My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Damon didn’t just hug Sylvia because he missed her. He wanted to be certain of something.

Holding her in his arms, he realized something.

She felt rigid, as if she could find no comfort in his embrace. His gaze subconsciously moved toward the invisible book floating beside her.

The God of the Abyss had bestowed upon her a vile gift. He had cursed her with knowledge without limits.

As hard as Damon tried, he never really understood the Unknown God. Beyond his desire to end everything, there was just something about him that confused Damon.

Why did he do some of the things he did?

Or was Damon simply a mortal trying to comprehend a god when all he could do was perceive the world through his mortal understanding?

One Unknown was kind. He was gentle, and he answered Lilith’s prayer when she asked him to let them meet the Goddess of Doom.

One Unknown was wrathful and hateful, seeing all life as a source of pain and condemning the very act of one’s birth as the greatest sin against that person, who had never asked to be thrust into a life where happiness was fleeting and misery was promised.

He was a god of duality.

A paradox who stood at two extremes.

Beautiful yet harrowing.

Kind and yet very cruel.

In that case, was Unknown not like life itself?

Yes.

He was just like life.

Happiness existed in the same world as sadness. Kindness shared the world with cruelty. Both were real.

Damon let go of Sylvia.

He saw the way she was looking at him, taking in the depth of her grey eyes, one slightly darker than the other.

She opened her mouth and then whispered.

”It’s alright. I’m fine, okay?”

It was a promise.

She was telling him she was okay.

But at that moment, when Damon looked into her darker eye, he heard a voice.

Eldritch and distant.

Vast.

It echoed through his very soul.

”She is far from fine, and the end has finally come. I give you respite for the next few days, O fool who did not heed my warning. Now you shall fall to the abyss. Become hate. Become a true demon!”

When Damon heard those words, his heart felt as though it would explode.

He couldn’t breathe.

But he was not allowed to show any reaction.

It felt like that sinister voice was right beside his ears.

Damon collapsed onto his knees.

Blood began to gush from his ears as he tore himself free from the body of the woman he had been possessing. His soul flickered in and out, but remained stable.

It happened so quickly and was so shocking that even Sylvia didn’t expect something like that to happen to him.

Kadelas was shocked, while Daphne subconsciously moved toward the body Damon had been possessing, catching her before she could fall.

”I’m fine...” Damon whispered.

His Astral form floated slightly above the ground before he turned back toward the woman’s body in Daphne’s arms.

Daphne touched the woman’s neck to feel for a pulse.

She didn’t even need to.

Her eyes were already wide open.

But she still wanted to confirm it.

”She’s dead.”

When Daphne said those words, she was actually looking at Sylvia for the first time in years.

She saw Sylvia’s expression contort into one of absolute terror.

When Daphne saw the fear in her daughter’s eyes, she felt every hair on her body stand on end. A shiver passed through her scalp.

In all her life, she had seen people wear expressions of terror.

But never had she seen such a visceral, hair-raising reaction to fear.

She couldn’t even describe it.

That fear was coming from Sylvia.

Someone who wouldn’t even budge when a Great Dragon charged straight at her.

If Daphne knew why Sylvia was so terrified, she would have understood that Sylvia was actually underreacting.

In Sylvia’s mind, she heard the familiar voice of the Unknown God.

”Bear witness, young witch. Bear witness to the futility of all mortal acts before God. I give you a glimpse of what is to come... You shall fail. You will fail.”

Sylvia’s hands trembled.

She didn’t understand.

Why was she seeing this?

”It is the fate of Damon Grey that one may make a choice to betray him. Let that be you, so he may live. Do it, Sylvia... for love.”

The God’s voice sounded like the devil’s whisper.

Sylvia must beseech the devil.

All she had given.

All she had planned.

Everything was revealed to her.

Unknown could see her future.

He knew what would happen.

He knew what would come.

”You cannot see Damon’s future anymore. No. As per my offer, you prevent yourself from glimpsing his future or knowing his fate.”

”I know enough. I have seen enough. I don’t need to be omniscient to tell you how this will end,” the voice replied in her ears.

”God is fair,” she replied.

”I am a demon,” Unknown replied.

There was a way out.

And she knew it.

She lifted her head and glanced at Damon.

She had assumed everyone had been silent for a few minutes.

But that wasn’t the case.

The moment Unknown began speaking to her, time simply stopped moving.

Leona looked around, then back at Damon.

”What just happened?” she asked.

Damon was trying his hardest not to look at Sylvia’s eyes.

His expression remained calm, and his Astral form was significantly more powerful, so he simply shrugged.

”Who knows? Maybe her body finally gave out. I am quite powerful, after all.”

He knew that was a lie.

But before he could say anything else, he heard a distant whisper.

”You lie once more when the truth has knocked on your door. Now it is too late. The truth is in hand, and I am coming.”

Damon turned around.

He was sure Renata would bring him a shadow drone.

He spread his Shadow Perception, and sure enough, he saw a carriage coming through the streets with the banner of House Astranova.

Lilith and Renata were here.

And hopefully, they had his new body.

He glanced at Sylvia, then spoke in a flat tone.

”We need to talk.”

She nodded slowly.

Leona didn’t understand what had happened, but even she could feel that something was wrong.

Damon wanted to understand what Unknown meant by his last words.

What did he mean by the truth having knocked on his door?