Shadow Slave novel Chapter 3136

Lying there without motion, Effie extended her senses inward and explored her body.

The mystical cord bound her hands tightly, and she felt like she wouldn't be able to rend it even if her strength returned. However, it was not enchanted to drain her, so her essence was trickling back little by little.

She was still in the negative, suffering from the symptoms of essence exhaustion, but that would change soon. Then, she would be able to use her Aspect again. Much more importantly, even before that, her flesh would be infused with essence once more, becoming stronger and more resilient.

That meant that she would be able to resist the plague better. That also meant that she would be able to recover from the wounds Azarax had dealt her, both internal and external, faster.

Effie's goal was to be able to stand by the time the Steel Horde returned from its assault on the Stone Castle. Then, even if she died, she would not have to die on her knees, at least.

Something so simple seemed like an insurmountable challenge now.

She sighed and concentrated on guiding her essence.

Time flowed, permeated by pain and anticipation.

After a while, drifting in the haze of half-consciousness, Effie heard screams and chilling wails rising like a wave from somewhere in the camp. She wondered what was happening, but couldn't quite bring herself to care.

Some time later, she thought she heard an echo of a distant, deafening roar penetrating the walls of the tent. She also heard the sounds of powerful explosions, and could smell a hint of smoke.

The air tasted like ash.

She didn't know the source of that smell, either.

Then, she was suddenly terribly cold.

By then, she still didn't have enough essence to summon even a single Memory. Her body was greedily drinking her essence, absorbing more and more of it — it was still far from being saturated, though. On the bright side, as a result, her wounds were healing faster.

Effie concentrated on controlling the flow of her essence, guiding it through the mangled channels permeating her body to the areas she wanted to be mended first. The essence veins themselves were being healed and straightened at the same time, too.

‘A little bit more... just a little bit more...’

She was still healing by the time the dim twilight of dusk swallowed the world, and Azarax entered the tent, smelling of blood and ash.

As he did, Effie caught a glimpse of the battered, shell-shocked soldiers. She heard a bit of their conversations, as well.

She had to suppress a laugh.

‘So that's why...’

Kai had indeed realized the importance of today's assault. Under his lead, the defenders of the Stone Castle — Nightwalker, Morgan, Seishan, and the rest of them — showed the Steel Horde hell.

Even better, Jet had not missed the chance to act. She was probably observing the situation with the help of her crow Echo, after all... only, this time, she did not choose to attack a supply caravan.

She wasn't somewhere far away, terrorizing the Steel Empire, either.

Instead, once Azarax and his warriors engaged the defenders of the castle inside the city, she infiltrated the encampment of the Steel Horde and attacked its supply stores directly, destroying what little provisions there were left.

So, now, the Steel Horde had failed to take the Stone Castle, was without food, and suffering from a swiftly spreading plague on top of that.

Azarax's expression was ugly.

He stared at Effie with a terrifying gaze, then reached down and pulled her roughly to her feet.

She could see it then, in his eyes, hidden behind murderous rage.

Azarax the Mighty, the Plague of Steel, the King of Kings... was rattled for the first time since she met him.

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