Shadow Slave - chapter 93 + 94
Due to some copyright issues. I changed some word such god= supreme-ruler. /diviné= supreme. And some Chinese words etc, all of this to avoid copyright *.*
A novel by the same Author of nano machin and the same universe:
https://novelrare.com/novel/myst-might-mayhem-novel/novel/
Shadow Slave Chapter 93 May 25, 2022
Apparently, as far as accomplishing the impossible went, Nephis had outdone even Sunny. An Aspirant triumphing over an awakened tyrant was already unbelievable enough. But killing an Awakened Terror gave the word “unbelievable” a whole new meaning.
‘No wonder her Aspect Ability is so versatile.’
Now, he was almost sure that Changing Star’s Aspect was of the Divine Rank, just like his. That would explain why she was able to both heal and destroy with her strange and formidable powers, a combination as rare as his own Shadow Control.
‘What’s the probability of two Sleepers with Divine Aspects ending up so close to each other in the Dream Realm?’
Close to zero. It seemed like the unpredictable [Fated] Attribute had twisted the strings of fate once again.
Sunny felt shivers running down his spine.
His innate Attribute was capable of bringing both terrible curses and incredible blessings. At first glance, their meeting with Nephis seemed like the latter. But, if it was truly the result of [Fated] manipulating destiny, it could turn out to be the worst of calamities in the end.
After all, one of the possible meanings of her True Name was Star of Ruin.
The fear he had felt in that short moment before crossing swords with Nephis was still fresh in Sunny’s mind.
And there were other things that she had revealed, too…
She apparently knew something about the [Drop of Ichor], being that she had called it a “Lineage Memory” without batting an eye. That suggested that Nephis knew much more about the Spell than Sunny and the rest of the public did. It seemed as though there were secrets in the upper echelons of Awakened that they didn’t want anyone else to know.
The three mysterious names she had told him might have been another of these secrets. And that last word she used, asking which “domain” he belonged to. What were these domains?
So many questions…
Sunny spent many hours pondering them, as well as going over all the information about the Forgotten Shore he had gathered.
The carapace boat flew over the dark water, drawing closer and closer to the western horizon.
Soon, he felt that the night was already drawing its last breaths. The light of hope ignited in Sunny’s heart.
However, this was when their luck had finally run out.
The disaster came unexpected, violently throwing them into a void of confusion. This time, Sunny had not felt anything approaching the boat. The danger simply appeared out of nowhere, leaving him no time to react.
One second, the black waters were calm and clear. The next, they were boiling with movement, grotesque tentacles rising from them and wrapping themselves around the hull of the boat.
Sunny tried to jump to his feet, but at that moment, the whole vessel was violently jerked to the side. Falling, he heard the moans of metal being bent and torn apart. Then, salty water filled his mouth.
Rising, he caught a glimpse of Nephis standing at the bow of the boat, her silver sword lashing out at the approaching tentacle. However, blinded by darkness, she failed to notice a different threat. Another tentacle twisted and coiled around her body…
Then, without even a scream, she was gone, dragged into the dark depths, with no hope to return. All that remained was a long blade stuck helplessly in the bulbous flesh of the massive tentacle.
Sunny’s eyes widened in disbelief.
‘No, no, no… this can’t be happening…’
The hull of the carapace vessel was then crushed and torn into pieces, throwing him into the cold, black water.
For a moment, Sunny was stunned by the coldness. Then, wrapping the shadow around his body, he swam up, trying to reach the surface. Soon, he succeeded and spun, trying to see something… anything… to give him hope.
But there was nothing around, only undulating waves and twisting tentacles.
Except for…
Far in the distance, Sunny noticed an unclear shape rising above the water. He strained his eyes, trying to discern its nature. Then, his heart skipped a beat.
A few hundred meters away, a giant stone hand towered above the surface of the sea, its palm opened as though trying to embrace the sky. It was slender and delicate, carved by the unknown sculptor with almost inhuman skill. If Sunny didn’t know better, he would have thought that the hand belonged to a living, breathing being.
But all of this didn’t matter right now. All that mattered was that he had a chance to survive.
