My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Chapter 1296: Chapter 1297: Pact

The feeling of his life force being sapped away was like a sickness. Damon had used the power before, but he didn’t really use this skill much. He had many skills that did more damage than this one.

[Plague of Steel]

Like the Black Death, death does not announce its arrival. It spreads unseen, carried by every blade, until even the mightiest fall to the creeping plague.

[Effect]

Turns every blade into a carrier of a creeping plague that consumes the life force of those it wounds.

[Type]

Active

[Cooldown]

None

This was all the skill did, and since Damon had so many skills, he sometimes trapped himself in a certain pattern of combat where he picked certain skills and used them more frequently than others. Sometimes, it wasn’t because they were the most efficient for that particular situation, but because he had grown more accustomed to using them.

His Fourth Class skill was one of them, and over time, he used it less and less.

Damon moved out of the way of the large sweep of the dragon’s tail. The chains of shadows bound Ashergon, and Damon decided he had shown enough of his strength to the dragon. He took a step back and left the area covered by the runes. With a wave of his hand, all the runes compressed and began to glow.

He had woven many runes here with the help of Lilith and Renata, and these runes were far more complex than simply preventing Ashergon from escaping.

The runes tightened, then flew through the air and slapped into his body like pieces of metal, leaving clanging sounds wherever they landed. Soon, he was covered with hundreds of runes. Each one might have been weak individually, but together, they formed a complex network.

Damon poured his absurd magical power into the runes and used his attribute to imprint them onto Ashergon’s very soul.

As they entered the dragon’s body, Ashergon tried to break free, but the runes covered him like a billion ants feasting on a behemoth.

There were seven great dragons in this world.

"There is Aethergon, the Cloud Dragon, who brings storms and ruinous clouds," Damon said coldly to Ashergon.

"The Carrion Dragon, Rexagon, who is of the earth and carries with him the scent of nature and the rot of death. I took his fangs once, believe it or not."

He tightened his grip, feeling Ashergon resist.

"Aquagon, the Deep Serpent, who dwells in the depths. A serpent with four legs and wings, the ruler of that which lies beneath the waves, a nightmare for those who voyage on the sea."

Tales of this dragon were also well known, though he wasn’t the worst of the great dragons, not by a long shot. In fact, Aquagon was one of the calmer ones.

"There is the great dragon of the wind, Zephyrgon, who is elusive, and the Fog Dragon, whose name remains unknown and who is often mistaken for Aethergon. The dragon that resides on the Magic Continent, who spends his days slumbering and only occasionally comes out to burn and destroy, is the Dark Dragon, Dugon."

"And last but not least, the dragon who thinks the world is his playground, full of fire and wrath, and lords over all with his temper."

"The Great Dragon Ashergon, who has laid waste to more cities and civilizations than all the other six dragons combined."

Damon’s eyes grew colder, and he tightened his grip.

"Your time is long overdue. Become my mount or die here today. When you’re dead, I shall turn your remains into food for my shadow, and he shall make many drones from your corpse."

When Damon said that, Maw emerged from his shadow, taking the form of an adorable-looking cat until it opened its mouth and a deep darkness appeared within.

More humiliating than being killed was becoming Damon’s mount, and more humiliating than that was being used as food by that abomination.

Ashergon roared with all his might, his body igniting in flames as he was forced to shrink.

Damon walked up to him, then placed a broken sword against his neck.

"If I cut off your head, will you die, Great Dragon?"

"If I bite thine off, will you?"

Damon kicked him on the head.

"Speak normally. You’ve already lost, and I own you now. Maybe you choose death. Either way, I still gain something."

"Then kill me! I choose death over an eternity of servitude with no possibility of freedom!" Ashergon growled.

Seeing the great dragon brought low, Damon couldn’t help but think about when he had first encountered the creature years ago.

"What if there was a possibility of freedom?" he asked.

Ashergon was quiet for a while, then closed his eyes.

"How long?"

Damon shrugged when the dragon asked the question.

