My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Chapter 942: Chapter 943: Blood Of What

Damon crossed his arms, looking at the sky where the sun bled into the sea.

”If I had a daughter, I’d tell her how cute she was every day. You know babies are born ultra ugly. It’s not just humans, even animals.”

Seras blinked slowly.

Damon raised his hand, counting with his fingers.

”They have growth stages before they reach maximum cuteness. The first is the ugly at birth stage when they’re red and don’t have any fur or cute traits. Now that’s the stage only a mother could love, but we all pretend they’re the most beautiful thing in life. We lie to ourselves.”

Seras’ lips twitched awkwardly.

”Erm... okay...”

”Then the actual cute phase when they’re small and start making cute sounds. They have some chubby fat and maybe fur in case of animals.”

He smiled faintly as if picturing it.

”Then they reach the talking stage where they are learning and are super cute. Now this is the ultra cute phase. After here it’s downhill for most people. You either become beautiful or you’re ugly.”

”Well, things went south pretty fast,” she said, then paused, pointing at her face. ”Wait. Where do I stand in all this?”

Damon grimaced at her dramatically, squinting as if evaluating a rare artifact, then smirked.

”You’re one of the lucky ones. You’re ultra beautiful, so you must have been cute.”

Seras touched her face again, this time slower, as if committing the shape of it to memory.

”I’m ultra beautiful...”

It was as if she didn’t believe him.

Damon was a bit taken aback. Did no one ever compliment her looks, or was it one of those scenarios where women were being hypocritical, where they hate when the guys they can’t stand compliment them but won’t mind when the thin handsome guy compliments them?

Yes, it had to be the latter.

He silently thanked his mother for his good looks.

Though that wasn’t really the case.

The truth was no one actually called Seras an ultra beautiful woman, even if she was beautiful enough to topple cities with just her looks.

Honestly, it was hard to notice a woman’s beauty when she was busy ripping out your organs and covered in blood.

Beauty wasn’t what people worried about when they were dying. Even a siren was beautiful, but sailors tried to avoid them.

Damon glanced at the sea, taking a deep breath.

”You seem to like the sea,” Seras asked with a strange expression as the last light of the distant sun shimmered, barely touching the water.

He tilted his head, looking at the ominous dark waters.

”I hear the ocean is terrifying. Now that I see it, I can’t help but be entranced.”

Seras stepped closer and placed a hand on his shoulder, her grip firm.

”I’m sorry for everything you’re about to experience. I hope you can keep that attitude.”

Damon frowned, raising an eyebrow. What was with her? Since when did she get so paranoid? He had experienced the evil forest and the whispering forest. He had crossed Lysithara.

Those were great danger zones. No one spoke of the ocean like that. Why was she making a big deal out of it?

It was just a little water, is all.

Seras saw he was unconvinced. She could only pray for him not to become aquaphobic. It would be real bad if he was that traumatized.

Well, that’s the spirit.

The sun set quietly as the world suddenly went dark. The true nature of the ocean was revealed.

Darkness as far as the eye could see.

Well, that didn’t affect Damon. He could see in the dark.

He sneered into the abyss.

And along with his sneer came a horror filled scream from the ship.

His hair stood on end.

************

Somewhere on the ship a man was covered in blood, screaming.

The scream tore through the hull, raw and broken.

Seras and Damon reacted at the same time. Damon’s expression snapped from irritation to focus. They rushed below deck, boots hammering against the wooden stairs as the ship swayed violently beneath them.

The screaming grew louder.

Damon didn’t hesitate. He kicked down the door.

The wood splintered inward with a deafening crack.

When they stepped inside, the stench hit them first.

Copper.

Heavy and very thick.

A man was on the floor, covered in blood from head to toe. His hair was soaked, face smeared red, clothes drenched. His expression was stunned as he looked up at them in shock, like a child caught in a nightmare.

The entire wooden room was painted red.

The walls.

The floorboards.

All the bunks were covered.

Blood dripped from the edge of the upper beds in slow, sticky threads.

Damon stepped forward, boots splashing into the pooling crimson. He crouched slightly, staring at the man kneeling in blood.

”Are you alright? What happened here?” he asked with a roar, his voice filling the room.

The man was quiet.

His lips trembled. Tears spilled from his eyes, cutting thin, clean lines through the blood on his cheeks.

Seras frowned, stepping carefully, her boots leaving dark impressions in the slick floor. She crouched slightly and dipped two fingers into the thick blood, rubbing it between her fingers.

”This isn’t your blood.”

The man shook his head slowly, shoulders quaking.

Damon scanned the room.

No bodies.

No limbs.

No signs of struggle beyond the blood itself.

”Why did you scream?” Damon demanded, grabbing the man by the collar and hauling him upright.

The man could only cry.

A grown man crying.

Damon didn’t even know what to call this. It was too unnerving. The room felt wrong. Too quiet. Too empty for this much blood.

”What?” Damon snapped. ”Whose blood is this? It’s not yours. You don’t look injured.”

The man gulped, Adam’s apple bobbing violently. His teeth chattered as he tried to form words.

Finally, he managed to speak.

He whispered something under his breath.

Damon and Seras couldn’t hear him.

Damon’s patience snapped.

He seized the man’s face with one hand, fingers digging into his cheeks, and dragged him closer until their foreheads nearly touched.

”Speak clearly.”

The man repeated himself.

This time Damon heard it.

His blood ran cold.

Seras turned to him sharply.

”What? What did he say?”

Damon’s lips quivered.

His eyes slowly widened.

”He said...” Damon swallowed.

”It’s... period blood.”