My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Chapter 970: Chapter 971: Father Like Son-in-Law

The more Rexagon thought about it, the more the rage burned inside him.

Losing a fight to Ashergon was one thing.

Ashergon was another dragon, an equal.

Defeat between equals was nothing to be ashamed of.

Even losing to someone of similar strength could be endured.

But this…

This was humiliation.

Humiliation at the hands of something so small.

So weak.

So insignificant.

“How dare he…”

Rexagon’s massive claws dug into the stone beneath him.

“How dare that Damon.”

At first, the trick with the fake potion had angered him. But deception was not uncommon among lesser creatures.

That alone would not have pushed him to such fury.

No.

What truly drove him into madness was what came after.

In one of his claws he held a bone.

Small compared to his colossal body.

Yet the bone itself was still enormous, over three meters wide and nearly as long.

It had been carefully cleaned.

And carved into its surface were words.

Insulting words.

Words Rexagon had read hundreds of times already.

They said:

I am your father today and tomorrow.

— Signed, Damon

The dragon’s eyes burned with fury.

Rexagon was still injured.

His wounds had not yet healed.

But it was impossible for him to enter slumber while that memory lingered.

He opened his mouth slightly.

One of his massive fangs was missing.

Broken.

Broken by that wretched human.

For weeks he had tried to ignore it.

Tried to forget the humiliation.

But in the end—

He could endure it no longer.

“Damon, son of Kadelas…”

His voice rumbled like distant thunder.

“You shall pay.”

The great dragon rose.

His wings spread wide, casting shadows that swallowed the forest beneath him.

Even torn and damaged, his wings were vast enough to blot out the sky.

With a single beat of those wings—

Forests for hundreds of kilometers trembled.

Trees were ripped from the earth like blades of grass.

Rexagon’s mountain-sized body lifted into the air.

He flew east.

“Moon Glades…”

His draconic eyes burned with venom and fire.

“Moon Glades.”

For the first time in centuries, a great dragon set his sights upon the eastern continent.

As he rose higher, he unleashed a roar that shook the heavens.

Clouds twisted into violent storms.

A hurricane of wind and dust followed in the wake of his wings.

The world of Aetherus was vast.

But not vast enough to hide from a great dragon.

Soon the Verdant Continent appeared beneath him.

He passed over endless forest glades where elven kingdoms slept peacefully beneath the twin moons.

He ignored them all.

Searching.

Hunting.

Seeking the one city empowered by the magic of the twin moons.

“Damon… son of Kadelas…”

“You shall pay.”

Kadelas stared in horror.

Sylvia still stood before him.

But now he understood.

She wasn’t real.

An illusion.

Yet it had felt real.

Completely real.

He had been watching her from the moment she left her room.

So when had she switched places?

How had he failed to notice?

Then suddenly—

He laughed.

A bitter laugh.

“You never left your room, did you?”

His eyes narrowed.

“The guards you attacked… that was an illusion.”

“They never even saw you.”

“You simply created the illusion to match what would have happened.”

Sylvia’s expression didn’t change.

Not even slightly.

“May the Goddess be with you, Father,” she said quietly.

“I will be relying on you.”

Her voice grew colder.

“Whatever you do… you cannot allow Rexagon to reach the skies above the city.”

Kadelas glared at her.

Then—

In a flash of silver light—

He vanished.

Moments later he reappeared high in the sky.

Directly in the path of the approaching dragon.

Below him, the city erupted into chaos.

Bells rang violently.

Alarms echoed through the streets.

Elven knights rushed to their positions.

Magical barriers rose above the city like shimmering domes of light.

Sylvia bit her lip.

He had to stop Rexagon.

But not for the reason one might think.

It wasn’t because she feared the deaths of a few of her fellow elves.

That alone did not concern her.

What truly worried her…

Was the future.

If her father chose to fight…

If she chose to warn him…

Would that change the future she had seen?

Or had the agreement with the Unknown God changed nothing at all?

Was everything still inevitable?

Her hands trembled slightly.

“Please, Father…”

Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Prove me right.”

*******

In the sky, Kadelas faced a living mountain.

The dragon before him was vast beyond reason, its body so enormous it seemed less like a creature and more like a piece of the world that had grown wings. Yet Kadelas did not draw his weapon. Instead, he slowly raised his hand in greeting. Only a madman would rush to battle a great dragon. These were not mere monsters. A creature like this was a living calamity, but it was also an ancient being that could be reasoned with.

“Great one, what brings you to my kingdom?” His voice carried through the sky.

Rexagon paused when he sensed the aura surrounding the elf king. His massive golden eyes fixed upon Kadelas, studying him for a brief moment.

“I have come for penance,” Rexagon replied, his voice like thunder rolling through the heavens. “I bring retribution. I bring carrion and death.”

“Great one, I am Kadelas Moonveil, king of these lands.”

The dragon was clearly enraged, but at least he had not attacked immediately. That meant there was still a chance to speak.

“Great one, you are injured. Who did this to you? My kingdom holds many potions of great quality. Allow me to offer some to”

Rexagon’s eyes widened.

Potions.

The word struck him like a blade. That was how Damon had humiliated him.

“Like father, like son,” Rexagon growled, his voice dripping with fury. “Even now you insult me with your words. I find your mockery unamusing. You shall die in short order, and your kingdom will become a field of carrion where I shall rest.”

Kadelas frowned, confusion crossing his face. He had no son. Only a daughter, and she was somewhere within the kingdom.

“I do not”

He never finished the sentence.

A blinding flash of blue erupted from Rexagon’s jaws as molten liquid burst into the sky. Blue lava sprayed across the heavens for miles, raining down like a burning storm. The forests below were drowned beneath it, ancient trees melting as the searing liquid devoured everything as far as the eye could see.

Kadelas barely shifted out of the way in time.

His hand rose sharply as silver light gathered around him. From the depths of the Moonveil vaults a sword answered his call, streaking through the sky like a falling star. Armor followed behind it in fragments of shimmering silver, the pieces circling him before snapping into place across his body.

“Great one, calm yourself,” Kadelas said, gripping the blade as moonlight gathered along its edge. “I do not have a son.”

“Lies,” Rexagon roared. “Lies. All you mice do is lie.”

The dragon’s wings spread wide, blotting out the sky.

“Now you die.”