Shadow Slave

Chapter 1876 Third Pillar The eight Saints that had followed the enigmatic Lord of Shadows into battle were both rattled and elated. The battle was a gruesome ordeal, but they had expected that much.

What they did not expect was to learn just how powerful their sinister commander had turned out to be.

The Lord of Shadows was a singular existence because, unlike the rest of them, he was not a vassal of the King of Swords. He was a mercenary Saint that Lady Nephis had somehow convinced to pledge his blade to the Sword Domain's cause — therefore, she knew him best. So, nobody had doubted her promise that they would not be able to defeat him in a fight.

Nevertheless, it was a startling shock to witness the Transcendent sellsword in action.

Not only was he immensely powerful and chillingly lethal, he was actually an existence of the same caliber as the other two field commanders of the expedition force — Changing Star herself and Summer Knight, the most renowned paladin of the Great Clan Valor.

The Saints had thought that the expedition force had two pillars, but now, they knew that there were three.

By the time the shrill wail of the war horn signaled them to retreat, the way they looked at the Lord of Shadows had changed completely.

…Sunny was a little bit amused by their change of attitude.

'I used to live in this damned place alone, of my own free will. What else did they expect? That I'm a weakling?'

Hearing the war horn, he let out a tired sigh and prepared to pull back.

He could sense Nephis enter the range of his perception, followed by the Fire Keepers. Once she and the other Saints of the first war party advanced, Sunny commanded his Shadows to retreat and followed suit.

Soon, he found himself behind the battle line, surrounded by his eight Transcendent subordinates.

Now that their shift was over, Sunny suddenly felt the weight of fatigue crash into him like a mountain. He was tired, dehydrated, and covered in sweat… it was to the point that he did not know what he wanted to do more, summon the Endless Spring to quench his thirst, or summon it to wash himself.

'In hindsight, Antarctica wasn't that bad. At least it wasn't so damn hot there...'

Dismissing his Shadows to let them mend the scrapes they had received in the nurturing darkness of his soul, Sunny gazed at the exhausted Saints and raised an eyebrow behind the mask.

"What are you waiting for? Retreat to camp. We only have sixteen hours to recover before the second round starts."

Rivalen of Aegis Rose sighed."...You really know how to raise morale, don't you, Lord Shadow?"

usually gallant voice sounded a little

stared at him

yes, I do. I doubt you'll like my

to shiver, then looked away with a

the direction of the distant camp. His armored boots scraped

the First Rib they were crossing had been enveloped by the scarlet jungle before his war party cleansed it. There was ash in the air, and piles of

— but for now, the carcasses simply carpeted the ground, helping one realize just how terrible the battle had

Sunny sighed.

only the

the line of tired soldiers. The warriors were covered in soot and dead-tired,

For some reason.

formation, but when Sunny and the Saints approached,

him like a tide, and then, a deafening

cheering soldiers, Sunny felt a cold chill run down his spine, and a sudden sense of dread grasp his

He almost stumbled.

was because he recognized their

"...Glory! Glory! Glory!"

was hidden behind a mask, so no one could see his expression. The shadows

remained motionless for a few long moments, and

"Move out!"

voice was colder than the frozen depths

cheer exploded in volume briefly and then died out. The tired warriors followed their general across

'Ah, how bothersome…'

much to do once the war party returned to the base of the dead god's collarbone — mercifully, he did not have to handle the minutiae of managing an army out of battle. He simply wanted to dismiss his mask and armor to clean himself and drink some water, but considering the nature of the Lord

from

of their armors because of the heat, so there was a lot of skin in sight. It was a stark contrast to what he was used to from Antarctica, where everyone had always tried to put on as many layers of

scene of the camp silently,

'...I hate jungles.'

to sleep, he walked to the lifts and climbed some

sitting on

valiant profile and a thoughtful gaze. His lake-blue eyes were calm, and