Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2791

Hidden in the darkness, Sunny was leaning on the wall with his arms crossed. There was a grimace on his face, as if he was suffering from a toothache.

Which, of course, was impossible — his teeth were notoriously indestructible, not to mention deadlier than most enchanted weapons.

He barely ever met abominations whose hide he couldn't bite through. However, sinking his teeth into an idea would be difficult even for Sunny.

“Ah, that man... is impossibly frustrating.”

A bitter sigh escaped from his lips.

Asterion had come to the Immortal Flame manor uninvited — an unfortunate event, but not an entirely unexpected one. Then, he questioned the authority of the manor's owner, suggesting that he'd do a far better job of ruling over humanity.

It would have been great if convincing everyone that he was a superior ruler was what he had truly been after. However, Asterion had never really intended to present himself as a better choice for the throne than Changing Star — not during this council, at least.

All he had wanted to do was to tear her down.

He wanted to hurt the idea of Nephis, the last daughter of the Immortal Flame clan. It did not even matter how severe the damage was — in fact, all he needed was to put a single blemish on an otherwise pristine surface of her esteem.

That blemish, even if it was a small scratch, could become a festering wound from which seeds of doubt would sprout. He did not need the champions of the Human Domain to lose faith in Nephis... he just needed them to leave the manor with a vague hint of uncertainty in their hearts. His insidious Aspect would do the rest.

After all, Asterion did not aim to convince anyone — he only aimed to subjugate them. However, their conviction had to be compromised first to achieve that.

‘It is a bit funny, really.' 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

Once, a very long time ago, Nephis had told Sunny that she had no reason to settle for submission when she could have loyalty. Asterion was the exact opposite of her, only seeking submission with no regard to loyalty.

That was why he had attacked her past and her actions. Mocking her achievements, mentioning the death toll among the Sleepers of the Dark City, comparing her to the original Sovereigns, revealing the truth of why she had joined Valor — none of these attacks were arguments seriously meant to discredit Nephis.

They were just provocations... they were feints meant to mask the real blow.

That blow was the fact that Nephis and Sunny had contemplated slaying the Sovereigns before attaining Supremacy themselves. They had indeed gambled with countless lives, almost sending hundreds of millions of people into the First Nightmare. Sure, there had been extenuating circumstances. They had good reasons to have made that decision... and they succeeded, in the end. Their chances of defeating the Sovereigns without becoming Supreme had been exceedingly slim, to begin with.

But that did not matter. Because people were not rational creatures.

People were, first and foremost, creatures of emotion. And emotionally, the fact that Changing Star — an icon of benevolence and righteousness, at least in the minds of countless people — had actually made a callous decision to potentially sacrifice countless lives... felt like a betrayal.

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