My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Chapter 338 - 339: Grave Call

Damon was in the lead, sword in hand, taking down every opponent with a single swing of its blade.

The sword had the ability to induce disintegration on its target—body and soul. Damon himself had once been on the receiving end of its power.

As for why his soul didnʼt break apart… he could take a guess. It was the armor of Pale Crown. It must have protected his soul with its power.

They still didnʼt know what the ascendant armors were fully capable of, but they would find out eventually … they had smashed hundreds of skeletons. Slowly, with each victory, they came closer to vanquishing ten thousand foes.

”Left…”

Valarieʼs voice called out from his shoulders. Damon glanced at the pair of lips… that was all that remained of a once great champion…

Damon jumped through a window—what was left of a ruined house. The house had no roof, bleak sunlight spilling from above. The ground was littered with broken bricks, fragments of walls, and mold.

Shrubs and dry grass grew through the once polished floors…

The others followed in after him. Xander grabbed a piece of the wreckage and threw it in the direction they came, crushing a few undead in the process.

Damon glanced at Sylvia.

”What are we dealing with… here…”

Valarieʼs lips opened, interrupting. ”He was once known as Thren, a young knight in Lysithara…”

Damon nodded, glancing at Sylvia, who seemed to agree with her…

He didnʼt ask Sylvia any further. Her skill was dangerous, and besides, Valarie seemed to know—or have known—him when he was alive.

She continued, ”I donʼt know what he had become due to the rot, but he uses tactics like this. Itʼs his skill, as I mentioned earlier… itʼs called Grave Call…”

Damon ran up the side of a broken wall, flipped, and jumped out a window, kicking an undead spearman in the chest mid-air.

He narrowed his eyes, looking out from where he landed. He saw more and more undead… and worse, their commotion was growing louder. More types of creatures would be attracted by the noise…

”Sylvia, what are we dealing with…”

The elf girl fired a few arrows at the skeletons, her armor glowing faintly as its enchantment activated.

”Heʼs a rank two Mist Knight…”

”Jump.”

Damon sighed, following Valarieʼs instruction as he leapt into a hole. Heʼd killed one Mist Knight before and almost lost an arm. Now he had to fight another one… and worse, he had to kill ten to level up…

The others landed beside him on the ground floor.

”Seal it off… now.”

Valarieʼs voice was hurried. Xander raised both hands, using gravity to lift nearby wreckage and slam it over the entrance, sealing the way and burying a few skeletons behind it.

”Hurry, take the basement…”

The basement in question was half-collapsed, mold-ridden and filled with a few rotting corpses…

Sylvia narrowed her eyes, suspicious.

”I canʼt help but think youʼre leading us astray…”

Valarieʼs lips opened in surprise. ”Why is that…”

Damon sighed. ”Because weʼre going the opposite way from our goal…”

Valarieʼs lips froze. ”Ohhh my goddess… I think I forgot the way… goodness, my apologies… I have a bad memory…”

Damon gritted his teeth, watching as skeletons began to claw at the barricade of wreckage.

”Damn… is this what we get for letting a pair of lips show us the way…”

Xander smiled wryly. ”She doesnʼt even have eyes…”

Valarie chuckled.

”Relax, children. I was just joking… thereʼs a teleportation circle in the basement. Thatʼs assuming I got the right house…”

Damon didnʼt hesitate. He dove into the half-shattered basement, shoving past debris—just as a hulking undead with three arms broke through the wall.

Its body barely resembled a human anymore—more flesh than bone, a hideous, monstrous thing.

The others didnʼt hesitate either. Matia blanketed it with a wave of ice weapons.

They followed through, and Xander collapsed the passage behind them—the aftershock sinking part of the floor. Damon dropped—no, fell—down with it, covered in rocks and dust.

He got up, dizzy, hearing the clatter of skeletons above the wreckage. He held Leona up.

…Lucky she was wearing her helm.

Avoiding head injury, she was fine. He wasnʼt so lucky… a mild concussion. He shook it off, grimacing, then checked to make sure everyone else was alright.

He glanced at Xander.

”I think you forgot to bury us alive.”

Xander winced. ”Sorry. I underestimated these old structures…”

Damon coughed slightly, brushing dust from his face.

He looked around at the collapsed space.

”Valarie, where to next…”

The pair of lips had remained stuck to his shoulder, despite… everything.

She coughed, somehow, even though she had no lungs or anything at all.

”Iʼm a little dusty. Mind brushing me off…”

Damon looked at the pair of lips.

”I wouldnʼt touch you with a ten-foot pole…”

”Iʼm on your shoulder…”

He winced. ”I canʼt help that…”

Valarieʼs lips curled into a smile. She mustʼve found him amusing.

”Look for a lever—itʼs by your left…”

Damon looked around, noticing a small lever hidden in the broken wall.

He walked up to it.

”Pull it down, then up… then up… then down…”

Valarie gave the sequence, and he obeyed.

Finally, the ground cracked open, revealing glowing runes.

”Hehe,” she smiled. ”It still works… I wasnʼt certain…”

Damon felt the urge to stomp her into the floor. She had risked their lives when she wasnʼt even sure. Then again, they didnʼt have many safer options.

Perhaps meeting this discarnate soul, trapped in her own lips, was a stroke of good fortune. He couldnʼt be sure… but it was better than nothing.

He stepped onto the circle of runes.

”Memorize this rune, children. Iʼll quiz you on them later…”

They teleported away—Valarieʼs voice taking on the tone of a teacher.

As the light faded, they found themselves in an old room. Valarieʼs lips smiled.

”Well, here we are… Zaciʼs Sweets is right across the street. And more than that… we now have the element of surprise on our side…”