It was a pointless affair. Damon was certain of that. The system always had a tendency to give him an option.

But choice was an illusion. While the Unknown God seemed to despise fate and would strip it of its dignity every chance he got, that did not change the facts.

Falling into the plans of the Unknown God was also fate.

Even if it seemed like you had a choice, you would still be under the influence of a higher power that dictated or influenced the choices you made.

However, that was fine with Damon. At least for now.

At least in some way, he was choosing. It was his choice to say yes.

He could always choose no. Knowing those possibilities and options existed was more than enough for him.

Saying yes was a path to difficulty, but so was not making a choice. At least when he said yes, he was rewarded for his suffering.

Damon called that equivalent exchange. In a sense, it was a trade.

This was the reason he said yes.

The system chimed.

[Quest Act One]

[The Dominator's Burden]

Survive the 24 hours without losing your chosen pawn: [Prince Waton of Valtheron]

Do not kill any of the demon kin who wish to terminate him during these 24 hours.

Do not use shadows [Ruined Fairy & Ghost].

[Rewards]

[Primordial Shadow Essence: this wonderful essence has a unique ability to restore memories and personality traits of shadows.]

[Failure]

???????

Damon watched the first stage of his chain quest with a frown. Sensing the shadows stirring around him, he narrowed his eyes.

Ahh, this was diabolical.... no, it was just cruel.

Damon did not have his full power. The quest condition was to protect Waton, and not only that, he was forbidden from killing demon kin.

More importantly, the rewards were something he had to obtain. This was a way for him to restore Matia's personality, to bring her back in a sense to what she was before.

She would still be a shadow, but at least she would still be herself.

As for why this was diabolical.... well.

He was told the rewards beforehand, so he would not refuse.

Damon raised his head slightly to where he had been teleported. He wasn't alone here, which should have been a good thing since Waton was right next to him for some odd reason.

However, that brought Damon no joy. He was unsure of the prince's aptitude for combat.

His eyes lifted as he glanced at what was in front of him. It seemed Damon's luck had taken a turn for the worse.

He didn't know why, but his luck with forests was always horrible. Some of the most dreadful things he had experienced happened in forests under the cover of large trees.

The Beldam of the Whispering Forest, the evil forest Wendigo, being chased by trolls, surrounded by horrors, the death of Carmen Vale....

Hell, even Ashcroft himself had first been encountered in a forest.

"I really need to stay away from forests."

Damon's voice echoed with a soft sigh as he glanced around.

He was in a forest, its tall trees reaching high into the sky, their towering forms larger than any normal tree. That was saying something, after all the trees of the world of Aetherus already grew very tall.

Damon stood in a small clearing among the trees. But it was not the trees that drew his concern. It was what surrounded him.

'Ahhh, this is going to be a pain...'

His situation was not looking good.

He had just started, for goddess' sake, and this was what he was given.

Waton, who had been on the ground, stood up groggily, suffering from the side effects of the teleportation he had been through.

As soon as his vision cleared and the dizziness disappeared, his face went pale. He gulped, turning around, looking for somewhere to escape, but there was nothing just him and Damon standing in the open clearing.

His fists trembled as he saw the odds stacked against them. It didn't even occur to him to fight. The odds were simply unfair.

Surrounding them was a small group of youths armed to the teeth.

But these youths were different. The males bore horns on their heads and wings, while the females had wings alone.

In terms of looks, they carried a bewitching grace to their features.

Waton's face paled further.

"Demons," he muttered, recognizing them instantly.

This wasn't all of them, but the ones here were already annoyingly powerful.

Manata Astaroth, child of the Demon Lord of Decay or at least one of them.

He was a handsome young demon with brown hair, but his very presence carried an aura of rot and decay.

There was another Damon had to keep an eye on. A necromancer with the bone attribute. His ability to create, control, and summon the undead was terrifying. That one young man was a walking army. Dealing with him would be difficult.

He had twisted black horns, black hair, and heterochromia, one eye black, the other white as though symbolizing life and death, which he tempered at will.

According to what Waton had said before in the White Realm, his name was Kashi.

'Waton also said he had a lich....'

The others weren't anything to sneeze at either.

But Damon was forbidden from killing them. That was what made this even more difficult. Not to mention his own soul injuries, which hindered his fighting power. If he pushed himself too far, he would only worsen his own condition.

He glanced at Waton, who was visibly uneasy. Damon's Remorseless skill activated instinctively.

'If this fool dies, I lose my one chance to restore Matia....'

Damon glanced at his shadow, where she stood silently staring at him, wondering why he wasn't summoning her out to fight.

Which meant, more than his own survival, keeping Waton alive was the priority.

'I can always unleash my shadow clone if I need to....'

Manata Astaroth studied the two of them with a small smile, his brown hair swaying as he took a step forward.

"Well, well, well. Two little humans. Do you want to beg before you die, or will you struggle and then die?"

Damon's expression was impassive. He let out a small chuckle to himself, his seed of depravity trembling faintly in his heart.

'No... these fools can't stop me....'

He smiled at them, his voice arrogant and ringing through the clearing.

"I'm in a good mood. I'll let you demons walk away."

His words, full of dominance, were broadcast through the magic orbs for all to see.

Now this was a fight that would be viewed by many.

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