Shadow Slave novel Chapter 3191

The shadow's senses extended over a vast area... but all of that area was his kingdom. By extending himself across its lightless reach, he had turned himself all but blind to everything that happened beyond its borders.

Still, he felt compelled to watch over the small doll until she disappeared from his sight completely.

So, sitting on the steps of the temple, the shadow remained motionless as a flawless copy of him rose from the darkness.

The second incarnation, too, took the form of a human. It looked down at its human hands and slowly made them into fists.

“It feels strange, to become a human once more."

It was strange, but not alien. After all, the shadow remembered living countless human lives.

The incarnation tilted its head a little.

"Don't you think?"

The shadow smiled faintly and remained silent. He felt no desire to converse with himself.

Shaking its head, the second incarnation dissolved into the darkness. A moment later, he appeared at the very edge of his dark kingdom. Instantly, his senses spread outward, encompassing the untamed wilderness beyond.

All across the primal land of hills and forests, countless creatures shivered, as if feeling a gust of ghostly cold. All shadows seemed to grow a little deeper.

‘Ah... how blinding.’

Having spent many years in the lifeless refuge of his kingdom, the shadow was momentarily dazed by the infinitely dazzling mayhem of life. Its splendor, its multitude, its movement... the teeming revelry of it all was nothing short of violent, assaulting his tired heart.

It took him a few moments to find the little doll...

And the Nightmare Creature that had descended upon the doll, full of frenzied hunger.

The shadow frowned.

That Nightmare Creature... he knew it well. It had been a Supreme Beast once, at the dawn of time — an offspring of one of the first living beings to be created by the gods. However, somewhere along the way, its soul festered with the seeds of Corruption.

It fled to this distant realm and hid, making the depths of the forest its lair. The shadow had sensed the Great Beast prowling the edges of his senses on many occasions, but despite being driven by madness and hunger, the Nightmare Creature never dared to enter his domain. So, the shadow never bothered to eradicate it, either.

The Beast was not very talented — after all, it had failed to rise both in its Rank and its Class over the ages — but it was still one of the more powerful abominations that dwelled in this realm... among those who had survived being the shadow's neighbors, that was.

So, the transient soul had little chance of surviving an encounter with the monster.

It was wearing quite a pathetic shell, after all. Snuggle was not exactly created for battle: she had no armor, no weapons, no fangs, no claws. The shadow was not sure what kind of power allowed the radiant soul to move the tattered doll, but he knew that it did not grant her great strength.

Perhaps if it had chosen a more formidable vessel — a golem forged for battle or the body of a fearsome predator — she could have offered the Great Beast a tough fight. But, as things stood, his unexpected guest would soon be annihilated.

She was quite nimble, true, having escaped his pursuit for a few days. But that was only because the shadow had never aimed to destroy the dazzling soul — if he had wanted to kill her, there would not have been any pursuit at all.

The Great Beast had no such limitations. The shadow's frown deepened.

‘Should I intervene?’

There was no logical reason for him to interfere, and yet, he was reluctant to see the little doll be destroyed. At the same time, he had spent a long time searching for peace, finally finding it within the bounds of his tranquil kingdom. Stepping out of its silent shade felt like an imposition.

Torn, the shadow sighed.

Before he could make a decision, however, the situation suddenly changed.

There was a blinding flash of light, and the ground quaked. Far away, in the distance, the little doll had clashed with the Great Beast — and, to the surprise of the shadow, it was the Great Beast who staggered back, roaring in pain.

"Huh?"

The little doll did not possess weapons, tough armor, sharp claws, or vicious fangs. All it had was its blazing, radiant soul essence — soul essence that belonged to a Transcendent Beast, but was dazzling enough to be mistaken for that of a Supreme.

And, somehow, she had used that essence to make a Beast of higher Rank wail terribly, as if consumed by an unbearable agony. Looking into the distance, the shadow saw something he had never seen before. Something that made even his ancient mind stir in discomfort.

There, within the horrid soul of the Great Beast... the appalling darkness of Corruption was boiling and dissolving, dispelled by radiant streaks of dazzling golden light.

Corruption was being destroyed.

‘H—-how?'

That should not have been possible. In all his countless lives, the shadow had never seen Corruption let something that it had grasped with its claws go. It could be defeated before taking hold of a soul, but never after.

Still...

The soul of the Great Beast was being cleansed of Corruption. The golden light was too weak to purge it entirely, but it diminished the appalling darkness. And, as a result, the Nightmare Creature was weakened. But even if the Great Beast was weakened, it was still a Great Beast. It was an ancient Nightmare Creature that had survived eons of agony and divine persecution, honing its frenzy and deadly rage.

And the radiant soul was still hidden inside an old, tattered doll.

So, their battle ended in a predictable way. However, the shadow did not have to intervene — even if the little doll had failed to defeat the ancient horror, it managed to escape it, at least.

Some time later, a tattered figure flew into the darkness as if shot from a cannon, got tangled in the branches, and rolled lifelessly to the ground after breaking through the canopy.

There were a few moments of silence, and then a squeaky voice broke it weakly:

“Ouch... owie..."

The shadow walked over to where the doll had fallen and looked down at it, unimpressed.

Snuggle had seen better days. It had always been covered in clumsy stitches, having endured countless rips and tears from rough play, but now, it looked like a victim of a particularly vicious delinquent.

Its crude dress was singed. One of its arms was barely attached to the body, and the body itself was torn almost in half. There were many smaller tears, as well, and one of the beads that served as her eyes was missing. Its hair was a tangled mess, with leaves and small branches sticking out of it like a ruined nest.

The shadow sighed.

"Back already?"

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