My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Chapter 1293: Chapter 1294: What Is Right Is Hard

Xander narrowed his eyes. He didn’t sense any tricks. Ric was looking straight at Damon, shaking his head. Then he buried his face in Damon’s stomach and wrapped his arms around his waist.

He would not let Damon give him away like that.

Damon knew it, and his own hands were shaking. He felt a deep lump in his throat, and tears threatened to fall from his eyes. Even so, he kept himself composed, forcing his expression to remain cold.

"I really hated Godric Ravenscroft, but my hatred for him can only compare to the depth of the love I had for my mother. When I was a child, she was everything to me. My world started and ended with her. No matter what happened, I knew I could run back home like any other child, of course."

He fell silent, remembering his mother’s laughter. Damon knew that his memories of her were surrounded by a lens of nostalgia, and that made them even more special than they might have been otherwise. Even so, it wasn’t fair that she had to die for something as shallow as human arrogance and pride.

"Killing your brother will never be enough for me, but when you came to me that day, I was conflicted. A part of me understood you, and I wanted to help my brother, but I also hated Godric so much. That was why I suggested that contract. It wasn’t some long-thought-out scheme or master plan. It was just anger and doubt."

He closed his eyes and sighed, rubbing Ric’s head.

"In the end, we dragged others into our mess."

Xander lowered his head, then glanced at Ric.

"You’re returning him. I don’t think I have what it takes to be a good enough parent. You said it yourself, and I don’t really think I can blame you anymore. After all, you offered to neutralize the contract multiple times, and I refused. If I had made a better choice that day, then maybe we..."

Damon shook his head. What an odd word to hear here.

Choice. Fate or choice? Why did they all seem like the same thing? Fate seemed absolute and arbitrary, while choice gave you the illusion of control, as if you could control the outcome.

The Unknown God had stripped fate of its dignity by calling it choice. He said that everyone could hold and mold their own fate.

Fate and choice. Yes, that was what this was. It was a choice that had to be made. The way to survive depended on their choices.

Then Damon had to make a choice. He grabbed Ric and tore the boy away from his body. Ric struggled. He had not made this choice. Damon had. From Damon’s perspective, it was a choice he had made, while from Ric’s, who did not want to go back, it was fate, something he had no say or control over.

"No, ahhh!" Ric whimpered, holding on to Damon, but Damon turned a deaf ear to his screams and placed him down in front of him.

"Hey there, Ricky. You have to be a man, and we all know every man must grow up someday, okay?"

"No... Master, I don’t want..." Ric shook his head desperately, tears running down his face. "I know it’s because you hate me now. It’s all my fault. I’m the reason Ranar got taken. It’s all because of me. I know you want me gone because you really hate me."

Damon lightly flicked his forehead with his fingers.

"I promise I could never hate you. You know, now that I look at you, I think I did something much crueler than indoctrinating you. I... maybe I shouldn’t have loved you so much. Then maybe this would be easier, and maybe you could despise me for taking you away."

His heart felt as though a sword had been driven through it, but he knew this was the right thing to do.

Ric’s tears wouldn’t stop, and he refused to let go of Damon’s hands. Emilia saw how deep their bond was, and tears couldn’t help but fall from her eyes.

"Master, I’m not going to go. Even if you hate me, I won’t leave you. I won’t go. I don’t want to!"

"Listen to me, Godric," Damon called him by his full name.

Ric knew how much Damon disliked that name, but hearing his actual name instead of a nickname made him quiet. It was an acknowledgment of who he was.

Damon stood up.

"Ric, I want you to know that I am proud of you, and more than anything, I’m glad you didn’t turn out to be me. You became a lot better. Can you make me a promise?"

Ric was quiet, then slowly nodded without looking up.

"Create something beautiful."

That was all Damon said before he turned around, leaving Ric with his mother and father.

Xander wanted to say something so he lifted his hand but no words came out of his mouth.

Emilia glanced at Ric, who just stood there watching Damon leave. She was his mother but even she could see how attached he was to Damon Grey.

He could almost not breathe, but he forced his feet to carry him away. Years ago, in the darkness of Lysithara, Valarie Sunwarden had said the same words to him. Those had been the words she spoke before she died, getting him out of the deep darkness beneath the ruined city.

Maybe these would be Damon’s last words to Ric before he perished facing the God of the End.

Even so, he didn’t want to leave any loose ends. Anything he wanted to do, he wanted to do now.

But there was so little time left for him. Tomorrow was only a few hours away.

When he left the tent, he found Lilith standing outside. When she saw him, she opened her arms and gave him a gentle hug.

"Is this the right thing?" he asked.

"I don’t know," she replied. "Did it feel right?" she asked him.

"It felt hard."