My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Chapter 1128: Chapter 1129: Prelude To The End

Everything was coming to an end. The peaceful days would soon vanish and at last there would be a close to everything.

Seras could feel it.

Even the abyss was preparing.

Standing beneath the Sky Continent, with the endless spiral swallowing light before her eyes, she wondered who else knew and who among them was ready for what was to come.

Far away, on a continent consumed by an endless jungle, a young beastkin girl clad in armor crackling with lightning planted her greatsword into the earth and steadied her breathing.

Before her stood a mighty dragon wrought from storm clouds and thunder.

Aethergon the Great Storm would once again face Leona Valefier.

Rain hammered against her armor as arcs of lightning danced across the blade in her hands. Fear still lingered in her golden eyes, but she buried it beneath an iron resolve.

"I won’t leave this place until I defeat you..."

The dragon gazed down at her before slowly turning his mountain-sized head away. This was the tenth time she had come to challenge him.

She had lost every battle.

Yet her resolve had never once wavered.

And for that, she had earned the respect of the storm.

"Come, child. Face the storm."

His voice rolled across the heavens like distant thunder.

"You cannot overcome the storm."

The world darkened as black clouds swallowed the sky. Thunder roared overhead as the dragon’s colossal head descended from the heavens to stare directly into her soul.

Lightning flashed within Leona’s eyes.

She tightened her grip on her sword and took another step forward.

"I am the storm."

For what was to come, she could not afford to remain weak.

For she knew her friend was a liar.

As hard as she tried to ignore the scent of falsehood clinging to him, she could not. Sooner or later his lies would be revealed.

After all—

Damon was a demon.

And the stench of depravity could not be hidden from her nose.

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend.

Perhaps Leona was not a man.

But she would.

In a distant continent of verdant forests and ancient trees, a young elf woman with long silver hair sat alone beside a window, her hollow eyes fixed upon the pages of a book.

Sylvia had sacrificed something once again.

Another fragment had vanished.

Her fingers traced the faded words upon the page, yet she no longer remembered why they mattered to her.

Where did love become obsession?

And how far would one go for the people they loved?

Would one face a god?

Sylvia would.

Beyond the half-open door, a man with greying hair watched her in silence.

Kadelas bit his lip.

Regret weighed heavily upon his heart.

Perhaps it was his fault.

He had been the one to lock her inside a golden cage. He had believed he was protecting her, shielding her from a cruel world.

But perhaps all he had truly done was rob her of the ability to fly.

Or worse—

Her ability to trust him.

Kadelas did not know what Sylvia was hiding.

He did not know what she was planning.

All he knew was that his daughter was suffering.

And for all his power—

He was helpless to stop it.

The bird trapped within the cage had grown far too powerful to control.

Yet she no longer wished to soar into the sky.

She had merely chosen another cage.

Elsewhere, within a palace on the War Continent, a man sat alone in a dark chamber.

In one hand, he held an image of his infant son.

In the other, the portrait of a man who resembled him greatly.

His brother.

For a long time, he simply stared.

Then he lowered his head.

"Brother..."

The word escaped him like a prayer.

"I will avenge you."

He had already made his choice.

If reclaiming his brother’s honor required sacrificing his son—

Then so be it.

In another corner of Soltheon, far removed from war and prophecy, a woman with golden hair sat beneath the warm sunlight reading to a child with the same brilliant eyes.

Not far away, two women—one with silver hair and pale eyes, the other with soft pink hair—stood together, quietly admiring the beauty of the day.

The wind rustled through the trees.

For a fleeting moment, the world still seemed peaceful.

Yet peace was only an interlude.

Far away, the war against the Whispering Forest continued.

A woman with dark hair and crimson eyes stood atop a ruined battlement, gazing across a battlefield stained red.

Her expression was grim.

"We’re almost there."

The scent of blood and death hung heavily in the air.

Corpses of men and monsters alike lay piled beneath the endless canopy.

And still—

The forest endured.

She raised a hand, feeling the mana pouring into her veins.

No.

It was more than mana.

She could feel the world itself urging her onward.

Grow.

Grow.

Grow stronger.

Her crimson eyes lifted toward the distant city hidden beyond the trees.

As though the world itself feared what was coming.

And within that city—

Ittorath stood alone.

The Ouroboros Coil rested in his hand, its ancient surface gleaming beneath the pale light.

"It’s almost ready."

The little girl who served as his vessel smiled softly as she gazed at the sky above.

And all across the world, whether they knew it or not—

Everyone was preparing for the end.

Author’s Note

End of Arc 8

The eighth arc has finally come to an end, and I’ve decided to call it:

Prelude to the End.

It has been a long journey for me, and at last I can say that I have begun to approach the end of this book.

Many choices led me here, and perhaps not all of them were the right ones, but I am grateful that you all stayed with me through it.

The final arc will likely be the bloodiest arc I have ever written, so keep your fingers crossed that your favorite characters make it to the end.

Unknown is coming, and now he knows where the Pillar lies, which means he is coming with guns blazing, ready to fight for it.

The Goddess of Doom knows this, and she has no intention of letting him have it without a fight.

Damon will fare no better when everything he has done so far comes to light. The outsiders will break free, the lesser gods will awaken, and chaos will follow.

The world of Aetherus is preparing for one final battle.

One it may not survive.

When escape is no longer an option, only two choices remain:

Fight or die.

Now we will learn that choice itself may be nothing more than an illusion. You cannot change your fate, and you cannot defy the heavens.

In this world, those with greater power will always rule over you. Whether you struggle against them or accept your fate changes very little.

It only changes how you lose.

You survive on someone’s mercy.

Well, at least in a world filled with living, willful gods.

So how will they overcome an insurmountable obstacle?

Will this story end in bloody tragedy?

Or will Damon finally pay for his crimes and walk into the sunset?

In the end, all I can say is this:

It is our lives, and we are the writers.

Damon will face tomorrow without dwelling on yesterday.

What he writes next will inevitably decide how My Living Shadow Devours to Make Me Stronger comes to an end.

Though, in hindsight...

I really should have come up with a better title for this book.

— Renegadex