My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

It took a while, but Damon could finally see the edge of the barrier in the distance.

He stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the exhausted group of children in front of him.

”Alright, troopers. The mission is almost at an end. You did good.”

He said it to an exhausted-looking group of children. For the past few days, Damon had been resting and sleeping like a king while his children and the five brats they had adopted were acting as guards and cooks while they made their way out of the mountains.

All he had done was give them instructions on how to navigate through the vile terrain of the Anarchy Mountains.

They had fought through all sorts of monsters and hordes of horrors, gaining a lot of experience since Damon wasn’t very powerful in his current body.

He looked at their faces and couldn’t help but think they looked cute, even though they were ragged, with disheveled hair and clothes, mud and grime covering their faces.

Some would even say this was child abuse, but so what? He was rich and powerful.

”Eva and everyone are just over that ridge. Let’s go, and don’t forget what we discussed.”

The children nodded. After all, he had convinced them to keep his secret. Just as they climbed over the ridge, they noticed the Brightwater Knights had made camp.

”See? We made it home safe. No problems whatsoever.”

Damon spread his hands as if presenting proof of his words.

Just as he said that, a bright pillar of light suddenly fell from the heavens onto the entire camp. A beam of destruction spread upwards as astral winds swept across the surroundings, traveling for kilometers and brushing past Damon and the children.

He took a deep breath when he saw their expressions.

”I’m gonna turn around and see something happening, right?”

Ric looked ahead of Damon, then glanced back at Ranar.

The two exchanged a look before slowly nodding.

”It’s not as bad as you think.”

Damon slowly turned around and looked at the destruction in the distance.

Then he sighed.

”Just my luck.”

”Come on, let’s go.”

He dashed towards the explosion of magic.

*********

Damon had been gone for a while, and Eva grew more anxious by the day. Every day, she stood right next to the barrier, praying that nothing happened to Ranar and the boy.

Eva had never had a child, so she did not know the pains of childbirth, but anyone who believed she was not qualified to love Ranar as a mother should prepare to be on the receiving end of her sword.

Who was it that raised her?

She did.

She nursed her, changed her, and did everything a mother possibly could.

Evangeline sighed and bit her lip.

She did not know if Ranar missed her actual mother or wanted to know her, but she had really tried to fill her shoes. Evangeline wasn’t trying to replace Wendy. She just didn’t want Ranar to have anything missing from her youth.

Ranar grew up so fast.

Raising her was one of the happiest things Evangeline had ever done. For a time, both she and Damon had a lot of rumors surrounding them. People even swore Ranar was her child born out of wedlock with Damon.

Honestly, if that were the case, she would be really happy.

Though she would much prefer they got married first.

Damon had many secrets. Evangeline knew he had many secrets. He was always lying to her about one thing or the other. She just wanted him to tell her the truth, just once.

’Does he not trust me enough?’

If he couldn’t even tell her the truth, how could he want to be with her? Maybe her feelings were one-sided and Damon didn’t take them seriously enough.

”Why is he always hiding things from me?”

She lowered her head slightly before letting out another quiet sigh.

At least he left his physical body under her protection, which meant that he at least trusted her with his life.

Which meant that whatever secret he was keeping was more important than his life.

She took a deep breath, then turned to look in one direction beyond the camp. There was nothing where she was looking.

”Show yourself. I don’t have time for games.”

Evangeline’s eyes narrowed.

When she spoke, the world seemed to distort, and a beautiful golden-haired man who seemed to have been sculpted by divine hands appeared. He was beyond handsome. He was beautiful.

Looking at him made her feel the weight of the world.

She bowed slightly.

”Greetings, Lord Aetherus. To what do we owe the pleasure?”

When she said that, Lilith stepped out from the void with Renata. Their expressions remained calm as they gave him the same greeting.

Aetherus nodded slowly. Then he spoke in a calm voice that sounded almost friendly.

”I’ve come to see my brother. Where is he?”

”Your brother? There is no such person here, Lord Aetherus. With all due respect, this camp belongs to House Brightwater. May I ask that you leave?” Evangeline said, feeling a prickling sensation run across her skin.

Aetherus was the god of this world, a powerful being who had recently regained his full strength. More than that, he had been calling Damon his brother since the moment they first met, and Evangeline had been there for that entire time.

That said, Damon had suspected that Aetherus had bad intentions toward him, and now of all times was certainly not the time for trouble.

Damon’s body was vulnerable inside the central tent since his soul had left his body to go find Ranar.

His timing was truly terrible, or perhaps Damon’s luck was simply atrocious.

”I came so far just to see my dear brother. I miss him. You can’t just turn me away. If he finds out, he would be very sad,” Aetherus replied with a faint smile.

”I’m his cousin, and I didn’t know he had a brother like you,” Evangeline said coldly.

”Nonsense. You and I could pass for twins. We even have the same hair color.” He smiled, pointing at her golden hair before holding up a few strands of his own.