CHAPTER 594: CHAPTER 595: HONEST WORK

The world moves even if man wants stagnation. Change was an inevitable process. As life moves on, change must follow.

Having crossed so many milestones, Damon was a result of change—a product of it.

He walked through the land, passing by carriages with an air of mystery about him, his body covered from head to toe in armor, walking down the road to the city gates as if to say he owned everything.

The wind fluttered his cape as the sun kissed his dark armor.

A raven perched on his shoulder, adding to his mystique.

By his side, just a step behind, was an equally mysterious woman in heavy armor.

Her helm covered her face, but her blue eyes glowed faintly through the visor. Where she passed, a cold winter seemed to follow, and the clouds she summoned above created a gloom that only made the rays of sunlight bolster their overwhelming aura.

No words were needed. Even though they walked on foot, all the carriages and even battle-hardened adventurers parted ways to let them pass.

All eyes were on them, filled with awe.

Damon smiled under his helm.

Yes. This was good. This was great. The Sun-Kissed Technique was a perfect aura farming technique. Add to that his cape and Matia’s presence as his assist, and he was looking as amazing as possible.

’It was a good thing she came out.... This would look even better if I had a nice dragon horse and a few shadows to act as my guards.’

Alas, beggars couldn’t be choosers.

Damon had arrived like he owned the place. This was not how he usually operated—he preferred to remain low-key—but being low-key was boring, and right now he was really trying to show off.

How else was he supposed to build his hero persona?

After some thought these past few days, Damon realized that while he had inherited Ashcroft’s power, he had also inherited all of that demon’s enemies. Naturally, if he didn’t adapt, he would no longer have a place among the goddess races.

To that end, Damon began thinking.

After a while, he came up with a solution. He just had to not be the Dominator. He had to be the hero out to slay this evil demon lord.

And how was he supposed to do that? Well, it wasn’t like he could be in two places at once.

Oh wait. He could. He could be in two places at once. For that reason, Damon decided to be a demon lord... as a side hustle.

It wasn’t much, but it was honest work.

As for his main body? Well, who else would work so hard to stop the evil demon if not the kind and benevolent Damon Grey?

"However... there’s also the problem of being too kind."

The truth was, if there was a hero who was all good, Damon would hate him, because he would just assume he was a hypocrite and liar.

So Damon had to just be himself—not good, not completely evil—while he leveraged noble politics and influence to build himself up as a powerful ruler and hero.

’In the shadows, my shadow clone will do all the things I can’t, while acting secretive. With time, his secrets will be exposed, and the top echelon will begin to suspect he’s Ashcroft.’

It wasn’t that Damon didn’t think he could be careful—it was just that he knew it was only a matter of time before the world learned the Dominator had returned.

"I can’t win if I can’t play it safe."

Damon was a pragmatic person. He already knew this was a chessboard, and right now he was both player and pawn, because the god who set it up had placed everything on that board—including the players.

"If I played only the hero, I’d die. If I played only the villain, I’d die. But if I played both... then no matter who won, I’d live."

He chuckled evilly.

’If I play both villain and hero... I would win regardless of who does.’

Abellona must have already reached the capital by now and reported her findings and experiences to the emperor. She must have reported Damon’s death as the mysterious man, while secretly searching for him.

"Yeah, that’s what she’ll do..."

It was only conjecture, but Damon felt it was a fair assumption based on the time he’d spent with her.

He easily passed through the city walls. The guards at the gate stood straighter when he passed, and breathed sighs of relief when he was gone.

"Is that person a royal?" Damon overheard one whisper.

He smiled under his helm, paying them no mind.

He walked toward the center of the city, adventurers and commoners watching in hushed whispers.

He stopped in front of a statue, looking up at it.

"All this is good and all... but that’s not the most important thing."

Yes, the underlying question remained far more important than anything.

"How do I rage bait Sylvia’s father during the war games?"

Behind him, Matia silently listened to his mutterings. The world was at a turning point, but all he could think about was something so small-minded and petty.

He glanced back at her this time, directly addressing her.

"More importantly, what should I wear? I need to look my best when I meet him."

Damon flapped his cape dramatically.

"Hmm, my armor is fine... but I’ll need you to create wind at just the right moment when we’re on that stage, okay?"

Matia gave no reaction to Damon’s words. She understood her place as his shadow and was fine with it. In fact, there was nothing she wanted more. If Damon could have seen under her helm, he would have seen the small smile on her face.

He held his chin, dismissing his helm, letting the wind blow through his hair.

"I need to master a delicate balance of rage baiting and aura farming. It might be tough... but the end goal should be getting the elf king to attack me. Or maybe even making it seem like he’s picking on a helpless young talent..."

A woman’s irritated voice cut him off.

"Aren’t you trying to get with his daughter? Why not just be a responsible person?"

Damon was too lost in his schemes to listen, muttering.

"Hmmm, I do... I am responsible. But he started this. This is me settling a grudge... this is between men, you wouldn’t understand, Lilith..."

He paused.

Wait.

Lilith?

He tilted his head to find a red-haired woman with piercing green eyes staring coldly at him.

She smiled, but it was cold.

"Your first words better be ’I’m sorry’ and ’thank you.’"

Damon nodded. Ah, yes. He had ditched her. A few soft words would put her in a good mood. Maybe even a simple compliment.

He smiled, shaking his head. He was a Death Seeker.

"We both know my ego could never..."

A soft explosion followed, carrying the irritation of a young woman.