My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 1005 - 1007: The Coil

Damon wasted no time needing a second warning.

He spun around and bolted.

Or attempted to.

His face smashed straight into an unseen barrier with such force that white sparks erupted in his vision. The collision jerked his head backward, leaving his ears buzzing fiercely.

"Where do you two think you’re going."

The voice belonged to the small girl who stood composed at the top of the stairs.

Damon’s scalp prickled sharply.

You two.

She had detected Ashcroft within him.

"Hmph. Don’t act so shocked. If a metaverse creature couldn’t detect a metaphysical being, it’d be quite pathetic," Ashcroft remarked in his mind.

Naturally.

Ittorath embodied a nightmare.

Nightmares lacked physical form.

Damon rose gradually, smearing the blood from his nose using the back of his hand.

"How did you get here, Ittorath?" he questioned, keeping his tone steady even as fury simmered beneath. This was the being that had cursed him before. The one that condemned him to a life where mere survival turned into torment.

Ittorath’s face stayed serene, almost innocently puzzled, like a kid baffled by grown-up anger.

"What are you talking about... Getting here was simple. This Nexus bears the mark of a god’s power, the very nightmare from which I originated."

She explained it casually, as if addressing mere bugs.

"Stall her for me. I’ve got a strategy," Ashcroft’s voice resounded in Damon’s head.

Damon kept his gaze fixed on Ittorath, hunting for any vulnerability. Adopting this shape surely carried a drawback. It must.

"Exactly what I was considering," Ashcroft chimed in.

Damon breathed out steadily through his nostrils and, unusually, decided to rely on him.

"Why did you block our path?" Damon inquired, cocking his head a bit. "You know a Demon Lord might burst through that gate anytime. I don’t think you can handle a Seventh Class foe in your current state."

Ittorath snorted and set her small hands on her hips.

"True, this form holds restricted strength. That’s why I enlisted aid from allies. Anyway, I’m claiming something from you."

Before Damon could respond—

Ittorath disappeared.

Time appeared to drag.

Damon lifted his arm to attack, yet she was already upon him. A devastating blow hammered his chest and ripped outward.

Pain didn’t register immediately.

Only the shock registered as his form flew back into the wall. Then agony surged in a rush. He hacked up blood filling his mouth while sliding down the stone.

He lifted his gaze with effort.

Ittorath stood poised, clutching two tiny vials.

One contained a dark red-black energy throbbing like a heartbeat.

The other radiated a gentle silver-gold glow.

Damon looked down at his body.

His ribs were crushed inward. His chest felt empty. Blood clogged his throat.

"I understand..." Ashcroft murmured deliberately. "She targeted your demonic energy and divine energy. But for what purpose?"

"What... do you plan to do..." Damon rasped, hauling himself up while clutching his mangled chest.

Ittorath flicked her hand, making the vials disappear.

"I just aim to release certain friends. For that, a ritual is required. Magic far beyond you lower-realm beings."

She raised her hand leisurely.

The ceiling exploded apart.

Massive stones like wagons detached and plummeted toward Damon. The floor under him split and crumbled simultaneously.

And to worsen it—

Ittorath spun and obliterated the Nexus that brought her.

Shards burst out as the space beyond warped into a budding black hole.

"Quick, dodge, dodge!" Ashcroft shouted.

Gravity struck like a divine grip.

Even from afar, objects nearing it elongated into threads and vanished into the horizon.

Damon yelled while shoving away, triggering [5x] and pushing his limits. His velocity surged as he scraped forward against the relentless tug.

He escaped—

Then an entity materialized in the air behind him.

"Don’t glance at it!" Ashcroft bellowed.

Too late.

Damon had glimpsed it.

His eyes widened and stuck.

His form halted in place.

His thoughts drowned in an immense terror without shape or figure, just the knowledge that it was forbidden to behold.

He couldn’t avert his gaze.

He couldn’t stir.

He could merely observe death closing in.

Suddenly—

Something pierced his shoulders sharply.