Straining every muscle in his body, Sunny dodged a twisting tentacle and swam toward the hand, moving as fast as he could.
But then, he suddenly stopped. And looked back.
Misshapen pieces of metal and bone — all that remained of their boat — were floating on the surface of the dark sea. He had seen Neph being pulled under the water by the tentacles of the unknown creature, but Cassie, clad in her enchanted attention-repelling tunic, had a chance to escape.
He couldn’t just leave without at least trying to find her.
‘…Or can I?’
A dark thought appeared in Sunny’s mind. After all, his own survival was the only thing that really mattered. Everything else was just a distraction…
‘Why don’t you think about yourself for a second? Are you really going to risk your precious life on the off chance that this helpless girl is still alive?’
He hesitated.
‘Admit it, she is nothing but a burden. You always knew that one day she was going to drag you down…’
Yes, he did. But…
‘But what? You’re going to die, fool! Turn around and flee, now!’
Why was he even hesitating? This was his chance to escape! His only chance, perhaps! He had to survive!
Feeling an almost unbearable feeling of regret filling his chest, Sunny slowly inhaled.
Then, he gritted his teeth and dove down, heading back to the spot where their boat had been destroyed.
‘What are you doing?! Have you lost your mind?!’
He couldn’t see in the black water, but his Shadow Sense was still somewhat effective. He had a chance to feel Cassie’s presence, at least if she wasn’t already dead and dragged to the bottom of this cursed abyss.
‘You fool! How is she worth it?! Why are you doing this?!’
Grimacing, he forced his annoying inner voice to shut up. In his mind, the answer was clear:
‘Because I want to!’
Shadow Slave Chapter 94
Because he wanted to.
For once, Sunny’s heart wasn’t full of fear and despair. Instead, it was filled with defiant indignation. He was tired of bending under the pressure of the world, furtively clutching to the tiniest glimmers of hope, always afraid, always willing to do anything, abandon anything, just to survive for another day. It wasn’t enough anymore.
He wanted to make the world bend to his wishes instead.
He wanted to live like a human being instead of an animal.
In these past months, Sunny had changed without even noticing. Somehow, he had grown unsatisfied with his previous way of life, one where his sole goal of survival at all cost overshadowed everything else. Whether he lives or dies had always been the only thing that mattered. But now, how he lived mattered more.
What was the point of having no master if he lived like a slave?
Gritting his teeth, Sunny dove into the dark abyss.
The cold water embraced him like a burial shroud. He couldn’t see in this cursed blackness, relying only on his shadow sense for guidance. Salt sipped into the bite marks on his hands and the cut on his neck, making them burn. Not paying the agony any attention, Sunny used his considerable strength to propel himself deeper and deeper into the darkness.
He could feel the giant tentacles moving in the water around him, pulling the pieces of the carapace boat into the gargantuan maw that was hiding somewhere far below. Once or twice, he had to desperately twist his body to avoid being touched by one of them.
But still, no sign of Cassie. His lungs were starting to burn.
At this depth, the water pressure was starting to affect his movements, making each stroke feel heavier. Even with his body enhanced by the shadow, there was a limit to how much it could withstand. Sunny suspected that without the Blood Weave, he would have suffocated a long time ago.
What’s worse, he felt as though he was getting closer and closer to the actual body of the unknown horror that had destroyed their vessel. He still couldn’t sense its massive shape, but judging by the girth of the tentacles that surrounded him, the monster couldn’t have been far.
And then, Sunny finally noticed something.
A short distance away from him, a small shadow was struggling against a much larger and ferocious one.
Cassie!
Gathering all his strength, Sunny swam toward the blind girl with as much speed as he could muster. As he drew near, he could discern the details of what was happening.
Cassie was being pulled down, a smaller tentacle coiled around her body. She was still struggling, trying to get free, but her movements were growing weaker with each second. She was suffocating.
Filled with fury, Sunny propelled himself forward and grabbed onto the tentacle, feeling slippery flesh throbbing in his grip.
If he had any choice, he would have avoided touching that thing at all costs. But fighting underwater was tricky… if he wanted to deliver any sort of a powerful blow, he had to find some form of support first.
