My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 920 - 921: Look up

Blood started oozing from the corners of his eyes, streaming down his cheeks.

He remained rooted in place, his gaze locked upward, as though he'd glimpsed something utterly beyond his mind's grasp.

The loose earth beneath their boots was the initial thing to retreat.

Even this part of the Evil Forest feared whatever lurked in the branches above, causing the ground to pull back alongside the dark roots, yanking them forcefully into the depths below.

The shift affected the feel of the dark soil.

It had turned solid and firm, just like the ordinary terrain Damon recalled.

Only then did true terror grip him.

Damon watched as Seras gradually pivoted and started weaving hand seals. She signaled toward the expedition team, then pointed at Damon beside her. Her gesture was one that would make anyone balk at obeying.

Yet everyone understood this was their sole option.

Her hand rose to her lips.

With no delay, she extracted her tongue and sliced it clean off.

The cut tongue dropped onto the dirt.

In that precise instant, her words rang out from the treetops.

"Everyone, prepare your weapons and strike at the beings in the trees..."

It sent chills through them all.

Every eye was fixed on Seras herself.

Not a syllable had escaped her lips.

Her mouth overflowed with crimson.

But her voice emanated from the branches.

The trees—and the horrors nestled among them—had mimicked her tone.

Had she delayed even a moment, they might have fallen victim like the initial scout.

Damon clenched his jaw tightly.

It appeared they'd stumbled into the Listening Canopy far sooner than anticipated.

Or perhaps the canopy had descended upon them.

This zone of the Evil Forest was meant for entry after at least three more days on the trail.

Blood poured profusely from Seras' severed tongue as she shot him a look.

Damon exhaled inwardly.

He needed to follow suit.

The Listening Canopy had captured his voice by now.

With a flick of his wrist, the shadows encircling him coalesced into a slender blade. Without pause, he drew out his tongue and severed it.

Crimson flooded his mouth, spilling down his throat, chin, and neck.

The flavor was salty and iron-tanged.

Damon stayed composed.

His face held steady, unmoved by his self-inflicted wound.

According to Amadeus' notes, the laws here were straightforward.

Should the canopy learn your name, your tongue becomes your worst foe.

Fail to remove it, and it turns verdant, rotting away as the woods mimic you more.

Avoid gazing into the branches.

Something nightmarish waited there.

Spot it, and your sanity fractures, your spirit crumbles.

In certain instances, it claims a piece of you.

Fellow travelers catch phantom commands or screams. Some obey, vanishing into the underbrush forever.

Crucially, this echoed the Whispering Forest most closely.

It must never learn your identity.

Once it does, it lures you to glance skyward, eroding your resolve with every summons until you yield.

Renata stayed silent, so the Listening Canopy lacked her timbre. She spared her tongue, opting instead for a cord to seal her mouth securely. She did likewise for Wendy, whose stare remained glued to the ground.

Not all in the group risked it; some swiftly amputated their tongues.

Such caution proved wiser.

The metallic scent of blood hung dense in the atmosphere.

Damon caught a subtle glow filtering from above just as a plea tugged at him to raise his eyes.

It sounded like Seras begging for aid.

He wasn't fooled.

She stood mere steps away.

He gave her a light elbow prod.

Seras peeked at him sidelong and nodded faintly, signaling to push through.

Damon peered back along their route and spotted twisted trunks in their wake.

He dropped his gaze and observed odd blooms sprouting near the bases.

Those petals pulsed with subtle spatial energy.

His eyes sharpened.

That was the trail they'd crossed.

Displacement flowers, perhaps.

He examined them closely.

Indeed, they were.

These blooms in the Evil Forest shifted folks across distances via their void-like properties.

'I get it... we bypassed days of journeying by accident...'

"Damon, hurry and look up..." Seras' cry pierced the air with desperation.

His neck stiffened.

He nearly tilted his head.

Then he halted.

"Damn, that was too real... nearly got me..."

Damon drew in a sharp, icy breath and pressed onward away from the deceptive calls. Seras' tender whisper tempted him once more to peer upward.

"Don’t you want to know about your mother? Just look up, and I’ll reveal it. I’ll let you see." The treetop voice cooed softly, a far cry from anything Seras had ever uttered.

Seras was never that kind to anyone, Damon knew for certain. She was icy as iron, lethal and unyielding as the grave. As if that fierce warrior would ever soften like that...

"She wouldn't, would she?" Damon mused, the blood crusting on his chin.

He eyed her striding beside him, her stare laced with fury. Absolutely, that battle-hardened woman wouldn't whisper sweetly. War had forged her that way.

She met his look, then jabbed a fierce gesture urging him forward. Her fierce scowl conveyed the message.

If you get tricked, I'll thrash you senseless...

Damon pressed his lips together. Without a tongue, retorting was impossible.

Plop.

One figure crumpled to the knees, pale as death. The Listening Canopy had ensnared them.

His hairs prickled in alarm.