My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Thunder.

The rumble echoed deep through the jungle as towering ancient trees were uprooted and hurled through the air by an apocalyptic cyclone of destruction. The heavens seemed furious, unleashing their wrath beneath a sky blackened by enormous clouds and countless jagged streaks of white and purple lightning. Hail and rain poured from above, mingling with icy snow in a deafening cacophony that drowned out almost every other sound.

Death was ever-present within this fury.

And yet, at the very center of the storm, there was silence.

A woman stood at its heart as if she existed in an entirely different world from the devastation surrounding her.

Her body was covered in armor that constantly gave off sparks, while her hair glowed with arcs of lightning. It was as if the storm itself had taken the form of a woman. Her beast-kin ears perked up as she listened through the cacophony of madness, searching for the slightest change in the chaos around her.

Then she raised her sword with one hand.

A deafening bang shook the world as the blade collided with something massive, shattering the silence around her.

A claw.

It was so enormous that it resembled a great hill descending from the heavens.

The massive claw withdrew before crashing down again, falling with terrifying speed. Yet even against such an overwhelming attack, the woman remained calm. She raised her sword and cleaved upward.

Raging flashes of lightning erupted from the blade, rushing into the sky and eviscerating everything for miles around her. The lightning met the descending claw, and the impact shook the heavens.

Then the sky split apart.

Her sword had cleaved straight through the storm itself, dividing the dark clouds in two. Brilliant sunlight poured down from the heavens through the enormous opening, illuminating the devastated jungle below.

For a brief moment, it seemed as though the heavens themselves had been cut open.

Then the clouds began to gather again, slowly closing the wound as if the sky itself were healing from a grievous injury.

The woman took a deep breath.

Then she leapt into the sky.

Her body transformed into countless bolts of lightning that shot upward in every direction before converging again high above the jungle.

She raised her fist and punched.

The sonic boom alone traveled for miles, resounding across the jungle like a thunderclap. Anyone too weak to withstand the force would have died instantly, their heads bursting from the overwhelming pressure.

Yet the storm did not budge.

Instead, the darkness opened.

A vast eye appeared within the clouds, its surface flickering with countless flashes of lightning.

Leona’s body became enveloped in lightning as she shot toward it. Arcs of electricity crawled across her armor while she unleashed blow after blow toward the enormous eye.

But the storm remained unrelenting.

Unmoving.

Then the lightning suddenly vanished.

So did the eye.

Something vast shifted within the clouds.

A deep humming sound spread through the air, so low that the ground itself seemed to tremble beneath it.

Leona’s expression hardened.

She quickly formed several runes around her body, their radiant patterns revolving around her armor as she prepared to receive the attack.

Then a vast maw emerged from the storm.

The instant it opened, countless bolts of lightning flashed within its depths. They converged into an enormous and incredibly dense mass of destructive energy.

For a moment, the entire jungle seemed to fall silent.

Then it struck.

The impact sounded like a million bolts of lightning exploding simultaneously.

Leona didn’t allow the attack to simply reach her.

She raised her sword toward the incoming torrent and pulled it toward herself. Her body spun through the air as she redirected the enormous attack, allowing the destructive energy to flow around her.

Lightning traveled through her armor.

Her entire body shook from the force.

And then the world was consumed by white.

Roar!

The roar of the storm itself shook the jungle as its own attack was turned against it.

When the blinding light finally faded, the scales of an enormous dragon emerged from the dissipating storm.

It was so vast that it dwarfed entire mountains.

Its wings stretched across enormous portions of the jungle, blotting out the sunlight as its colossal body moved among the clouds.

This was the great dragon, Aethergon.

And the woman standing before it was none other than Leona.

For the past seven years, she had continued to battle Aethergon alone.

She had sworn that she would not leave this place until she possessed enough power to defeat a Great Dragon by herself.

And today, perhaps for the first time, she had come closer than ever before.

Their battle continued for hours.

Hour after hour, the jungle was torn apart beneath their struggle. Mountains were shattered, ancient trees were reduced to splinters, and the sky itself seemed to tremble beneath the clash between lightning and dragon might.

The sun eventually disappeared beyond the horizon.

Then another day began.

And still, they fought.

With every passing moment, Leona’s armor became more dented. Her once-radiant hair became increasingly disheveled, strands clinging to her bloodied face. Burns covered her body, and blood flowed from wounds that refused to stop bleeding.

Her breathing became heavier.

Her movements became slower.

But she never retreated.

Not even once.

She never did.

Not until the third day of their battle.

Finally, both sides stopped.

The storm vanished, revealing the world that had been ruined by their struggle. The jungle was almost unrecognizable. Mountains had been carved apart, ancient trees had been reduced to splinters, and the ground was covered in enormous craters.

The area was now perpetually filled with lightning and thunder. Deadly clouds hung over the ruined landscape, while countless mana anomalies twisted through the air. Anyone who once passed through this part of the jungle now avoided it entirely.

It had been given a new name.

The Death Zone Lightning Field.

Leona took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling heavily as she struggled to catch her breath. Her hands trembled around the hilt of her sword, but she refused to let go.

She raised her head and looked toward the mountain-sized dragon standing before her.

A massive crack ran across Aethergon’s chest, and wounds covered his enormous body. His scales were scorched and several had been broken apart, revealing the flesh beneath.

The Great Dragon had been injured.

Leona had done that.