My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

”You stand before the Holy Council, humbled and truthful. You stand accused of—”

The aged voice was abruptly cut off.

”Wait, I’ll stop you there. I did not come here humbled.”

The younger voice was calm, confident, and arrogant enough that even speaking so casually upon sacred ground felt like a deliberate insult.

”Maybe you’ve noticed, but I’m wearing changer fabric. This outfit costs more than some noble houses make in a year. You see these gems on my brooch? Rare exotic mana crystals with extreme purity.”

A vein twitched somewhere in the chamber.

”You are as impetuous as I remember,” another voice spoke calmly.

”But you did remember me.”

A smirk stretched across the young man’s face.

”I’m glad to know I left an impression.”

The man standing before them was extraordinary.

His aura was deep, difficult to perceive properly, as though it constantly shifted between concealment and revelation. Long dark hair fell behind his shoulders and despite not being royalty...

He wore a crown.

His eyes were the most striking feature.

Deep.

Dark.

Bottomless.

To look into them was like staring into an abyss so profound that one could not even see their own reflection.

This man had every reason to be arrogant.

Holy Child.

Hero of the Empire.

Demon Slayer.

Bearer of countless absurdly grandiose titles forced upon him by a world obsessed with making legends.

And even if he had been a nobody...

There had never been any recorded point in history where Damon Grey had displayed humility.

Oddly enough...

He was still alive.

That in itself was a miracle.

Today, however, he stood before a tribunal.

He had been summoned to answer questions.

Before him sat the highest echelons of the Temple.

Every person who mattered had gathered here.

How could they not?

Something unbelievable had been accomplished.

Something impossible.

And the worst part...

They did not know how.

In this world, Great Dragons were walking calamities.

Among all of their wretched kind, the most feared was none other than the Great Dragon Ashergon.

Little was truly known about Great Dragons.

Most recorded knowledge consisted of myths, folklore, and contradictory accounts impossible to verify.

Save one undeniable truth.

Their destructive power.

There was no room for scholarly debate regarding that.

Each Great Dragon possessed enough destructive force to reduce an entire continent to ash.

That was the scale of their terror.

For the Temple...

Ashergon was a particularly sensitive subject.

In their glory days they had once sought to subjugate the beast.

They had been burned for their arrogance.

Even the Holy City itself had once nearly fallen beneath dragonfire.

Naturally...

The Holy Empire had rewritten history.

Officially, it was recorded as a glorious victory.

History had always belonged to liars.

Yet now a man stood before them who had somehow dealt with Ashergon.

If there existed some power capable of doing such a thing...

A spell.

A forbidden art.

A weapon.

A trick.

They wanted it.

They needed it.

Power like that belonged under their control.

In the end...

Damon stood here because of the greed of men.

Though frankly speaking—

He himself was also a greedy man.

So he felt absolutely nothing seeing their avarice.

”Damon Grey.”

An elderly templar leaned forward.

”We require a detailed report explaining precisely how you defeated Ashergon. As both a member of the Temple and a devotee of the Goddess, we expect full disclosure regarding every detail.”

The old man pointed toward a crystal resting in the center of the chamber.

”This crystal records the veracity of your words.”

Damon glanced at it curiously.

Then grinned.

”Speak a falsehood so we may ascertain its activation,” the High Templar instructed.

Damon slowly turned his head.

His gaze landed on the woman standing quietly near the wall.

She had been allowed entry as well, having participated in the dragon subjugation.

He smiled.

”Evangeline is a very ugly girl.”

A sharp crimson flash burst from the crystal.

The room fell silent.

Several people instinctively glanced toward her.

Evangeline bit her lip.

Even a blind man would acknowledge her beauty.

Calling her ugly might genuinely have been the greatest lie ever spoken within this chamber.

”Very well,” the High Templar muttered. ”We may begin. We wish for you to recount your battle against Ashergon in complete detail.”

Silence filled the room.

