My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 925 926: War Machine

Handling displacement flowers was truly aggravating. Though it was possible to utilize them for traveling between spots, the majority of destinations they led to were deadly snares. The forest had engineered these blooms to whisk away intruders to hazardous areas.

During the previous seven days in this place, the group had stayed stationary, unwilling to proceed. Seras desired for them to restore their energy before pushing onward.

Beyond that, she aimed to steel their minds for the Hanging Paths.

In recent days, she had dispatched scouts to scour for displacement flowers across a hundred-kilometer range.

A few had located the flowers. Others failed to come back. And some might have been better off staying away. Those were the unfortunate souls who returned twisted by corruption and riddled with decay, transformed into beasts.

Seras remained unfazed. Encountering corruption was inevitable sooner or later. She had harbored a hopeful wish that they could dodge it until arriving at the Demon Continent.

It proved psychologically taxing for the expedition team to slay comrades overtaken by corruption.

The Evil Forest served as a lethal domain, yet it was largely woodland. Among all death zones, records showed it with the smallest risk of corruption, around 73.6 percent likelihood. Objectively, that rate was deemed minimal.

Even if corruption rarely struck people, the explanation was straightforward.

Death would claim you well beforehand.

Seras turned a page in her stack of papers, her grip firming on the sheet as she pressed her lips together.

They had discovered a displacement flower capable of bridging multiple forest sections to arrive at the Hanging Paths.

The sole problem lay with the guardian of that route—a… dragon.

Dragons ranked as formidable beings boasting immense destructive force. Their hides were tough and resistant to harm. They possessed profound magical insight, potent healing powers, and sturdy spirits. Combine that with their fiendish intellect and sly nature, and it was evident why they topped all creatures.

No natural foes plagued dragons, according to Seras's knowledge.

That held true, although her understanding of dragons was quite limited.

What escaped her notice was the dragons' status as an age-old lineage.

The original dragons were the True Dragons, enduring and primordial. These beings emerged at the height of the ancient omniverse. They came into being near the era of the Old Gods, with merely four of them facing the multitude of Old Gods spawned from varied notions and principles. They were vastly outmatched. Though brimming with boundless promise, growth was denied them, capping their might at a level where they irked the Old Ones without the power to topple them.

This balance defined their state.

A deadlock.

As newer races arose, dragons had long existed, or at least those founding four. These progenitors spawned every other dragon, whether by design or accident. Every dragon owed its origin to them.

The dragons of this realm followed the same pattern. That might explain their exclusion from the goddess races' classification.

Seras was aware of dragons' whimsical and perilous temperament, particularly when one trespassed in their domain.

The most infamous dragon worldwide was Ashergon, bearing numerous titles that celebrated his terrifying splendor.

This beast had ravaged cities and nations, leaving the world to simply withstand the onslaught.

Seras slowly shook her head while attempting to summon all her dragon knowledge. It surfaced in scattered bits from tales, myths, firsthand accounts, and rumors.

Indeed, she had direct involvement. She witnessed the Battle of the Burning Plains, where Ashergon assaulted the demon and goddess forces amid their clash.

Why…

His slumber in a mountain just two days from the conflict site had been disturbed by the racket.

Flames engulfed the world. Skies filled with choking smoke and cinders. The dragon's wings boomed through the air, compelling the feuding armies to unite in shame to drive him off.

No winners emerged that day.

"I better be careful if I don't want our little force to be eliminated."

She ran a hand through her locks, fingers threading the tresses as she let out a breath.

"I would prefer not to encounter this dragon personally. The best course of action would be to sneak through his region…"

Of course, that did not mean she lacked the ability to slay a dragon. She simply lacked certainty about this particular one. Should its level prove excessively advanced, catastrophe would follow.

She dismissed the thought with a head shake and rose, exiting her shelter. She passed through the encampment amid salutes from troops, returning them with brief inclinations. Her steps stayed composed and deliberate en route to a spacious pavilion.

Upon parting the entrance, she spotted a squirrel and a raven huddled in the corner. These animals appeared unremarkable, yet their presence exuded Fourth Class progression.