Agony ripped through as blood spurted from the gashes.

His body jerked sideways with force.

He slammed into a wall as somebody seized him and hauled him from the suction.

"What are you doing, let’s go!" Wendy shrieked, yanking his arm with frantic strength.

Damon froze in shock for an instant. Wendy’s lips parted, yet not a word reached his ears. The terrifying spectacle he’d just seen hadn’t yet pierced his mind. It echoed within him like a voiceless howl.

His body only stirred when his hands slammed against the firm stone.

He lurched ahead, seized the wall, and heaved up his guts savagely. His shoulders jerked with every retch. Eyes bloodied as his stomach contents splattered the ground.

Wendy shot him a look, then drew near and soothed his back with gentle circles.

He sucked in a ragged breath.

"Thanks."

His legs gave out, sending him crashing to the floor. Shaking fingers raked back his hair. Battle clamor swelled around them. Blades rang. Rocks shattered. Far cries bounced through the temple halls. Seras and Paimon kept clashing with the expedition team and the priestess, but desperation now ruled the fray.

"We have to find Ittorath," Ashcroft urged within Damon’s head.

"What. Shut up. You didn’t do anything. I almost died," Damon barked out loud, fury surging with the final sour taste.

"Erm... I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. I was actually looking all over for you," Wendy said awkwardly.

Damon eyed her and shook his head.

"Not you. I was talking to somebody else."

She moved in and laid her hand on his brow, checking for fever from sheer human instinct, ensuring no delirium gripped him.

"I’m not sick," Damon snapped, annoyance rising despite knowing her concern.

"Could’ve fooled me," she shot back after verifying he was okay.

Damon hauled himself upright.

"Ittorath is here. And if I’m not wrong, he is here for the Ouroboros Coil."

Wendy’s brow furrowed. "Isn’t that only useful to demons? He is not a demon, right? Why is that thing even here?"

Damon shook his head. That was precisely what he needed to grasp.

"Hey, you bastard. What do you know about him being here? You have been all around the world."

Ashcroft let out a sigh. No time for bickering.

"He is probably looking for a way to tamper with the Boundary Maker authority."

"Boundary Maker," Damon murmured. He’d encountered such titles before. Dream Maker. Names ending in Maker.

"Is that an authority of the Unknown God?" Damon asked.

"Yes. Gods can grant their authority to their followers. Mugu was a prophet of the Unknown God. You could say he agreed with that god on everything, so the Unknown God was not stingy with power. Only chumps like us get a system. Mugu received something far greater," Ashcroft said with open mockery as Damon dashed through the war-ravaged temple with Wendy right on his heels.

"What do you mean?" Damon asked.

"Mugu had a falling out with the outsiders. There was a conflict of interest. He used that authority to seal them away, but he supposedly perished afterward. The fledgling demon race he created was left for a future of suffering until I came along," Ashcroft said with a low chuckle.

"When I was born into this world, this continent was a wasteland. Demon kin were hunted by other demon types and by humans. I made the difference. I united the demon races. I built on the foundation he created. This temple was one of them. Of course, I took credit for most of it."

Ashcroft paused.

"The more I learned, the more I realized there was no nobility in my actions. I was not a savior. I was a tool leading toward the Unknown God’s design."

"The Ouroboros Coil was part of that design. It contains a fragment of the Unknown God’s authority, the Karma Maker. That is what allowed demon lords to pass power from one generation to another. They inherited the fate of previous demon lords."

"So he can control fate?" Damon asked.

"No. Cause and effect. Fate and everything between. More importantly, only an authority can cancel out another authority."

Ashcroft went silent briefly before resuming.

"I know some things, but my knowledge cannot compare to those who have seen farther horizons. There could be more."

"I get it," Damon said as he veered sharply, scaled a shattered pillar, then soared down and burst through the ceiling into a chamber below.

"If he succeeds, this is bad for us, right?"

Damon lifted his gaze.

Ittorath loomed before him.

Behind the entity lay an item shaped like a dragon devouring its own tail.