My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Damon woke up. His head throbbed, but he felt significantly better. He held his head.

"Ahhhh…"

He felt the metal of the Pale Crown on his head. He looked around him. He was in a room.

It was quite big—not as big as the one he had slept in at the Duke's palace. That was probably the biggest room he'd ever sleep in…

But this place wasn't small either.

He spread his shadow perception. He seemed to be at a hotel.

That was just a fancy name for an expensive inn.

He got up, glancing out the window.

It seemed he was in a city, but not one he was familiar with…

He turned to the door, waiting for her to open it and come in…

Naturally, her was referring to Lilith… he had sensed her coming up a flight of stairs…

The door clicked open…

She walked in with the same calm, confident elegance she always had.

"You're awake. That's good…"

She closed the door behind her before he could speak.

"We are in Mitar. It's not far from Lumos. Since we were leaving, I didn't think it wise to use the teleportation gate in Lumos…"

Damon nodded, agreeing with her.

"Yeah, that makes sense. Teleportation gates are usually heavily guarded…"

She smiled softly.

"Now that you're awake… we need to keep moving. We can use the teleportation gate here, but first I need to pick up some extra luggage…"

Damon nodded, walking into a door that led to a bath.

It didn't take him long to clean up. When he was done, he found clothes on the bed, which he changed into. He couldn't leave behind the hood the Grand Duke had given him, so he wore that over his head, hiding the crown.

"This is getting tiring…"

He was getting tired of wearing the hood over the crown.

Opening the door, he found Lilith sitting by a table with some of the hotel staff setting the table.

Damon sat down, pulling the hood down.

Lilith bit her lips a bit but didn't say anything.

'She's probably still thinking about yesterday evening.'

"No I'm not," she spoke.

Damon raised an eyebrow. 'Did I say that out loud?' he thought.

"No, you didn't. I took an educated guess. Now eat. We don't have time."

He sighed at her. She was being unreasonable.

It didn't take long for him to clear the food.

Now he found himself back in the carriage with Lilith, who was avoiding looking at him…

He glanced at her.

"I didn't know you were the type to get awkward…"

She glanced at him.

"Do you know if I waved my hand I could create a thin slice in space sharper than a sword… I could accidentally cut off heads with that…"

Damon sighed. No need to tease her more.

"Ohh yeah, too bad it can't cut…"

He paused, feeling her chilling glare.

It was better for him to be quiet today.

After passing several streets, they stopped at another hotel…

Damon came down from the carriage.

"You left your luggage at another hotel on the opposite side of town…"

Lilith shrugged.

"I couldn't take this particular luggage to the ball, now could I…"

Damon followed her into the hotel, past the reception, and into an elevator going to an upper floor.

They stopped in front of a room.

She gestured for him to take the lead…

Damon shrugged, not thinking too much of it…

And opened the door…

When he opened the door—

He froze… then ducked down as fast as he could.

His action of opening the door had been followed by a ball of pink flames slamming into the wall behind him.

Damon looked at where the flames had come from…

There was a pink-haired girl with her hand outstretched… before he could say anything, a white-haired girl jumped from behind the door with a chair in her hand…

He raised his hand, catching the chair…

Damon didn't even know how to react…

Before the pink-haired girl, Iris, could blast him again, he pulled down his hood…

The two girls froze—Luna, the white-haired girl trying to slam him with hotel property.

His sister.

And Iris, who was blasting flames—his apprentice.

When they saw his face, their eyes widened.

"Damon…"

Luna let the chair go and jumped into her brother's arms…

Luna looked stronger—color had returned to her cheeks, and though she was still slim, her silver hair no longer hung dull and lifeless

Damon was surprised—shocked even. Last time he saw Luna, she had been in a medical bed at the healing institute…

Iris rushed to him but stopped in front of him…

Damon glanced at his sister—

Who was already sobbing at this point…

"Hey there, Luna…"

He gently stroked her head… after not seeing his sister for months, that was all he could afford to say. He couldn't say any more…

He had been gone for that long, and somehow… she was here, out of the hospital…

He glanced at Iris standing there. He felt a pang of guilt when he saw how happy she was to see him…

He raised one hand, reaching out to her and pulling her into a hug…

The two girls hugged the person they had not seen in months…

He hadn't realized how empty he'd been until this very moment — holding his sister in his arms, feeling her warmth, hearing her sob his name… it stitched something in him back together.

Lilith stood there with a smile…

At least her surprise worked…

After a few minutes, they let Damon go…

Damon felt a weight in his heart lift. Seeing the two of them—looking after these two girls was his responsibility, and in his absence, Lilith had taken care of them…

Luna looked healthier than before. She was out of the healing institute.

And Iris… she looked much stronger than she was before. Her mastery over her powers had grown… she had grown…

"Big brother… I'm—I'm so happy you're back…"

Damon smiled. He decided to lighten the mood.

"Foolish brats, did you think I wouldn't…"

The two of them smiled…

Damon pinched their cheeks…

"Actually, I almost didn't… you wanna know why…"

They both shook their heads.

"Uhu…"

Damon shook their cheeks.

"Because the both of you almost killed me… whose bright idea was it to blast the first person to open the door…"

Lilith glanced away awkwardly.

Iris glanced at Luna, who glanced at Lilith.

"Erm… actually, before Lilith left, she said… we could be in danger so be careful. She called us this morning and said…"

Iris clenched her fist, continuing.

"She said we might be in danger the moment that door opens… blast away and don't hold back."

Damon's eyes twitched…

No wonder she let him open the door first…

"You really take petty to a whole new level…"