My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 1196 - 1197: Other World

Abellona watched as questions were asked, and she roughly had a clear picture of the timeline. It was, in fact, a few years ago, and she had been in the area, except she wasn’t on the Golden Roads. She was in the uncharted areas.

That was when she first met Damon. Abellona couldn’t help but smile thinking about that. How could she have known that their meeting would lead to this? She was five billion in debt, but she couldn’t help but smile.

The old man gave them the details he knew, and they asked about the caravans as best they could. Eventually, they decided to go to another city along the route.

Abellona considered the carriage too stiff. Even though it had air-conditioning magic, apparently she wanted some fresh air and couldn’t stand the moving carriage.

So they left it there. She spread her wings and soared into the sky, while Emilia and Terra sighed before turning into streaks of light that chased after her.

Flight was not difficult for them with their power. However, it was safer if they didn’t.

Emilia had been distracted, but even she started to piece some things together. She flew toward Abellona and asked over the howling wind.

"Princess, are you okay?"

Abellona, who had just pulled out a sour fruit from her storage ring, nodded and popped it into her mouth.

"I am fine. Is something the problem?"

Emilia took a deep breath as the world blurred around them.

"Actually, something is, but I’m sure you are aware of that."

Abellona suspected she was trying to insinuate something, but she didn’t know what.

"If you have something to say, just say it," she said impatiently.

"No, nothing at all. Let’s stop by the next city over. You should really see an institute about your condition. They might have a proper diagnosis."

Abellona nodded, then turned into a streak of red, flying ahead of Emilia, who was much weaker than her.

It wasn’t long before they reached the next city. They skipped over the smaller towns and only stopped at a few for some questions, but when they reached the largest city in the area, they stopped so Abellona could visit a proper healing institute.

This was in the territory of House Ravenscroft, but Emilia wanted to keep their presence hidden.

The moment they entered, they met a physician, and Abellona had several tests run on her. She was significantly powerful, so she had to intentionally lower her body’s resistance before they could even perform some of the tests.

After a while, she was called back into a small office where a middle-aged woman sat with several papers in front of her. She handed them over to Abellona with a faint smile on her face.

When Abellona looked at them, everything was normal until her eyes stopped on one section.

"Oh..."

She suddenly felt as if the world was spinning.

---

The mist made Damon uncomfortable, far more so than before. As they descended down the mountain, he felt the barrier around the Anarchy Mountains beginning to shift and change. Occasionally, a few runes made of Luna’s magic flashed into existence before disappearing again.

Whatever type of magic Sylvia had used, he did not understand it whatsoever. Whatever it was, he knew it would be important for finding the Pillar of Conflict and allowing his body to have access to the mountains.

That said, his main focus was on whatever it was that dwelled within the mist. He was sure he had not killed it. The mist creature had a bug at its core, which meant it was more than one core, and from what he could guess, he figured it must have been a swarm. How else could it change its rank and move around the mountain freely?

A few days had passed since he found Ric and Ranar, and one thing he had taught them since coming to this mountain was battle and killing their enemies. Of course, none of these enemies were human, so it wasn’t that hard, but some of them looked human enough.

Like the horde of undead they found in a cave.

Then again, Damon had made them take a lot of detours to avoid dangerous areas. One of those dangerous areas would be the ancient channels. He had no idea what they were, but he was sure these channels snaked all around the mountain and were very old.

That was not good, because old meant dangerous. He also sensed strange laws and spatial currents there, as if they were forbidden zones that should not be entered.

He was sure if anyone under the Fifth Class entered, they would not come out alive. Those in the Sixth would barely make it out at all even if they did, and those in the Seventh Class were also bound to have some difficulties.

The more he stayed here, the more he realized everyone was underestimating these mountains. Everyone was too focused on the Anarchy City and not on what was truly deadly here.

He could almost believe this place was more dangerous than the Evil Forest. There was a world beneath here. He could feel it. Maybe an underground world or a lesser dungeon.

The more Damon thought about it, the more shaken he became. This world had two Minor Gods, Aetherus and Lazarak, but why was the world only called the World of Aetherus and not the World of Lazarak?

Lazarak had told Damon he was created first, so shouldn’t the world have been his flesh and body? Why was it Aetherus? Lazarak seemed to suggest the world was here before him.

Damon suddenly had a theory.

"What if the Pillar isn’t even in our world? What if it’s in the world hidden beneath it, the World of Lazarak?"

It was just a senseless theory. He shook his head. He was getting carried away.

It could just be a world dungeon created by one of the Lesser Gods. Why would Lazarak not know if he had his own world?

He paused again.

What if both worlds were symbiotic? Lazarak and Aetherus were brothers. What if, as long as one of them was alive, both worlds could continue?

It would make sense. The Goddess would just hide the Pillar in the World of Lazarak since Lazarak was a God of Peace.

"His peace would counter the Pillar of Conflict."

Doom had said it herself. Lazarak fulfilled his purpose. He was not a failure like he thought. He had fulfilled the exact function she created him for.

He was losing his mind. He wanted to know. He had a small urge to rush into the ancient channels and see for himself.

Unknown could descend into the World of Aetherus because there was life here, a body to possess, and people capable of calling on him. But in the World of Lazarak, those conditions couldn’t be met, so he couldn’t just dive in and take the Pillar.

Then there were the murals Matia had mentioned, a clue about the Anarchy Mountains.

"Why would the Goddess barricade a whole area of the world and limit the rank of who got here?"

The barrier was not magic. Certainly, it was not a mana anomaly. It was a natural law.

Damon was onto something. He had no proof, but he was onto something.

"Daddy, why are you spacing out? We have incoming."

Ranar’s voice broke him out of his reverie. He blinked and noticed a horde of monsters rushing toward them.

"Alright, battle formation. They’re all yours. Command of the shadow drones is yours. Try your best to protect me, okay?"

"Wait, what? Protect you?" Ric asked in shock. "We’re the children! You should be protecting us!"

Damon shrugged, still in that woman’s body. Her soul was occasionally fighting back for control, but he was still overwhelming her.

"Good luck."

He closed his eyes and placed his hand behind his back to show he was not getting into the fight.

Damon looked down the side of the mountain where he was. There was another ancient channel here. All he had to do was go down and then follow the stream of chaotic universal law.

It was hubris to think he knew everything. What if he didn’t?

He could feel something, as if it was familiar somehow. The sounds of battle and the clash of steel, the roars of monsters and the sizzle of Ranar’s magic destroying the horde did not distract him.

A monster opened its maw to devour the absent-minded Damon, but he merely stepped out of the way and kicked it into the chasm below.

He narrowed his eyes as something impaled and killed it. He saw something move, and that was when his eyes widened.

"Oh."

Now he remembered. He remembered, of course he did. These ancient passages... he recalled being in one. It was years ago, and he had been half mad.

"Lysithara. The Abyss Below Lysithara. It was like that too. Then was the objective of its creation to reach the world below?"

"This... if my theory is right, then the outsiders already knew where the Pillar would be. What they didn’t know was how to get there."

"Lysithara..."