Besides them sat three women inside. A knight clad in fractured black ice armor hovered in the dimness. A somewhat untamed woman casually slung a bone blade across her shoulder. And naturally, the final figure was a young woman with violet tresses.

Seras couldn't suppress a smirk. After all, their gathering here stemmed from a comatose young man stretched out on a cot within.

She truly wished to bemoan his appeal to females. Regrettably, he lingered in unconsciousness following the prior skirmish.

"We'll be moving out in a day. Hopefully he wakes up before then." Seras announced steadily, her arms crossed.

Renata gave a nod, softly caressing Damon's brow.

"He'll be awake by then…"

With that assurance, Seras cast a final look his way before departing the enclosure.

She felt confident of his awakening by that time.

Her pace eased just beyond the flap.

"Hmm… am I worried about him…" Such concern felt foreign to her. He served mainly as a source of diversion, a way to pass the time. So why this sentiment now?

She cleared her mind with a shake of the head.

"I'm overthinking this…"

*****

A vast pathway extended ahead. This route spanned thousands of kilometers. It formed one of the numerous thoroughfares constructed amid the Demon Wars.

In times of conflict, combat demanded extensive preparations prior to engagement. It extended beyond merely locating foes; reaching them was equally vital. Thus, logistics fueled the essence of warfare.

In truth, logistics underpinned the economy too. But in battle, it meant survival or demise. It separated triumph from downfall.

For this purpose, the pathways were forged. They enabled troops to advance while conserving sufficient stamina. They simplified hauling war engines and provisions.

The earth rumbled fiercely beneath the clamor of thousands of boots.

From his vantage, banners from diverse noble lineages numbered in the hundreds.

As vision stretched along this thoroughfare, endless ranks of warriors advanced. Riders, foot soldiers, spellcasters. Accompanying were wagons and massive enchanted war machines. Tall spires housing crystals with protective incantations. Mechanical puppets. Arcane guns. Barrel launchers. Above soared vessels of the air, iron behemoths equipped with arms and ferrying personnel and oversight hubs.

Aerial enchanted creatures flanked the procession.

Damon lounged in the shelter of foliage observing the spectacle, or more precisely, Damon reclined beneath a tree taking it in. Beside him perched a woman in a pale cowl. Her silhouette marked her unmistakably as a stunner.

She provided his companionship on this occasion.

"The empire is really moving full swing. Looks like they really intend to invade the Demon Continent." Lilith remarked in a serene, crisp tone, her eyes tracking the advancing host.

"You'd think after failing every invasion of the Demon Continent they'd give up by now. I really have to admire their persistence." she added, nearly in jest.

Damon savored the soft wind beneath the branches, lids partially shut.

"I wouldn't be surprised. They are, after all, very proud people. That, and the temple has a problem with demons. They wouldn't stop their invasion anytime soon…"

Lilith settled beside him, resting her head on the trunk, her arm grazing his.

"That so… except the demons were the ones who declared war this time. This might look awe inspiring, but trust me when I tell you this, our high ups are shaking in their boots. They are uncertain about the future as we are. Even the temple can't guarantee anything. The goddess is silent… or has she ever spoken to them before…"

Damon shut his eyes, seeking to relish the tranquility. His shadow duplicate idled here as his true form stayed insensible. For the first stretch in ages, his focus divided.

"The goddess probably sees this world as just some safe box to keep her stuff. Us being here isn't really that important to her. Thinking we have any value to her is self righteous and delusional, but…" he trailed off, a subtle grin appearing

"I'm fine with that. We don't have to be important to a god when we can be important to ourselves and each other."

Lilith grinned back at him, giving her head a light shake.

"That's some growth there… you deserve a reward."

She bent in and pressed a tender kiss to his cheek. Then she rose. Producing a key, she fitted it to the tree, causing a portal to shape in the wood as it gradually parted.

"Let's go… we have work to do. If the Temple wants to attack the Snake Temple, why not do the same to them…"