My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 852 - 853: Shockwave

Damon remained unaware of the nature of the entity that had been released, or that a fragment of Ittorath had slipped into this world alongside them; perhaps this was simply another layer of the Unknown God’s grand design.

Regardless of the cause, the reality was that his objectives had been achieved.

The data Damon received was grim: ten million lives lost, with several million more suffering from severe injuries. Around seven million individuals were now homeless, while another sixteen million had been forced into internal displacement.

The scale of the carnage was truly monstrous.

Countless people were dead, yet Damon, situated deep within the inner city, never encountered a single body. He only saw a statistical summary. Every one of those deaths had been reduced to nothing more than a figure on a report.

No corpses met his gaze. The sound of their screams and desperate pleas never reached his ears. He simply sat in his comfortable residence and accepted the paperwork.

As a young boy, he had despised the nobility, yet he was currently behaving exactly like the elites he once hated.

Nevertheless, Damon viewed these events as a necessary path toward his goals. He believed that freedom was something that had to be seized through conflict.

From his current vantage point, even the rising smoke and soot were invisible; the city’s vastness meant the destruction in the outer region was too distant to see.

However, two significant advantages had been secured.

The first was obvious: animosity among the inhabitants of the Grinding Gate had ignited, and that rage provided a catalyst for rebellion. He had demonstrated to the masses that no one was safe from becoming a victim.

Consequently, a wave of despair had washed over them. When people lose all hope, they inevitably search for something to believe in. They start new faiths and offer prayers to the heavens.

Because of this, the religion Damon founded was gaining ground.

He presented them with a choice—an alternative to their current life. He gave them a dream of escaping their shackles and a method to strike back.

At this moment, Lazarak was attracting devotees at a staggering pace across the metropolis. Underneath the surface of the current turmoil, a deep-seated loathing for the chained knights and the god Seraph Null was festering.

Furthermore...

A smile touched Damon’s lips as he folded his arms.

His newly acquired shadow maw was feasting well.

The massacre at the Grinding Gate had provided a massive surplus of remains.

Since leaving bodies to rot was a certain way to trigger disease and pestilence, the cult Damon established offered their services to clear the dead. Those remains were fed to the Maw, accelerating the Vor’Thal’s growth toward its adult form.

He exhaled slowly.

"If gods are flawed, faith is false, and hope creates monsters... then what remains."

Damon questioned himself.

The response was immediate and clear.

"It was choice."

Everything centered on the power of choice.

If the gods were imperfect, then it fell upon humanity to forge its own heaven.

Our decisions define us, and those decisions construct our reality. We do not require deities to decide our paths for us.

This was a core tenet of the Unknown God’s philosophy.

Choice was the ultimate truth.

And if the decision truly belonged to the individual, then blame could not be shifted onto a god.

"Damon, what are you waiting for, let’s go."

Evangeline’s voice echoed from the doorway. Oblivious to Damon’s internal reflections, she only saw him as a source of delay.

"Come on, let’s go. We found Leona, right."

With a slow nod, Damon followed Evangeline out.

Dressed in an exquisite gown with her golden hair shimmering under the sunlight, she looked every bit the high-born lady.

Noticing Damon’s preoccupied expression, Evangeline gave him a light nudge.

"What’s got you so down."

He looked up at her.

Depressed? That wasn't it.

"Do I look down."

She nodded, her expression softening with a smile.

"You kind of do. I haven’t seen you this brooding since our days in the academy."

Damon rubbed the bridge of his nose, remembering those uncomfortable times.

He let out a sigh.

"Eva... if you had to be put in a position where you could save a million people, but it led to the deaths of a hundred, what would you do?"

She fell silent for a moment.

Then, she shook her head.

"I don’t know. People aren’t statistics. What makes the lives of a million people more important than the hundred. It’s not a sacrifice if you kill a hundred people against their will."

He bit his lip.

"So what do you do then?"

She shook her head again.

"Justice is a difficult thing to carry out, and I am just human. I don’t know. But I would want to save everyone I can."

Damon’s gaze sharpened.

"Then will you allow death to fall dispassionately on rich and poor alike, unaffected by race or creed."

She shook her head.

"You’re talking about genocide."

Looking down at her palm, she continued.

"Justice is important to me, but justice without humanity is cruel."

"If I have to give an answer, I would say I am human, and therefore I will make the humane choice."

Damon’s fist tightened at her words.

She had explicitly stated she would make a choice.

There was always a decision to be made. Choice was the constant.

Damon had analyzed the concept of choice endlessly, hoping to grasp the philosophy of the Unknown God. Yet, the deeper he delved, the more convoluted the concept became.

Perhaps that complexity was why the Unknown God remained so enigmatic. He was, after all, the deity of choice.

Evangeline remained quiet as they walked toward the location where Leona had been spotted. Indeed, the residence clearly belonged to her.

A sign was posted on the entrance.

Leona’s place. Do not enter unless you want to get a beating.

Damon and Evangeline exchanged a quick look.

"At least we know it’s not a trap."

He gave a measured knock. Instantly, the door was yanked open, and a figure threw themselves into his arms.

"I knew it, I knew it. I smelled you... hehehe."

Leona’s voice was bright with excitement as she squeezed him in a tight embrace.

Damon returned the hug.

"Yeah, I missed you too, bestie. In fact, I suffered a lot."

He looked toward Evangeline, feigning distress.

"I was even sexually harassed by Evangeline in a public place, and the people just watched her take advantage of me."

Leona gasped, covering her mouth.

"No she didn’t. She finally showed her true colors."

Evangeline shut her eyes, her temper reaching its limit.

’I’ll kill these two...’