My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Chapter 1155: Chapter 1156: Begotten Child

Ric could tolerate people insulting him.

But insulting his master crossed the line.

"Is that so?"

"Fine, fine."

"How about this?"

"Let’s make a bet."

"Whoever finds us first."

"My master..."

"...or your father."

The other children simply watched the two of them argue.

They could only stare as the young master and young lady compared their luxurious lives, boasting about whose master or father had the bigger army, wore more expensive clothes, and was stronger.

Neither of them was willing to back down.

For nearly ten whole minutes, they stood forehead to forehead, butting heads like stubborn little goats, their faces turning red as they argued louder and louder.

The older dark-haired boy finally let out a weary sigh.

He slowly raised one trembling hand, nervously interrupting the two of them.

"Ex... excuse me..."

"But... can we go?"

"I mean..."

"There are monsters here."

"It’s unsafe to stay."

The two children shot one last glare at each other before simultaneously turning away with loud huffs.

"Let’s go!"

They shouted at the same time before walking deeper into the cave.

Neither of them noticed the children exchanging helpless looks behind them.

...

Damon had no idea he was the subject of an argument between the two children.

Though, considering both the father and the master they were arguing about happened to be him...

It really wouldn’t matter who found them first.

He slowly knelt, placing one hand against the dirt of the Anarchy Mountains.

Closing his eyes, he listened.

Using echolocation, he mapped everything around him.

This body was exceptionally powerful for its rank and possessed countless utilities that his original body lacked.

To control it, Damon had linked several abilities together.

Soul Conduit.

Astral Projection.

His true body had been left behind, heavily guarded while his consciousness occupied this shadow clone.

He had even dissolved his previous clone so that every ounce of his focus remained here.

There was only one objective.

Bring his children home.

Around the mountains, dozens of shadow drones silently scattered in every direction, searching every valley, cliff, and cave for even the faintest trace of Ric and Ranar.

However...

Damon had run into a dilemma.

Something was hunting him.

And whatever it was...

It was the cowardly variety.

Something with a long, hunched back watched him from the distance.

Its body was a dull matte black, its long arms nearly dragging across the ground as it stood motionless. Instead of feet, it had cloven hooves that dug into the rocky earth.

Damon didn’t flee.

Why would he?

He had long since gone beyond that.

He slowly turned his head toward it.

The shadow clone’s eyes swirled with darkness before a faint smile spread across his face.

"I have no idea who or what you are."

"But if you leave now..."

"You get to continue living your meager and pathetic existence."

The creature remained where it was.

It stared at him in complete silence for several long moments.

What it found was not fear.

Not even caution.

The only thing reflected within the eyes of the shadow clone Damon possessed...

...was an overwhelming desire to slaughter.

The creature slowly turned around.

It chose to leave.

However, just as it was about to disappear into the darkness...

Clang!

Heavy chains burst from the shadows beneath its feet, wrapping around its body in an instant.

The creature thrashed violently as the chains tightened around its limbs.

Damon’s cold voice echoed across the mountains.

"I changed my mind."

"Die."

There was a sudden rush of violence within Damon’s heart.

All the years of indignation.

The years when he had been weak and forced to hide from the horrors.

The frustration of watching from the shadows.

Living like a rat.

Running.

Hiding.

Surviving.

All of it exploded into a symphony of violence.

He seized the creature by its ethereal and monstrous body before slamming it into the ground with overwhelming force.

There was no finesse to his technique.

No elegance.

Only raw and unbridled violence.

He raised his fists and hammered them into its horrible face again and again.

Crunch!

Its mouth of serrated teeth, rotten with black and white mold, folded inward beneath the relentless blows.

Its long hunched back was forcibly straightened as Damon’s fists crashed into it over and over, each strike accompanied by the sickening sound of bones splintering beneath flesh.

The creature tried to screech.

It thrashed wildly beneath him.

Damon pinned it to the ground with one knee before grabbing its long, rotten tongue with both hands.

He pulled.

The tongue tore free with a wet rip.

Black blood sprayed in every direction.

The creature clawed desperately at him.

Damon caught it by its seaweed-like hair and smashed its head repeatedly against his knee.

Once.

Twice.

Again.

And again.

By the time he stopped...

He was standing over a mangled, shapeless horror.

It had been reduced to a grotesque paste of meat, blood, and tangled hair.

Not a single bone remained intact.

Its flesh had been pulped beyond recognition.

Yet...

It still twitched.

Somehow.

Alive in a state that was worse than death.

Damon slowly raised his head.

In the distance, more horrors hid behind broken rocks and twisted trees.

They stared at him.

Not with hunger.

Not with malice.

But with unmistakable fear.

Damon casually waved one hand.

Shadow rippled across the ground.

One after another, armored knights mounted upon shadowy steeds emerged from the darkness, their crimson eyes glowing beneath their helmets.

"Go."

"Find them both."

"Capture anything that seems remotely intelligent."

"And extract information from it."

The shadow knights lowered their heads before riding off in different directions, vanishing into the mountains without a sound.

Only then did Damon glance back at the broken mass of flesh lying at his feet.

His heart still pounded with bloodlust.

"This one is useless now."

Black flames erupted from his fingertips.

They engulfed the horror in an instant.

An agonizing scream echoed across the mountains as the creature burned, its body turning to ash beneath the unnatural fire.

The scream continued.

Until...

Silence.

The moment it died, the madness left Damon just as suddenly as it had come.

His breathing became uneven.

He lifted one hand to his head, his fingers digging into his hair.

"Ahh..."

Something...

Something was reaching out to him.

Calling him.

Whispering from somewhere deep within the mountains.

Calling him for blood.

Calling him for war.