My Living Shadow System Devours To Make Me Stronger - Chapter 969 - 970: Not Here
Chapter 969: Chapter 970: Not Here
Sylvia didn’t receive the response she had hoped for.
Though that was mostly because she had knocked them unconscious.
The thought that those weaklings could stop her from leaving was almost laughable.
With a calm expression, she continued down the castle halls.
Finding her father wasn’t difficult.
Her left eye burned faintly, and flashes of the future appeared before her—brief glimpses showing where she would meet him.
Following those visions, she walked slowly through the corridors.
Her footsteps echoed softly through the vast citadel of the Moonveil royal household.
Decorations of silver and pale crystal adorned the halls, their opulence reflecting centuries of elven pride.
Behind her, guards shouted and hurried through the corridors, trying to coordinate themselves.
Yet Sylvia simply walked forward.
No one saw her.
She moved naturally through their blind spots, her path guided by the brief flashes from her strange new eye.
Her pace remained steady, interrupted only by the occasional pause as another glimpse of the future appeared.
Eventually, she arrived before a large set of doors.
Tall windows framed the entrance, allowing sunlight to spill across the marble floor.
Sylvia sighed.
It seemed she couldn’t avoid them all.
There was no future in which she passed this door unseen.
So she didn’t bother trying.
She simply walked forward.
The guards spotted her immediately.
One of them stepped ahead of the others, lowering his weapon respectfully.
“Princess,” he said carefully, “forgive me, but our orders are to keep you under house arrest.”
Sylvia didn’t bother replying.
Instead, she muttered a single word.
“Razaka.”
A wave of condensed moonlight gathered in her palm before exploding outward.
The spell itself was not unique to the goddess races. If anything, it was far more common among the balrogs of the Demon Continent.
But Sylvia had learned a variation of it from the forbidden knowledge within her book.
The attack struck before the guards could react.
There was barely any resistance.
A violent burst of force erupted through the hallway.
Bodies slammed into the walls.
The great door behind them splintered inward with a thunderous crack.
Soft groans filled the air as the guards collapsed.
Blood spread across the floor, creeping toward Sylvia’s feet.
Her expression didn’t change.
Even though they had not attacked her, she had struck them down without hesitation.
Those still conscious stared at her with horror.
No one had died.
But many of them likely wished they had.
Sylvia took a slow breath.
Sunlight washed across her face as she stepped through the shattered doorway.
Beyond it lay a vast garden.
Her footsteps softened against the wooden path that wound through the floral paradise.
Her long dress lifted slightly as she walked, revealing her bare feet.
Hundreds of lunar flowers bloomed across the garden, their petals shimmering with faint magical light.
Small glowing wisps floated through the air like drifting motes of cotton.
It was beautiful.
Peaceful.
But Sylvia’s expression remained unchanged.
She walked silently along the path until she reached a large pavilion.
Vines and flowering plants wrapped around its pale pillars.
The structure itself had been carved from pure moonstone, its smooth surface reflecting the soft light of the sky.
There, beneath the pavilion, stood a man.
His back was turned to her.
Sylvia stopped.
Her lips parted slightly, a mixture of emotions rising within her.
But before she could speak—
His voice reached her.
Soft.
Gentle.
“You smell of blood, my child.”
The man slowly turned.
Long white hair flowed down his back, and his elven ears emerged from beneath it.
His gaze rested on Sylvia.
“You were never this violent.”
Sylvia held his gaze quietly.
Then she answered.
“Perhaps…”
Her voice was soft.
“I am no longer a child.”
“How long ago was it that you were born?” her father asked coldly. “Barely two decades. For a life that stretches centuries… you have hardly begun to live.”
“You are still a child.”
Sylvia lowered her head slightly.
After a moment she sighed, a quiet resignation in the sound.
“Then shall I remain sealed in this place forever,” she asked softly, “as though I have committed some great evil?”
“I do what I do to protect you,” her father, Kadelas, replied sternly.
Sylvia nodded faintly.
“I am grateful for your protection.”
Then she lifted her gaze.
“Now I am asking you to set me free.”
“You do not understand anything, do you?” Kadelas said sharply. “You are a child. You are not ready.”
“You may have reached the Fourth Class Advancement, but that means nothing. This world is more dangerous than you think.”
His voice hardened.
“And for you… it is far more dangerous than it is for others.”
“For my spirit affinity?” Sylvia asked quietly. “You want me to live in fear forever. Is that what you want?”
“Forever?” Kadelas muttered bitterly. “Even I cannot endure forever.”
He looked away for a moment.
“You are not ready.”
“That is not for you to decide,” Sylvia replied, her gaze drifting toward the flowers in the garden.
“It is,” Kadelas snapped.
“You have allowed that wretched human boy to fill your head with lies and fantasies. He is a liar, Sylvia. A deceiver.”
“Why can’t you see that?”
Sylvia smiled faintly.
“Of course I can.”
She turned back to him.
“He is a liar and a deceiver. I already know that.”
Her shoulders lifted slightly.
“You speak as if that were some great secret.”
“It isn’t.”
“I just don’t care.”
Kadelas closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, a massive aura erupted from his body.
The pavilion around them trembled.
Then it lifted into the air before shattering apart, fragments of moonstone crashing down into the garden below.
Flowers and glowing wisps scattered in the wind.
“I see now that I cannot convince you,” Kadelas said coldly.
“Fine.”
“Return to your room.”
Sylvia didn’t move.
Not even an inch.
She shook her head slowly.
Then she bowed.
“Forgive me, Father.”
For a brief moment, Kadelas’s expression softened.
If she understood…
If she had finally accepted—
But then she continued.
“I didn’t return because I had no choice.”
“I came back of my own volition.”
“I can leave of my own volition.”
Her gaze met his calmly.
“With all due respect…”
“I came here to say goodbye.”
Silence fell over the ruined garden.
Sylvia studied her father’s face.
“If I were you,” she said quietly, “I would worry about something more important.”
“Something more important than stopping me from leaving.”
Kadelas frowned.
Sylvia’s expression had grown strangely cold.
“The fate of the Moon Glades hangs on your choice.”
“What do you mean?” he demanded.
Sylvia slowly raised her hand and pointed toward the sky.
Kadelas looked.
At first he saw nothing.
Then his eyes narrowed.
He cast a long-distance vision spell.
And what he saw made his expression tighten.
Far away in the sky, hundreds of kilometers in the distance—
A dragon was approaching.
Massive wings cut through the clouds.
“Rexagon… the Gravewing,” Kadelas muttered.
Sylvia’s voice was calm behind him.
“You have a few minutes.”
“If you leave now, you might stop him.”
“If you fail… millions will die.”
“The forest will burn.”
Sylvia turned away.
Kadelas only had moments to choose.
He made his decision instantly.
He rushed toward Sylvia, intending to knock her unconscious before leaving to confront the dragon.
But when his hand reached her—
It passed straight through her body.
Kadelas froze.
Sylvia smiled faintly.
“Oh.”
“Sorry.”
“I forgot to mention.”
She tilted her head slightly.
“I’m not actually here.”
