My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 997 - 999: Who Is Cursing Me

"Hachu!"

A thunderous sneeze burst from Xander, who scrubbed his nose using the back of a finger thick as a tree trunk.

"Is the mountain so chilly... or is somebody cursing me?"

A lazy smile stretched over his face.

"It’s gotta be Damon."

He could vividly imagine Damon’s sour face upon learning how popular Xander had grown in the army.

Xander loomed atop the mountain peak like it was merely a pebble underfoot. His gigantic body pierced the fog, with shoulders slicing through the haze like drifting cliffs.

Perched snugly on his right shoulder sat a young woman sporting beast-kin ears, her legs dangling idly while she nurtured a tiny blaze.

Xander’s nostrils flared.

He scowled as the aroma of roasting meat wafted toward him.

With a deep sigh, he cocked his head a bit to peer at her.

"Leona... mind not barbecuing meat on me?"

Her beast ears perked straight up.

"Huh? I’m starving. We battled nonstop today. Damon abandoned me, so I gotta fend for myself," she shot back, like that settled it all.

Xander shook his head gently, mist tumbling from his shoulders as he resumed his advance.

In front of them, the fortress atop the mountain loomed faintly amid the dense fog.

Today, they’d seize it.

Today, the initial real outpost would rise.

The campaign had dragged on forever.

Demon races fought savagely, yet their major offensives hadn’t started. Until now, humans had only held the line.

’Brother... did you face this? ’

The notion bubbled up softly in Xander’s thoughts.

His brother had always been his idol.

Yet post-demon wars, he came back shattered. Hollow. Confined to his chamber, drowning in booze.

Xander figured it was just war’s terrors.

But Xander had faced terrors himself. He’d traversed deadly realms. Battled unwinnable fights. Now plunged into demon warfare.

He led the charge every time. The titan striking first always.

Thus, they dubbed him The Colossus.

Yet...

He’d never grasped his brother’s pain.

And now, forever couldn’t.

Amon had butchered him in his bedroom.

Xander had witnessed it.

Frozen stiff. Powerless to intervene.

That vision haunted him like a rotting gash.

His disgrace.

His mark.

His heart demon.

That vision ignited his rage and wrath.

Thus, he’d struck a pact with a particular ally to slay that undying demon.

A steep toll.

Fine by him.

Shrouded in fog, Xander arrived at the fort.

He pressed his enormous palms to the walls.

By the moment demons inside spotted the shadow in the mist, doom had arrived.

"Fire! Fire!"

"Enemy assault!"

Their yells vanished into the fog.

Fog cut both ways.

It concealed them.

Yet obscured their sight too.

Precisely Abellona’s tactical foundation.

Xander hauled himself upward, claws sinking into rock like pliable dough. His behemoth frame ascended over the barrier, demons and beasts gaping upward in shock.

He hefted his massive spear and shield.

Then leaped into the stronghold.

Upon impact, the ground quaked violently.

The whole mountain trembled.

A devastating shockwave surged out, hurling demons every which way like debris in a gale.

Atop his shoulder, Leona rose smoothly.

She lifted her sword.

Then blinked away in a lightning streak.

She materialized by the fort entrance, her blade already slashing.

Gate demons had zero time to respond before getting cleaved and incinerated simultaneously.

Her motions carried an effortless threat.

Next, lightning flared as she smashed the gate.

Bolts raced everywhere, snaking over metal, climbing walls, stretching skyward.

Then...

Zilch.

Leona blinked.

She tipped her head.

"Oops..."

She looked up at Xander.

"Erm... Xander... slight issue here."

Xander ignored her entirely.

A balrog charged from the haze and debris, hauling a blazing sword that gouged fiery trails in stone. The beast’s huge bulk reached half Xander’s stature, blistering heat pouring off in waves.

"Kinda tied up," Xander grunted, adjusting his spear grip as the balrog slashed.

"Yeah, guessed so. Gate... stuck fast," Leona answered breezily, despite enemy hordes swarming the fort.

"Must be an opening mechanism," he replied, parrying the fiery edge with his shield. Sparks flew like glowing bugs.

Leona swept her gaze over the yard.

Spotting it then.

A radiant magic array nucleus throbbing amid a guard circle.

"Oh. Forget it. Got it!" she yelled, knowing full well he heard crystal clear.

Real trouble: the dense demon squad protecting it.

Most fixated solely on Xander’s towering shape.

Overlooking her.

Fatal error.

Leona trailed her sword tip along the floor toward them, etching a slim shining trail in rock. A subtle smirk played on her mouth.

"Sorry, but I require that. Our forces wait outside, and we desperately want this spot. So, kindly vacate. No thanks needed. Damon insists on kindness to the feeble."

A ghoul spied her from behind a tower shield.

"Hah! Tiny beast girl. You’re an Ascendant, I see. But arrogant. You die today, and I’ll toy with your lovely corpse however I wish."

Leona’s eyes drifted down to his leering focus.

Her face went blank.

Then icy.

"Ah... gross. You filthy demon. Real filthy."

She flashed a thumbs down.

Thunder boomed.

She disappeared.

Reappearing right before him.

The ghoul countered swift, hoisting his giant shield against her blade, sure his bulk and power would crush her.

Blades clashed.

His shield didn’t merely shatter.

It burst apart.

With his whole arm.

Blast tore through nearby demons.

Still growling, he swung his leftover axe.

Leona simply snatched it mid-arc with her free hand.

Horror locked his features.

Nearby demons couldn’t even twitch.

"Just needed a hole in your shield wall. Bye-bye."

Lightning burst from her, forking through their lines.

They blew up sequentially.

No ghoul there rivaled her raw might.

Leona strode past the charred husks and prodded the glowing core’s flat side with her sword.

Way back, gates creaked and swung wide.

She spun toward Xander—

But he stood atop the pulped balrog skull, yanking his spear from its cranium.

"Aw, man. Wanted that kill," she grumbled.

"Too sluggish," Xander chuckled.

Beyond the gates, troops flooded in.

First demon stronghold toppled.

Merely two days post Damon’s extermination command.

As celebration loomed, a comm device on the balrog’s waist lit up and buzzed.

A warped voice boomed over the yard.

"To all demons. Ten-thousand kill order issued on vile Xander Ravenscroft, by Lord Ash the Supreme’s decree. Slayer gains rich reward. Great Goddess shield our sacred kin. Hail the Unknown God."

Silence fell on the device.

Xander blinked.

"What?"