"Don’t know. Until I’m bored of you."

Ashergon had never been so humiliated, but then again, he knew this feeling. It had been traumatic for him when Ashcroft, the Demon Lord of Domination, had once tried to enslave him. He had sworn never to return to the Doom Continent after that incident. Who would have thought the next fiend to appear would be born in Soltheon, and this one was even more evil than the last?

The choice was simple.

"Very well. I submit, but I demand to be treated with the dignity of a great dragon."

"Fine by me. You try to betray me, and you’re food for Maw."

"Shall we sign a contract?" Ashergon asked.

Damon didn’t even think about it. He had a bad experience with contracts.

"No, I’ll pass on that. I don’t like signing contracts anymore."

Ashergon was quiet, then spoke again, afraid Damon was being deceitful.

"Then let us form a pact."

Damon didn’t even know what that was, so he looked at Ashergon, slightly confused.

"A pact?" He had never heard of this before.

"I will entrust my soul to you, and you will entrust yours to me."

Damon nodded, then said, "Can we have one where only I get your soul?"

"We cannot," Ashergon said calmly.

"Now that’s a lie. I can tell when someone lies," Damon said, having used his skill, Eye of Veracity.

Ashergon looked away from Damon and into the bleak world.

"In my inherited memories, when the Unknown God formed a pact with my creator, their pact was one of equals."

Damon watched him with a deadpan expression.

"Do I look like the Unknown God to you?"

Then he squeezed the runes tighter.

Ashergon growled, then roared, "At least let me have what’s left of my dignity!"

Damon was quiet for a moment, then sighed.

"Fine. There’s no need to take that too."

Ashergon was a bit relieved. As far as he knew, Damon had always been a shameless, no-good mouse. Now that he had become a demon, Ashergon couldn’t help but think he was more nuanced than before. If this had been the old Damon, he would have demanded his dignity too.

Soon, they signed the pact. Damon wasn’t expecting much from it, but then he heard the voice of the System, and a panel appeared.

[You have signed a pact with the High Dragon Ashergon]

[You have gained a Dragon Pact. Your soul has been tied to Ashergon]

Damon was sufficiently surprised. Then he felt a strange connection with Ashergon. It was as though he could communicate with him using nothing more than a thought.

[Thought Corridor has been established]

[You have gained control of Draconic Fire]

[You have gained resistance to Dragon Fire]

[You have gained the title: Ally of Dragons]

[You have gained a tendency to hoard]

A tendency to hoard, as if he wasn’t already greedy enough.

Just as he was thinking that, he heard several chimes, followed by the last notification.

[The True Dragon of the Abyss sees you]

As soon as Damon heard that, the world vanished.

He found himself standing on a vast red landmass that stretched as far as the eye could see. By his side was Ashergon, who seemed just as confused. Then the dragon looked up at a giant, glowing red inferno with a dark slit in its center.

Damon had a terrifying sense of déjà vu. Not the good kind.

He gulped when he felt that gaze. He was sure of it now. Something was looking down on him.

"A True Dragon," he whispered, feeling his legs about to give way.

Ashergon lowered himself and didn’t dare look up. Damon was stunned when he saw the form of this dragon.

The landmass he stood on was merely a single scale on this behemoth, and it was so vast that Damon couldn’t even get a full view of it.

All he could see were crimson scales.

Damon didn’t dare blink, but then the dragon seemed to turn around, as if someone were speaking to it. From the expression in its eyes, it seemed slightly exasperated. Then Damon felt a force banishing them, sending them both away as an infinite distance was suddenly torn between them. As they moved farther and farther away, Damon realized he still couldn’t see how large the creature was.

When he came to, he was standing where he had been before, and no one had noticed what had just happened.

Ashergon looked at him with a hint of dread. He wondered why this demon kept attracting the attention of true beings, as if dealing with the Unknown God wasn’t bad enough.

"I surrender! I surrender! You are the master!"

Ashergon had gained a new trauma.