My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 841 - 842: Vor’thal Abyss Devourers

Damon felt a rhythmic throbbing in his skull as his shadow energy began its sluggish recovery. Sitting motionless with his shoulders slightly slumped, he observed the shapeless mass tumbling across the floor. The creature’s form rippled and folded repeatedly until a set of jagged teeth emerged, widening to grind down on the remnants of what had been its protective cocoon.

The sounds of its feeding were wet and repulsive. Although the entity was barely half the size of a common house cat, its hunger was unsettlingly voracious.

Damon raised a hand to his temple, pressing firmly as a wave of irritation washed over him. His mana reserves were completely depleted. Even after the consumption of seven rank three mana cores, the resulting recovery had been negligible.

Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Damon produced a mana crystal he had seized from Aetherus. He crushed the gem within his fist, instinctively attempting to siphon the mana into his own body.

The energy vanished instantly.

Before the mana could even reach his heart, it was snatched away, seized by the world itself and denied to him completely.

Damon remained frozen for a heartbeat before exhaling a slow, measured breath through his nose. The amount of mana he had managed to reclaim was pathetic—at least by his standards, it was hardly enough to notice.

Once the creature had finished consuming the final shards of its shell, it pivoted toward him. Despite lacking eyes or a stable anatomy, Damon was certain it was watching him. It remained still for a moment, its body trembling slightly, before it began to crawl in his direction.

Its movements were slow and deliberate.

Upon reaching his feet, the creature’s enormous maw unhinged as it lunged forward, attempting to sink its teeth into him.

Damon did not flinch.

"If you bite me, I’ll make sure you regret it."

His tone was level and frigid, stripped of all emotion. Even this primitive, newly birthed thing—a blob forged from his own shadow—grasped the threat behind those words.

It stopped instantly.

Its mouth stayed wide, quivering with tension, but it did not close.

It clearly had no desire to test his patience.

Damon leaned down and lifted the creature with both hands. It felt surprisingly dense for its size and gave off a faint warmth. As he turned it over, he noticed fine threads of black fur starting to sprout across its surface. The sight caused him to pause.

Cute.

This was a first.

Never before had one of his shadows even contemplated trying to devour him.

Matia was an exception, having been his friend prior to her passing. Ghost had been a foe before being turned into a shadow, and even then, his obedience had been immediate.

This creature was different.

Damon brought it closer to his face, inspecting it while it squirmed weakly in his palms.

"You are quite interesting," he whispered. "Hmm... I wonder what I should call you."

The potential threat the beast posed was of no concern to him. If it proved impossible to control, he would simply devour it himself.

He looked at it again as the creature opened its mouth in a wide, yawning stretch.

"Maw..." Damon said slowly. "Yes."

He gave a single nod. "Maw shall be your name. A true glutton."

Just as the name was spoken, Lazarak wiped a smear of blood from under his nose and approached, his gait uneven but determined.

"Now for the next phase," Lazarak noted. "We must feed this thing until it reaches maturity. Then, we get it to produce minions."

Damon’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Indeed.

What exactly was this entity?

He was finally in a position to find out. When he had previously questioned Lazarak, the god mentioned that four such beings had once entered this world and nearly brought about its destruction. Only this specimen remained.

Damon summoned his system panel and checked the shadow tab. A new entry had appeared.

He hesitated momentarily.

Instead of viewing the new entry first, his focus shifted, and he opened Matia’s tab instead.

....

[Shadow: Ruined Fairy]

"The final grace of a fallen fairy now follows in your wake, silent and bound."

Once a magnificent fairy of a frozen realm, now a formidable shadow.

[Rank: Three]

[Class: Dancing Fairy]

"Oh, little fairy, dance upon the strings. Sway to the whims of your master, a fleeting waltz between beauty and death."

Skill – [Lethal Grace]

Your movements are fluid and deadly, turning every attack into a flawless dance of death.

[Class: Dark Fairy]

"You rise in darkness."

Skill – [Wings of Ruin]

Your blade freezes wounds, making them slow to heal. Each strike leaves an icy scar that saps vitality, hindering recovery and spreading a chilling curse. The more you dance, the deeper the frost sinks, making each injury a lasting mark of your deadly elegance.

[Ruined Fairy]

There is beauty in ruin. Share this beauty with the world.

[Ruin’s End]

Rarely does one receive three blessings in succession. A certain god watched her dance in the darkness and bestowed a boon.

From the wings you gained from your lost kin, a chilling winter spreads around you. All shall fall to Ruin’s End.

[Minions: 1]

[Soul Bound Armament]

[Armor of Shattered Ice]

[Description]

This armor carries a faint aura of home, invoking melancholy in a god who can never return. Still, home waits, loyal in its yearning.

The bearer of this armor holds the same unyielding loyalty, even if it is unrewarded.

[Enchantments]

Frost Arsenal – Generates ethereal weapons of soul-infused ice at will, freezing flesh and soul.

