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 enormous bone club crashed into the ground, displacing countless tons of water and making 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 the club and rushed across its surface, ascending hundreds of meters above the clearing in a heartbeat.

Her polished nails turned into terrifying claws, and the red glow of her eyes turned furious and predatory, full of murderous intent.

Sadly...

She knew that she could not kill the Great Demon.

Maybe if she had time to 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 would stand a chance.

But she was forced to attack it blindly, without making any targeted preparations, so her chances were close to zero. Just the sheer size of the abominations was already an obstacle — not to mention every unholy trait and Attribute that thing possessed.

Siord and Ceres were severely wounded and would not be joining the fight again.

...But that was alright.

There was a reason why Seishan survived the longest 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 her enemies in the pit of despair she had escaped.

Right now, for example, there was little chance of defeating the Great Demon. Therefore, there was no reason to try.

Instead, her goal was simply to draw its attention -— which she had already done — and stall it for a while.

After all, they had not come here to slay a Great Demon.

They had come here to conquer a Citadel.

And while Seishan was dancing with death by enduring the wrath of the dreadful abomination, her sister Hel was sneaking into the Citadel to claim its Gateway. The Great Demon raised its club, lifting Seishan ever higher above the surface of the water.

For a moment, she was level with its enormous head, and saw the waterfalls of blood flowing from its maw and nostrils.

She shivered, feeling her Flaw call upon her from somewhere deep, deep within. Seishan licked her alluring red lips.

want to taste

****

"Advance!"

The retreating soldiers stumbled between them, bleeding and barely staying upright. Their pale

Rain saw a carpet of corpses covering the ground everywhere she looked. Most belonged to hideous

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

'Curse it all…’

holding fast, but its breaking point was drawing close. Once they reached it and the battle line collapsed, an

alive! Forward, together! For

her back

black tachi, Rain gritted her teeth and

the Nightmare Creatures were

'Hopeless. It is hopeless…’

matter how much they killed, no matter how much they died... the flood of abominations would not

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

when she realized that she could,

cold, and she drew

And then...

imperceptible changed about

of Godgrave receded a

not just imagining it, either. She could see

Their ceaseless onslaught

'What...‘

stared at the abominations. The abominations had actually stopped, and

though some of

her, in the middle of the flooded clearing, the gargantuan Great Demon

the same

Rain froze in terror.

littering the vast swath of

dead Nightmare Creatures, the fallen humans... they all stirred, moved, and then slowly

the slain Great Demon was rising from the bloody water, as well, its

back, her face turning

'The... the Queen...‘

moment later, the legion of the dead came alive, tearing into

after that, the battle was

original body, donning the guise of the charming Master Sunless

'D—amn... nation. Its torture.'

His nose was itching.

an eternity already, but sadly, he could not scratch it. He could not move at all, really, because the Cloudveil was torn above the warcamp of the Song Army, drowning

resembling a city — there was no movement on the orderly avenues, and the countless people populating it had all turned into motionless statues. Their silhouettes were like black shadows painted on the blurry white

eyes were tearing

expedition force on its quest to conquer the Citadel, the main camp of the Sword Army had lost her protection. That was why everyone had been forced to learn how to survive the annihilating gaze of the incandescent abyss —now, several

there were measures in place to

entirely sure how that was achieved, but there were countless talents in the Sword Domain, both mundane and Awakened. He did not doubt that someone would have come up with a method to predict the movement of clouds — granted, the warnings rarely came more than a minute before

choice but to sit down and patiently wait for the danger to pass.

finally subsided, and Sunny furiously scratched his

"Ah... damn it..."

anyone in Godgrave had died from sneezing yet, then rose

personal quarters. He had checked every cabin of the Chain Breaker, as well, and asked around among

had seen the blind seer, which could only mean one thing — that she was performing

out of the ordinary

walked over to one of the seven chains anchoring the Ivory Island to the ground and descended by walking across it. Sunny was reluctant to unleash his shadow sense here, so his best choice was to

— was not far. He reached it in a matter of minutes and hesitated at the entrance, feeling uncomfortable under the dubious gazes of the

Nephis or Cassie. He had never been here alone, and wasn't

throat, he hesitated for a moment, cringed inwardly, and addressed the

Commander of

actually said

stared at him some more.

know precisely

was not even hidden, but the guards

them for a moment, then walked