My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

In the sky, a Rot-filled phoenix shot down flames that transformed everything they touched into monstrous horrors. The creature lamented its own misery as it burned, its hideous wings spreading across the sky while its corrupted body continued to deteriorate.

Its power was so deadly that anyone below a certain rank who came into contact with its flames became a corrupted entity. However, the more its corruption spread, the weaker it became, and the suffering it endured only grew worse as its end approached.

For whatever reason, it had been targeting Evangeline.

But she had managed to defeat it.

Her aura had now reached the Seventh Class Advancement, yet Evangeline felt more distraught than triumphant. She could hardly understand what was happening around her, and the increase in her power did nothing to ease the fear gnawing at her heart.

All she could think about was Ranar, who had been taken away, and Luna, who, much like her, had fallen into the hands of a god.

More than that, everything about Damon finally made sense.

She had to find him.

But that was easier said than done. The entire battlefield was chaotic, and Ythar’s enormous branches moved and twisted across the land, obstructing her vision and making it difficult to find Damon anywhere.

The last time she had seen him, his identity had been exposed, and the god possessing Ranar had kicked him away.

Evangeline created golden wings made of light and hovered in the air, searching the battlefield from above. However, the moment she rose high enough to get a better view, flames shot toward her, and the corrupted phoenix’s enormous, hideous wings slammed into her, blasting her out of the sky.

She crashed toward the ground, her body breaking apart into sparks of light before she could hit the earth. In the next instant, those sparks streaked upward, and she reappeared in the sky, charging straight toward the creature.

”You are annoying.”

She shot through its body, tearing through it from the center and ripping her way out the other side. When she emerged, her blood-soaked body was still surrounded by golden light, and she held a malignant spear filled with Rot in her hand.

The phoenix’s corpse fell from the sky.

Blood rained down upon the ground, spreading in every direction and carrying its vile corruption with it. The blood tainted everything it touched, transforming the surrounding land into a lake of impurities. From that lake, strange monsters began to emerge, crawling and clawing their way onto the battlefield to attack anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path.

Evangeline rained golden death upon them from the sky, her light destroying the monsters as quickly as they were born.

However, that did not stop them.

Her gaze fell upon the spear in her hand.

It truly was vile.

This was the Spear of Heaven, a weapon owned by the empire, but Damon had twisted it into a weapon of corruption so that he could kill Morticai.

The spear was filled with so much Rot that it could taint anyone’s soul. Even holding it made Evangeline uncomfortable, as though something foul were crawling beneath her skin. She could feel the vile intent and rage of the person who had transformed it into this abomination.

These were Damon’s own emotions and intentions, laced into the spear.

Evangeline stared at the weapon for a long moment before her expression softened.

Then she poured a beautiful golden light into it and began to purify it.

This was her Seventh Class skill.

[Radiant]

She had now gone from a fable to a legend.

The golden light spread across the spear, slowly consuming the corruption that had seeped into every part of it. The weapon trembled in her grasp as the malignant energy resisted her purification, but Evangeline continued pouring her power into it without hesitation.

Gradually, the spear’s appearance began to change until it looked completely normal again.

The wings on her back, however, had become completely black, with only traces of golden light remaining across their surface. Black veins appeared on her face and spread across her body, staining her skin as the corruption she had purified from the spear manifested upon her instead.

Even so, she smiled.

Then she reached behind herself and ripped the wings from her back.

Blood poured from the wounds as the wings tore free, and her body plummeted toward the ground. The pain was immense, but her smile never disappeared as she watched the black wings fall away from her.

”What is broken can be fixed,” she whispered.

”What is lost can be found.”

”What is hated can be loved.”

”What is wounded can be healed.”

”What is blamed can be forgiven.”

She looked at the purified spear in her hand, then raised her head toward the battlefield.

”That is justice.”

She had made up her mind.

---

Damon grabbed Xander’s head and smashed it into his knee before blasting him with flames.

”You’re losing your touch, Damon!” Xander screamed.

He slammed his elbow into Damon, then spun and struck him with the back of his hand, sending him flying into a massive branch of Ythar. The branch shattered on impact, and splinters pierced Damon’s armor, greedily sucking at his blood as though the tree itself were alive and eager to feed.

Xander picked up his spear and walked toward him, his expression cold beneath his helm.

”Your arrogance is your undoing, Damon. It always has been, yet you never learn. You became powerful, and you grew complacent.”

”No, that’s all you did. You got soft too.”

Xander shot his spear toward Damon like a meteor.

Damon dived to the side, coughing up blood as the weapon tore through the space where he had been standing. He flipped using his parkour skill and rolled off a branch of Ythar, barely managing to regain his footing before the next attack came.

”The old you was more ruthless, more cautious. He had nothing to lose and everything to gain.”

Xander’s voice followed him through the battlefield, each word carrying the weight of years of resentment.