Chapter 214: True to my soul and my sword
Damon’s gaze swept across the battlefield once more, taking in the grotesque stillness, the dozens of twisted bodies, the frozen screams etched into their faces, the scorched sigils carved into the soil like some cursed altar. The sad reality sank in.
What made Robert trust a demon of all things? Damon didn’t need the full story to guess. He’d seen that look before, desperation so hopeless that it carved out a man’s soul and left behind only hunger.
Maybe Robert had been promised power, freedom, vengeance. Maybe he was a true believer in whatever lies Skal’Zarith had whispered through their connection. Or maybe the demon had muddled his brain right from the beginning, giving him no chance at all.
That sort of mind control should be easy when the difference between their levels was so vast, almost incomparable. The man was probably nudged into madness one whisper at a time until he offered up everything, even his clan, just to touch something more.
"Desperation is a parasite," Damon murmured. "It makes people kneel before monsters," But then he laughed. "Who am I to judge the poor guy? Did I not do the same thing? I sought the legendary weapon of the vampire clan that could change the fate of someone like me. I too was once desperate, desperate enough to spend every waking second working tirelessly just to have a shot at being powerful."
He closed his eyes and tried to calm himself down. There were a lot of conflicting emotions within him, and a feeling of overwhelming dread and hopelessness. He did not know how to live among gods and monsters who could squeeze him and his entire world in a single second. How does one make peace with something like that? He shivered.
Here, he thought that he had a second chance in life, and he would finally be able to rewrite his fate, but the reality was cruel. He was just a speck of dust caught in the winds of these powerful monsters. He could fight. He could work tirelessly. In the end, nothing mattered at all. He was at the mercy of these monsters.
Damon clenched his fists as his blood boiled unbearably. He couldn’t stomach such a thought. Something inside him did not want to feel so small and helpless. He needed to break free of the shackles binding him. He needed to somehow get through the obstacles in his way. He needed to become a monster himself.
He had never thought of this before. Survival was the only thing on his mind, but this incident had left a lasting impact on him.