My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

The corrupted librarian, Nemoriel, remained on his knees as if reliving a harrowing memory, his hulking form trembling beneath the weight of something ancient and dreadful.

“It was during the siege…. we were losing, even with the help of some of the visitors… we stood no chance. Worst of all… we knew the truth… these allies of ours did not have our best interest at heart…”

His voice—low, pained—broke through the thick silence like the groan of a dying colossus. Each word dragged through his throat as if barbed, his tone steeped in suffering.

“It was then Mugu offered a way to Master. He claimed he felt guilty for what had happened… what was happening… he wanted to atone…”

Nemoriel’s face remained as disgusting as ever—bloated with rot and centuries of decay—but his voice carried a grief they could not ignore.

Corrupted for thousands of years… and still he persisted.

Now that Damon thought about it, the ancient residents of Lysithara must have truly loved this city. That was why—even corrupted—they still rose to fight Ittorath and his minions whenever they appeared from the rift, still clinging to their broken vows.

“Master couldn’t blame him. We had all been greedy for the Akasha and what it represented. The goddess… she had a reason. She simply taken away everyone’s true names and modified the ranking system… all so she could stop the Unknown God from gaining influence in this world…”

Valarie’s lips pressed together. She had been corrupted too. But unlike Nemoriel, she had done something unthinkable—cut off the part of her that had been tainted, which, in her case, was most of her physical body. Only her lips remained… a disembodied, floating mouth.

It was all that was left of her.

Yet, seeing Nemoriel… she realized she wasn’t the only one who had fought against the rot that came from the Metaverse and the outsiders who had brought it.

“What… what did Mugu make you do…?” she asked quietly.

The others all watched in silent horror as the thirty-meter-tall librarian began to weep in agony, black tears oozing from the sockets of his ruined face, as though fulfilling some great and final purpose.

“We helped him with a ritual… that sent our minds into the Metaverse. Since the Unknown God could not enter our tiny realm without destroying it…”

‘The Metaverse…’ Damon’s mind spun.

There, they had conversed with the Unknown God.

Each of them had received something… in return for something else. Equivalent exchange.

“Master received the knowledge of the Ascendant Armors… and the power that would guarantee that as long as he remained in Lysithara, he would never be vanquished by an outsider..…”

Nemoriel paused, trembling.

“But he did not have enough to make an equivalent exchange… for those boons.”

Sylvia’s eyes narrowed. She already suspected what would come next. The Unknown God… was not simply benevolent. He was cruel as well.

“He gave you options. A choice…” she muttered, half-afraid the corrupted librarian would lash out.

“Ahh… yessss…” Nemoriel hissed, voice threadbare.

“He offered for us to play a game… in which he would ask questions with obvious answers. If we won, he would grant us what we wanted.”

Valarie’s expression darkened. She could already see how they had lost. And yet, she still needed to know… how Vathren had gotten that knowledge. Why he had lied, told them it came from the outsiders and not a god.

“What questions…” she breathed.

Nemoriel rasped and held his head, the chains wrapped around him rattling with the motion.

“It was a simple question… ‘What happens when a god dies?’”

“We pondered for what felt like eternity. And finally, we gave our answer. ‘A god cannot die.’”

He clutched his skull tighter, his form convulsing.

“We failed… the answer was simple. ‘When a god dies, the world dies with them.’ He wasn’t asking if a god could die. He was asking what comes after. We expected a trick… so he used simplicity…”

Damon’s heart twisted.

‘The Unknown God… he’s a horror…’

Nemoriel’s chains rattled once more. The dozens of rusted swords embedded in his monstrous body ached less than the memories did.

“Then he asked us the second question… ‘What happens when a true god dies?’”

Damon tensed. He could already see the answer forming, logical, cruel in its scope.

“If a normal god’s death causes the death of the world… then a true god’s death would be the end of the omniverse. Existence itself would cease. The Metaverse, the Multiverse, all dimensions… all of it dies too.”

He voiced it aloud.

Nemoriel turned his gaze on him, nodding.

“That was our answer as well… but we were wrong.”

His voice became hollow, dead.

“The answer was simple… death is a mortal concept. True gods do not die. All concepts are mortal before a true god. Thus… we failed again…”

Xander drew in a sharp breath, fear forming on his lips. The whole game had been a deception—establishing a pattern, only to shatter it with truth.

And yet… they couldn’t argue with the logic. It was divine logic.

“Yet… you returned with the knowledge, didn’t you?” Evangeline whispered, her tone faint, as though afraid her words would provoke something.

Nemoriel cast his gaze down, hiding his hideous face behind the curtain of his own shame.

“We did. He gave us more than we asked for. Each of us received a boon… and a bane.”

“What was the bane…?” Valarie asked, almost desperately.

“Time…”

The word came out like a curse.

“We were cursed with time. If we found the Pillar of Conflict before the time limit… we would be free. If we failed… we would be corrupted. Our minds… corroded by endless time. Until we fulfilled a series of tasks…”

Leona clenched the side of her hand, eyes flashing.

“So you were enslaved… even with a choice. Why did you agree to play his game?”

Nemoriel lifted his broken eyes to her, and in that gaze was a madness forged by eons.

“We were desperate.”

He said it without shame, without defiance. Just truth.

“Still… even now I know it was a fair bargain. We cannot in good faith say we were swindled. He gave a choice. I accept that…”

Damon narrowed his eyes, stepping closer.

“What did he give you?”

Nemoriel smiled, and for a moment the grotesque stretching of his lips revealed a maw full of jagged, needle-like teeth.

“Our wishes… Master wished to save this world… to undo the events we had caused. I wished for knowledge. Mugu… he was resentful of the ruler of Valtheron…”

He paused.

“We all got our wishes…”

Their eyes widened.

‘Valtheron…? Isn’t that our homeland…?’

His gaze lingered on Evangeline, and something unspoken passed between them. Her eyes flickered, filled with dread.

They all got their wishes.

“And we all paid the price.”