My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Damon stood there with a staff in his hand.

The runes he had drawn were amplification runes mixed with explosion runes.

”Tricky as usual,” Xander scoffed.

He raised his head through the flames and smoke.

”Face me like a man, Damon Grey, or do you not have the courage to look me in the eye?”

He raised his spear and cleaved the earth, creating a crater as large chunks of debris, some the size of mountains, floated into the air under his power. A small magic orb still broadcast their battle, one of the few that remained intact amid all the chaos and madness.

At this point, the Goddess Races were no longer sure who was enemy and who was ally. The battle had reached an entirely new intensity, so much so that even the Goddess of Doom had descended.

”My brother was a good man. He didn’t deserve what happened to him.”

When he heard those words, Damon felt his heart twist as if a knife had been pushed into his chest, the pain reaching far deeper than when his own sister had stabbed him.

His form materialized from the shadows, and he looked at Xander coldly.

”A good man... You think your brother was a good man?”

His voice was quiet.

”He got what he was due.”

”Shut up! You will not tarnish my brother’s legacy any further, traitor!”

The floating landmasses above them suddenly fell toward Damon.

He raised his hand.

”Dominate.”

The shattered earth broke apart into countless pieces, but Xander’s power still overwhelmed him. The debris continued falling with sonic waves trailing behind them.

Damon waved his hand, and the air formed a barrier around him. His body was pushed backward by the tremendous force as his wings folded around him like a cocoon. He was thrown through the chaotic maelstrom of attacks before rolling through the air and stabilizing himself.

”Gravity Wave.”

Xander called out, surrounding himself with a massive wave of gravity.

”Dethrone.”

Damon whispered.

The skill was canceled and forcibly deactivated.

He pushed his sword toward Xander’s neck.

Xander dodged at the last possible moment, but Damon’s blade still nicked his cheek. Damon followed immediately with his elbow, slamming it into Xander’s nose before grabbing him.

”Time Dominate. Frost Dominate. Life Dominate. Soul Dominate.”

”Now die, you cockroach!”

Damon screamed.

Time slowed around Xander, followed by ice that spread across his body. His life force was affected next, and then his soul.

”Ahhhhrggggg!”

Xander screamed.

His armor glowed brightly as it resisted the combined assault, and then a dull sound echoed through the battlefield.

Xander grabbed Damon by his long hair and slammed him downward.

His body began to grow.

His armor grew brighter and heavier as his body expanded several meters, then several more, until he had become an absolute titan standing over the battlefield.

He raised both fists and slammed them down on Damon.

The impact created cracks so wide and deep that the earth itself shifted. The force was enough to affect the tectonic plates of the entire continent, and earthquakes spread for miles upon miles. Even those far away from the battlefield were not spared.

”Ahh... uhg... ahh... fahh...”

Damon coughed out the blood choking his throat.

He looked toward Xander, who was suffering from a soul injury.

Then Damon smiled despite his ragged breathing.

”What? Finally feeling pain?”

Xander’s gigantic form shrank until he was only the size of a house. He tightened his grip around his spear.

”I’m not the one who looks like he’s on his last legs.”

Their battle continued.

Somewhere along the chaotic edge of the battlefield, several Shadow Drones protected a child while Renata fended off a horde of nightmares.

There was battle everywhere.

Allies had turned on each other, and enemies were growing stronger.

The god of this world, Aetherus, had now been reduced to a form that looked like a child. His divine power had been completely depleted.

Orbitus laughed as he held a golden vial. Blood covered his body, his robes were tattered, and wounds covered his flesh, yet he continued laughing.

”Now for the final phase.”

He looked toward Aetherus.

”Using the tools before me, I, Orbitus, shall break the seal of Mugu.”

He raised one hand. The Ouroboros coil rested there alongside the divine spark and several other tools positioned around Aetherus.

Then he chanted.

”Open.”

When he did, a strange light seemed to spread across the world.

Then came the sound of rattling chains.

Ric watched everything from the safety of the Shadow Drones.

He was scared.

He was worried.

And he could not do anything.

His legs shook beneath him.

Ranar was gone.

”What do I do?” he whispered.

Just as he said that, he heard a caw.

When he turned around, he found a squirrel and a raven sitting on the head of a Shadow Drone. They seemed to have been waiting for him.

”Croft and Scar? What are you doing here? How did you get here?”

”Caw, caw. Go. Caw, caw. Damon. Caw, caw.”

Croft seemed to be trying to tell Ric what he wanted him to do.

Ric looked toward the battlefield.

Then he lowered his head.

”I don’t think my master wants to see me. This is all my fault. I caused all this. It was because of me that Ranar...”

Before he could say anything else, the red squirrel rushed in front of him and pawed at his face before frantically gesturing with its body.

Ric lowered his head.

”But Master hates me now.”

”No. Caw. No. Caw. No, no.”

The two animals pointed beyond the safety provided by the Shadow Drones.

Ric looked at his hands.

Then he looked at the sword strapped to his back.

He remembered how he had gotten it.

Images of Damon flashed through his mind, and he remembered something Damon had once told him.

”I could never hate you.”

Tears fell from Ric’s eyes.

”Master... Ranar... everyone...”

He wiped his tears from his face and finally made up his mind.

”Master always said to be a good person, and good people don’t sit back and do nothing. If you want to change the world, don’t ask for permission.”

He took a trembling breath.

”I’m the smallest person here. Maybe the weakest too. But I’m not going to fold my hands and do nothing. I’m going to save Ranar.”

With that, the young boy jumped out into the battlefield, leaving the safety of the Shadow Drones behind.

They immediately rushed after him, but Ric squeezed into the tight spaces between Ythar’s enormous branches where the Shadow Drones could not fit.

For the first time, the weakest person on the battlefield had chosen to step into the war.