Shadow Slave

Chapter 1924 Pit of Despair In the middle of the flooded clearing, Song Seishan was standing in the crimson water, looking at the gargantuan creature in front of her with a twisted smile. Her eyes were shining with an eerie red glow in the dim darkness of the Hollows, and her long braid was fluttering in the wind that had risen from the Demon's last attack.

The Great One was like a mountain, its mighty body covered by bristling black fur. Its body was not quite bestial, but also not quite human... the creature was like an abominable ape, its fangs protruding like cliffs, its eyes burning with diabolical cunning and murderous fury. It was wielding a great club made out of bone, and each time it struck the ground, the entire world quaked.

Siord, the beautiful harpy, was playing a deadly game of cat and mouse with the demonic ape by flying around its head, barely dodging its obliterating attacks. Ceres, the enormous three-headed canine, was in an even more precarious position, dancing between the abomination's feet and trying to tear pieces of flesh out of its shins.

Neither had managed to deliver even a single wound to the Great Demon, yet. However, the Demon was bleeding.

Opening its maw, the terrifying creature let out a deafening roar and shuddered, forgetting about the annoying fly and the three—headed pest for a moment. Then, it vomited a terrifying waterfall of blood.

Blood was flowing from its mouth, from its nose... even from the corners of its eyes, spilling into the shallow water like a red river.

That was because Seishan was using her Awakened Ability. It had taken a while for her Ability to take effect, considering how powerful her enemy was... but she wasn't powerless, either.

If anything, the most difficult part was limiting the area of effect of her Ability to spare her allies from sharing the same fate as the Demon.

The intoxicating smell of blood was driving her mad, and at the same time making her many times stronger — standing in the middle of a lake of blood spilled by a Great abomination, Seishan was infused with a raging inferno of hungry, furious power. It was the scaling augmentation granted by her Ascended Ability.

It was partially because of that power that she had been able to move with stunning speed to evade the Demon's earth—shattering attacks and recover from the terrible wounds littering her body, staying alive despite how vast the gap between her and the guardian of the Citadel was.

The second reason was her Transformation Ability.

Seishan had possessed the ability to turn into a monster from the time she was a young Sleeper, lost in the darkness of the Forgotten Shore. Therefore, she had not gained the ability to Transform into something else when attaining Transcendence...

Instead, she had gained the ability to Transform others — those she transformed became stronger, and their strength could enhance her own power in turn.

And finally, the third reason was the blood of Beast God that flowed in her veins, bestowed upon her — whether she had wanted it or not — by her mother... the Raven Queen.

And then, there was her Flaw.

Seishan grinned and dashed forward, flying above the red water with stunning speed. The infuriated Demon swatted Siord away and kicked Ceres with devastating might, sending the giant canine flying like a tiny pup. Both Saints crashed into the shallow water, their bodies bleeding and broken.

After that, she was the sole target of the Great One's fury.

'Ah...‘

the world shake. Seishan never slowed down, pivoting and then leaping gracefully. Before the displaced water could even start raining down, she already landed on the surface of

turned into terrifying claws, and the red glow of her eyes turned

Sadly...

she could not

observe and study the abomination, learning its strengths and weaknesses, gaining a thorough understanding of its powers, and getting insight into the way its perverse mind worked, she

preparations, so her chances were close to zero. Just the sheer size of the

Ceres were severely wounded and would not be joining the

...But that was alright.

out of anyone who had ever been sent to the Forgotten Shore. That reason was that she knew how to find a way out of the most desperate situation... and then drown

chance of defeating the Great Demon. Therefore, there was

was simply to draw its attention -— which she had

had not come here to slay a Great

had come here to conquer

the dreadful abomination, her sister Hel was sneaking into the Citadel to claim its Gateway.

level with its enormous head, and saw the waterfalls of blood

upon her from somewhere deep, deep within. Seishan licked her

I want

****

"Advance!"

forward once again. The retreating soldiers stumbled between them, bleeding and barely staying upright. Their pale faces and sunken eyes were

corpses covering the ground everywhere she looked. Most belonged to hideous Nightmare Creatures, but

dead that the ancient jungle seemed unable to swallow them all, its profane hunger satiated for

'Curse it all…’

it and the battle line collapsed, an even more harrowing slaughter would

alive! Forward, together! For

her

black tachi, Rain gritted

later, the Nightmare Creatures were upon

'Hopeless. It is hopeless…’

matter how much they fought, no matter how much they killed, no matter how much they died...

that. Even if the expedition force somehow managed to eradicate them all, the true horrors of the Hollows would soon arrive, attracted by the overwhelming

run down her spine when she realized that she