My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about it. Damon had, in fact, considered what would happen if Ric’s identity were exposed.

If it had happened in the past, he would have feared that Ric could be taken from him by force. However, things were different now. If Ric’s identity was exposed, Damon would probably have to sit through a few long meetings with House Ravenscroft.

After all, Ric’s own father was the one who had traded the boy to him. There was also the issue of Ric having lived in the Tomb, but Damon was confident he could keep that secret for a few years.

Furthermore, only the weak feared those in power.

Damon was no longer weak.

He possessed enough military power to face the entire Empire. He could also crash the Empire’s economy within a matter of days if he truly wanted to. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say he was the wealthiest person in the Empire, and if everything devolved into senseless violence, he would still win.

There was Aetherus as well. He wasn’t at his full power yet, but Damon dared to say he could hold his own against him. And if he couldn’t, Damon had enough firepower to make Aetherus regret the day he chose to face him.

That said, it was more important to conserve his strength and kill Morticai.

He glanced toward the two children sitting on a rock while a small camp had been established nearby. Five children were gathered not far away, watching the chaos from a safe distance.

The shadow drones continued marching into Anarchy City, and the sounds of battle never ceased. Damon could send a constant influx of soldiers into the city, and he intended to do exactly that until every last human was dead.

Those who surrendered would be captured and taken to the Tomb. He had already opened a gateway to the Tomb of the Lesser Gods using the Key of Lazarak, and more shadow drones were being sent through.

As for the man who called himself Gunter, Damon had given him to a special type of demon in the Tomb known as a Skin Flayer.

Those little creatures were having their fun.

By the time they were finished with Gunter, Damon suspected the man would wish he had never been born.

Of course, Ric and Ranar didn’t know any of that.

Damon sat down in front of them, deciding it was finally time to have the talk.

Ric was already getting impatient.

”Your name is Damon Grey... That’s like the most boring name ever. Amon sounds far better. It has so much aura. I mean, your name is a color.”

Damon sighed.

He really needed to reconsider his child-raising methods.

”You are Amon, but isn’t Amon a bad guy?” Ranar asked. She had heard of Amon. Everyone had. It was the name of the Unknown Ruler.

Damon stopped for a moment before shaking his head.

”Well, no. Actually, I’m Damon Grey. Amon is just a little alias I use...”

”To commit crimes against the Empire. My father is a criminal,” Ranar said, holding her head.

”No, actually... What? I’m not... Just listen and ask questions afterward.”

The two children glanced at each other before nodding.

”First of all, Amon is my Shadow Clone. It’s me, but sort of like a body-double skill. I taught you both what a body-double skill is, right?”

”No, not really. Eva taught me that,” Ranar said slowly.

Ric shook his head.

”I learned about that from Lilith.”

Damon groaned and cleared his throat.

”Be that as it may, I guess you both know the concept behind it. Well, it’s a bit of a long story, but a few years ago, when I was much younger and much weaker, I teamed up with Lilith in order to destroy the Temple because they were sort of evil. Our goal was generally world peace. It still is. We also needed to counter the Temple’s power.”

He figured it was better to come clean with them.

Damon didn’t really hide many things. He simply shared the objectives of the Unknown Order, explaining what he could without revealing information that needed to remain secret.

”Now, I understand this is a heavy burden. I understand that. But I raised you both to be able to keep a secret.”

”Wouldn’t it be better to not tell us all this?” Ric asked, looking at Damon.

”Yes, it would. But I didn’t want to lie to you. That would set a bad example.”

Damon answered honestly.

Perhaps this was the most honest he had ever been in his life.

”Then how did you find Ric? I mean, you have a whole secret life. Is he my little brother?”

Ranar asked the question while imagining that he might be. Damon was known to have quite a few lovers, and whenever Eva saw him with Lilith Astranova, she always had this moody expression that Ranar could never quite understand.

Damon glanced at Ric.

Ric glanced back at Damon.

The two of them scoffed at almost the same time.

”Nope. Not even close.”

”Then who is Ric?” Ranar asked.

”He’s... well, I sort of took him in from...” Damon paused, searching for the least suspicious way to explain it. ”Ahhh... he’s Godric Ravenscroft.”

He admitted it, knowing there was no way around it.

”What?”

Ranar’s eyes widened.

”Godric Ravenscroft? The heir of House Ravenscroft who went missing years ago? You had him? Wha... why? What is wrong with you? Seriously, you’re actually serious?”

She stared at him in disbelief before suddenly remembering something.

”Wait! I watched a speech of yours condemning the person who took him and swearing to deliver justice!”

Damon could understand her outrage.

He crossed his arms and glanced at her.

”Baby, you’ve gotta understand that noble politics are a bit complicated. And I just told you two, so you’re my accomplices now.”

Ric narrowed his eyes slightly before raising his hand.

”Wait. How can I be an accomplice to my own kidnapping?”

Damon looked at the little judge-like expression on his daughter’s face.

”You pushed past your limits.”