Then Damon slowly raised his head toward the ceiling dramatically.

”I remember it like it was yesterday...”

The crystal flashed red.

Damon blinked.

Then awkwardly cleared his throat.

”I mean I don’t remember it like yesterday, but I remember it.”

Another flash.

”I mean obviously it was a figure of speech...”

Flash.

”Are you sure this thing works?”

Flash.

He placed a hand over his chest.

”I am a very poetic man.”

Flash.

”Well...”

He frowned.

”I will be a poetic man someday in the future.”

No flash.

Damon smiled.

Ah.

So that was the limit of their precious truth detector.

They wanted information.

Fine.

They would get information.

But he was not about to tell them about the Book of Shadows.

If he did...

Their greed would only deepen.

”Get on with it.”

The High Templar was visibly losing patience.

Interesting.

Far more arrogant than Damon remembered.

Clearly the Temple had grown bolder.

The awakening of Aetherus had made them feel untouchable.

”The day of the subjugation was hardly pleasant...”

Damon folded his arms.

”I awoke from my slumber a bit earlier than usual and found a beautiful Leona sleeping beside me—”

Several templars immediately stiffened.

”Oh right, Leona is my bestie and no, nothing happened between us. Ahh but people always love meddling in my love life. Leona and I are clean. Sure we sleep together, eat together, and there was that one time we almost bathed together before killjoy Eva interrupted.”

Evangeline’s eye twitched violently.

”I mean seriously why does she even do that? Woman, mind your business. My homegirl and I were trying to have a moment but nooooo apparently she was going to tell my grandfather which would have put me in a very difficult political situation where I’d have to take responsibility.”

He sighed dramatically.

”Not that Leona would complain...”

The old templars looked horrified.

”It was like that one time the headmaid almost caught us sneaking out of the academy dormitories. Trust me, that woman is terrifying.”

He shook his head.

”I mean the headmaid, obviously. Not Leona.”

Then he pointed at them.

”Oh you don’t know the headmaid?”

He leaned forward.

”You don’t want to know.”

”She is an absolute menace to society.”

”Seriously someone should investigate her.”

”She is freakishly strong.”

His expression darkened.

”I talked back once.”

”ONE TIME.”

”She kicked me through a wall.”

He paused dramatically.

”And then...”

His face twisted.

”She carried me back to my room...”

Silence.

”...and nursed me back to health.”

He shuddered.

”I mean it’s not like I respond positively to tough love due to unresolved trauma caused by my mother repeatedly throwing sandals at my face followed by a kiss afterwards.”

He placed a hand on his chest.

”I am a delicate man at heart.”

His voice softened.

”I just want to be loved.”

The room stared at him.

Damon kept rambling.

And rambling.

And rambling.

”Enough!”

The High Templar finally slammed the table.

”Tell us about the dragon subjugation!”

”Ohhh.”

Damon blinked innocently.

”Sorry, sorry.”

He smiled politely.

”You said you wanted everything.”

”I was merely trying my best to accommodate.”

Then his eyes drifted toward the scribe recording everything.

He pointed dramatically.

”Write this part down.”

”It will be important.”

The scribe hesitated.

Damon nodded firmly.

”After waking up, the very first thing I did was brush my teeth using the new Lazarak Brush.”

The room fell silent.

”Oh right.”

He grinned.

”That’s from my guild by the way. We make everything these days.”

Then he pointed toward them.

”You know what they say.”

His smile widened.

”If you’re not brushing Lazarak...”

He raised a finger.

”...you aren’t brushing right.”

Someone stood up so fast a chair nearly snapped behind them.

”How is any of this related?!”

Damon stared back, genuinely offended.

”It absolutely is.”

He pointed at the man accusingly.

”You think I could face a Great Dragon with morning breath?”

He shook his head.

”That would disgrace humanity.”

Then he frowned thoughtfully.

”Not that I had morning breath.”

”I brush before sleeping too.”