My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 853 - 854: Names And Memories

"Wow, you have really been through a lot."

Leona spoke in a low voice while staring at Damon.

He gave a slow nod of confirmation. Shaking her head, Leona let out a heavy sigh.

"It makes sense now why this city has suddenly felt so much more chaotic in the days since you arrived."

Damon’s eyes narrowed before he rolled them in annoyance.

"What are you insinuating, I’m a troublemaker."

She nodded firmly.

"Yes, yes, you are."

He pulled her into a brief hug before releasing her. Despite the banter, he was curious about how Leona had been living. Her home was quite nice and well-furnished, and the lingering aroma of delicious food filled the air—a positive sign. After all, Leona had always been something of a foodie.

Even if she usually preferred to make others do the cooking for her.

"So what’s your story?" Evangeline questioned.

"I mean, you’ve been here a while, right."

Leona gave a slow nod.

"Yeah, I guess I was first dropped off in one of those slave fighting coliseums. Some guys tried to get handsy with me, so I ripped off their arms. I met a familiar face there, so we decided to break free from the slave fighting arena and killed the guy who claimed to own us. It was a whole thing."

Damon nodded. That sounded exactly like the Leona he knew.

She crossed her arms, looking irritated.

"I mean, I didn’t mind being a slave or fighting all day. What I couldn’t stand was the fact that those bastards didn’t feed us. I was so pissed off I popped the head of that guy."

The sound of her teeth grinding together was audible.

"After we destroyed the place, the chained knights were sent in to enforce order, so I used rune magic to give them the slip. After that we fell into the pleasure district, and some guy tried to sell us for some meat. After that we destroyed the pleasure district."

As she folded her arms across her chest, her ascendant armor emitted a few sparks. Damon watched her with a completely flat expression.

"After that, we retreated back to the Grinding Gate."

She stopped talking for a moment, her face growing somber.

"We didn’t really know where to go. The women we freed from a life of commercial sex decided to follow us, though they didn’t really stop. It was sort of the only life they knew."

Her head lowered as she squeezed her cup tightly.

"I really didn’t have a plan or anything. I thought if we found you, you’d figure things out like you always did. Leading people is hard. You have to worry about everything, and when someone following you dies, it really hurts and makes you feel so helpless."

Reaching out, Damon patted her head and gently rubbed her beastkin ears.

"Don’t let it get to you. So what happened next."

Leona nodded, though she shook her head slowly at the same time.

"When we got to the Grinding Gate, the people there were surprisingly nice to us. They helped us get acclimated, gave us a place to stay, and well, we shared our food with them."

A soft smile touched her lips.

"We found a whole community of people who were really nice. They were kind and gave us free stuff."

Damon’s expression shifted to one of suspicion. To his knowledge, the Grinding Gate didn't harbor a single decent soul, let alone helpful ones. Yet Leona was standing there telling him the opposite.

The situation reminded him of something Carmen Vale had once mentioned.

If you only look for monsters in people, that is all you will ever find.

Leona possessed a pure heart and pure intentions. Perhaps that was why she only drew out the goodness in others. Even a piece of human scum like Damon was moved to be kind by her presence. That was the reason she was his best friend; she simply didn't give him any other choice.

Leona’s teeth gritted once more.

"Everyone was so kind to us, but now most of them are dead."

She bowed her head.

"Even the children."

Damon looked up, his features tightening.

"When did this happen? Did you get attacked."

Leona wiped away a tear and shook her head slowly.

"No. We moved to the inner city. I thought if we came here we could find you, and we kept searching. But just yesterday the chained knights slaughtered a few million people in the Grinding Gate."

Damon went still, his face as unreadable as calm water.

Yesterday.

Hadn't that been a component of his own plan? He was well aware the chained knights would react that way. In his mind, it was merely collateral damage.

She stared at the floor, looking dazed.

"Mrs. Slytack and her children, the old greedy butcher, One-Eyed Pete who’s always drunk, Grandpa Broker who only likes mana cores. All of them are dead."

Damon inhaled deeply as Leona recited the names of those who had assisted her. He had no desire to hear them.

To him, those lives were just statistics—small cogs in a grand design that would lead to total war.

It was a necessary evil.

"Leona, I’m sorry about your friends."

Damon reached out to her, softly stroking her hair.

She let out a sniff like a child finding solace, then began to weep, clinging to Damon and wailing loudly.

He continued to stroke her head gently.

"It’s okay. It’ll be alright."

Ultimately, Damon wondered which part actually bothered him more: the fact that millions had perished, or that his friend was suffering because of it.

The truth was obvious.

Following the Trial of Sin, Damon felt no need to shoulder guilt that wasn't his to carry. Everyone lived by their own choices. He hadn't been the one to kill those people; the chained knights had.

Had he slaughtered them with his own hands, he would have accepted the sin gladly.

If anything, his only fault was being an accomplice, which fell under the sin of sloth.

"Don’t worry, Leona. I promise their deaths will not be in vain. We’ll destroy this twisted city together."

She nodded, leaning her head against his chest while crying in silence.

Evangeline kept her eyes closed, staring out the window without uttering a word.

Damon was the only one who could truly reach Leona. If he couldn't offer her comfort, nobody could.

After a few minutes had passed, Damon wiped her tears away and offered a small smile.

"Hey, speaking of that, you said you met a familiar face. Who was it."

He wanted any excuse to shift the subject.

She looked up, her ears twitching slightly.

"Oh, it’s..."

Bang.

The door was thrown open violently.

Damon didn't even have to turn around for his skin to crawl. He recognized that specific gaze.

'I know that shadow.'

He spun around, his face filled with horror.

"It’s you."