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.

to play the flute. His fingers moved nimbly,

He sighed.

improved...

dove into the river, raising a towering wave, and its soldiers followed. Some of the bone abominations jumped heavily across

sky. The sun was still visible, but since it was close to the horizon,

several things happened at the

rose into the air. Second, hundreds of human figures rose from the trenches dug higher up the slope. Third, a

mundane implements of war. Their progress, however, was

when the Awakened

on the soldiers of the Skull Centipede's army. This time, the damage was

Another lost a limb. Yet another one

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

was the Tyrant itself,

front of the trenches, wielding a spear and a large round

"Wolves! Prepare! For war!"

he suddenly felt exhilarating power rush into his body. It was as though he was suddenly as mighty as a ferocious beast, as resilient as a granite

strength, speed, endurance, and resilience did indeed undergo a striking improvement.

'Incredible...'

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

no limit to how many people could be empowered by it. Anyone who saw Effie and was deemed an ally by her would receive its benefit. Their number did not even affect the rate with which she

of sight with their commander to enjoy the boon of her power. However, considering that Effie almost always preferred