My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 1249 - 1250: Fate [10]

Damon split himself in two during the chaos, pouring all of his Shadow Energy into creating a Shadow Clone with eight percent of his power.

The large snowstorm created by Matia provided the perfect cover for him. One moment, he was fighting Aetherus, and the next, a figure stepped out of the snow.

And the first thing Damon did with his Shadow Clone was kick his own body into the air.

The impact sent him flying while creating the impression that he had been attacked by an enemy. He doubled down on the deception, immediately using his Airwalk skill and stepping on the air, sending himself flying after his Divine Spark.

While on the ground, Aetherus glanced toward the figure that had appeared, and his expression suddenly grew cold.

"Amon."

When he heard those words, Damon realized that while Aetherus had discovered that he was a demon, he did not know that he and Amon were one and the same. As far as Aetherus was concerned, Amon had simply appeared out of nowhere, another demon throwing himself into the battle.

Damon smiled.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend. You shall fall today, false god."

"What can I expect? Two demons colluding with each other."

Just as Aetherus said that, Luna and Iris emerged from the rubble, still surrounded by the barrier Sylvia had created. When Iris saw him, her expression immediately contorted, the sight of the man who had destroyed her life standing before her once again bringing all those buried emotions to the surface.

"Amon."

Damon did not look at her. He feared that he did not have the will to see the expression she was wearing. What he did know was that he had to seal Aetherus away forever.

[Grave of the Unwelcome]

[Description]

The True Demon Jade Heaven fashioned a universe within a jade bottle. Within it stood the Pillar of Ascension, an endless path that lured countless cultivators onward, forever chasing a summit they would never reach.

Those cast into his domain are given neither death nor freedom, only the eternity of an impossible climb.

[Effect:]

Seals the target within a never-ending prison, condemning them to wander an endless world in pursuit of an unreachable end.

The stronger the captive, the greater the power required to maintain the seal.

[Type:]

Sealing Skill

[Cooldown:]

Fall three ranks.

The number of ranks Damon would fall depended on the strength of his target. If he sealed Aetherus in his current state, the burden of maintaining the seal would be enormous, and he would fall by one rank. But if he could reach the Seventh Class before using the skill, the burden would be greatly reduced, perhaps even allowing him to avoid falling a rank altogether.

Damon rushed toward Aetherus, and the sounds of their battle erupted across the battlefield, creating a maelstrom of destruction. Their movements became nothing more than flashes amid the snow and shattered land, but it was evident to anyone capable of keeping up with them that Damon, or rather Amon, was losing.

Yet that was fine.

He did not need to win.

He only needed to buy enough time.

High above the battlefield, Damon finally reached for his Divine Spark. His fingers closed around the golden light, and for a brief moment, he felt that familiar connection again. He had it. He had finally caught it.

But before he could pull it away, a huge landmass smashed into him from the side, sending him flying out of the sky.

Damon bounced through the air like a ball, crashing into the ground hard enough to leave several craters in his wake. Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth as his body continued tumbling until something suddenly caught him, or rather, someone did.

He looked up to find familiar golden hair and firm hands holding him steady, a cold face above him that seemed less like a human face and more like a ruthless sun.

"Uncle," he whispered before coughing slightly. "Nice catch."

"Hmm."

He was released, and Damon immediately steadied himself as the figure looked forward.

Aetherus had risen from the battlefield.

His form no longer looked human.

He resembled the continent itself, as though the entire landmass had been given a body and decided to kill everything standing upon it. It was like looking at a map of the world if the map itself was trying to kill you.

Of course, this was Aetherus.

His aura had reached the very topmost layer of the world, spreading through the heavens with such overwhelming pressure that even the snowstorm covering the battlefield was forcibly dispersed.

The snow vanished.

What remained was a vast field of destruction.

The entire battlefield had been projected to millions of people across the world, though they had been unable to see much when the battle first began because of the snowstorm and the overwhelming destruction. Now, however, the snow had been dispersed, and every eye turned toward the figure standing at the center of the ruined battlefield.

Aetherus stood alone.

The Temple’s upper echelon was either dead or heavily injured. The High Templar himself was covered in blood, his breathing ragged as he looked across the battlefield and finally understood the truth.

"The era of the Temple has come to an end."

Looking at the destruction around him, there was nothing left for them. Even if they somehow won this battle, they had lost everything that had made the Temple what it was.

"We surrender!" he called, his voice booming across the battlefield.

Aetherus’ overwhelming power should have given him hope.

Instead, it only made him despair.

"You surrender?"

Aetherus’ voice rolled through the air like thunder.

"Did I give you permission to surrender?"

The High Templar’s body trembled slightly, but he forced himself to remain calm. He looked toward the being who stood above them all and spoke with the resignation of a man who had already accepted the end.

"Lord Aetherus, it is over. If we continue to fight, even if we win, how will we defeat the Outsiders? Many more of us will die. We are outnumbered and outmatched. Even a God cannot go against the whole world."

Aetherus slowly raised his hand toward the Divine Spark that had now fused with the sky.

"One God can."

His eyes narrowed.

"But what about many?"

The light suddenly began to diffuse.

Damon’s expression changed.

He felt his Divine Spark losing energy.

All across the sky, the golden light spread outward, filling the heavens before condensing into a massive lance of pure divine power. Aetherus reached out and grabbed the weapon, his fingers closing around the radiant shaft before he slowly turned it toward himself.

The point of the lance faced his chest.

More specifically, it faced the portion of his body that had become the Sky Continent, the place where the dark and bright shrill of the Abyss existed, the very thing he had not dared to touch before.

"Wait."

Damon’s expression changed.

"Don’t do something so stupid."

He had no idea what would happen if Aetherus touched the Abyss, but something about the scene filled him with unease.

Amon, standing on the ground, immediately rushed toward him, teleporting through the battlefield and reaching for the Lance of Golden Light.

But it was not only him.

Everyone attacked.

Even the Temple.

No one knew why.

Perhaps they did not understand what Aetherus intended to do, but no one was stupid enough to allow anyone to touch the Abyss without a reason.

Aetherus pushed the lance into his own chest.

The weapon pierced his body and struck the Abyss.

And then...

Nothing happened.

Nothing at all.

For a moment, the entire battlefield seemed to freeze.

The lance remained buried within Aetherus, yet the Abyss did not react. It was as though the weapon had no effect whatsoever.

Damon released a breath he had not realized he was holding.

Then Sylvia’s eyes suddenly glowed.

A white moonlight descended from the Lance of Golden Light.

It pierced directly into the Abyss.

Blood dripped from Sylvia’s eyes and ran down her face as her body trembled beneath the strain.

Her gaze remained fixed on the sky.

"And so it begins."

Far away, within the Sky Continent, a radiant lance slowly moved toward the Abyss.