My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 922 - 923: The Shovel To The Past

The academy lay in silence.

Normally alive with constant hustle, it now stood deserted, except for groups of first-year students wandering the corridors in tight bunches.

Emerging from the War Halls, Luna checked her academy ranking on her pager. A grimace crossed her face involuntarily.

She held the top spot.

Even worse, she hadn't truly deserved it.

Truth be told, her older brother had basically intimidated the entire group during the entrance exam, handing Luna the number one position with barely any work on her part.

The professors simply overlooked it, particularly following the aptitude test.

Luna Grey shone as a magical genius. Her mana reserves topped her year's charts, along with her total potential. Without her monstrous brother shattering the limits first, her status would shine even brighter.

With every stride along the hallway, she sensed the weight of stares fixed upon her.

"That's her, right... the sister..."

Naturally, that's how they referred to her.

The sister.

She served as the younger sibling to the notorious Damon Grey.

Luna had poked around a bit, confirming that her brother faced tough times upon his initial arrival at the academy.

Why, one might wonder?

He refused to bow to anybody.

He sparked more brawls than any figure in the academy's documented past.

His blood had stained almost every passage, and the healers recognized him as the haughty, icy-featured youth who wouldn't yield.

Luna pictured it without effort.

That's how he always operated.

Still, Damon flipped the script, surging in strength quicker than all others. Paired with his merciless nature, he quickly turned into a source of dread for the student body.

He torched the Evil Forest testing ground.

He bested Rashi Ignath.

He came back from Lysithara and supposedly crushed Ashcroft.

Damon gleamed as a legend among the young of the goddess races. His fame echoed across every land for those his age, rivaling even Seras Blade's renown.

Pride mingled with irritation in Luna's heart.

Why, you wonder?

She lacked companions.

Nobody risked befriending Damon Grey's little sister, fearing his wild rage might lead to a thrashing.

Or something far graver.

Most pupils avoided chatting with her. After all, she was the cherished granddaughter of the Grand Duke too.

Her grandfather posed yet another headache.

He matched her brother's intensity.

He didn't just scare students. He vowed to demolish the academy should any harm befall her.

The whole affair had sparked quite the uproar.

"That cursed old fool and that thug Damon..."

Luna could have conjured sharper barbs, but she held her tongue.

This was her beloved brother, after all.

She'd spare the cruder terms.

Luna had matured amid Valtheron's rough streets. It'd be odd if she hadn't absorbed the foul speech from the back lanes and slums.

A typical slur might go like ***** and shove it **** dirty ***** ****** ***** ***** mother****** ***** ***er ****

She shook her head with resolve.

Her mother would weep if she learned the extent of Luna's street savvy.

Luna plodded onward to the library.

Stepping within, she navigated the hushed aisles and ducked into a spacious concealed chamber marked by a striking placard on its entrance.

The sharp odor of ink and aged paper hit her, drawing a slight flinch.

Luna let out a sigh while surveying the space.

A weary-faced young lady sifted through piles of documents. She had affixed every scrap she could to a bulletin. Faded news sheets. Study papers. Academy inquiry logs. Volumes on beasts and their anatomy.

The surfaces were almost entirely plastered.

Luna shook her head in dismay.

"Iris, please tell me you managed some rest..." she muttered, planting her hands on her hips.

"Sleep? I don’t need sleep. I need answers." The girl with pink locks tugged at her messy strands to fend off drowsiness, her eyes ringed by profound dark circles. Her complexion ghostly, she gulped down her final recovery elixir without pause.

Luna rolled her eyes and stepped completely inside, shutting the door after her.

"How many days have you holed up here? You need a wash and a dose of reality..."

Iris brushed her off, her expression stern as she inhaled deeply via her nostrils.

"I know, I know. I'm not mistaken. Just hear me out—you remember what Damon always said... we dwell in a realm of magic where anything can happen... trust your gut, it's what separates survival from doom."

Iris pressed her case, invoking Damon's name on purpose, aware Luna wouldn't resist if it tied to her brother.

Luna sighed once more.

It all kicked off not long after their academy arrival. During an orientation stroll, a second-year pupil revealed a spot where a certain Marcus Fayjoy had supposedly performed a dark ceremony.

That's when the claw scratches appeared.

And Iris fixated hard.

"Look, just look at this..." She jabbed at a snapshot captured by a enchanted device. Iris prodded it insistently, urging Luna to concentrate.

"These match the claw marks from where my father was supposedly slain—his body vanished, just like in the academy incidents."

She faced Luna with a frantic look, her eyes bulging with urgency.

Luna nodded deliberately.

"Yes, and Lilith probed all those academy events—they tied back to Marcus Fayjoy and his banned sorcery. Your father's involved a beast, which reports claimed was slain too."

Luna laid out the details calmly.

Iris shook her head, flipping a manual to a section showing a creature's talon pattern.

"This is the beast they blamed for my father's death, but the scratches don't align... see? I sense it's all intertwined somehow. I just... I just feel it..."

Her tone wavered a touch.

She clasped Luna's shoulder, squeezing hard.

"Please, I only need you to trust me... please..."

Luna scanned the chamber.

Iris had labored to collect those academy dossiers, resorting to any tactic required.

With Lilith occupied elsewhere and the demon war looming, they'd leveraged her role as Student Council President to unlock sealed archives.

That access should've proven tough for freshmen.

Or outright unfeasible.

They merely mentioned Damon Grey.

No one blocking them craved that kind of hassle.

Thus, they unlocked this chamber and its trove of data.

Luna breathed a heavy sigh.

She bent to grab a dossier.

"This document suggests Marcus Fayjoy might still live. If we track him down and uncover his traces, we could unravel the truth behind your father's demise..."

Iris's eyes flared wide in an instant.

She lunged ahead, wrapping Luna in a fierce embrace.

"Luna, I love you! I love you!" she yelped with glee, almost toppling a heap of files.

Luna lifted a palm to temper her zeal.

"First, let's aim for that initial lesson..."

The pair of girls delved into a history they ought never to have stirred.

Marcus wouldn't aid them.

For he, like Iris's father, had perished long before.

And his corpse had been devoured ages ago by Damon’s ravenous shadow.