Previously on My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger...
The goddess races prepare for an invasion with advanced weaponry and fortified defenses. Damon works to set a trap for Ashergon, a powerful dragon, and activates his Domain of Shadows as Ashergon arrives, altering the environment.
Flames consumed the world. Damon struggled to draw breath, unable to see the sun, only the colossal wings of Ashergon unfurling across the heavens, each beat showering the land with fire. The dragon’s voice boomed like thunder, its every movement crushing the spirit of mortals, reducing them to trembling mice beneath its immense shadow.
Indeed, they were but mice before Ashergon's might.
None could withstand the sheer terror of witnessing a great dragon.
Then, its maw gaped open.
Fire cascaded downwards, momentarily banishing the shadows Damon had conjured and illuminating the world. His domain was violently dispelled, and the blinding white glare of the dragon fire made it appear as if the sun itself had plummeted from the sky.
But it was not the sun.
It was dragonfire.
Runes blazed to life across the battlefield as anti-dragon ballistas unleashed a volley of projectiles that filled the sky. With a single, powerful flap of Ashergon’s wings, a violent gust of wind sent Damon hurtling through the air. From the command center, several formidable figures launched themselves skyward, intent on confronting the dragon directly.
Damon twisted mid-flight, fighting to stabilize himself before impact as immense astral winds buffeted him. Below, the earth cracked and groaned under the assault of winds and spatial distortions. Weaker combatants were instantly annihilated, their forms dissolving into crimson mist.
The fortunate perished swiftly.
Those who had reached the seventh class ascended, cleaving through the sky in a desperate attempt to repel the beast.
Damon paid them no mind.
His focus was solely on one thing.
"Evangeline!" he bellowed into the ash-choked air.
He staggered forward through the swirling smoke and falling debris.
"Leona! Where are you!"
He wasn't certain if the runes protecting them from the Whispering Forest still held after that devastating wave of fire, but his overriding concern prevented further thought.
Dashing through the ash, his eyes scanned the chaos with desperate urgency, knowing his intricate plan would be significantly harder to execute amidst this blinding haze.
Suddenly, a brilliant flash of light emanated from where the earth had been churned up.
"I'm over here!" Evangeline's voice pierced the pandemonium.
Damon pivoted sharply and sprinted towards the sound.
Evangeline stood beside a beast-kin girl, streaks of lightning crackling across her armor.
Miraculously, they were both alive.
Injured, yes, but alive.
Evangeline bore a head wound that, despite her healing ability, was knitting itself back together with agonizing slowness, a testament to its severity.
He halted before them, momentarily bending forward with hands on knees to catch his breath, before looking up towards the sky.
"Ashergon is here. I have devised a plan to capture him alive. No, more than that, I have a method to seal him away."
Evangeline nodded, her expression grave.
"How can we assist?"
Damon’s gaze fell upon Leona.
She sighed.
"The fact that you even have to ask stings. I'm just disappointed we won't get to feast on the dragon afterwards."
Damon managed a chuckle amidst the surrounding destruction, clenching his fist.
"Alright. Let's do this. The plan is..."
...
The thick haze from Ashergon’s fiery breath mingled with the forest smoke, causing a steady downpour of ash. Visibility plummeted even further. Tracking Ashergon’s immense shadow on the ground became nearly impossible through the oppressive haze.
And Damon desperately needed that shadow.
His objective was to lure Ashergon away from the ash-laden sky and into a region where the forest remained intact and bathed in light.
But the question gnawed at him: how could he achieve this without meeting a swift demise?
He hadn't yet devised the answer.
He glanced upwards at the sky, which was being torn asunder like fragile paper as the seventh-class cultivators were driven back, time and again.
"How can I lure him out?" he muttered to himself.
He certainly wasn't about to charge headlong into certain death. The aerial battle raged with such ferocity that even with its colossal size, the dragon moved at hypersonic velocities.
"I know a way you can lure him out," Ashcroft's voice echoed with a disquieting self-assurance.
"Why are you speaking like that?" Damon shot back mentally.
"Calm yourself, fool. Do you not comprehend that there exists a method to draw the dragon directly towards you?"
A brief silence followed.
"A long time ago, I attempted to make Ashergon my mount. He must obviously still harbor a grudge from that encounter."
Damon blinked slowly, ashfall dusting his surroundings.
"Wait. Are you suggesting I provoke the dragon, ensuring he becomes fixated solely on me?"
"Precisely," Ashcroft replied curtly.
Damon let out a breath.
"Hmm. I understand. But how am I expected to survive this?"
"That remains to be seen. Perhaps you will, perhaps you won't."
Damon sighed.
Then, with a decisive step, he teleported several kilometers away.
He reappeared on a vantage point overlooking the battlefield, where the dragon was clearly visible for miles around.
Damon positioned himself atop a colossal tree, hundreds of meters above the ground, the wind whipping around him.
"This had better work," he grumbled.
Raising his hand towards Ashergon, he initiated the ability.
[Mind Dominate]
Damon's overbearing will slashed through the atmosphere like an unseen blade as he extended his reach toward the dragon's mind.
The instant his will grazed Ashergon’s consciousness, incandescent flames ignited, incinerating the connection.
However, Ashergon was aware of him.
The dragon halted its mid-battle fury and slowly pivoted its massive head towards Damon's location.
Damon experienced the sensation of a colossal mountain descending upon his chest. His spirit quaked, teetering on the brink of utter annihilation, yet his countenance remained impassive and unreadable.
Ashergon had once been confronted by Ashcroft when the demon lord was alive and breathing. He had suffered defeat and was compelled to make a hasty escape.
Damon was fully convinced the dragon harbored the lingering sting of that humiliation.
Should he employ Demon Dominate at this juncture, Ashergon would disregard all others, focusing his entire being solely upon Damon.
The dragon's stare was an object of profound terror.
The very air thickened with the scent of dread.
Then, Ashergon's immense maw began to unfurl slowly.
His entire colossal form shuddered. The scales upon his body stood on end.
Damon could discern the truth.
The beast was enraged.
Damon withdrew a tome bound in black.
The Book of Shadows.
He braced himself, aligning his resolve to enact his strategy.
Then, an unforeseen event transpired.
With every ounce of his power, Ashergon suddenly wheeled about.
And bolted.
His flight was not born of unbridled rage.
His flight stemmed from sheer terror.
When the dragon’s ancient eyes had fixed upon Damon, all that surfaced were the echoes of the demon who had once lorded over its very head.
That primordial fear overwhelmed every other sensation.
The magnificent dragon made no move to engage in combat.
Damon’s jaw slackened slightly as Ashergon’s roaring retreat filled the air.
"Be far from me, you wicked fiend!"
An extended period of absolute quietude ensued.
Followed by a palpable sense of bewilderment.
Damon’s inquiry formed within his thoughts, quiet and hesitant.
"Ahem… what precisely did you do to him, Ashcroft?"
