My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

The great mass of whispering trees that made up Ythar’s body snaked through the earth, lifting enormous swaths of ground into the air before violently bringing them down. It was as if the earth itself had betrayed those who walked upon it.

Trees erupted from the ground in every direction, their branches twisting unnaturally as they cried out a vile darkness that created a fog of fear.

Whispers spread through the battlefield.

Madness followed.

And at the center of the forest, a creature slowly raised its head.

Its form resembled a gigantic man made from bark and dried leaves. Its eyes were dark hollows like the inside of an ancient tree trunk, while countless other eyes covered its enormous body, opening and closing independently as they stared in every direction.

Its towering form rose above the darkness and merged with the sky.

This was the core of Ythar.

And it was vast.

Those in the Seventh Class did not say a word.

They all joined forces to take on these entities.

The Demon Lords and the Goddess Races’ Seventh Class advancement fought side by side because they had fought the Outsiders before.

And they had still lost.

A pillar of fire suddenly landed on the ground.

Damon slashed at it, cutting through the very space around him as the battlefield erupted into another frenzy. The battle was happening too quickly for anyone below the Seventh Class to comprehend, and Damon had only one thing on his mind.

His sister.

Iris.

Abellona.

He needed to get them out.

He spread his Shadow Perception across the battlefield and quickly found Luna and Iris. They were behind a massive branch the size of a mountain that stretched across the battlefield and blocked the path to the other side.

Damon raised his hand.

Black flames erupted around him, engulfing the area for miles and burning through the enormous branches.

A terrible scream immediately came from Ythar.

”Damon!”

Lilith’s voice reached him.

She stepped over the corpses of several humans and demons that had already been consumed by the nightmares before teleporting toward him.

”We need reinforcements. We might survive because of our higher class, but those in the lower classes will die, Damon.”

Damon tried to remain calm.

Remorseless kept his mind clear, preventing panic from taking hold, but there were simply too many things to worry about.

His sister.

Iris.

Abellona.

His sister and Iris were weak compared to the monsters now descending upon the battlefield, while Abellona was pregnant.

But he was also worried about everyone else.

”What do we do?”

Lilith raised her hand and pulled out the Key of Lazarak.

”We summon everyone we have available. If this is where the final battle is going to happen, then I’d rather we have an army.”

Damon looked at the key before nodding.

Renata suddenly flashed toward them.

She was covered in blood, her clothes torn in several places. She dropped the severed head of a nightmare at their feet, and the creature’s remains slowly began to disappear into the air.

”They are after Aetherus for a reason,” Renata said. ”I don’t like it. If only five of them are this calamitous, what about the rest? There are hundreds of them.”

Damon glanced at Renata before nodding.

”I agree.”

He looked toward Lilith.

”Do it. Do it now. All our forces. The full might of the Tomb.”

Lilith nodded and closed her eyes.

She held the Key of Lazarak tightly in her hand while Damon expanded his Shadow Perception across the battlefield once more.

He found his sister and Iris.

They were safe.

There was an entire area of the battlefield beyond the massive branch where Sylvia simply stood.

No nightmares dared approach her.

Even the Outsiders avoided that area.

It was almost as if they were not part of the battlefield at all.

Lilith’s back suddenly began to glow faintly.

Then she whispered.

”Void Gate, open.”

Using the Key of Lazarak as an anchor, she opened a massive rift that stretched as far as the eye could see.

From within that rift, thousands upon thousands of Shadow Drones of all kinds stepped out, followed by demons and monster races that had been abandoned by the world.

Every one of them was a member of the Unknown Order.

Cassian was fighting shoulder to shoulder with Kadelas when he saw the massive rift open.

”What now?” he asked, glancing toward the endless stream of soldiers emerging from the gate. ”How many enemies do we have?”

However, the Shadow Drones did not attack.

At the center of the army, a woman and a Balrog slowly stepped forward, drawing their weapons as they looked down at the dark world beneath them.

”For the Unknown Ruler!”

Their battle cries echoed across the battlefield.

Then dozens of Seventh Class auras surged toward the battle, followed by thousands of soldiers rushing out from the Void Gate.

The battlefield reached an entirely new level of frenzy.

Damon called several of them toward him and ordered them to find his sister and protect her.

Then he looked beyond the sky of twisting trees.

In the distance, he saw the golden glow of a phoenix as it fought against Aetherus, trying to push him toward a massive black hand clawing its way out of the rift.

Aetherus screamed as the hand of Ittorath closed around him.

”Ahhhhhhh!”

Damon’s expression changed.

He jumped, pushing himself hundreds of meters into the air with a sonic boom. A spear imbued with Rot appeared in his hand as he shot toward Morticai.

Flames burst outward.

The phoenix dodged.

Damon twisted in midair and was forced to use Airwalk to redirect his momentum. Instead of attacking Morticai, he stabbed toward the massive hand of Ittorath.

His spear pierced one of the enormous fingers.

The black hand loosened its grip, allowing Aetherus to partially break free.

Damon immediately grabbed his hand and pulled him away.

”Still think you’re hot stuff now?”

”Is this really a time for this?” Aetherus replied coldly as he pulled himself free.

Suddenly, they were surrounded.

Damon glanced toward Morticai, who was glaring directly at him.

”You hold an unclean thing. In the name of Obamion, God of Purity, I must destroy it.”

”Not if I kill you first.”

Damon felt an intense darkness growing within his heart.

His Divine Spark had dissipated.

He could feel remnants of its power slowly returning to his heart, but it was more or less depleted. At the same time, his demonization was progressing.

It had remained fixed at a certain level for so long.

Now he could feel it approaching the next threshold.

One more step.

And he would become a True Demon.

”You are as unclean as that spear, god-fiend.”

Damon wasn’t sure why Morticai was calling him by that name, but it didn’t matter.

He was going to kill him.

”You remember the woman you killed years ago?”

Damon’s grip tightened around his spear.

”I’ve come for your life.”

”I never remember the faces of unclean, filthy things. Such things do not linger in my mind.”

”Die.”

Damon whispered the word before thrusting the spear toward him.

Aetherus’ eyes widened.

Wasn’t he supposed to protect him?

What would happen if they captured Aetherus?

Zhang Dafei glanced toward Aetherus before smiling.

”I’m afraid our associates can’t wait any longer. If you don’t mind, we would appreciate using your divine energy as the final conduit for our spell.”

Sylvia looked toward the distant horizon.

Two women were approaching.

Then she looked toward the sky.

Finally, her gaze shifted toward the direction of the Sky Continent.

Her eyes slowly lifted.

Something was coming.