My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Chapter 386 - 387: Just Yam Head

Valarieʼs words aside, Damon looked around with an awed expression.

They were in a library—a library so vast he couldnʼt even see the bottom floors. There were only books stretching in all directions, vanishing into the distance as far as the eye could see.

They were standing on one of the upper levels, and yet somehow, despite having just been underground mere seconds ago, theyʼd arrived here. It didnʼt make sense. It was as if the very rules of space had been distorted, warped, and perverted. Even his perception felt... wrong somehow.

A faint mist lingered in the corners, just beneath the edges of towering bookshelves.

He stepped closer to the arched windows, gazing out at the moonlight.

Outside was the vast, ruined city of Lysithara in all its broken majesty. In the sky flew monstrous shapes—unspeakable horrors drifting like shadows across the stars. And on the ground, twisted forms of nightmare wandered through the ruins, their outlines visible under the pale luminescence.

The massive crystal tower in the city center glowed with bright, silver light, reflecting the moonlight that bathed the land.

Damon froze mid-thought.

ʼMoonlight… how is there moonlight…?ʼ

If there was light of any kind, wouldnʼt that attract the creatures from the rift? Wouldnʼt it provoke a nightmarish battle that wouldnʼt end until sunrise?

”How is that possible…” he muttered aloud.

Valarieʼs lips curved into a smile.

”Impressive, isnʼt it? This is where we gathered all knowledge since the Zero Epoch… the jewel of Lysithara… the Forbidden Library…”

Damonʼs eyes flicked toward the disembodied pair of lips on Evangelineʼs shoulder.

”Ahh… right, that too. But itʼs mean…”

”The city…” Evangeline finished for him, her gaze joining the othersʼ, all fixed on the moonlit ruins below.

”How is the light not summoning the monsters in the rift…?” Damon asked, voice low.

All eyes turned to Valarie.

The pair of lips smiled, though they betrayed something heavier behind them. Perhaps they didnʼt truly understand what had happened in the past either.

”Isnʼt having the moon in the sky normal…?”

Damon shook his head. The longer he stared at the sky, the more things seemed off. Only one moon… that was strange. Aetherus had two moons.

ʼWhy is there only one…?ʼ He shook the thought from his mind.

Leona clenched her fists, ears twitching sharply atop her head.

”No, thatʼs not it. I thought light made the rift monsters come out…”

Valarie sighed, despite being only a pair of lips.

Xander gripped his spear tightly, as if expecting something awful to emerge from the sky at any moment.

”I donʼt understand the rules of this strange city…”

Valarie smiled again.

”You donʼt have to…”

She pressed her lips together as though pondering deeply.

”You remember how I told you we were seeking Akasha, right? And that we opened the door to the Metaverse at Muguʼs behest?”

Sylvia nodded with an unimpressed expression—more irritated than anything else.

”You didnʼt explain anything about Akasha…”

Valarie giggled lightly, a teasing lilt in her voice.

”Right, my bad… but suppose I should explain. Iʼve mentioned some of the names of the Outsiders to you, havenʼt I?”

Damon nodded. He could recall her mentioning only two names.

Leonaʼs hand shot up, her beastkin ears perking eagerly.

”Yes! You said Ittorath and Yam Head—”

Damon facepalmed. She got the first name right… and completely butchered the second.

Sylvia exhaled loudly and gave her a glance.

”Ythar. Not Yam Head, Leona…”

”Pfttt… hahaha! Thatʼs quite a fitting name! Ythar was quite the Yam Head…” Valarie laughed.

Xander glanced up at the sky once more.

”You still havenʼt explained why the moonlight isnʼt attracting the rift creatures.”

Valarie, still just a pair of lips, turned her unseen gaze toward the broken city.

”Ittorath and Ythar are the only two visitors youʼve met… right?”

Matiaʼs eyes narrowed behind her visor, suspicion flickering.

”If we met them, weʼd be dead. Theyʼre supposedly beyond the Class Advancement system.”

Valarie sighed again.

”They are. At least, their true bodies are. But in this world, they only have false forms, bound to the limitations here—the Seventh Class Advancement. Even so, they were stronger than us… they understood the systems and power far better.”

Damon frowned.

”Wait. Are you saying even when suppressed to the same level… they were still stronger than you guys?”

Valarie, now perched on Evangelineʼs shoulder, twitched slightly.

She hated to admit it, but…

”More or less. They are beyond the Nine Mortal Ranks…” she paused, then added, ”Itʼs like a master spellcaster who returns to the past with all his memories. Even if heʼs in the same body as everyone else, heʼll destroy them on an even field.”

Evangeline bit her lip.

”So basically… they had more experience. Then… how did you defeat them?”

Valarieʼs smile turned somber.

”With the help of other outsider beings… like the former Old God Unseen Singularity, the Blind Old Daoist… and a few others…”

”So you had a chance,” Damon muttered, though more to himself.

He still had questions—like the ”Nine Mortal Ranks.” He guessed that referred to the First through Seventh Class Advancements. As for why they called it ”nine,” maybe it was because the Sixth Class was split into three stages, adding two more?

”That still doesnʼt explain the moonlight,” Xander interjected, sticking to the core mystery.

Valarie scoffed softly.

”Actually, it does…”

She turned slightly, her voice lowering.

”You told me you passed through the forest to reach this city. That forest wasnʼt like that originally. It only became that way after Vathren killed Ythar. The entire Whispering Forest is Ytharʼs corpse. The mist? Thatʼs the lingering remnant of Vathrenʼs power, suppressing Ytharʼs resentful soul…”

She smiled—malice glinting in her tone.

”Vathren obtained the power to kill an Outsider all by himself… and the secrets of the Ascendant Armor from the Unknown God. That was his secret… heheh… I remember now. That was his lie…”

Damonʼs eyes widened. Didnʼt the knowledge of the armor come from the visitors? No… no, this made more sense. The Unknown God… he was also an Outsider.

Knowledge of the armor came from the crystal palace, but the unknown god was also born there, the progeny of the vile thief.

Damon recalled that much from the system.

Valarie giggled, voice trembling slightly.

”As for that rift in the sky… thatʼs just Ittorath. Trapped in a rift after Valcara and I defeated him. She imprisoned him with the second moon… and I bound him to my attribute—the Sun. Heʼs always searching for the moment when both attributes align… when there is light in the night.”

Her voice turned wild, filled with a madness born of rage and grief.

”We also cursed the sky to never have an eclipse…”

Her lips quivered, the sound caught between laughter and weeping.

”Ahhahh… Vathren gave everything—became a monster—for this. And we still lost.”

Her voice cracked.

”Damn you, Mugu… Damn you. Was all this worth it? You could have just accepted it… Damn you… damn you…”

Damon watched in silence, lips pressed tightly together, as Valarie—a disembodied mouth—cursed the name of Mugu, trembling with old, bitter sorrow.