My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 868 - 869: A Man Who Must Leave

Damon would eventually discover the true meaning behind her claim of being forced to act.

Lilith Astranova was never a woman to surrender. Her four previous losses to him weren't due to a lack of power to restrain him. Rather, it was because such a path would have been heartless, robbing Damon of his own agency and the right to decide his fate.

But now, she had been pushed across that threshold.

If he wished to despise her for it, let him.

Hatred was a privilege only the living possessed.

During those first four encounters, she truly believed she could sway his convictions. She felt like a naive woman convinced she could redeem a man who had already descended too far into the abyss. With enough time, perhaps she could have succeeded, but he was refusing to grant her that luxury.

A sharp pang struck her heart. His defiance didn't matter to her. Neither did his pride or those lofty, grand ideals he clung to.

Dammit, she simply wanted him to remain alive.

As long as he drew breath until the very end.

Then again, she wondered about the distinction between merely surviving and actually living.

Damon had never truly grasped how to live; his existence had always been a struggle for survival. From the humble village of his birth to the gritty slums of Valtheron, and eventually the prestigious academy halls. No matter where he traveled, it seemed as though the world itself conspired to end him.

The cruelty lay in the fact that she understood his soul perfectly.

Every word he spoke translated into a single, devastating truth.

I am sorry for the pain I cause you, but I will not stop.

That was the reality of his apology.

The sound of soft footsteps resonated behind her.

Lilith turned around, her expression turning frigid and piercing.

"Sylvia," she whispered.

The white-haired elf offered a faint, knowing smile.

"Hmmm. I always suspected I would be the one to undermine you. I never imagined you would sabotage yourself. It was an impressive performance, by the way."

Lilith folded her arms, her own smile appearing thin and sharp.

"I wouldn't be so pleased if I were in your shoes. We are proceeding with Plan B."

Sylvia winced, her eyes fluttering shut for a brief moment.

"I had hoped we could avoid such a tasteless alternative."

Lilith’s stare remained unwavering.

"Well, things have reached this point, haven't they? There is no other path left."

Sylvia’s face turned grim. This strategy was ruthless. While Damon would survive, what would follow? What kind of agony would he be forced to endure?

"Lilith," Sylvia spoke softly, "you understand that by doing this, death will dog his every step."

Lilith gritted her teeth.

"I am aware. But death pursues everyone. Is that not the essence of life? A perpetual chase by unseen hands until they finally seize us."

Sylvia bowed her head, her voice losing its strength.

"Yes, but for him, it will be relentless. Closer than for any other. A constant presence. It will warp his heart. I'm not sure if I can go through with it."

"I didn't want this either," Lilith interrupted. "But Damon made his choice. This was his decision. Now, we are making ours. We either stand by and let him perish, or we force him to live."

Sylvia wavered before taking a long, slow breath.

"If you do nothing, Sylvia, he's going to die. He will be gone forever, out of your reach. As for the fallout, I will take the blame. Even if his hatred for me never fades."

Sylvia bit her lip and let out a heavy sigh.

"Fine. We will carry the burden together. Half the blame. Half of Damon’s spite."

And with that, their plot was set in motion.

Damon was mistaken about one thing: he didn't hold all the cards.

In a world governed by magic, the impossible was within reach. It was a grave error to dismiss people who were willing to sacrifice everything for their objectives.

Perhaps he had become overconfident.

He had failed to realize how truly terrifying Lilith Astranova could be.

That single oversight would be his downfall.

When the chaos subsided, there would be no victors. Only the shattered would remain.

This world was no romantic fairytale. Connections were severed as easily as they were forged.

...

Damon remained oblivious to the scheme Lilith and Sylvia were brewing. He only felt the crushing weight of everything.

He knew Lilith was right in her logic, but being right didn't mean she was correct.

Life and death were the ultimate laws of nature. People deserved the freedom to end their journey when they decided it was time.

There was nothing left to keep him here.

"I just need to get that elixir."

He whispered to himself, gliding through the shadows and slipping past the patrolling chained knights with effortless skill. He made his way back toward the Grinding Gate.

The presence of the knights had thinned out significantly. Most had been redeployed, leaving only a skeleton crew behind.

"Seraph Null is getting ready for war," he muttered quietly.

As he entered the Grinding Gate district, the stench reached him instantly.

The smell of scorched wood, putrefaction, blood, and rot.

It had the foul odor of a desperate refugee camp.

Fresh corpses were strewn across the pathways. Starvation was the likely culprit. Wounded survivors stumbled about, their eyes hollow and burning with fever. Others were busy gathering the dead, piling them onto carts.

He caught fragments of their conversation regarding body disposal.

Those remains would eventually nourish his shadow maw.

This misery was the legacy of the chained knights' rampage. Even with the initial violence over, people continued to perish. The injured were failing. The healthy were falling ill. Famine was taking the rest.

And his shadows grew stronger from the newly deceased.

A great deal of this suffering was his own doing.

"How can a man who brings such devastation be worth saving?" he whispered. "You're wrong, Lilith."

His hand balled into a fist.

"Some men serve the world best by leaving it."

He was one of those men. He accepted that truth. If nothing else, he was honest about his own nature.

Damon slipped into a concealed corridor, navigating past the magical wards set by Lyn and Sithara. He moved further into the depths until he reached the inner chamber.

Luminous eyes blinked open in the gloom, tracking his movement.

He felt their stare linger on him.

Since he sensed no enmity, he kept walking.

The moment he fully entered the room, a young girl’s voice drifted through the air.

"You've returned."

Damon’s brow furrowed. He had been perfectly silent and hidden.

Sithara was looking straight at the patch of darkness where he was masked.

He stepped into the light, his body becoming solid once more.

"Hm. How were you able to detect me?"