My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 945 - 946: Birth

The fourth day upon the ocean proved far less tranquil than the previous ones.

At the break of dawn, they faced a ferocious assault from an odd horde emerging from the waves, scores of beasts scrambling onto the deck, each desperate to climb aboard.

These creatures looked like amphibians. Their bulky, viscous bodies were marred by warts. Shaped like humans, they had elongated arms that terminated in webbed talons. Their maws stretched excessively across their visages, exposing lines of dull, mashing teeth.

They showed strong resistance to spells.

The optimal way to eliminate them involved brute strength.

Iron.

Heavy blows.

Beheading.

Damon wiped his blade clean as the final ones were hurled into the sea. The remains plunged into the water with resounding splashes, vanishing into the azure depths beneath.

Gore coated the vessel.

It gathered in the gaps of the decking, blended with saltwater, and trickled in narrow rivulets toward the drains.

Damon's features were dotted with crimson. His demeanor remained icy.

"How do they keep getting through the barrier?"

He spun abruptly and approached Seras. The sun blazed overhead, reflecting off his sword as he dropped it to his hip.

"What the hell is going on? Was the sea this dangerous?"

Seras shook her head gradually, cleaning her sword with a rag before sliding it into its scabbard.

"We already left the Bone Sea and cut our way out of any danger zones. While this is a dangerous uncharted part of the sea, it’s not a death zone. We are in the Narrow Sea between the Bone and Fog Sea, so the monsters shouldn’t be this aggressive."

Her words echoed what he already understood.

Their journey to the demon continent wasn't overly lengthy. Given the vessel's pace, including sidetracks around hazards, they ought to reach it in roughly three weeks, maybe slightly longer.

The Bone Sea extended from the demon continent to the Bone Hallows in the evil forest. Opposite it, various oceans converged, some fairly secure.

From their spot, the Fog Sea lay nearest to the Bone Sea.

The Narrow Sea separated those two.

It earned its name from being a narrow passage where the pair of seas declined to merge. The currents there stayed mostly ordinary, with merely a handful of monstrosities slipping over from both sides.

Having arrived in this area, safety should have been theirs.

The plan called for navigating the Narrow Sea as far as feasible until hitting the junction of the two major seas. At that point, they'd dare the death zone once more before arriving at the demon continent.

Alternative paths existed.

Yet this one offered the utmost secrecy.

No rational individual would choose this path.

That exact reason made it their selection.

The quest to pilfer the Ouroboros Coil posed no simple task.

Seras shut her eyes for a moment, mentally reviewing the prior four days.

"There’s something interfering with the barrier."

Damon nodded deliberately.

He had arrived at the identical deduction following four days of ceaseless Bloody Mary assaults.

"Is it the Bloody Mary?" he inquired gently.

"No. I thought it was too, but that monster is not high ranked enough to do that. Neither does it have the mastery over magic required."

She gestured discreetly at the sanguine, drifting husks bobbing in the profound blue waters. The ocean plunged deep enough now to appear nearly ebony.

"Those made me realize something. On this ship, something is letting them in. Whenever the Bloody Mary attacked, there was something that subtly affected the barrier. These creatures were the same."

"Hm."

Damon squinted, peering at the subtle glow of the safeguarding runes.

"Yeah, I thought so too. So are we dealing with a monster or..."

"No. It’s an object. A cursed one, if I’m not mistaken," Seras whispered, dropping her tone for his ears alone.

"Where would we find that... ahh, I see."

His look altered.

They had departed from the evil forest.

Beyond the Bone Hallows.

Countless relics able to drive even a steadfast soul wild with avarice remained hidden there.

If anyone seized one...

Hence the prohibition stood.

Take nothing from the forest.

Because the forest pursues you.

"When do you think someone took something?" Damon questioned softly.

Seras eyed him askance.

"I thought you took it. I mean, only you would be that crazy."

Damon bit his lower lip, appearing distinctly upset.

"I’m greedy and a little crazy. Okay, crazy. But even I know not to be that greedy. In fact, I used to operate on the philosophy of eighty percent chance."

"Really now. What changed?" she inquired, her tone flat.

Damon gazed upward at the heavens and let out a sigh.

"Life happened. I realized sometimes you just have to risk it all. It’s a leap of faith. Not in gods. In yourself."

Seras examined his countenance briefly, then breathed out gradually.

"Guess you really aren’t the one who brought something cursed onto the ship."

"Well, that was a whole lot of nothing," she grumbled with a defeated look.