Mimic Slash – Copies enemy weapon techniques after observing them once.

Frozen Timestep – Slows perception of time when switching weapons or after landing a critical hit.

Flake of Cold Eternity – Summons a frozen double to fight alongside her briefly.

....

Matia remained a formidable force even after reclaiming her personality. Damon’s eyes wandered to the corner of the room, where the female knight stood perfectly still within the shadows, her posture stiff and her presence icy.

’I understand she looks impressive,’ he thought with a flicker of annoyance, ’but she could at least engage in a conversation once in a while.’

He made a face.

’We have chairs here, for heaven's sake.’

Nevertheless, he didn't press the issue. As an aura farmer, he understood that interrupting someone’s aura was a breach of etiquette.

Putting that aside, Damon moved to the second tab.

His second shadow.

This interface was distinct from Matia’s.

.....

[Shadow: Maw]

All demons obsess over the abyss. The true demon kings are no different. I just want my silence.

Race: Vor’Thal (Growth Variant)

Classification: Hive Entity – Abyssal Devourer

Rank: Unclassified (Extinction-Class Potential)

State: Larval / Bound

[Description]

A remnant of an almost extinct extra-cosmic species created by a certain True Demon King for the purpose of consuming the Abyss itself. The great demons long for the abyss, but the abyss longs for silence.

Vor’Thal is a self-evolving predatory race entity designed to consume, analyze, and adapt to all forms of existence. That true demon longed for the mysteries of the abyss. His creations failed and became part of the countless horrors within it.

[Abilities]

[Negation]

The devour race’s extinction-class design grants resistance to conceptual and divine laws affecting its base nature.

[Vor’Thal is protected by the authority of the Demon King ***** REDACTED. Maw is now protected by the authority of an unknown god.]

[Skills]

[Abyssal Consumption]

Devours matter, energy, mana, shadow, and conceptual residue to fuel growth and evolution.

[Adaptive Evolution]

Instantly develops biological, metaphysical, or conceptual traits in response to sustained stimuli or threats designed on its Feeding habits.

[Hive Genesis] (Sealed)

Capable of producing subordinate organisms once sufficient mass and authority are achieved.

[Extinction Directive] (Suppressed)

Original prime directive to consume reality overwritten by shadow binding.

[Shadow Subordination]

Absolute loyalty enforced. Vor’Thal cannot act against its creator’s will.

Rank Limit

Extinction Rank

.....

It had been quite some time since Damon had encountered a system panel that piqued his interest to this degree.

Above all else, his focus was fixed on a single term.

Extinction.

He had never encountered a rank that existed beyond the standard nine of his world. He knew of higher tiers, but their names had remained a mystery.

"What exactly is... the extinction rank?" Damon inquired.

Lazarak, who had been observing him stare into empty space, narrowed his eyes.

"Extinction rank," he echoed. "I don't recognize that title. It is likely one of the nine transcendent ranks."

Damon’s eyes sparked.

"The nine transcendent ranks?"

Lazarak let out a sigh and rubbed his brow. "It’s something my brother told me. All ranks are categorized into two groups: the nine mortal ranks and the nine transcendent ranks."

Damon mentally listed them. The advancements from the first to the seventh class. The hidden boundaries that lay beyond.

He looked down at the tiny blob squirming in his grip.

"This little thing has the potential to reach the extinction rank."

Lazarak took a sharp breath.

"In that case, this creature is the most perilous existence in the world," he whispered, "based on potential alone."

He paused as a thought occurred to him. "You’ve realized what it truly is."

Damon gave a slow nod. "A race birthed by a specific True Demon King. They were engineered to devour reality itself, intended to swallow the abyss. They were a failure."

He set Maw back on the floor, watching it wobble and roll around aimlessly.

"The race is known as Vor’Thal. Abyss Devourers."

He looked down at the creature.

"I’m naming this one Maw. And as I suspected, it’s currently completely useless."

Lazarak folded his arms as Maw slowly rolled toward his feet, its mouth unhinging as it prepared to eat him.

"Yes," Lazarak replied dryly. "So, we feed it."

Damon nodded in agreement. "It possesses abilities, but the ones that matter are currently sealed."

Lazarak reached down and snatched Maw up just as it tried to lunge, holding it away from his body.

"Hmmm. I’d quite like to run some experiments on it," he remarked. "Don’t you have somewhere you need to be?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "Fine. I have to find a way to replenish my mana regardless. I’ll make my way to the inner city to locate my companions. We can communicate through the brands."

He stood up and walked toward the darkness while Lazarak teased the creature, shifting his hands to keep them away from Maw’s snapping jaws.

Damon paused and looked back over his shoulder.

"Maw. You are to obey Lazarak while I am away. And you are strictly forbidden from eating any of my allies."

Maw went still, its mouth frozen open.

Lazarak slowly lowered his hand into the creature's open maw.

Despite the creature's desperate urge to bite down, its body refused to move against its master's command.