My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 883 - 884: Curse
Previously on My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger...
Blood trickled down from the edge of his temple. Clearly, he was suffering from severe physical battering, done with ruthless force.
It seemed like those two were determined to finish him off before he could take his own life.
In one hand, he gripped a sword, while the other clutched a sphere of fire.
They weren't holding up much better either. Their hair hung in wild tangles, and Sylvia bore a nasty gash over her shoulder.
"You two aren't really committed to this. See, I'm not even mad that you're attempting to halt me. Actually, I find it completely understandable. But—"
He stopped as the fireball tightened, turning solid into ice crystals. A biting chill began to fill the atmosphere.
Frost dominated the surroundings.
"I can't allow that."
Ice surged ahead, twisting and encasing all it touched. Sharp snapping noises rang through the space.
Lilith flicked her wrist, shattering the ice with ease. She shot him a quick look.
"You're correct. One fact I had to face is this: you've improved, Damon. You're far more powerful now. If I battled you solo, I'd be defeated. Even in a straightforward fight, I'd still fall."
Damon scowled. He was aware of his increased strength, yet Lilith's expression stirred a deep sense of dread in him.
"That's precisely why I never intended to."
She looked toward Sylvia, who gazed intently at the Unknown God’s Journey book.
"If we block you now, how do we block you later?"
Her tone stayed steady.
"It would drain us completely. So we picked a different path."
Damon's warning instincts didn't trigger, but his gut yelled that disaster had struck.
The psychic image in his thoughts showed a strained face.
Right after Lilith spoke, Damon drew in a sharp breath.
"Oh damn."
His advance froze.
A mystical array expanded under his boots, covering the whole chamber. It shone with white light, inscribed with endless unfamiliar symbols. Right at its heart, under him, stood the mark of the Unknown God.
Damon shifted ahead.
The array's core followed his motion.
"Hmm. What's this? Some kind of incantation."
Sylvia at last broke her silence, shaking her head while biting her lip until blood welled up.
"No. It's a hex."
Damon arched his brows. No agony hit him. The magic neither scorched nor squeezed.
It was like the spell had fixed itself on him.
"A hex? Explain."
Sylvia realized he was stalling. They were too.
"It's a hex that wounds you. It plants a false urge to survive deep in your soul and compels you to act to stay alive. The hex lifts only when you grasp what true living means."
A dark truth dawned on Damon.
"So this amounts to a real execution order. No. Even harsher. It's a pass to endless torment."
His words came out even, detached.
"A hex hinges on its victim. Curse a plump guy to stay plump, and it's pointless. But force a fit warrior to gain weight, and it turns to agony."
His gaze rose.
"It's a hex only if it brings torment to its mark. And for me, this is an utterly vicious one."
He tilted his head back and chuckled, wild insanity pouring out.
"Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. You put in real effort to make me writhe. This is an outstanding hex."
Anger didn't touch him. Having discarded his crown, he was beyond reason.
This hex struck fatally at Damon due to his Deathless skill.
Skill: [Deathless]
The more you desire your own death, the more improbable events occur to prevent it. Death will come only when you least desire it.
The skill rendered Damon nearly unkillable. No matter his wild risks, destiny twisted to preserve him.
Because Damon craved death.
Should the hex activate, that craving would flip.
He'd crave survival.
And Deathless would cease its guard.
Instead, it would throw every unlikely deadly mishap straight at him.
Survival would turn into nightmare difficulty.
No. Far worse.
He might trip on a fruit peel, roll down stairs, smash into a servant with boiling acid, plunge in and endure, just for the structure to crumble, catch fire, flood, and drag him to the waves, where a massive beast gulps him down. After days in its gut, unable to break him, it spits him out into a chaotic mana rift.
He halted the grim vision.
The truth stood firm.
If this hex succeeded, existence would become a nonstop plot to end him.
Damon eyed Sylvia and offered a gentle smile.
"What did you sacrifice for this hex?"
She held his stare, grief carved into her features.
"If you're wondering about the spell's price, you'll be pleased to hear the Unknown God handed it over without charge."
Damon inclined his head gradually.
"Got it. He must desperately need me breathing for some scheme of his."
He faced Lilith.
"Yet he never hands out gifts without strings. Unleashing this had to demand a toll."
Lilith agreed with a nod as she and Sylvia started to empower the spell.
"It demands thousands of lives, which you supplied so handily through the chaos beyond. The essence of one deity. Plus half our remaining years."
She regarded him with icy detachment.
"Well done, Damon. Staying alive costs a fortune. Now you see the true value of your existence."
Damon acknowledged with a nod. He grasped the hex's framework.
It wasn't fully formed.
Seraph Null remained to perish.
No surprise the Unknown God had woven this horror. He required divine power as kindling.
Damon gave a subtle grin.
"That's fine and all. But the hex isn't done. If I end myself before you seal it, I triumph."
He blinked out, flashing toward the lance.
Lilith gestured, and the lance vanished, materializing in her hold.
It stood as the sole tool able to slay him.
He might attempt alternatives.
But Deathless would guarantee his endurance.