Damon gave a soft laugh, shrugging his shoulders to release the strain.

"Who do you think it is? I suspect it was taken when our guard was down. On the beach, before we boarded the ship."

Seras's attention turned to the crew bustling on the deck. Sailors scouring away blood. Others mending slight harms. Some dodging glances.

Her gaze intensified.

"So an inspection is in order."

She placed her palm on her sword's grip.

"And an interrogation."

***************

Damon perched on a cask, observing the knight whose gut was bloated.

The fellow remained erect in spite of his state. One palm clutched his belly while the other gripped a basin. He hawked into it, swabbed his lips, then compelled himself straight.

"Vice Commander, sir."

He saluted, fighting to uphold the poise of a seasoned knight.

The view of his bloated midsection filled Damon with profound unease.

He gestured dismissively.

"Take a seat."

The knight eased down onto a facing cask. As he settled, a serpentine form writhed under his skin in his abdomen.

It glided from one side to the other.

The man emitted a pained moan.

His complexion whitened as his belly expanded visibly by another inch. Crimson started leaking from his nostrils. His breaths grew feeble.

Damon's face stayed impassive.

"Now then. I have some questions for you. I expect you to answer honestly."

Whether the fellow planned to deceive mattered little.

Damon invoked his ability.

Skill: Eyes of Veracity

Description:

Once wielded by the truthseers of the White Tribunal, this ocular skill reveals deception, illusions, and hidden motives with unerring precision.

Effect:

You see the truth from the lies, though truth can be vague.

Type:

Active

Cooldown:

0 seconds

His sight refined faintly. A subtle ripple lingered around untruths, akin to shimmering air over sun-baked dunes.

He started with routine checks.

"What is your name?"

The man replied.

"Where are you from?"

Another response.

"What is your race?"

"Your division and knight order."

Every reply proved genuine.

Such queries might appear redundant, even intrusive, but Damon was verifying the man's identity. Confirming he wasn't some infiltrator donning a stolen guise.

Content, Damon inclined ahead a bit.

"Did you carry any artifacts or objects before we boarded this ship?"

The knight denied with a shake of his head.

"No, my lord, I did not."

True.

"Are you under any kind of control? Have you experienced missing memories or blackouts?"

"Not that I know of."

True once more.

"Do you have vague premonitions or a feeling of not being yourself?"

"Yes. Yes, I do. I am, after all, carrying a monster parasite in my body."

That held true as well.

Damon observed the gentle glow in his view stay constant.

Then he posed the ultimate query.

"Are you afraid?"

The knight locked eyes with him.

"No. I am not."

No pause marred his words.

Yet Damon detected it.

A twitch.

A warp.

Lie.

Damon uttered not a word.

The man stood and stepped away, gripping his midsection.

One after another, the crew and knights faced the identical lineup of queries. The sun inched toward the skyline as Damon pressed on.

Countenances melded into one.

Replies echoed.

Truth.

Truth.

Truth.

Until he came upon a youthful knight.

He recalled this one.

Set.

The man took his seat, stance rigid.

Damon prepared to start.

Then a shriek ripped across the deck.

One of the afflicted men crumpled to his knees.

"Agrghh... agrghh..."

He seized his abdomen as transparent liquid started seeping down his thighs, staining the timber below.

Like a laboring mother whose waters broke.

"Aghhh!"

He toppled onto his back.

All hurried to his side.

Something throbbed fiercely under his belly.

His flesh started to lose color.

Decay radiated from the core like dye seeping through parchment.

"Quick! Suppress it! Don’t let it tear through his skin!" someone yelled.

Knights pinned him in place.

A healer dashed ahead, slamming both palms onto the man's gut. A round barrier of packed energy materialized, bearing down to restrain the bloating lump.

The man's jaws parted.

Crimson erupted forth.

His frame seized as an inner force devoured.

You could hear it.

Squelching rips.

Bones snapping.

Organs pulverized and devoured while he yet drew breath.

The healer bellowed with exertion, cords bulging in his throat.

Then the lower belly burst open.

A savage gush of gore and matter sprayed out.

The healer soaked through at once.

The plagued knight stilled.

His gaze stayed wide.

Locked in terror.

In torment.

The healers retreated unsteadily.

From the mangled hollow, a form started to emerge.

Deliberately and methodically.

A lengthy, slippery appendage appeared first, pallid and shiny, kinking oddly at the joints.

Then a second.

It hauled itself out bit by bit, slathered in blood and shards of its former host.