Shadow Slave

Chapter 1800: Return to the Black Mountain Chapter 1800: Return to the Black Mountain

Sunny often thought about the slave caravan, but he never actually tried to learn more about the events that had transpired in the Nightmare.

He knew that they had happened at the dusk of the Golden Age, not long before the start of the Doom War. Back then, the gods had grown indifferent and distant, and the soldiers of an expansionist empire that worshipped War wiped out the Shadow cult, burning down all its temples.

However, he did not know much about that empire and the lands it had conquered. The history of the Dream Realm was overshadowed by the calamitous destruction of the Doom War, and while it was possible to learn a thing or two about the previous eras, the devastation had erased most traces of the last human civilizations.

So, Sunny had never actually expected to behold the Black Mountain again.

He stared at its distant peak in bewilderment. Then, a sense of subtle curiosity bloomed in his heart.

‘...Might as well take a look'

Sunny actually felt a hint of sentimentality.

Back then, it took the caravan days to scale the mountain pass, Sunny remembered the agony of walking up the mountain road vividly - the cold, the pain, the biting touch of the iron shackles that shredded his wrists. He had felt so tired and weak, not knowing if he would survive the cruel march.

Many of the slaves had not, and ended up being tossed off the cliff after falling into the snow.

It was a hard thing, to climb a mountain while hungry and on the verge of freezing.

Today, Sunny simply stepped into the shadows and appeared halfway up the slope.

Step, step, and another step.

Just like that, he was standing below the towering edifice of the Black Mountain.

Thousands of years had passed since the day the slave caravan was destroyed. The mountain road had already been old and crumbling back then now, no trace of it remained.

For a few moments, Sunny contemplated staying here for a while to find the old bones. He was curious to know what had actually happened to the nameless slave and Auro of the Nine. Had they escaped the Mountain King? Or had they perished?

He was quite certain that Auro had survived. But what about the young temple slave?

However, Sunny quickly dismissed that idea.

It would take him months, or maybe even years, to dig through the snow and find the traces of the caravan if any traces remained, Even then, there was no guarantee that he would be able to tell anything about the past from them.

So, with a sigh, Sunny looked up, at the peak of the Black Mountain.

The only place he could visit was the mysterious temple that had stood there, surrounded by bones.

But before that...

him from all sides. A moment later, the snow exploded, and hideous figures lunged at him with frenzy burning

was

crush the abominations. He danced between them like an omen of death, coldly and methodically destroying one after

Until none remained.

by blood, and a fine crimson haze hung in

‘Huh.'

a carpet. The creatures were hideous and appalling, resembling something that a mad artist would paint after waking up from a feverish nightmare, Most of them were Fallen Beasts and Monsters...

had subjugated a legion of Mountain King's Larvae in Antarctica not

much more powerful,

Sunny smiled faintly.

reunited with the Mountain

thing wasn't dead, it would have grown much

The forces of Valor had eradicated the most dangerous Nightmare Creatures in this area of the Dream Realm during their march north, and they would not have tolerated a powerful

survived the thousands of years without leaving the Black Mountain, he would have been dealt

the shadows and appeared

there motionlessly for a while, looking ahead with an expression of awe

was still there,

expanse of flat rock was covered with snow. In the center of it, illuminated by moonlight, stood a magnificent temple. Its colossal columns and walls were cut from black marble, with exquisite reliefs decorating the stygian pediment and broad frieze. lіghtn\оvеlс\аvе~c`о\m. Beautiful and awesome, it looked like a palace of a dark

and cracks marred the black stones, parts of the roof had collapsed, letting in ice and snow. Its tall gates were broken,

temple did not change at all. It was as if

was that now, there were even more bones surrounding it. There were thousands of bones scattered around, carpeting the ground. Some belonged to Nightmare Creatures, while some seemed to be

think

are there so many bones

doubted it. The Tyrant

No, before that.

this temple,

Sunny remembered Scholar mentioning that pilgrims used to climb the mountain in the ancient times. Who were these pilgrims, and what

that the Empire had destroyed, but the timing did not make sense. The destruction of the Shadow cult was a

spilled his blood on the altar, the Spell described it as an offering to all the gods. It was just that Shadow had been the only one to

Stranger still...

been alive at the time of the

Sunny shivered.

gods, and not a substitute of them put in place by the Spell? Was the Spell even capable

Probably not.

mean? And how had Shadow God granted him a blessing from

that surprising. The gods were the ones who had created things like time and death, after all. So, it wasn't strange to Imagine that they had a special relationship with