My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Chapter 1133: Chapter 1134: Patching Together

In the years that had followed, Damon had become a great and powerful man. He had reached the Sixth Class Advancement. Verily, he stood at the very peak of that realm, only a single step away from the Seventh Class.

However, the Seventh Class was a vast chasm.

He could feel it.

He understood why it took so long to reach and just how overwhelming those at that rank truly were.

That said, Damon had a way to cross that chasm by consuming the last of Ashcroft’s fragments. However, the will within those fragments was simply too powerful, and there was little he could do about it.

It was a gamble.

He could devour them and risk Ashcroft taking over his body, or he could wait and refine them slowly.

Seven years had passed since he began refining the fragments, and yet he had made no progress.

Ashcroft’s will was terrifying.

After all, this was the will of a man who had once conquered the world. Ashcroft possessed an undaunted spirit and an indomitable resolve.

If he said he would do something, then he would do it.

The will of a single man could truly move the world. Sometimes, all it took to become great was the determination to pursue greatness.

And yet, how many so-called great men had failed and fallen?

Too many to count.

Because will was so easily broken.

Or perhaps the body simply gave out first.

Whatever the case, Ashcroft had been strong.

Damon let out a tired sigh. There was far too much on his plate.

With war approaching, powers from all across the continent had begun flocking to him for weapons, funds, and new magical technologies.

He was making unimaginable wealth at the heart of this thriving military industry, but he was making enemies just as quickly.

The others simply could not compete with the technology and knowledge cultivated in Lysithara.

Even so, there remained a more pressing problem.

He still had to find a way into the Anarchy Mountains before the outsiders escaped.

Damon leaned back in his chair and picked up his pager from the desk. His thumb brushed across its surface for a moment before he finally decided to contact Sylvia.

********

A woman with blonde hair and serious eyes sifted through mountains of documents spread across her desk.

Her expression remained calm, though beneath it lay a faint anxiety that she could not hide.

It had taken her a long time to gather all of these records, but she had finally succeeded.

Every document in front of her was, in one way or another, connected to her deceased brother-in-law, Godric Ravenscroft, the first of his name.

Of course, the woman was Emilia Highgon.

She carefully read through military reports and old records. Some had been written by Godric himself, while others had been written about him.

The last Demon War had been a chaotic era, and countless demons had fallen to Godric’s blade.

His reports said as much.

But Emilia did not care about that.

She wanted clues.

She wanted traces of whatever secret Godric Ravenscroft had hidden.

Yet she was getting nowhere.

Godric had served as a sub-commander beneath one of the military divisions led by Seras Blade herself.

And if he had fought under the incarnation of war, then it was obvious where he had spent his days.

Wherever the battles were fiercest.

Wherever the casualties were greatest.

Then what exactly was his secret?

From everything Emilia had read, Godric Ravenscroft had been an exemplary man.

A hero beloved by soldiers.

A commander respected by his peers.

An honorable man to a fault.

She bit her lip and added another name to the list resting beside her.

The list had grown absurdly long.

Every soldier Godric had spoken to.

Every officer who had served beneath him.

Every person who might know something.

And yet she still did not know who had taken her son.

Her son.

By now, he would no longer be a baby.

He should be eight years old.

She could almost see him in her mind.

A small boy running through a garden.

Laughing.

Smiling.

A tear slipped from her eye, and she hurriedly brushed it away.

Taking a deep breath, Emilia steadied herself.

Her gaze hardened.

She would find her son.

No matter the cost.

As she stood from her chair, she suddenly realized that someone had entered the room.

A woman stood quietly behind her.

”What do you want, sister?” Emilia asked softly.

The woman was beautiful, almost like a flower.

Yet there was something distant and unsettling about her, a mysterious quality that instinctively put others on edge.

”That is hardly a welcoming tone,” Terra replied with a small smile. ”Especially since I came to help you.”

Emilia narrowed her eyes before letting out a weary sigh.

”Fine. And how exactly do you intend to help?”

Terra smiled and walked toward her sister, casually glancing at the mountains of papers.

”Instead of burying yourself in documents, why not interrogate the people who actually knew him?”

Emilia frowned.

”You mean torture?”

Terra rolled her eyes.

”You are too simple-minded, my dear sister.”

She stopped beside the desk and lightly tapped one of the reports.

”No. Invite them politely. Ask them about Godric. Let them tell you stories from the war, moments they shared with him. Then pick out the clues hidden between their words.”

Emilia remained silent.

Terra stepped closer and gently lifted Emilia’s chin.

”I know you do not care much for me, but I am merely a little sister trying to help her elder sister.”

Her smile deepened.

”Besides, do you not find it strange that Amon first appeared around the same time Godric supposedly died? And now here you are, chasing some secret that Godric left behind.”

A cold light flickered in Terra’s eyes.

”Godric Ravenscroft, Amon, and whatever secret Godric carried are connected.”

She folded her arms.

”No one knows Amon’s face, race, or even gender. Most people assume he is Ashcroft.”

Terra tilted her head.

”But would Ashcroft have any reason to hide his face?”

”That proud demon?”

Emilia’s expression changed.

”He wouldn’t.”

She slowly looked toward her sister.

”Are you saying that Amon is connected to Godric in more ways than we realize?”

”And that the fact he hides his face means he is someone standing right beneath our noses?”

Terra smiled.

”Why else would he hide himself?”

”This demon walks among us.”

She paused before continuing.

”Hell, I suspect it could even be Godric himself.”

”Think about it.”

”You told Father that Xander willingly handed over your son.”

Her smile sharpened.

”Who does Xander trust enough to entrust your child to?”

Emilia’s eyes widened ever so slightly.

”You can narrow down the truth quite easily once you start eliminating possibilities.”

Terra turned and began walking toward the door.

”Anyway, I should get going.”

”I have a meeting with the princess and Damon Grey.”

She laughed softly.

”Now there is someone mysterious.”

”I cannot wait to sink my teeth into him.”

With that, Terra vanished, leaving Emilia alone with her thoughts.

Emilia lowered her gaze to the long list in her hand.

Names.

Dozens upon dozens of names.

Then she frowned.

”But Xander hates Amon.”

”How are they connected?”

”And why would he hand our son over to the cloaked figure?”

Suddenly, Emilia froze.

Her eyes widened as a possibility surfaced in her mind.

She did have a way to verify it.

And verifying it would not be difficult at all.

Without another thought, she gathered the documents and hurried out of the room.