My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Chapter 977: Chapter 979: Bring Them To Their Knees

The balors stopped midair, hovering above them like executioners observing prey.

Their shadows stretched long across the ground, flickering with flame.

Then one of them spoke.

The voice was a hiss, layered and distorted, yet it carried with the weight of thunder.

”You dare pass through our dominion...”

A pause.

Flames curled tighter around its form.

”Pay tribute in souls... or die.”

The words settled over the field like a sentence already passed.

Behind Damon, a few goblins shifted uneasily.

Souls.

Not zeni.

Not mana cores.

Lives.

They were being asked to hand over their own.

Damon tilted his head slightly, as if considering the offer seriously.

”Interesting,” he said, his tone calm, almost curious. ”So you only want souls.”

The oppressive heat pressed against him.

The infernal aura weighed down on everything around him.

He ignored it completely.

Then he lifted his hand and waved it lightly, dismissively.

”No,” he said.

”That won’t do.”

Damon expected them to lash out the moment he refused.

They didn’t.

The balor’s burning gaze sharpened, irritation flickering through the flames that wrapped its body, but it held its position. No immediate attack came.

That alone caught Damon’s attention.

From what he knew, balors were not the negotiating type. They were creatures of mountains and ruined depths, things that destroyed first and never bothered with words. Anything that crossed their path was either prey or ash.

’So it’s different with demon kin...’

His eyes lingered on them, sharper now. The blackness of their bodies was not just charred skin or stone.

It moved.

It shifted.

Shadows mixed with flame, weaving together like something alive.

’Hmm... that’s interesting.’

The leader drifted lower, its massive head tilting slightly as it fixed Damon with a heavier, more deliberate stare.

”Then what will you offer for safe passage.”

Damon didn’t hesitate.

He shook his head once.

”I’m more of a taker than a giver.”

That was enough.

The air changed.

The balor understood. There was no negotiation here.

”I see,” it rumbled, flames flaring brighter. ”You choose death.”

Damon’s expression didn’t change.

He shook his head slightly, almost amused.

”No,” he said. ”If anything... I’ve taken a shine to you.”

His chin lifted just a little, his gaze turning cold.

”You should feel honored.”

A faint pause.

”I don’t particularly like being looked down on.”

Then he spoke.

One word.

Cold.

Heavy.

Absolute.

”Fall.”

The balor blinked.

That was all the time it had.

The next instant, its massive body slammed into the ground. The impact carved a crater into the earth, dust and heat exploding outward as its wings folded in on themselves without resistance.

It wasn’t alone.

The others dropped too.

Not by force.

By obedience.

The leader lay there, staring up, flames flickering unevenly across its form. Something had entered its mind. Not pressure. Not pain.

Authority.

When the command was given, its wings had not been restrained.

They had simply obeyed.

A tremor ran through its body.

It knew this power.

Every balor did.

It was not something learned.

It was something remembered.

’Domination.’

The realization hit, and with it came something unexpected.

Not fear.

Not anger.

Excitement.

It pushed itself slightly, then stopped, lowering its head instead, flames bowing with it.

”Ashcroft...” it muttered, its voice reverent through burning fangs.

It did not rise.

”I yield to your greatness,” it said, lowering itself further. ”I bow and beg to serve.”

Behind it, the other balors followed without hesitation, dropping from the air, kneeling in submission.

Damon blinked once.

That... was easier than expected.

’He thinks I’m Ashcroft.’

The thought settled in his mind quickly.

Dangerous.

Very dangerous.

If that misunderstanding spread, it would not just be useful attention. It would be the kind that got him killed.

’I need to be careful with this...’

Outwardly, his expression didn’t change.

He stepped forward slightly, looking down at the kneeling balor, his presence steady, controlled.

Then he spoke again, his voice carrying that same quiet authority.

”You will not speak of my identity.”

A pause.

”You will serve me.”

The balor pressed its head lower.

”As you command.”

The others echoed the motion behind it, flames bowing, shadows bending.

Damon exhaled slowly through his nose.

Just like that—

He had an army.

Conquest was easy, very very easy. Now Damon understood why Ashcroft was so broken.

The unknown god really was unfair. Why did Damon get the living shadow system and not the domination system? The domination system had to be more powerful since Ashcroft had an attribute like domination.

He could dominate everything and anything. Damon had even seen him dominate time and space, minds and flesh.

And then there was his living shadow system that only devoured. Which wasn’t bad, but compared to domination it was lacking.

Though now he had devoured Ashcroft, he had taken domination too... so didn’t that mean the living shadow system was better?

The balor didn’t know what Damon was thinking until Damon glanced at him.

”What’s your name?”

”Gotrog my liege, it is my honor to be in your service.”

Damon nodded. Balors were very powerful. This should be enough for him to reach Trace in peace.

”Very well then, follow me to Trace.”

And thus Damon’s growing army began to march.

Gabo was now replaced by a balor. After all a goblin was not worthy of being the king’s right hand man.

Gabo didn’t have any complaints. He really didn’t want to get smoked by a balor, and clearly this one was far more knowledgeable than him.

”We shall arrive at the main road to Trace in two hours my lord.”

”Many young demon kin will also be there with their entourage.”

’I should probably keep a low profile,’ Damon thought.

”I’ve already made preparations for your plan to subjugate them all and add them to your army.”

Damon froze.

’What... conquer?’

Before he could say anything he saw the expectant gazes of his followers.

Damon closed his eyes for a moment.

It wouldn’t be very demon lord-like to refuse.

”Bring them to their knees.”