Shadow Slave novel Chapter 3141

A morning came when Effie was called back to the wall.

This time, however, it was not to defend it. Using a crutch, she limped her way across the castle with Jet. The halls and courtyards weren't crowded anymore, at least — the citizens who had found shelter inside were now safely protected in her Soul Garden, enjoying all its gifts. So, she did not have to carefully make her way through the mass of people.

Still, Effie could not help but grumble.

“Ugh... who made this crutch? It's so shoddy. Feels like it is disintegrating a little with each step."

Jet gave her a look.

“Be thankful, fool. Do you think it's easy to make a crutch in a besieged castle? There are no trees around, in case you didn't notice. Plus, people of your height are not exactly common."

She paused for a moment and then added:

"The royals offered to make one from stone, while Morgan had the bright idea of making one from steel. In the end, Nightwalker disassembled a bunch of priceless antique furniture to fashion this thing. In the real world, you could buy a city block with that."

Effie gave her crutch another look.

“A whole city block?"

Jet smiled faintly.

“Well, the world is ending. So real estate prices are suddenly very affordable."

Chuckling, they ascended the wall and pushed their way through the crowd of soldiers standing on the battlements in silence. Everyone was here — even those who had ended their shifts and were supposed to be resting.

All of them were looking across the burned city in a strange, transfixed silence.

The castle stood on elevated ground, so they could see past the city wall from here. As Effie and Jet made their way to where Kai, Morgan, Seishan, and Nightwalker stood, they looked into the distance too. Laughter died on their lips, and they found themselves drawn into the silence.

‘Ah...’

The sun was rising, its rays spilling over the horizon. They illuminated the blackened ruins of the city, the crumbling wall, the terrifying killing field below it... and there, beyond the killing field, in the distance, the vast encampment of the Steel Horde.

At this time, it would usually look like an ocean of shimmering light, with countless fires burning in the dim twilight of the early dawn. However, today, the siege camp was dark and quiet, with only pillars of smoke rising above it here and there.

Mundane people could not see, but Saints like Effie were able to discern more. Kai, meanwhile, saw it all.

Even without his magical eyes, though, she could tell at once glance what had happened.

Effie felt her breath turning slow and haggard. A sudden weakness permeated her body.

The Steel Horde... was gone.

Sometime during the night, the warriors of the King of Kings had abandoned the camp, retreating the way they came. They took what they could with them, but left countless tents and weapons behind. Many of them were dead, after all, and those who survived had a long and arduous march in front of them.

If they truly did retreat, of course.

Effie slowly turned to Morgan, struggling to find words.

In the end, she just asked in a hesitant tone:

“We won't find a big horse statue there, will we?"

Morgan lingered for a moment, then shrugged.

"There's only one way to find out."

The other members of the cohort nodded solemnly.

It took some time to organize a sortie. Only the strongest of the defenders were allowed to go, since the encampment of the Steel Horde was still infested by the plague. Seishan was with them, but it was better to be safe than sorry — so, nobody below the Ascended Rank left the castle.

Effie went, too, hoping that her precious crutch would survive the journey.

They passed the blackened streets of the destroyed city. As they traveled, Effie remembered various scenes from her time here. There was the restaurant she had often gone to, back when the city still had supplies. There, a square where she had once watched children enjoy a puppet show, missing her family. There, a street she had often used to travel from the castle to the wall.

All of it was gone now, turned into ash and cinders.

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