My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

"Ok."

That was all Damon could say to meeting the queen of the Moon Glades.

Honestly, he wasn't the type to revere royalty. He barely revered the goddess—and she was an actual god.

Daphne was quiet for a moment. Then her voice rang through the communication orb.

"You actually managed to kill all of them… that's impressive. I didn't think you could."

Damon looked at the stub where his arm was slowly regrowing.

"Honestly, it was kind of underwhelming. 'I mean… if you're going to send someone to kill me, at least have the decency to send someone in the fourth class or higher. Tsk. Got my hopes up for nothing."

Daphne Moonveil was surprised for a moment. He was actually serious… disappointed he didn't die.

If Damon could see her face, he'd see an amused smile on it.

"That makes both of us. Though, I am surprised… no, on second thought—shocked. Why would anyone be disappointed they survived such an ordeal? Those were some of the Moon Glades' best assassins."

Damon sneered, wearing a smile.

"I'll stop you right there… it seems the Moon Glades has a lot of trash it mistakes for gold. No wonder Sylvia has such unrealistic expectations of the world."

Daphne's voice stayed calm.

"I won't take offense to that. After all, they failed to kill you, so you can say whatever you want. However, as their queen, I still feel the need to defend them… they aren't trash. You're just unusual."

Damon was a bit confused. He expected a heated exchange or her throwing insults, but the queen was surprisingly amicable… as if she hadn't sent thirty-seven assassins after him.

'This woman is quite the schemer.'

He hated how quickly she was trying to disarm any hostility.

He had sent that jab to rile her up… and failed.

"Daphne… can I call you Daphne?"

Damon could forgive the attempted assassination. But how dare she not show anger?

If he failed here, then his years of pissing off those in power would've been for nothing.

How could he call himself a death seeker if he didn't court death? Not at this point. He should be engaged to death.

The queen listened to his words. There was some surprise in her tone.

"That's… tantamount to lese-majesty."

Damon smiled.

"Only if I was a citizen of the Moon Glades, which I'm not. Not only am I a citizen of another nation, but I'm a student of the academy. You've crossed a few lines here, Daphne."

There was a soft chuckle from her.

"Like what?"

Damon smiled. Was she baiting him? Fine.

"The empire overlooked this incident to give you face. But I'm still a citizen of the empire. Naturally, if this gets out of hand, they'll lose face as the nation who sold out their citizen to another nation… even when on paper I committed no crimes."

He moved the orb closer to his face.

"Knowing how high and mighty the Valtheron imperial family is… they can't allow that to happen. That's why your assassins waited until I was out of the capital. And it's also why, despite having someone in the fourth rank, you couldn't deploy them. The empire didn't allow that."

Damon's smile widened.

"It wasn't because you didn't want to… you couldn't. The academy can't protect me all the way out here, and if I'm already dead, there would be no need to start anything with the Moon Glades."

Daphne chuckled.

"My, that's quite a good assessment. Mind if I switch to visual display? I would love to see the face of the person with such audacity."

Damon didn't mind. He wore an impassive expression.

"Knock yourself out."

The orb changed, slowly shifting until it revealed the figure of a beautiful woman with long silver hair.

Honestly, she kind of looked like Sylvia.

If Sylvia was a hot older woman.

"Ahem, ahem…" Damon cleared his throat.

He smiled at her.

"I see where Sylvia gets her looks from. You, my lady, are beautiful."

She smiled, pushing her hair to the side.

"Why, thank you. You're quite the gentleman."

Damon sneered with a chuckle.

"If you thought so, you wouldn't be trying to kill me. Instead, we'd be getting to know each other in a different way."

She glared at him.

"Boy… you sure have gall. But I'm married."

Damon shrugged. This was his actual strike.

"That's fine. I'll settle for your daughter. Elves age slow, but you can't drink fine wine without waiting."

Then he saw it. Her white eyes went cold. There was no more mirth in her eyes.

He waved the stump of his other arm.

"Relax, Daphne. I was just joking. Geez… don't elves have a sense of humor?"

She smiled coldly. "It seems even your audacity has limits."

Damon suppressed a smile.

She had no idea.

He looked at the orb.

"Now then, let's get back to business… why are you trying to kill me?"

She glanced at Damon, her strange white eyes peering through the orb.

"You're so smart. Take a guess."

Damon wasn't known to piss off nobles for nothing. He was going to make sure she left this meeting with a bad taste in her mouth… and a mild heart attack.

"Well… now that I know you can't send more assassins after me without making an enemy of the empire for violation of their sovereign rights… I have nothing to fear. This was all you could send."

She chuckled.

"I suppose that's true… clever boy."

He nodded, then continued.

"Let's see… is it because I stabbed Sylvia? Or because I snuck into her dorm a few nights? It can't be because I took her out on a date… or because of the Death Zones…"

The queen's eyes were already cold.

Damon raised his stump of an arm that was forming nerves and bones.

He smiled coldly.

"Yes, I see it. It can only be one thing… you must want to kill me for getting Sylvia pregnant and refusing to take responsibility. But what can I say? Stuff happened in Lysithara. I need time to heal emotionally. Besides… she came onto me. I couldn't resist."

There was a deep silence. Damon looked at the orb. He saw the face of the queen — it looked completely pale and frozen.

She opened her mouth slowly. No words came.

Damon acted confused, then as if coming to a realization.

"Wai… wait… Sylvia didn't tell you… huh… you guys were actually trying to kill me for a different reason…"

The queen's eyes looked like saucers. She was visibly trembling.

"Wha… what did you just say…"

"…You're lying…" She didn't even believe her own words.

Damon quickly and awkwardly turned off the orb.

He looked at the sky and laughed maniacally.

The queen probably got a heart attack.

He loved that pale expression on her face.

As for the orb, he'd keep it. Having the elf queen on speed dial was awesome.

As for Sylvia… she wasn't actually pregnant. He just said that to give the queen a fright.

"Sorry about this, Sylvia."

The orb kept flashing, but Damon just tossed it into his shadow storage.

"I better call Sylvia and ask her to play along."