Shadow Slave novel Chapter 3152

Within the vast and boundless shadow hiding inside Saint's mortal shell, five dark embers burned with lightlessness among the sea of darkness. Those embers were jagged and uneven, utterly lifeless — they functioned as a facsimile of true Shadow Cores, but weren't at all equal to one.

Now, however, that was changing.

As Sunny watched, his Shadow Core entered Saint's shadowy soul like a wandering comet. The moment it did, the depths of the vast shadow seemed to respond, and a dark whirlwind surrounded the nebulous sphere. Within the darkness, the edges of the Shadow Core seemed to blur. And then, a conflagration of black flame ignited in the shadow, blooming at the very heart of Saint's being like a tenebrous flower.

The flower had five petals, and those petals were drawn to each of the dark embers, nourishing and reforging them.

Making them complete.

The embers were being reborn in the nurturing dark flames. Their jagged edges slowly became smooth, and their lifeless coldness was replaced with flawless transparency.

Soon, they came to resemble perfect spheres, as well. Five oceans of dark flame burned inside them, making them look like lightless stars — no different from Sunny's own Shadow Cores. In fact, that was what they were now. And, infused with the power of these cores, a subtle change rippled through Saint's soul.

[You have lost a Shadow.]

The Spell announced the loss of a Shadow, but Saint was not destroyed. On the contrary, she was alive and well... as far as a Shadow Creature could be considered alive, of course.

‘A Shadow Creature...’

After following Sunny for nearly fifteen years as a Shadow, Saint had finally become a Shadow Creature. The difference between the two was subtle, but profound.

It was independence.

A Shadow was a subordinate being serving a master — it was a part of its master's soul, and therefore lacked true agency. A Shadow Creature, however, was a complete, self-sufficient individual. It had agency, free will, and the ability to choose its own path... whom to serve, whom to defy. Which battles to fight, and the reason to fight them.

Sunny was not sure which way of being was better. Being a Shadow or a Shadow Creature simply offered different things, as well as had different demands.

He did know one thing, though.

Being a Shadow, while beneficial in many ways, ultimately created a ceiling for one's growth.

There was a limit to how much one could grow while relying entirely on others, after all. To truly come into your power and become a person, you had to stand on your own two feet.

Well... or four, in the case of Nightmare. Or however many feet Mimic had.

Sunny looked at Saint, who seemed to be engrossed by her transformation. Most of the changes happening to her were invisible, transpiring on the mental and spiritual planes. The connection between them had been severed, and Sunny was not sure what Saint was experiencing... he suddenly felt lonely, as if a part of him had gone missing.

It did, quite literally.

Not only was Saint not a part of him anymore, but one of his shadows had disappeared, as well, becoming her shadow instead.

Now, finally, Saint was a complete being... a Shadow Creature in her own right. Sunny wondered what the future held for her. It used to be that humans coexisted with all kinds of creatures once, back when that word was not associated only with the Corrupted — but those noble creatures were long gone.

But now, there was Saint. She was the first and, for the moment, only Noble Creature in this dire era. As such, she was a natural ally of humanity — both humans and creatures were threatened by the spreading Nightmare, after all, and had to fight it together to survive.

But what would happen if the apocalypse was over one day, and the world still existed? Would people and creatures like Saint coexist once more?

Sunny truly hoped that they would.

Because if some bastard decided to bother Saint in the future... he wasn't going to hold back.

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