My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Chapter 865: Chapter 866: Odds And Allies

Damon reached for the fruit on the table. There was a plum-looking tamberry among them. He took a bite, juice spilling down the corner of his mouth.

”Personally, I love tamberry cakes, but I don’t particularly care for the fruit. Still, it’s nice to know this world has some of our local produce.”

He acted as if he hadn’t just casually dropped a bombshell on the entire meeting.

Abellona’s eyes twitched.

”This isn’t about your taste in pastries or fruit. You just said you knew who Lazarak was.”

Damon raised his head, looking around the room as he swallowed the tamberry.

”Yeah. We went to jail together.”

Lilith sighed. She already knew all of this, having lived through several regressions, but this particular conversation was new.

In her previous attempts, Damon had been far colder, less inclined to joke or deflect.

Even so, this was no excuse to hope.

Evangeline sighed as well. He was putting her through this again.

Xander closed his eyes, resigned, while Leona burst out laughing from where she sat beside Damon.

”What is that even supposed to mean?” Abellona asked, exasperation seeping into her voice.

Damon smiled faintly.

”I mean we were in Eidolon together. Bottom-most floor. You know. As great evils or whatever.”

The room, once full of murmurs, fell silent.

Everyone knew what Eidolon represented. They had heard the stories. They knew that even Seraph Null did not step foot there.

Eidolon was a prison for both its inmates and its wardens, a place where calamities that could ruin the world were sealed away. And the more dangerous the being, the deeper they were buried.

Damon was already a menace. That much they knew. He had single-handedly faced and defeated Amon the Unknown Ruler, who many suspected was the return of Ashcroft the Dominator.

But surely, even he wasn’t that dangerous.

”Wait,” Leona asked suddenly, laughter fading. ”Then who’s Lazarak?”

Damon took another bite of the tamberry.

”He’s a god.”

Silence.

A heavy, expectant silence, as if everyone was waiting for Damon to continue.

”I won’t say more than that,” he added. ”Don’t bother asking. All you need to know is that I have things under control, and any information on Lazarak is on a need-to-know basis.”

He tossed the remains of the half-eaten fruit aside.

”And you don’t need to know.”

The adventurer from the war games glared at him. It seemed he had survived the ordeal.

”Why should we trust you when you won’t share information with us? You’re hiding things. Scheming, as always. Tell us the truth.”

Damon scoffed.

”You can’t handle the truth.” He jerked his thumb toward the door.

”The door is that way. Good luck surviving on your own.”

The man frowned, his third-class advancement aura rippling outward.

Slam.

Damon slammed his hand on the table and stood.

”Lazarak is the least of our problems. In case you haven’t figured it out, that bastard unknown god has his hands all over this. And maybe you didn’t realize it, but he’s not just going to let you reach fourth-class advancement.”

He swept his gaze across the room.

”Victory is an endless nightmare, and defeat is the moment of waking.”

He winced slightly.

”That’s not some fancy quote. It’s probably a riddle. He loves those.”

”So what I’m saying is, unless we figure out what that means, we might as well be dead, even if we somehow beat Seraph Null.”

The adventurer stood up angrily.

”You won’t tell us everything, yet you expect us to magically find the answer? In my line of work, information is the difference between life and death.”

”Exactly why I can’t just give it to you,” Damon replied coldly. ”Anyone here could be a spy. I’m not saying you are, but what if one of us is compromised? Is it worth risking everyone’s life just so you can hear a bedtime story?”

Abellona sighed, raising her hand.

”That’s enough. Very well, Damon. What can you share without compromising us?”

Damon nodded slowly and sat back down.

”From what I know, this world imposes a rank cap. Nothing above fourth class, which is good, since none of us have reached that yet. However, we still have the problem of mana. We can’t absorb ambient mana here.”

He decisively steered the conversation away from Lazarak.

If Seraph Null had spies, they would already be alert.

The adventurer continued to glare.

”For a commoner, you’re very arrogant.”

”Have I ever been humble?”

Abellona slammed her hand down.

”Staying on the agenda is our top priority.”

She clenched her fist ”That includes you, Damon.”

He leaned back, conceding.

”Now then,” Abellona continued, ”let’s talk resources and numbers.”

”The way things stand, we don’t have the manpower or supplies to defeat the Chained Knights. And Seraph Null is far beyond our league.”

Evangeline crossed her arms.

”Then we’ll just have to make do.”

Damon nodded slowly.

”Yes. And they outnumber us a thousand to one. I don’t imagine any of you can fight a thousand opponents of comparable strength.”

Silence followed.

Then Sylvia glanced at Lilith, who nodded almost imperceptibly.

They both knew what Damon was implying.

Sylvia raised her hand, her white hair flowing despite the still air.

”We can recruit unlikely allies. Those who share the same predicament as us.”

Damon tilted his head, already knowing what she meant, but his reputation demanded resistance.

”Huh? We’ve already found everyone. At least, everyone still alive.”

Murmurs of agreement followed.

Sylvia sighed. He really wanted her to say it.

”Not everyone,” she said carefully. ”Have you forgotten... them?”

Abellona frowned. She had known where this was going from the start, but suggesting it outright would have been political suicide.

Damon’s eyes widened in exaggerated disgust.

”You don’t mean—”

Sylvia nodded.

”We have to ally with the demons.”

Damon raised his hand.

”Never!”

He stood abruptly.

”I would rather we all die at the hands of the Chained than ally with demons, even for a second. So what if their power increases our chances by thirty percent? I’d rather we risk everything and die gruesome deaths.”

He even made sure to emphasize the benefit.

Sylvia resisted the urge to sigh. Instead, she played along.

”Ah, but then we’ll all fail,” she said, doing her best not to roll her eyes.

Damon was already fuming.