Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2861

In just a few short days, Cassie saw that even her worst expectations were proven wrong.

Red Hill was lost. The Sanctuary of Noctis was lost. The Lake of Tears was lost — not simply conquered, but erased from the map, forever changing the face of the Weeping Goddess.

And these were only the Citadels that had fallen to Mordret. In truth, there was no saying how many Saints had already been enthralled by Asterion, thus making their Citadels beholden to the Hunger Domain. The Longing Domain was crumbling. Which meant that somewhere out there, Nephis was growing weaker.

Cassie would have liked to worry about Nephis, but the truth of the matter was that she had no such luxury. She did not have time to worry even about herself.

The decision Kai had made during the battle for the Lake of Tears turned the already terrible situation simply untenable. His intentions had been good, but the consequences of providing a glorious stage for Asterion were dire.

Mordret had conquered Godgrave and fashioned a personal hunting ground out of the Hollows. Now, his forces were advancing south both in the basin of the River of Tears and in the heartland of the Dream Realm. The battle for the Black Mountains had begun, and Cassie was struggling to keep sending fresh troops there.

In the south, meanwhile, the plague of Asterion was entering the final stage. It was slowly consuming all of humanity, making no distinction between mundane people and Awakened. In the cities where those loyal to the Longing Domain still remained, intense clashes between the faithful and the apostates were threatening to escalate into civil war.

There were one or two cities that enjoyed perfect harmony and peace, though. Those were the cities where the plague had already swallowed everyone, making all citizens thralls of Asterion.

And throughout all that, the waking world was continuing to come undone.

Cassie felt suffocated.

At the same time, she felt paranoid, unable to rely even on those people who had held her absolute trust in the past.

But most of all, she had no time to consider the large picture. Her mind was completely preoccupied with the titanic undertaking of administering the boundless expanse of the Human Domain.

As night descended upon Bastion, embracing the heavenly island drifting in the clouds above it first, she walked across the empty corridors of the Ivory Tower and knocked on a door. Coming inside, she found Rain meditating.

Cassie could not see the young woman, but she could feel the torrents of essence flowing furiously through her, their raging current guided by the coils of the serpent etched into her skin.

The clouds outside the window were restless, swirling in tune with the revolving whirlpool of Rain's soul essence.

Sensing her presence, the young woman seemed to smile.

"Lady Cassia?"

Cassie hesitated for a moment.

"l am just checking on you. Do you need anything?"

Rain shook her head.

"No, thank you. Oh... I'll be sure to make breakfast tomorrow. Please come eat once the sun rises."

Cassie nodded.

There were very few people on the Ivory Island at the moment, and making the blind woman cook was not the best of ideas. As a Saint, Cassie herself did not need a lot of food — but Rain was different. So, she insisted on cooking for both of them when nobody else was available.

"I'll leave you to it, then."

Not wanting to disturb Rain, Cassie quietly retreated.

At the same time, a potent Nightmare Gate opened in the middle of a populous city in the Western Quadrant. The Obel Scale had done its job and warned of its imminent descent well in advance, but with how many soldiers were engaged in the battle against Mordret, it was difficult to send a large force to contain it. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

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