to block it, but it reached his mouth and entered. Damon immediately tossed away his weapon.

”I see now. So this is the power of the Pillar. It truly is hidden somewhere in this place. All this death and conflict... no one is immune to it. Your rage, anger, and resentment are amplified. It makes the sane mad and the mad madder.”

Damon had to find his daughter. He had to go. He had to get her out of here.