My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Chapter 981: Chapter 983: Demon Tower Key

Damon walked into the city of Trace in a daze. His steps slowed without him noticing, his eyes unfocused as the memory clawed at his mind.

Who was that woman… and how had she almost seen him even with fate manipulation resistance?

His fingers curled slightly at his side.

Fate manipulation resistance had protected him from being sensed by the True Gods after his death in Lysithara. It had erased him from their perception.

So how had she sensed him?

His jaw tightened.

There had been a moment. A single instant where something cold and absolute brushed against him.

If he had looked at her… he knew it with certainty.

He would have died.

’Was that a memory or a vision’

His gaze lowered, brows drawing together.

The System had shown him that. He could feel it.

Then why?

“Why did the Unknown God give her a sword that can end all things”

His voice came out low, almost a whisper, his throat dry.

Out there, somewhere in the endless dark between the stars, there existed someone who could end all that exists by simply pulling a sword from its sheath.

Damon exhaled slowly, his chest rising and falling.

The nemesis of all life.

That was why she was called Nemesis Omega.

The marching rhythm of his army faltered.

Damon’s head snapped up.

Ahead, demonkin guards stood firm, weapons grounded as they blocked the path halfway through the first gate.

His eyes narrowed.

The city of Trace had two gates. A fortress city. Its walls rose into the sky, stretching along the mountains until they touched the clouds. Damon’s gaze traced their height, a faint crease forming between his brows.

Even he had rarely seen walls like this.

He took a step forward, about to speak.

His shadow shuddered.

Damon froze.

A tremor ran through his chest, sharp and sudden. His fingers twitched as something brushed against his senses.

Something inside the city was calling him.

Whispering.

Pulling.

His lips parted.

No sound came out.

Only a hollow ache spread through him, deep and gnawing. His chest tightened as a strange longing took hold, raw and undeniable. It felt as if pieces of him were buried within those walls, waiting.

His eyes darkened.

’Ashcroft’s fragments.’

His hand clenched into a fist.

There was only one thing that could cause this.

Fragments of the Demon Lord of Domination.

“I must have it.”

The words slipped out, quiet but absolute.

At the front, Zagan stepped forward, his posture straight and composed. He spoke with the guards, his hand moving as he presented documents.

Damon watched in silence, his gaze distant but sharp.

The guards inspected the papers, then stepped aside.

Zagan gave a short nod and turned.

The army moved again.

Boots struck the ground in unison as they passed through the gate.

The city of Trace opened before them.

Damon’s gaze swept across it, his eyes sharpening as the daze faded.

The roads were massive, wide enough for entire armies to march without breaking formation. Barricades and battlements lined the streets at intervals, each one positioned with purpose.

The air was alive.

The clash of weapons rang out as troops trained in formation. Orders were barked. Supplies moved in steady lines. Blacksmiths hammered glowing metal while runesmiths carved symbols that pulsed with faint light.

Damon turned his head slightly, taking it all in.

Towers stood within the city, each one rising like an independent domain. Around them, tents spread outward in controlled clusters.

His gaze lifted.

He could feel it now.

A sealing formation covered the entire city. Even without focusing, the pressure of it brushed against his senses. Structured. Controlled. Unyielding.

Yet beneath that structure…

There was chaos.

Damon’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Each of those towers belonged to a different lord. Each lord commanded their own army.

This was the tournament.

His fingers relaxed at his side as understanding settled.

Whoever conquered them all would become the supreme commander.

His gaze hardened.

That would never happen.

No demonkin had ever succeeded. It was impossible to conquer them all.

The strong would devour the weak, expanding their forces, growing stronger with each victory.

Then they would stop.

Not out of mercy.

Out of necessity.

The strong would gather and form a council. Power balanced against power. Control maintained through mutual threat.

No ruler.

No absolute authority.

Damon’s eyes grew colder.

There was no overwhelming force to unite them.

It was the same as the Demon Continent after Ashcroft’s death.

No Demon King.

Only Demon Lords ruling their own domains, bound loosely together.

He exhaled slowly, his gaze fixed ahead.

This city would follow the same path.

And he would be standing at its center when it did.

Damon didn’t have a plan for any of this.

His original goal had been simple. Gather intel. Learn what he could. Leave.

He had only come this far because this place was one of the demon race’s forward bases. A command center for the war.

This was where decisions were made.

After all, in this war the demon lords and the goddess race’s seventh class advancement individuals would not be fighting directly.

They didn’t need to.

Those at the seventh class were too powerful. Each one of them was a calamity. If they clashed head on, the result wouldn’t be victory.

It would be mutual destruction.

Or as Ashcroft had put it.

Each of them was a nuke.

No one knew what a nuke was, but everyone understood the implication.

Total annihilation.

Damon stepped onto an empty plot of land within the city, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings before settling.

Then Zanat approached him, lowering his head slightly as he extended a key.

“My lord, this is a tower key,” he said respectfully. “Each lord builds their tower with this magic. All you need to do is pour your magic power into it. The more magic you and your army possess, the larger and more powerful your tower will be.”

Damon took the key slowly, turning it in his fingers.

He could feel it.

A complex magic woven deep within it.

It was unfamiliar.

Strange.

If anything… it felt similar to the system.

[You have obtained a demon tower key]

The system chimed.

Damon’s eyes narrowed slightly.

[Do you wish to build a tower]

[Y/N]

He didn’t hesitate.

’Yes.