My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Damon felt something in his ear explode, blood spilling down on all sides of his face, and before he could even touch the ground, someone grabbed him and threw him back into the air.

When he looked to his side, he noticed the familiar form of a man holding a spear in his hand.

Xander scoffed as he looked at Damon. ”Didn’t realize you would switch to a spear too.”

Damon blinked and then glanced at Xander, his expression changing slightly as he took in the dense aura surrounding him.

”Did... did you just reach the seventh class advancement?”

Xander stepped onto a large branch from Ythar’s body that had reached several hundred meters into the sky, his boots pressing against the bark as he casually clenched and unclenched his fist.

The air around him seemed to distort with every movement, the gravity surrounding his body becoming so dense that even the flames passing nearby were slightly bent toward him.

”You’re the only one who’s still slow. I was going to reach it because today is the day I have picked to kill Amon. I intend to be at my best.”

He rolled his spear in his hand, and the weapon immediately created a violent vortex that scattered the tall pillar of flames Morticai had been shooting toward them, tearing the golden flames apart before they could reach either of them.

Damon suddenly felt the hair on his body stand on end when Xander said that.

’How nice. Someone else who wants him dead is in the seventh class. How wonderful.’

’I really need to step up my game.’

With that thought in mind, Damon decided that it was finally time to obtain the Domination Attribute in its full power.

The last fragments of Ashcroft, the Demon Lord of Domination, were still inside him. Damon wanted to devour them, but just as he was about to act, he stopped himself.

Maybe killing Morticai should come first.

He did not know what consequences or contingencies Ashcroft might have left behind, and allowing the remnants of a Demon Lord of Domination to awaken in the middle of this battle was something Damon had no intention of risking.

Taking that into account, he looked at his hand. The Ascendant Armor was slowly taking in the corruption from the spear he was holding, but the corruption did not spread past his gauntlets.

After all, the Ascendant Armor had been built to resist corruption. Why else would Damon make a spear of corruption if he could not wield it himself?

He easily weaved through the air while Xander slid across the roots, a sea of flames following closely behind them.

”So what’s the plan?” Xander asked, looking at Damon.

Again, Damon was surprised. He had not worked together with Xander in a long time. Why was he suddenly helping him? After all, they had a falling out.

”Why... what’s your angle?” Damon asked as he slammed his fist into a faint ball of flames, his gauntlet crushing through it and scattering the fire in every direction.

”My angle?” Xander asked as flames washed over him and his shield, his body remaining perfectly steady beneath the golden inferno.

”Still as suspicious as ever. You really can’t trust anyone, can you? So I need a reason to help a friend?”

His words made Damon freeze for a moment.

That moment of hesitation in a high-speed battle was deadly.

A large flaming claw suddenly tore into his back, melting through his armor and sending him crashing toward the frenzy of battle below.

To the people fighting beneath them, it looked like a flaming star had fallen from the heavens. Damon crashed downward at terrifying speed, his blood leaving behind a long trail of shadows and dense mana that drained the world beneath him as he fell.

When he crashed into the ground, the shockwave of his fall crushed everything within a kilometer radius, turning those unfortunate enough to be caught within it into blood mist.

Faster than their eyes could follow, Damon teleported out of the way of the falling golden flames and returned to his place in the sky above them.

A knight in armor fell to his knees, part of his body scorched black, his eyes filled with terror as he looked toward the sky.

Except that it was no longer the sky.

It was Ittorath.

He saw flashing attacks tearing rifts through the world, while small hovering magical projectors struggled to capture the chaos of the battle.

”Is this the end?” he whispered.

”Is this the Doomsday Goddess?”

This was the despair of the weak.

Here, his power was nothing.

Here, even those who had reached the seventh class fell, and they died.

War.

This was a true war, unlike the previous Demon Wars where only a select few had been sent to die.

Here, anyone and everyone could die.

Life was a struggle against death, and war was its harbinger.

Damon did not care for the lives below. Like the gods he despised, he had not even noticed the ants crushed beneath his fall, nor could he hear their fearful prayers.

Those who were gone were gone, and those left behind were history.

Damon raised his hand, and a pillar of black flames shot toward the large phoenix in the sky. Its golden flames collided with the shadow-like fire, creating a massive explosion that could be seen from the ground as a shockwave spread through the air and rapidly heated the surrounding area.

The air itself evaporated, yet Damon and Xander did not seem to mind.

”I stabbed it with my spear, but nothing happened,” Xander whispered, floating in the air next to Damon.

”Well, no surprise there. He’s immortal. A phoenix.”

”Yes, I’ve read the report.” Xander stared at the Immolation’s golden bird, his eyes narrowing slightly as he watched the flames constantly shifting across its body.

”There are many terrifying things beyond our world. It’s sad how little we know.”

Damon squeezed his spear, his fingers tightening around the corrupted weapon as he sneered.

”It’s the same everywhere. Same evils, different scenery.”

He raised his hand and punched the large beak that tried to peck at him.

His armor flashed red for a moment beneath the impact before cooling again, and Damon immediately teleported around the massive bird. He raised his hand, and large shadows rose from the trees below before shooting toward the phoenix.

At the same time, he activated his magic attribute and reached toward the flames, sensing Morticai’s soul hidden within them.

He tried to twist and wrap around it, attempting to seize control of the phoenix’s existence through its flames, but the fire suddenly grew hotter and forced him back.

”Umbral Attribute Magic,” Morticai scoffed