Shadow Slave

Chapter 1861 Homecoming Thick fog shrouded the shores of a nebulous sea. Below it, waves continued their eternal assault on the indifferent barrier of land, dreaming of washing it away. They rustled quietly, just like they had rustled for eons. Not far away, the water was louder — there, a wide river fell into the sea, a deep inlet created by its estuary.

Currently, there was a group of riders moving along the shore. Their steeds were Echoes of slain abominations; their enchanted armor was damp with morning dew. Their vermilion cloaks bore the insignia of Clan Valor.

They were Knights and Squires who had been left behind to protect the fringes of the Sword Domain, currently on patrol.

As they approached the estuary, the leader of the patrol — a seasoned Knight in heavy armor — raised a fist to command the rest to stop. He took a canteen off his belt, drank some water, and then listened to the murmur of waves.

Dreadful abominations would come from the depths of the Stormsea sometimes and swim upriver, threatening the lands beyond. The weaker ones would be slain in the shallows by patrolmen like them, but if a truly powerful Nightmare Creature emerged from the depths, they would have to retreat and prepare to fight it at Rivergate, the fortress of Clan Dagonet.

The shores of Stormsea were a strange place. Nights here were much longer than they were deeper inland, and the stars were much brighter. The sun never quite rose above the horizon, drowning the world in ethereal twilight during the day. Time flowed slowly, and life seemed fleeting. In the mornings, white fog veiled the world.

The Knight frowned and gazed into the fog.

Today, the sea sounded strange.

"Summon your weapons."

The patrolmen did as he said. They Echoes turned to face the shore, each baring their fangs.

It seemed that a battle was upon them. Some felt tense because most of the Sword Domain warriors had followed the king to war, hoping to punish the wicked queen of Song. Others remained calm — no matter how many warriors had left, the garrison of Rivergate was still strong, and the fortress itself was still impregnable.

No matter what horror crawled from the sea, they would deal with it.

…A few moments later, however, their confidence was shattered.

The eyes of the warriors widened, and their faces paled. Even the Echoes seemed daunted, a few of them shrinking back in response to the fear of their masters.

A vast shadow appeared in the fog, towering above the shore like a dark mountain. Then, it drew closer, dwarfing the world.

The patrolmen had to crane their necks just to guess the scale of the vague shadow.

Their captain was petrified.

"W—wha…"

was almost upon them, its shape finally revealed

the bow of a

"Back!"

to react

gorge opened in the ground, reaching far inland, and the triumphant waves finally had their

quake. Countless tons of foaming water were displaced

tranquil shore had turned into a scene of utter devastation. The scale of it was so immense that the human mind struggled to come to terms with it. The colossal ship lay on the sand like a dark mountain, rivers of water cascading down from its ancient hull. The barnacles encrusting the lower parts of it were like a

thrown to the ground by the successive quakes. Still stunned and horrified, they slowly climbed to their feet. Some

all of them were staring at the monumental silhouette of the

was why they all noticed when a human figure appeared on the bow, so high above them that it looked no larger than an

a few moments, gazing down. Then, it took a step forward and fell, landing on the tilted slope of the ship's hull. The figure slid down the ancient wood, gaining terrible

into the shallow water with a splash, then straightened gracefully

with pale skin and raven-black hair. His face was sharp and thin — not exactly handsome, but at the same

if a deep dark ocean was barely contained beneath

alone, the crowd of patrolmen reeled back, each overcome by sudden

walked across the shallow water, surrounded by swirling mist, and stepped onto the shore. There, the man knelt, reached down, and carefully — almost tenderly — picked up a handful of sand. Ignoring

slightly, forming a

the man turned his gaze to the patrolmen and walked toward them

gripped their

led the patrol glanced at the titanic ship, then

are you?

in a

of Valor, the rightful heir of

Knight widened slightly, while Mordret added with

here to take what

The patrolmen shuddered.

gritted his

thing that we