My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger Chapter 947 - 948: Precious

His eyes scanned leisurely over the men and women aboard the vessel.

"Has anyone among you brought aboard a cursed relic? Or do you fear you might have? I get it if greed tempted you. I also comprehend if a mental curse clouded your judgment."

His tone stayed even.

"I assure you, no penalty awaits if it was you. Simply confess."

The passengers exchanged uneasy looks, soft whispers rippling through the deck.

Not a single soul came forth.

Damon’s gaze grew a shade darker.

"I already know the guilty party."

His words turned icy.

"If I must identify you... your life ends here."

He flicked his hand casually, though he suspected no one would volunteer.

Indeed, how could they trust he truly knew?

It might just be an empty threat.

And nobody wished to risk their fate on such uncertainty.

Damon exhaled deeply.

"Very well, if that’s your choice... so be it."

He stood tall and shifted his attention to the assembled knights and sailors. His stare lingered on each face individually, examining them without a word.

Suddenly, he halted before one individual.

Before the fellow could respond, Damon advanced. His shadow extended oddly over the planks, behaving like a creature with a will of its own.

Damon bent low and contacted the man’s shadow.

Then he withdrew his hand.

"Ahrggg—"

The man barely managed a cry before his legs gave way, sending him crashing to his knees. His shadow detached from the deck like dark fluid and flowed into Damon’s grasp.

Damon remained there, clutching it.

His face showed no emotion, remaining impassive and stern.

The man pressed his hands to his chest, as though a crucial essence had been torn away. His breaths came in harsh gasps. Perspiration streamed down his features.

It seemed like Damon cradled his very soul.

"Your shadow belongs to me now," Damon murmured.

This technique was known as Shadow Seizer.

Under usual circumstances, Damon would avoid deploying such a power before so many onlookers. It appeared excessively sinister.

Yet at this moment, he paid it no mind.

He held temple membership already. In a way, he represented the supreme spiritual leader on board this ship.

Should anyone possess the authority to condemn wickedness, it was he.

"It was you, right?" Damon stated with chill precision.

The man doubled over, gripping his chest tightly. He couldn’t fathom the source of his agony.

"You’re among those I haven’t questioned yet," Damon went on steadily. "Truthfully, there’s no need for that now."

His stare stayed frosty.

"Your physical state serves as all the evidence required."

Damon had pinpointed the offender.

The man lifted his head gradually, his complexion ashen and quivering.

"I... I’ve done nothing wrong," he croaked faintly.

Seras knit her brows from her position close by. She didn’t quite grasp Damon’s actions fully.

"Indeed... perhaps you truly think so," Damon responded evenly. "I can tell you speak no falsehoods."

He knelt until his eyes met the man’s directly.

"So tell me why corruption is gradually overtaking you."

Damon seized the man’s gauntlet and yanked it free.

Under the armored covering, the man’s flesh had started to alter.

It was shifting to a dull gray.

Fine, pointed bristles like hair were emerging from split skin that appeared parched and fragile.

The blight crept steadily up his limb.

Damon observed it briefly.

"I recognize the odor of decay."

The man’s eyes shook with intense fear.

"What item did you acquire?"

The man’s fingers quaked fiercely.

Damon’s inquiry resounded in his mind.

What did you take?

Set gazed at his limb as though it were foreign. The ashen blight slithering under his surface instilled a silent dread unlike any combat horror he’d faced.

He had assumed it would fade.

He had believed it fleeting.

Now terror gripped him.

"I... I... what’s wrong with me?" he inquired, his tone quivering. In that instant, his plight overshadowed all else.

Damon looked down sternly, his gaze ruthless and unyielding.

"Corruption claims you," he declared bluntly. "You handled what was forbidden. Your essence bears the stain."

He clenched tighter around the squirming shadow in his hold.

"No salvation awaits you."

Set’s eyes bulged in dread. His mouth quivered before he bowed his head mutely.

Close at hand, Lana averted her eyes, witnessing a comrade’s fall into monstrosity.

"Why, Set?" she murmured gently.

Set clenched his jaw. Guilt contorted his features as the burden of his knightly lapse crushed him.

"I... it was a lapse in resolve," he uttered roughly. "I spotted something on the shore. It rested in the grains... glowing."

He gulped heavily.

"I extended my hand... but I vow I refrained from claiming it. I held back."

Gradually, he delved into the pouch at his waist and extracted an item.

A circular golden relic lay in his grasp.

It shimmered subtly beneath the crimson-tinged heavens.

A lone crimson jewel occupied its core like a vigilant orb, encircled by archaic symbols carved into the alloy.

Damon’s look intensified.

"Then explain its presence with you still," he demanded icily.

After all, this knight was tasked with his protection.

Set regarded the thing in his palm with a tormented visage.

"I can’t say," he breathed. "Upon embarking... it appeared in my pouch."

His tone softened further.

"I chose not to discard it because... I deemed it destiny."

Damon’s features stayed neutral.

"Until you noticed the corruption’s onset," he observed softly.

Set’s posture tensed.

"And once it began," Damon pressed on, "you dared not reveal it. Thus, you silenced yourself and allowed the rest to suffer the fallout."

His inflection chilled deeper.

"You permitted deaths."

Set shut his eyes.

The blight had advanced more. Ashen lines snaked over his limb like fissures in rock, slender ebony thorns starting to pierce the dermis.

"Get rid of it," Damon commanded.

"Toss it into the waves."

Set inclined his head deliberately.

He raised the relic a bit, as if ready to hurl it overboard.

Then he halted.

His action stalled midway.

Deliberately... so deliberately... he brought the item back to rest.

When his gaze lifted once more, his countenance had transformed.

The terror had vanished.

Another presence peered from his eyes now.

His features set rigidly as he uttered in a hushed tone.

"You seek to claim my treasure."