Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2388

Chapter 2388: Lure

There used to be twelve Snow figures arrayed against the three figures of Ash on the game board. Now, only three of them remained — two Devils and the Tyrant itself.

And Sunny was half a step ahead of the Devils, as well.

The path to the Tyrant was almost clear, but there was still a chance that the Devils would pursue him. If they did, the vaguely human-shaped Tree Devil would be of no concern, since it was further south than Sunny and his companions. The dragon, however, was north of the Shrine of Truth — so, if it moved east, they would have to clash with it eventually.

Sunny wanted to avoid fighting a Cursed Devil if he could. In fact, he dreaded that battle — even if there were three Sacred shades under his command now.

So, he left Slayer in the Shrine of Truth.

It was unclear how cunning the Snow Tyrant was and how well it knew the figures of the Ash Domain. However, it had shown at least some ability to act strategically. So, it would most likely be unwilling to leave the square of the Shrine in the hands of the enemy.

Not only because the power of the Ash Domain would grow the more squares belonged to it, while the power of the Snow Domain would diminish accordingly — it was also because Sunny could easily return to the Shrine if his path to it was not cut off.

The truth of the matter was simple — the Snow Tyrant did not possess enough figures anymore to catch its enemy unless its enemy wanted to be caught. Sunny could wander the board indefinitely, playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with the two Snow Devils. He could stall for as long as he wanted.

Until his wounds completely recovered, for example, or until all of his shades restored themselves.

Additionally, he had in his possession the jade figurine left behind by the Rat King. His power would increase even more if he was ever allowed to reach the Shrine of Truth, the Ash Castle, or — presumably — the Shrine of Fear.

He did not even have to keep Kai and Slayer with him. He could send them to wander the miniature realm of Ariel’s Game on their own, conquering peak after peak until the Snow Domain lost its territorial advantage entirely.

So... Sunny was betting on the fact that at least one of the Devils would waste a move to conquer the Shrine of Truth. And to make it even more alluring for them, he left one of his figures — Slayer — on the roof of the drowning temple.

Sunny and Kai sat on the stone slope and watched the sunrise silently. There was the beautiful golden glow of dawn, and the plumes of snow freezing to turn into ethereal bridges. Neither of them spoke, still drained after the battle against the Rat King, and although a lot was going to be decided by what the Devils chose to do — or were commanded to do — both felt...

Peaceful.

Even if there were dreadful battles ahead, they were not going to happen until many days later. And although they were still imprisoned in Ariel’s Game, the board was almost entirely empty of terrible Nightmare Creatures, which meant that they would not be surrounded and attacked unexpectedly.

For the first time since the Death Game started, Sunny did not feel like a cornered beast.

He inhaled deeply, enjoying the view of the radiant sun.

’Come on...’

Finally, the glass bridges were fully formed, and the Devils moved. Sunny held his breath, feeling his heart skip a beat.

’...Yes!’

A wide grin split his soot-covered face.

His prediction was coming true — and in the best possible way.

"The Tree Devil is moving east."

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