My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

”Yes. It was me.”

The Unknown God’s gaze did not leave Damon as he spoke.

”All I see here is suffering and death. No one deserves that. No one should suffer this. This wasn’t something anyone chose. You all came into this world against your will. You were raised and conditioned by your biology, your environment, and your social learning. None of you chose these outcomes. It was...”

He paused.

”Fate.”

Then he opened his hand.

”I will remedy such injustice. I will remedy the suffering you have all gone through by ending it.”

Damon’s hands could not stop shaking. He placed the unconscious Ric into the hands of a nearby shadow drone, his fingers lingering for a moment before he finally released him. Then he raised his head and glared at the Unknown God.

”Do you know how hypocritical you sound?” he whispered.

Something slowly began to grow out of his head.

”You caused most of this. All this fighting, it’s because of you. All this death...”

His demon horn grew larger.

The despair and resentment within him continued to swell. Fear, anguish, hatred, and every other negative emotion he had buried within himself began to rise to the surface, drowning whatever remained of his Divine Spark beneath an ocean of darkness.

The Unknown God smiled as he watched him.

”Yes. Embrace the depravity. Hate me. Revile me. Despise me.”

Damon charged.

His sword was already in his hand as he crossed the distance between them, but the Unknown God simply reached toward a corpse lying nearby and pulled a sword from its body.

One strike.

Damon’s arms were sliced through, and his sword fell from his hands.

There was no overwhelming divine power behind the attack.

There was no grand technique.

It was simply swordsmanship.

The Unknown God had reached a realm of sword mastery that Damon could not even compete with. He felt it the moment the Unknown God held the sword. Every movement was perfect, every angle precise, every action carrying a level of understanding Damon could not overcome.

There was just no winning.

All there was here was despair.

The Unknown God kicked him into the air.

Damon flew dozens of meters before crashing into the ground directly in front of Sylvia.

His body was covered in blood. His hair was soaked and tangled with mud. His breathing was ragged as he pushed himself up, but the moment he raised his head and saw who was looking at him, his body froze.

It was the face of a pink-haired woman wearing armor.

”Iris,” he whispered.

The Unknown God looked at Damon, then smiled while wearing Ranar’s face. It looked like a harmless, adorable smile, but there was nothing innocent behind it.

”You’ve killed many people, Damon Grey. But saddest of all was Carmen Vale, whom you murdered in cold blood. And for what? Because he dared to show you a little kindness.”

Damon’s eyes widened slightly.

He tried to lift his head, but he could not.

He could not look at her.

”What did you do after that? Tell me, Damon Grey. What did you do after you killed him?”

The Unknown God’s words were like a law that forced Damon to speak.

”I... I devoured his body and mocked his ideal.”

Sylvia glanced at the Unknown God.

Then she slowly lowered her barrier. Instead, she formed a magical seal around her hand.

”You aren’t invincible in that body. You’re just trying to create the impression that you are. In fact, you are only slightly stronger than the Outsiders.”

She took another step forward.

”You are also limiting yourself. Are you scared the Goddess will find out you are here? As powerful as you are, you still constrain yourself.”

Damon looked at Sylvia, then back at the Unknown God before turning his head away from Iris.

”Which means until you properly assimilate into that body, you can still be banished from that flesh.”

The Unknown God was quiet for a short moment.

Then he glanced at Sylvia.

”You are correct. As difficult as this seems, there is still a chance. You cannot have despair without hope. There is a very slim chance of you meeting all of the conditions.”

His smile remained.

”I will consider it my defeat. Sadly, you will not. Death is all I see for all of you.”

A magic seal appeared beneath his feet, powered by the ley lines. It was bursting with Sylvia’s magic power as she pointed her hand toward him.

The Unknown God closed his eyes.

”Then you shall be the first to die.”

A white void consumed the Unknown God, closing itself into a massive dome.

Sylvia walked toward Damon, who could barely stand. She looked at him for a moment before speaking.

”I’m going to die.”

Those were her words.

Damon’s expression changed.

He tried to reach out his hand and grab hers, but Sylvia smiled.

”I tried. I really did. But there is no way to beat him. Even if the Goddess came here, he’s just too powerful. Absolutely so.”

She lowered her gaze.

”This is the end.”

Then she looked at him again.

”I changed the future in a very minuscule way, and the best I can do now is die.”

”Sylvia,” Damon gasped.

He forced himself onto his feet and grabbed her.

”No. I won’t let you. This is my fight. Please...”

”Fighting is a very Damon Grey thing to do. You always do that, even back in the Academy.”

”But that Damon Grey can’t win this fight. You can’t win. Defy yourself.”

Damon reached out his hand to hold hers, but his fingers could barely move.

”No matter what... no matter what happens, do not despair.”

Sylvia turned around.

Then she entered the dome to die.

Damon tried to follow her, but an invisible force pushed him back.

When he turned around, he found a sword pointed directly at his chest.

Iris stood before him.

Her eyes were filled with tears.

Damon smiled when he saw her.

”Hey there, Iris.”

”Tell me why...” she whispered, her hands shaking around the sword. ”How could you do this?”

”It was easy.”

That was all the answer Damon could give her.

Maybe that was the truth.

Killing her father had been easy.

That was all it was.

It had been the only easy choice he had at that moment, when his shadow had gone out of control and everything had happened the way it did.

Iris raised her sword with a scream, tears streaming down her face.

Damon was impaled by a sword.

Blood flooded from the wound.