Shadow Slave

1505 Shape of His Soul

All of them froze, fading into the chaotic scene of the motionless battlefield. Surrounded by unmoving warriors and Nightmare Creatures, the six Masters were nearly indistinguishable from them.

Sunny and Mordret were next to each other, while Nephis was a few steps away. Effie and Jet were right behind her, separated from the rest of the group by a few meters.

They held their breaths.

'Soul Stealer is near…'

Sunny did not see or sense the Defiled Saint, but there was no other reason for Mordret to warn them. The Prince of Nothing looked too tense. A pleasant smile was playing on his lips, but his eyes were full of cold darkness. Sunny saw his own pale reflection in them… and then, he saw something else there, as well.

A cold shiver ran down his spine.

'Did… did something move at the edge of the square?'

He did not dare to speak aloud, but there was the [Blessing of Dusk]. Activating the enchantment of the Shroud of Graceless Dusk, he established a mental connection between himself and Mordret:

[What is happening?]

The Prince of Nothing remained as motionless as a statue. Even his eyes continued to stare at the same spot. However, his answer arrived shortly:

[Why, what else? Soul Stealer is here. He must have sensed us.]

Sunny suppressed a strong desire to grit his teeth and calmed his heart. Making sure that it wasn't beating too loudly, he asked:

[How? Didn't you say that you would hide our presence from him?]

A hint of dark amusement appeared in Mordret's eyes.

[Did I? No, not quite. I only said that I would try to hide it, remember? Which I did.]

He paused for a moment and added in a dejected tone:

every polished sword, every pair of eyes.

remain calm. It was a bit hard, considering that an even more sinister, more evil version of the Prince

[So, what now?]

shifted his gaze

suggest praying? Perhaps that

he fell

'Damn it…'

pretending to be one of the frozen warriors. They had discussed the possibility of something like this happening, of course, but only as the worst-case scenario. To think that their plan would be at the risk of being derailed before the

would arrive when the array was deactivated, and the battle against

moments passed

it… the ground beneath his feet shaking subtly, as if something

mirrors. The bloody scene of the frozen battlefield reflected in them, and so, Sunny caught a glimpse of the creature that emerged from between

turned cold

rather, the reflection of Soul Stealer… looked unlike anything he

changed and twisted

Soul Stealer did not.

he did not resemble anything Sunny had

entered the square did not look like a human, but it did not look like an abomination either. Instead, it was like an amalgamation of countless people and numerous Nightmare Creatures, all fused together into a harrowing patchwork monster. The contours of its body constantly changed, as if light refracted

indeed changing, shifting from one shape to

of its steps,

what the hell

more than a little bit rattled. Not only because of how eerie and alien the reflection of the creature looked, but also because there were

was a

his gaze and stared at

standing next to him with a pleasant smile on his lips. Using that smile to cover the eerie, unnerving wrongness

be helping this

of his head. Here in the Nightmare, it was good to have Mordret on their side… it was infinitely better, at least,

is this? What is he

Prince of Nothing

soul. His physical body looks

for

a real number on