My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Damon's body broke several trees but he was fine. He held Abellona in his hands, feeling her deep breaths as she tried to regain control of her stiff body.

He had a few bruises but had survived. With their location revealed, Damon didn't need to hold back his shadow perception. He spread his awareness through the shadows, sensing the moving figures of lesser demons rushing through the forest in his direction.

He stood up, forcing himself to shake off the damage he had taken.

Abellona took a deep breath, holding her head. She had taken the brute force of whatever that magic barrier was.

It was rune magic combined with normal magic. Damon couldn't even imagine how much understanding over rune magic Ashcroft had. This particular brand of magic was created by the unknown god. Why would he think Ashcroft didn't have mastery of it?

'Next I'm going to learn he has a system too…'

He spat out blood to the side to push out the bad luck.

'I better not jinx myself.'

Abellona forced herself to her feet, her wings mangled slightly, a charred burning scent rising from them with lingering smoke mixed with blood.

"He concealed the barrier right beneath us. He expected us to try to fly out…"

Damon didn't even try to flee. There was nowhere to run. If they tried to escape, they would be swarmed by lesser demons. If they stayed, they could fight and kill them.

"I would expect no less from a demon…"

Ashcroft was quite scheming. He had anticipated their moves.

'Is this part of his expectations too? Are we dancing in his palm?'

Damon was paranoid by nature, but this just made him even more so.

He took a deep breath, standing back to back with Abellona.

"Can you fight?"

She scoffed, even with every inch of her body aching in pain.

"Who do you think you're talking to? I am Abellona of Destruction."

Her spear flew into her hands, coated by her destructive attribute.

Damon nodded, reaching for his neck and pulling out a pendant with two swords crossed. This was the magic artifact he had gotten from Back-to-Back with the mission of taking to the Halls of Steel in the Silver Glades.

The Silver Blades.

This was an heirloom designed for killing demons. He poured mana into it, forming two silver swords in his hands.

A faint whistle echoed in the air as he commanded his dealer's hand to float around him.

This was where they would hold their ground against the lesser demons.

Damon bit his lip. He just needed to kill ten of them.

Ten lesser demons to level up. That was his current requirement.

'At least I don't have to kill Ashcroft…'

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, the ground shook as a creature with sharp claws and teeth shattered the trees around it.

Damon took a single step, flashing through the distance with Flash Step.

[Skill: Flash Step]

[Description:]

A refined movement art once mastered by phantom assassins of the Forgotten Court, Flash Step allows the user to vanish from their position and reappear a short distance away, as though skipping between heartbeats.

[Effect:]

Moves instantly to a visible location within 15 meters.

[Type:]

Active.

[Cooldown:]

5 seconds.

Damon swung his sword down before the demon could react, but his blade struck the ground instead. The lesser demon, which seemed to be the leader of the swarm, had evaded. Its eyes gleamed coldly.

Its sharp tail whipped at Damon, but he caught it with the sword in his right hand.

A clang of steel rang out, and the sword sliced through the tail.

"Ehrhrhheh… aghhht…"

The lesser demon let out a shriek of pain, never expecting its powerful tail to be cut so easily.

Damon was just as surprised. These swords were made for fighting demons, but he hadn't expected them to be this effective.

Using them was a wise decision.

He slid upward, cutting through the demon's head in an arc of blood.

A low chime rang in his ears.

[You have slain a lesser demon]

Before he could celebrate, his dealer's hand whipped past his ear, slicing into another demon. Damon flipped up into a tree and threw one of the silver swords, impaling another lesser demon's head.

It screeched in pain, but the crazed will to kill still burned in its eyes as it charged him with its mouth wide open, rows of jagged fangs bared.

Damon melted into a shadow, reappearing beneath it. He stabbed upward, blood pouring over him as the demon thrashed, giving no regard for its own life, only the desire to kill.

More demons swarmed toward him. Damon tried to pull his sword free, but the dying creature twisted its body, locking the blade in place.

Damon gritted his teeth.

"Screw you…"

He dived into the shadows, reemerging without a sword in his hand. Three lesser demons leapt to tear him apart.

He raised his hand as a blast of dark flames erupted from his body, burning them.

Damon almost relaxed when a horrific realization struck him.

"They resisted Ashborn…"

Their hardened scales were scorched but intact. They had survived the flames.

He twisted his body to dodge a claw, but a tail lashed across his shoulder, catching him off guard. A burning sensation spread through his bloodstream.

Damon's eyes flickered.

"Poison…"

But that wasn't all. A blackness was crawling across his skin, pulsing with a twisted type of magic.

"A curse…"

He fell to his knees, coughing, as lesser demons closed in. Abellona's destructive spear tore through the swarm attacking her, the earth shaking and trees vanishing with each strike, but Damon was being surrounded.

The shackles binding them both still glinted on his wrist.

The demons snarled, closing in on their prey.

Damon's eyes narrowed. He raised his hand, his dealer's hand flying back into his grip from the body of a dead demon. The blade turned black, engulfed in compressed flames.

He swung in a single wide arc, cutting through flesh and hard scales alike. The heat seared the air as the swarm was torn apart.

Charred flesh and blood surrounded him as Damon stood, smiling coldly.

"You're not the only ones who are clever…"

He glanced at Abellona, who was catching her breath after slaying the last demon near her.

'It's a good thing I have resistance to both curses and poison.'

She was short of breath, but alive.

He rushed forward, grabbing her hand.

"Let's go."

She nodded, letting herself be pulled.

Then Damon froze.

A calm voice echoed from the trees.

"Who gave you permission to leave?"