Shadow Slave

The pallid centipede was slithering across a desolate landscape, followed by an army of abominable bone creatures. Its massive body tore forward, leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. The ground was pierced and upturned by its thousand sharp legs, the ancient boulders shattered, the brooks of clear water spoiled with and turned into streams of poison.

Soon, a wide river appeared in the distance. The ghastly tyrant did not slow down, continuing its ruinous advance. Then, however...

The monstrous centipede slowed down.

Its appalling head swiveled, rising into the air. Its harrowing maw opened. The branches of the dead trees that served as the creature's horns swayed lightly in the wind.

The wind had brought with it a strange sound.

The distant weeping of a flute.

The centipede lingered for a few moments, then suddenly changed direction, lunging toward the source of the discordant sound. It did not have eyes, but the black eye sockets of the countless skulls forming its carapace seemed to radiate dark, ineffable malice.

The Corrupted Tyrant pursued the source of the simple melody. However, the flute player remained elusive like a ghost. Sometimes, the creature seemed to draw near the player, but he always managed to slip away at the last moment. All it found were empty shadows.

However, at some point, the pursuit came to an end.

The hideous centipede had almost reached the river by that point. In front of it was a natural ford formed by a line of enormous boulders, with only their tops emerging from the water. On the opposite side of the river, a lone human was sitting cross-legged on a stone, playing a strange emerald flute.

It was a young man with pale skin and dark hair, wearing a tunic of black silk.

flute. His fingers moved nimbly,

He sighed.

thought I improved... but maybe

Tyrant froze for a second, then rushed forward. The creature dove into the river, raising a towering wave, and its soldiers followed. Some of the bone abominations jumped heavily

and looked at the sky. The sun was still visible, but

several things happened

of the ford. Giant fountains of water rose into the air. Second, hundreds of human figures rose from the trenches dug higher up the slope. Third, a barrage of artillery shells

implements of war. Their progress,

when

rained on the soldiers of the Skull Centipede's

hundreds of bone fragments. Another lost a limb. Yet another one was suddenly covered by a layer of sizzling amber liquid that corroded the bones, eating through them like acid... and more,

was just the start. Even though that initial salvo destroyed dozens of dreadful abominations, there were

Tyrant itself, as

steel appeared on the slope in front of the trenches, wielding a spear and a

"Wolves! Prepare! For war!"

a strange thing happened... he suddenly felt exhilarating power rush into his body. It was as though he was suddenly as mighty as a ferocious beast, as

did indeed undergo a striking improvement. It was as though his body had received a comprehensive overhaul, becoming

'Incredible...'

Effie's Ascended Ability, Sunny couldn't help but feel awed. For him, who had already enjoyed the augmentation of the shadows, the physical boost was not that pronounced. But for the Awakened soldiers, and especially mundane humans... it must have

who saw Effie and was deemed an ally by

a small one, was that the soldiers had to maintain a line of sight with their commander to enjoy the boon of her power. However, considering that Effie almost always preferred to fight on the frontline, that