My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 959 - 960: All Across The World

Renown.

Or perhaps, given this highly questionable situation...

Notoriety.

Indeed, notoriety.

Throughout his righteous and noble existence, Damon never once thought his notoriety would reach as far as the Demon Continent.

It seemed like only yesterday when he was utterly insignificant.

And today?

Today, he had become a legend known across the world.

It was almost as though the skies themselves quaked at the mention of Damon Grey.

At the very least, that's the picture he painted in his thoughts.

In his imagination, he pictured himself as an object of terror. The sort of fighter whose mere name caused foes to tremble. The champion every youngster aspired to emulate.

Then why...

Why were such tales reaching his ears?

'I heard Damon Grey is utterly shameless,' Gabo declared with obvious revulsion. 'A pervert who abuses his own attendants and slays husbands for daring to shield their spouses from his depraved desires.'

Damon went rigid.

He had plummeted to such depths...

That even a goblin branded him as lustful.

The sun's gentle heat abruptly seemed distant and cold.

'This realm is appalling...' Damon whispered in a daze. 'It deserves total annihilation.'

Such vicious lies had never even entered his wildest dreams.

Gabo bobbed his head with fervor.

'Precisely! That Damon Grey is despicable. Word is he entices and poisons every female he encounters. He's worlds apart from you, master. A coward like him could never boldly claim four spouses. He's far too spineless and indecent.'

Damon gradually bowed his head.

'Ah... I see.'

Suddenly, another goblin chimed in using perfect goblin speech, hawking a glob of spit onto the earth.

'I heard he fancies young girls.'

Damon nearly burst into tears.

He honestly did.

Next to him, Wendy and Renata shook while stifling their chuckles.

Matia kept a stone-cold expression.

Lana, though, served as a Radiant Knight.

And her chivalrous honor forbade any slur against her liege.

Matia caught the flicker of fury in Lana’s gaze.

For an instant, she pondered intervening.

Then she silently relented.

Damon faced nonstop defamation.

Nothing could halt Lana regardless.

'Silence,' Lana commanded icily, unsheathing her blade.

'That's a falsehood.'

Her tone cut like a knife, brimming with certainty.

'Damon Grey stands as a legendary savior of the Goddess Races.'

She lifted her sword a touch.

'You would do well to honor him with the dignity befitting a warrior.'

The goblins stared blankly.

They glanced among themselves.

Then turned to her again.

'Hmm,' Gabo murmured.

'But we are.'

He rubbed his jaw.

'Damon Grey holds immense power. There's a huge reward for his capture too. Slay him, and you claim the prize.'

He bared his fangs in a wicked smile.

'The Snake Temple could even promote you to Demon Lord prospect if you pull it off.'

Damon blinked.

Hold on.

A price on his life?

'What... hold up.'

He scowled.

'So you're not scorning him?'

Gabo wagged his head emphatically.

'Never! By the Unknown God and the glory of the Goddess, I'd never stoop that low.'

He thrust out his chest proudly.

'Sure, he might be a bit odd, but which supreme prodigy lacks peculiar habits?'

Damon erupted in guffaws.

'Hahahaha!'

'Spot on. Absolutely right.'

Buoyed by the mood, Damon tossed in some flair of his own.

'Rumor has it he once felled a dragon from miles distant using only his stare.'

The goblins inhaled sharply.

'And they say he bested the Elf King in an intense gaze-off.'

Even Damon possessed sufficient modesty to avoid boasting of vanquishing a Seventh Advancement being in true combat.

The goblins dove in with zeal, piling on ever wilder tales of Damon’s mythical exploits.

Eventually, Damon cleared his throat.

'Incidentally...'

He aimed for nonchalance.

'Where precisely did those... tales about him originate?'

Gabo replied without hesitation.

'Oh, those facts are confirmed.'

'Straight from Bakemon Baal.'

Damon halted.

His features hardened gradually.

'Is that right... fascinating.'

That scum.

Bakemon Baal.

Unable to swallow his loss gracefully, he opted to tarnish Damon’s name worldwide.

Damon inclined his head deliberately.

'Very well,' he hissed under his breath.

'Very well.'

Gabo opened his mouth to respond but froze midway.

From the meadow's edge, a sizable band emerged.

They were colossal forms with tan hides and enormous arms slung over their backs. Thick plating shielded their frames, and each exuded a formidable presence.

Trolls.

The instant Damon spotted them, he grew alert.

Beside him, Matia flicked her wrist, conjuring a blade of pure frost.

'Our fortune is remarkably twisted, wouldn't you agree?' she remarked evenly. 'We encounter so many known adversaries.'

Damon ignored her utterance entirely, his thoughts elsewhere.

She was correct.

This evoked the Duhu Mountains once more.

First, redcap goblins.

Now, trolls.

What horrors might follow?

Perhaps ogres.

Or far graver threats.

Yet Damon stayed composed.

Who could tell, he mused. They might pass us by. After all, this is the Demon Continent. And we resemble their kind to them.

Evidently, he misjudged.

The goblins swiftly arrayed themselves behind him.

Their setup was adaptable and relaxed, evidently meant to allow swift withdrawal should danger escalate.

Judging by appearances, they planned to flee at the first sign of trouble.

Damon positioned himself at the forefront, utterly serene.

How could he not be?

True, the trolls were heavily equipped and mighty.

But they peaked at Third Class Advancement.

Beasts of that caliber could raze a village, perhaps a vulnerable fortress.

To Damon, such feats were trivial.

He could eradicate them effortlessly.

Even a Fourth Class fighter might falter against trolls due to their freakish healing powers.

But Damon transcended the average Fourth Class combatant.

Their recovery wouldn't rescue them.

They would perish all the same.

Nevertheless, a single doubt nagged at him.

Damon eyed Gabo.

'Why the heavy vigilance from you all?' he inquired. 'Don't beastly races coexist peacefully here?'

Gabo gaped at him incredulously.

'Not in the slightest.'

He scoffed.

'Clans scarcely tolerate their own blood, let alone outsiders.'

Then he gestured at the nearing trolls.

'And those brutes?'

He clenched his weapon tighter.

'They're raiders.'

Damon nodded thoughtfully.

It added up.

Raiders disregarded kin or creed.

To them, all were mere quarry.