My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

The elves carried flags marked with a crescent moon beneath a tree with massive roots… Damon didn't need to think too hard—even though this was his first time seeing it.

He could more or less guess these elves were from the Moon Glades. And from the look of it, they were here for one of two things: him… or Sylvia.

Maybe both.

Most likely Sylvia, however. From what he'd heard from Duke Cassian, Damon was pretty certain Sylvia's father wanted someone to blame—and he had decided Damon would be the scapegoat.

'Ungrateful son of a bitch…'

Damon didn't mind cursing the White Ruler out.

However, at the same time—while Damon had saved his daughter—further investigation could also attribute her possession to him.

Naturally, while Damon hadn't summoned the dark spirit, he had in fact been the reason it was able to get into Sylvia's body.

After all, a spirit cannot possess someone whose heart doesn't have a gap to exploit… and Damon had been Sylvia's Achilles' heel.

When he stabbed her in the back… that was her first true taste of betrayal.

How much anguish had he caused the naïve elven princess, who had never known such treachery?

He hadn't thought it was a big deal at the time, but Sylvia didn't—couldn't—and wouldn't forget it.

Come to think of it… did she have feelings for him back then?

Damon winced. He was, erm, quite the problematic character back then. While he had changed… he had to question Sylvia's taste in men.

'I guess she's into contrarians… people who refuse to engage with the world…'

Still, her feelings would bring a lot of issues. Same with Lilith—except Lilith was human. But that wasn't the issue.

Her being a noble was the main problem.

More importantly.

The issue was all races were racist, and the elves were the one most supremacist assholes in existence—even worse than fairies in some cases

Matia seemed particularly ready for aggressive behavior. Her eyes glowed under the visor… right, Matia was a fairy too.

If he remembered correctly, her father was also an asshole.

She was still seated silently next to him in the carriage. Having a shadow in the third class was reassuring, at least.

Damon didn't interact with people much, so it wasn't obvious, but fairies like Matia were the worst. Elves came right after—so it was obvious her father was a piece of shit too.

Arrgh, just thinking about those two made his blood boil.

It seemed these elves were waiting for someone.

They wore light armor with clear cavalry presence—ready to chase anyone who tried to flee. Damon sensed shadows in the trees—obviously rangers or assassins.

'They better not be here for me…'

Lilith narrowed her eyes, glancing at him and Matia seated beside each other.

"It seems they're still here…"

He twitched his eyebrows.

"You knew? What are they here for?"

Lilith sighed. She was starting to get annoyed too.

"The official story is—they're here for their princess. Unofficially…"

Damon continued for her.

"They're here to potentially start something… right?"

Lilith nodded.

"Yes. But don't worry—they can't do anything to you. After all, the academy is a diplomatic neutral zone. That's why no noble can bring their servants inside. Only students and academy staff are allowed. Not even the rulers of Valtheron break that rule…"

Damon narrowed his eyes.

"And if I don't make it into the academy… they can kill me and claim it was a misunderstanding, right?"

Lilith shrugged. He was jumping to conclusions.

"There's no saying they'd kill you. Kadelas isn't a fool, you know…"

Damon nodded.

"But he can be tyrannical. The death of one commoner won't have lasting consequences. So basically—I don't matter enough. Tch."

This was, after all, how power worked. Why would anyone give a damn about some little orphan with nothing to his name?

His value was only in his potential. But potential didn't equate to power. Even if he would become powerful in the future… that only mattered if he lived long enough.

It was the reason he avoided Sylvia's feelings.

Now he was doing the same with Lilith…

Except Lilith wasn't as naïve or aggressive as Sylvia, so his worries were less with her.

They say forbidden love is the sweetest because you're not allowed to have it… and Damon had always done what he wasn't allowed to…

Lilith noticed his cold expression.

"I don't know what you're planning… but don't do anything. The Headmaster will smooth things over with the White Ruler… Sylvia will return soon. When she does, they'll have no reason to pressure you."

Damon rolled his eyes.

"I would have felt a little bad killing people from her homeland."

The carriage ground to a halt in front of the academy gates.

"Halt… Please lower your carriage windows…"

Matia's hands formed an ice sword.

Lilith's eyes turned cold. While her current carriage wasn't flying the Astranova crest, it was still flying the academy's crest.

How dare they.

Still, she was a patient woman. Right now, she was representing the academy, and the Headmaster had told her not to escalate anything. She had to be the responsible one—lest Damon take this as a reason to kill them.

He would absolutely do it.

Especially if he knew he would win.

She glanced at him… his expression was cold.

She reached out, pulling his hood over his face to hide it.

Outside the carriage, emboldened by the lack of response, the elven man took it as weakness—or a sign of suspicion.

He banged on the carriage door loudly.

"Open the carriage at once! I command it in the name of His Eminent Majesty Kadelas Moonveil, the White Ruler!"

Damon's eyes turned colder. Matia, at this point, was already ready to kill every single one of them.

Lilith must have seemed slow to react in the elf knight's eyes, because others surrounded the carriage.

The cavalry mounted around them on giant moose.

Then he punched—hard enough for the carriage door to actually break open.

Then they saw the people inside.

Their eyes met the cold, bloodlusted gazes of two women.

But… that was it.

There were just two women inside.