Chapter 445: Chapter 447: Oath Damon could not emphasize enough how much better being rich was compared to being poor. And a step above being rich—was having power. The ability to influence others around you. It was quite convenient, after all. Money and power were the reasons he now had an entire suite aboard an airship flying thousands of meters in the air, with gentle clouds drifting past. Damon watched the sky from an open balcony on the airship. This particular model had a slick modern design, reinforced with sleek metal frames. Its body was long and vertical—vastly different from the older airship models that looked like seafaring vessels with sails. Come to think of it, he had seen the ruined hulls of these same ’modern’ models buried in Lysithara... Lysithara had too many secrets tucked away in its ancient ruins. ’Doesn’t that mean these models are actually old?’ He wouldn’t be wrong. Most modern magic-tech was, in fact, scavenged from ruins—reverse-engineered in the Magic Continent before being made public. Either that or they came from the sealed dungeons and reverse engineered in labs of the various magic-tech nations... The demons had something similar too. The fact that he could marvel at this now was thanks to one person—Lilith Astranova. A woman who possessed both the wealth and the power to make it happen. ’Must be great being related to a Duke.’ He felt bitter at the thought of his own family... The burning pain of watching his sister wither away and starve in their forgotten little village. The despair of a child who saw kind adults morph into violent, vile creatures... And the children they once played with—now treating them like pests, with the cruel capriciousness only a child could deliver. "I guess my revenge will soon begin... it was long overdue anyway..." "You’re barely back and you’re already plotting..." Lilith’s voice came from behind him, her crimson hair drifting in the wind. Damon glanced at her, his own hair fluttering alongside hers in the breeze. "Well, I can’t help it... seems my next level-up requirement demands I walk a warpath..." She nodded, leaning against the railing beside him. "Who should we kill first?" Damon smiled faintly. "We?" She pushed her hair aside, her green eyes focused. "Yes... we. We’re in this together, after all." He chuckled. It was comforting to know he had someone by his side. "What’s your level-up requirement?" she asked. Damon gave it a moment’s thought before summoning his system panel, letting it float in front of her. He could let her see it if he wanted to. That must’ve been a privilege granted to her due to her Stigmata—one given by the Unknown God. She glanced at the panel while he stayed silent. She smiled slightly. Seeing how far they had come, she knew Damon wouldn’t have shown her willingly before. She tapped the interface curiously. Something caught her attention—the icon labeled Ruined Fairy. "What’s a Ruined Fairy?" she asked. Damon furrowed his brows. ’Right... should probably let her out now.’ From his shadow, a figure emerged. A stalwart presence, covered from head to toe in full-body armor. Lilith instinctively stepped back a little. Damon didn’t even glance at the armored figure. "Don’t worry about her... you can trust her. Not that she could betray me even if she wanted to..." His tone dropped, steeped in a quiet, somber weight. Lilith looked again at the armored figure, uneasy. "Who... what is this?" She quickly glanced back at the system description for Ruined Fairy. Damon leaned against the railing once more as clouds drifted peacefully around them. "Guess it’s not that obvious, now that her hair is no longer green... and she’s not dressed like a boy." Lilith narrowed her eyes. "This is Matlock Faldren—the first-year fairy... I suppose he was a ’she.’" Damon gave no response. "How did he—she—become like this?" Lilith asked, curiosity seeping into her voice. "I killed her. And she became my shadow." Lilith stepped past his floating system panel, waving her hand in front of Matia’s face. "Can she understand me?" Damon narrowed his gaze. "What do you think? Of course she can. Her personality’s... a bit subdued, but it’s still there. I reckon she’s still herself." "Or so I hope..." he muttered the last part under his breath, unsure of even his own words. All he could do now was believe. "I see... she’s in the third rank." Lilith locked eyes with Matia and caught a flicker of something behind the blue stare directed at Damon. "I don’t think you need to worry... she’s definitely capable of independent thought. Those are the eyes of a creature with will." She shifted her gaze back to the system panel, not wanting to dwell on Matia for now. "You’ve grown powerful... very much so. There are two entirely new mechanics in your system now—Item and Mastery. Each looks promising..." Damon let her talk. His eyes remained distant as she scrolled through the panel. He had shown it to her because letting her see these things made explaining what he discovered in Lysithara far easier. After browsing through most of the skills and items, her finger finally stopped at the level-up requirement. "Hmm... I see. That’s quite the level-up requirement." Damon nodded. "Yes, it’s quite fitting, don’t you think? After all, I spent months in a death zone, fighting for my life... all because of him." His smile twisted into something cold—his dark eyes carrying a sharp, murderous gleam. "Every time I came close to giving up, I held on—just so I could repay every single one of those who wronged me." He laughed—cold and low. "I want to thank the Unknown God for giving me the chance to do it... in this manner." Lilith glanced again at the system panel. "Hmm. So... you know who it is, then?" Damon had figured that out a long time ago. He had been waiting—hungry—to kill him. "Yes. I do." She nodded, reading over the level-up requirement once more. --- LEVEL-UP REQUIREMENT: Academy Dark Spirit Summoner Souls [0/1] --- That was what Damon needed to reach the next level. That was who he needed to kill. But he was just the first. The start of a long, bloody list of people who were going to die. "And by the forgotten name of the unknown god... they will know death.