Summoning the Midnight Shard, Sunny strained every muscle in his body and slashed across the tentacle, right below the point where it was coiled around Cassie’s lower torso. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to do any serious harm with that strike, which was slowed down to a crawl by the burdensome resistance of the black water.
However, his amazing sword was still sharp enough the cut into the fleshy tentacle, causing a cloud of dark blood to gush out of the wound.
The tentacle furiously twitched and shot sideways, as though trying to shake the attacker off. Flying through the darkness, Sunny held on for dear life and moved his blade upward, slicing the spongy flesh apart.
He never hoped to chop the tentacle off with one strike. No amount of strength would have allowed that to happen. Luckily, swords were able to pierce, slash… and cut.
Pushing the blade, Sunny cut deep into the tentacle. When the tsuba was about to touch the wound, he changed his grip and pulled the tachi down. Monster’s flesh spread apart under the razor-sharp blade, barely offering any resistance.
A torrent of blood surged out, and with the last push, the tentacle was completely severed.
Sunny was finally able to turn his attention to Cassie to see how she was doing.
What he sensed made him scowl. The blind girl was barely conscious.
He needed to get her to the surface as fast as possible.
Pushing away the twitching remains of the tentacle, Sunny dismissed his sword and grabbed Cassie across the torso, feeling how cold her skin was through the thin fabric of her tunic.
Weakly, she tried to resist, not realizing that it was him and not the monster. Pressing the blind girl to his chest, Sunny turned his head up and felt a wave of desperation crashing against the walls of his mind.
His lungs were in agony, no air whatsoever left in them. His body was slowly losing its strength, full of terrible pain and thirsting for a breath of fresh air with maddening intensity. Even if he could see anything, at this point, his vision would have begun to darken.
And they were so, so far away from the surface.
What’s worse, the horror of the depths was now alerted to his location. Countless tentacles were already moving, surrounding them in an impenetrable barrier of flesh. A second or two later, they would be crushed to death in the devastating embrace of the sea monster.
Sunny didn’t know how to save them.
But he wasn’t going to give up, no matter what.
Making an arduous stroke with his one free hand, he held tightly onto Cassie and swam up. The tentacles were approaching, blocking all paths of escape. Sunny gritted his teeth and…
In the next moment, the water around them suddenly turned pure white.
An incandescent radiance filled a vast expanse of the cursed sea, obliterating any sign of darkness. The explosion of light was so intense that it pierced through Sunny’s eyelids and hurt his eyes.
It was as though a miniature sun had ignited somewhere far below them, turning the endless black abyss into a pristine white void. Tidal currents of radiant water surged tumultuously, throwing the world into disarray.
The gargantuan tentacles convulsed and writhed madly, as though in the throes of unbearable pain. The unbreakable barrier of flesh fell apart.
Sunny wasn’t about to let this chance go.
Straining his suffocating body, he swam to the surface, dodging the writhing tentacles. With the furious white sun burning in the depths below, he could see their shapes clearly. Moving faster and faster, he propelled himself up with everything he had left.
Sunny knew that surfacing that fast was dangerous, but there was no other choice. Both Cassie and himself did not have a lot of life left in them.
They needed air.
He was afraid that they wouldn’t make it. His consciousness was already beginning to wane, slowly slipping into the cold clutches of empty nothingness. Even knowing that there was nothing but water around, he was still overwhelmed by the suicidal desire to open his mouth and inhale as deeply as he could. His muscles were spasming, devoid of oxygen for too long.
…And then, finally, Sunny’s head broke the surface. Blinded by pain, he drew in a gasping breath and coughed uncontrollably.
Held tightly in his arms, Cassie was doing the same. Her chest was ruggedly moving up and down, sucking in the sweet ambrosia of air. Sunny never knew how precious it was before, not even while being slowly poisoned by the harmful, polluted air of the outskirts.
They made it.
Trying to compose himself, Sunny looked around. The last remnants of the white radiance were long gone, erased as if they had never existed. The world was once again consumed by absolute darkness.
However, far away in the east, the first light of dawn was about to shine from beyond the horizon.
Catching the glimpse of the giant stone hand, Sunny gripped Cassie’s shoulders and swam in that direction.