My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

With the chaos gone, a raven swooped down from one of the curtains, landing on his shoulder.

He glanced at the raven.

"It's been too long, Croft."

The raven that had become his pet—thanks to Sylvia mediating between them—was still here after all these months.

Despite the fact the raven had started out as an enemy, now he was a trusted companion.

One who was strangely obsessed with eating eyeballs…

"Caw… caw demon… evil… back, back…"

Damon sighed.

"Call me a demon again and I'll have me some fried bird."

The raven cawed aggressively but said no more…

Lilith grabbed a suitcase. Waving her hand, she made it disappear.

She glanced at Damon before gesturing to him.

It wasn't long before they were in a carriage again…

The capital was quite far from Mitra. Damon didn't like the idea of a carriage ride, so Lilith offered to pay for an airship.

"Why can't we just use the teleportation gate?"

She shook her head.

"The same reason we didn't use it in Lumos. Let's at least leave the Brightwater sphere of influence…"

Damon nodded.

"Then why not go toward Astranova territory?"

She smiled, looking out the window.

"Because they would expect us to do that if we were actually being followed. There's also the fact that direction is a bit lawless after we pass Gladstone…"

He sighed. That was true. He had run into bandits—and that was also the direction of Lysithara and the Anarchy Mountains.

If they ran into bandits, he would kill them…

It was better to avoid them altogether. He didn't like the idea of spilling blood so close to his sister… and Iris.

Though in the case of Iris, he would eventually have to teach her.

If she still wanted her revenge, that is…

"You've gotten awfully quiet…"

He glanced at Luna.

She shook her head.

"I'm just giving you two some space… isn't that right, Iris?"

Iris looked away.

"Don't bring me into this…"

He chuckled.

"You've gotten better, Luna… Flora must have worked some serious magic for you to get better like this."

Luna nodded. The healer Flora had helped her a lot, but…

"She did, but Lilith was the one who paid for the research materials that were used to make my medication…"

He glanced at Lilith… she shrugged.

"It wasn't really a big deal… I knew a guy."

Damon glanced at Luna.

"Is that true?"

She shook her head.

"No. No, I'm pretty sure she's lying… my treatment cost a fortune."

Lilith sighed.

"Ouch… I didn't know bluntness ran in the family."

Luna bowed her head.

"I'm sorry. I just couldn't let you sell yourself short—especially since you sold most of your assets and lost all your savings to pay for my medication…"

Damon raised his eyebrows… Magic Circuit Cancer had no conventional cure. It cost millions of zeni just to keep the person alive.

Lilith was a rich heiress, but she wasn't someone who would rely on her family's wealth. She had built up her wealth all so she could have enough to destroy the Temple.

Now she had lost it all just to save his sister… No, his sister wasn't saved—she knew that. But she had given Luna a chance to be able to leave her hospital bed…

Lilith sighed.

"I didn't do anything. Luna can't use mana safely and she still needs to constantly drink the potion customized to her physique… Worse, with each day she gains resistance to its effects…"

She bit her lips.

"I… I'm sorry… I couldn't find… a way."

Luna shook her head.

"No. No, you saved me… I'm grateful…"

"You've done enough," Damon whispered.

"No. You've done plenty. Thank you."

He held his sister's head down in a bow, lowering his own head too.

"No words could repay what you've done…"

Lilith frowned a bit.

Iris also bowed her head.

"Erm… for training me too, and looking out for me…"

Lilith sighed, closing her eyes.

"Can you three stop picking on me now…? You're making me uncomfortable…"

Luna smiled, raising her head.

"Damon, with how much she's covered for you, just saying you're grateful is just shameless…"

He tilted his head.

Luna smiled, giggling a bit…

"Yes… I have the perfect solution… Why don't you… marry her and pay for the rest of your life?"

Damon slapped her head.

"You make me sound like a prisoner…"

Luna scratched her head with a teasing smile…

"Don't worry, Lilith. My big brother can be groomed to be the perfect husband. Sure, he's a bit edgy, he's also not very honest… but he can cook… he can learn to clean… oh, and he's easy on the eyes. Don't believe me? Let's take off his creepy hood…"

Before Damon could say anything, Luna pulled down his hood.

"See? He's still in good condition…"

Luna didn't even look at his face. She was too busy marketing her older brother to Lilith…

She almost reminded Damon of a pimp on the streets of Valerion…

Lilith giggled, seeing Damon's deadpan expression.

"I actually like his new look. The long hair is quite… charming."

Luna glanced at him…

"Ahhh, that's right. He grew his hair out… he used to be a short-haired edgy loner. Now he's a long-haired edgy loner… He's all yours if you pay now…"

Damon pinched her cheek.

"So you are trying to sell me…"

Iris scoffed.

"He wouldn't fetch a good price anywhere else… That long hair just increased his market value."

At this point, Lilith couldn't hold back her laughter. After spending months with these two, it seemed she had won them over to her side. At least she knew now—if she needed backup against Damon, the girls had her back.

Damon twirled his hair with his fingers.

"Right, my hair is kind of long now… I should cut it off…"

There was suddenly a silence in the carriage…

Lilith clenched her fist.

"Absolutely not…"

Luna gave him a deadpan expression.

"I would never forgive anyone who touches that beautiful hair that makes you look hot and mysterious…"

Damon moved away a bit.

"You guys are creeping me out…"

"Iris… what do you think?"

She glared at him.

"If you are going to cut it, might as well make yourself bald. After all, you insist on terrorizing the world with your ugliness…"

Damon felt like crying… Never had he been violated like this…

Getting picked on by girls was far more painful than being punched by a group of guys…

Their laughter died down as the carriage approached the airship port, the hum of engines audible in the distance.