Shadow Slave

1509 Stolen Bodies

The frozen battle they had witnessed was not a battle between the Defiled legion of Verge and the defenders of Twilight.

Instead, it was a battle between the Dread Lord and Soul Stealer.

The two Defiled Saints must have clashed as soon as the last true bastion of humanity in the Tomb of Ariel had fallen. Perhaps it was because they had needed each other's power before that. Perhaps it was because Soul Stealer had finally become capable of resisting the authority of the Dread Lord after devouring the souls and stealing the bodies of millions of humans in Twilight.

'Can it be his Transformation Ability?'

To split his soul into countless shards, all beholden to one sinister will. That would be a terrifying power in the hands of someone as devious as the forsaken Prince of War. He had already been insidiously dangerous due to his ability to slither into human souls and wear their bodies like costumes… what if Mordret of Valor could possess not one, but several stolen bodies at the same time?

Or millions of them, after becoming the Soul Stealer?

…Surrounded from all sides, with countless hollow eyes looking at her with an eerie lack of human emotions, Nephis took an involuntary step back. However,there were countless taken warriors standing behind her, as well.

There was nowhere to retreat. No path to salvation.

Except for the impossible one she could try and cut for herself.

She gritted her teeth.

'At least... Sunny... is not here.'

As numerous humans moved toward her, Nephis looked at them with cold resentment and unsheathed her sword.

***

Not too far away, Effie, Jet, and Cassie found themselves inside a half-collapsed building. The blind girl was the first one to regain her senses, catching the tall huntress before she could fall.

Pieces of rubble rolled on the cracked floor, the noise of their fall sounding thunderous in the eerie silence of the frozen city.

Although, by then, the city was not frozen anymore.

around them,

collapsed wall of the building. Beyond the rubble, on a narrow street, the figures of the stalwart defenders of

was

"...They're moving."

her balance and followed Soul Reaper's gaze. A small smile appeared on her

must have reached the throne

the human

guess it's only natural for people from a different world.

faded away, replaced by a tense

they staring at

covering them. Cassie was standing on tiptoes, preventing her from looking at the warriors of

was slowly backing

could react, Cassie spoke in a grave and

Soul Reaper and yourself into the

for a moment, but did not ask any questions. A moment later, her figure disappeared. So did Jet's. They were gone, safely transported to the

the ground. Before it touched the cracked floor, however, the cord was caught on the blade of

put it around her neck. Then, she turned to face the approaching

the silver half-mask, her beautiful blue eyes were cold and

of her rapier shook slightly, then moved, pointing

***

stump hit the rubble. A pained groan escaped

humans and Nightmare Creature were being slowly released from the shackles of frozen time. Their

onto the cold stones

looking upon the world

his eyes widened

how it

amused smile twisted his cracked

struggled to stand up and grinned when he felt countless

"Ah, how unfortunate."

had a single soul core left, reducing his power to that of a mere Beast. His own Ascended body was missing a hand, while his best

the circumstances couldn't have been

wouldn't be boring. He had spent so many months… or was it years, already?... hiding from his Defiled self in complete solitude. Any kind of excitement was