My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger

Renata glanced at the proceedings with a calm expression while holding what seemed to be some kind of device. It was a flat clear crystal that displayed numbers and images across its surface.

It was much like a pager, only far more advanced, and she tapped against it while moving information from one page to the next.

Everything was going according to plan.

Months of preparation had led them to this moment and today they were officially stepping into the public eye.

However, Renata was not the one getting emotional from all this.

A woman with beautiful green eyes stood beside her watching the proceedings unfold with an expression Renata could not quite make out beneath the shadow of her hood.

"Are you okay?" she asked, sounding somewhat worried.

"I dreamt of this day for many years... a small ugly part of me thought this day would never come, that I would never be able to do any of this, that Ishana’s death would never be avenged."

She paused, thinking back to those long years of hatred.

"Alas, today has come... while I may not get to destroy the temple in one fell swoop that does not matter. I will destroy them anyway."

Renata was quiet for a moment, even she could feel emotional. This was a momentous occasion.

"I never doubted we would get this far... I knew it from the moment he used Demon Dominate on me that day..."

A small smile appeared on her lips as she recalled that memory, because she was certain if she had not played along Damon would have tried to kill her.

"We grew so powerful in such a short time... I have a feeling the world is going mad. Our predecessors took centuries to reach the ranks we now stand at."

She looked down at her palm as small sparks of magic danced across her skin.

"Is the theory of the end times really true?"

Lilith did not look at her, instead her gaze remained fixed on the distant destruction caused by their attacking units.

"I originally dismissed it as nonsense years ago when people were saying the birth of Seras Blade meant the destiny of the world was coming to an end."

She crossed her arms, feeling a hot wind blow past them followed by a sonic boom powerful enough to shatter all the glass around her, though even then she did not seem fazed.

"Then there were the people of the previous generation, but only a few from Seras’ generation actually grew quickly, the rest were mediocre," Lilith muttered. Her voice was low, not enough for a normal person to hear, but Renata was far from normal.

"Yes and then there is the generation after Seras... after Damon Grey, Matia Faldren, Sylvia Moonveil, Evangeline Brightwater, Xander Ravenscroft, Leona Valefier returned from Lysithara it was as if the world was suddenly in a rush to pull forth talents." Renata whispered as she slowly reached out her hand.

"Do you feel that... even the mana seems richer somehow. It is like how people suddenly gain bursts of strength when they are in grave danger."

Her head lowered and her voice became solemn.

"Hysterical strength," Lilith interrupted.

"The world is hysterical because it feels itself dying."

Renata furrowed her beautiful brows, her expression turning solemn.

"If you had said this five years ago I would have called you insane, but now knowing what I know and having seen what I have seen... I know there are truly beings who see our world as nothing. We are less than a pebble in the grand scheme of things."

Lilith shook her head while feeling a deep pressure settle on her shoulders.

"Gods so high above... and us down here in the muck."

She smiled softly at just how unreal all of this still felt to her.

"Come what may, we will struggle until the very end."

Suddenly a massive impact shattered the building they stood upon, half of the structure exploding into countless fragments of debris that shot violently in every direction.

The rock was not a rock at all.

It was a massive piece broken away from one of the giant statues of High Templars from ages past.

She glanced in that direction and saw a man covered in dragon scales rampaging through the Shadow Drones. He smashed them apart, tore through them, crushed them beneath overwhelming force and every single movement of his body created thunderous booms that shook the battlefield.

Yet when they fell, they simply began to regenerate before standing once more.

Renata smiled as she quickly took notes and gathered more combat data.

"It seems the defensive types we built with quasi immortality are actually quite durable."

Lilith nodded while observing the much slower and far simpler models.

"Yes but we had to sacrifice their intelligence, speed, magic capability and almost everything else. They respond poorly to mental attacks and remain vulnerable to soul damage."

Renata heard the criticism but it hardly bothered her.

"It is a good thing we mass produced those custom soul armors then. That solves their most glaring weakness and as far as he is concerned they are effectively immortal."

Lilith tilted her head toward Renata.

"You cannot be serious... that is Aurelius Venn. They cannot win."

A soft sneer appeared on Renata’s face followed by a thin smile.

"They are not supposed to. These models were designed to act as distractions, to keep powerhouses occupied while our real fighters do all the damage. They look intimidating but at their core they are nothing more than mindless brutes."

The two of them observed the proceedings calmly.

Aurelius Venn stood there as imposing as ever.

This was the sixth time he had killed them.

And still they kept rising.

The question before him was simple.

Were these things immortal?

He doubted that.

"Fine. Since you refuse to stay dead then I will simply eviscerate every trace of your existence."

He raised his hand and a giant sphere of destruction began forming above the battlefield, so massive it swallowed the sky itself.

A deep sinister smile filled his face.

"High Cardinal please don’t, you might destroy religious sites."

One of the nearby knights screamed desperately over the destruction.

Aurelius bit his lips and the overwhelming power gathering in the sky slowly began fading away.

"Fine... I will finish you one at a time."