Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2843

Sunny wanted to host Nephis in his castle, but sadly, they had to steer clear of the Dark City. The thralls of Asterion were still imprisoned in the settlement below its walls, and on top of that, he did not entirely trust the members of the Shadow Clan either. Asterion had already shown his ability to subjugate people without stealing them from the Domain of the Supreme they were loyal to, after all.

Saint Thane, the Dream Merchant, must have regretted being born as a result. Nephis had been consumed by wrath after Red Hill fell, so when their investigation pointed at the eccentric Saint and his treachery was revealed, she simply turned him into a screaming bonfire.

He did not scream for long, though, because the immolating white flames stole his voice. Nephis burned the enthralled Saint until there was nothing left of him but a shriveled, blackened stick figure.

But she did not kill him.

Instead, she used the same flames to restore him to flawless health, and then burned him again — and again, again, and again... until the name Asterion became synonymous with harrowing pain in his mind.

In the end, the agony and the horror proved terrifying enough to overpower the Asterion's hex, erasing it.

And yet, Sunny did not think that the enthralled Saint had been happy to have his mind cleansed and his free will restored. He was not sure, though, because by the time they left, the Dream Merchant had not regained his ability to form coherent sentences yet.

Needless to say, Neph's method of healing people of the plague was even less scalable than Cassie's.

So, Sunny could not take her to the Dark City. The Chain Breaker travelled east for some time, and when they drew close enough to the city for the light emanating from the flying ship to be seen from the walls, Nephis released her channelling and let the world drown in darkness once more. Sunny replaced her at the oars. It had been a long while since he last steered the Chain Breaker, but his task was not difficult — they simply had keep heading east.

Sunny and Nephis left the Dark City behind and crossed the colossal crater that they had traversed more than a decade ago on a boat made from the bones of the Carapace Demon. Beyond it lay the Ashen Barrow and the charred remains of the Soul Devouring Tree — all that was left of the fearsome Terror was an enormous blackened stump, its jagged mass emanating an eerie sense of dread and malevolence. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The Chain Breaker continued on its way east.

Soon enough, they flew above the headless statue of the Knight — that was where Sunny had begun his journey once. The small clearing in the labyrinth of crimson coral nearby was where he met Nephis and Cassie...

Of course, there was no clearing anymore. The coral labyrinth was gone, after all, having turned to ash when the Crimson Spire fell. Nephis did not remember their meeting, either... still, she must have retraced her footsteps and visited these places while traveling to the Nightmare Desert.

She had remembered him back then. Sunny wondered what Nephis thought about while walking through the darkness alone.

Nephis seemed to be remembering those times, as well.

“The hardest part was not the loneliness, not the cold, not the hunger, and not the Nightmare Creatures either. It was water. I was dying from thirst, the second time I traveled through these parts."

Leaning on the railing. Nephis smiled.

“Luckily, even though the cycle of day and night was gone by then, the weather still remained. There was a storm once I reached the Knight, and I was able to both quench my thirst and store some water."

Sunny remained silent for a while, thinking idly about his own wanderings across the Forgotten Shore.

Eventually, he said:

"You know, I took Slayer to the statue of the Slayer once. She was not impressed.”

Nephis laughed quietly.

"That was where Cassie's rapier came from. The sword grave around that statue... it was a truly lethal affair. We barely made it out alive."

Sunny sighed.

“You know, every time I see these statues, I think to myself: now that I rule the Forgotten Shore, nothing is stopping me from bringing their heads back and attaching them to their necks. So, I always wonder... should I?"

Nephis turned her head at the sound of his voice.

“Why haven't you?"

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