Shadow Slave novel Chapter 3192

In the end, Snuggle stayed — for a few more days, according to her. She was recovering from the wounds received in the battle against the Great Beast splendidly, but somehow, she still seemed downcast.

“A Great Nightmare Creature back home. What a Nightmare!"

The shadow could hear her grumbling from time to time.

“How many of these horrors are out there, for me to slam into one right away? Brrr. Scary!"

Actually, a Great Beast was already a rarity in this era. The Age of Heroes was in full swing, after all. In fact, it had probably passed the halfway mark already, and the vague shape of the Golden Age — the Age of Humans — could already be seen far in the distance. The shadow wasn't quite sure, considering how rarely news of the outside world reached him.

There were still some Great abominations around, and even those who were far more powerful. But meeting one randomly was uncommon — it was just that the realm where the shadow dwelled was quite special in that regard, like a preserve for eldritch horrors.

That was because the heroes of the modern era had not gotten here yet, and the most powerful noble creature who resided in these lands — the shadow — did not feel inclined to go out of his way to battle these abominations. As long as they knew their place, he simply left them alone.

However, he did not feel the need to explain that to the downcast doll.

“What about you, Shadow? Do you clash with Great abominations often? Well... they would scare a Supreme Titan, I suppose.”

The shadow nodded.

“Not that often. And they don't scare me, indeed."

He remained silent for a moment, then added, wanting to appear more relatable:

"It's not like I don't get scared, though. One time, I watched Beast God kill and devour a Void Creature. That gave me a fright."

Snuggle hiccuped.

Somehow, the shadow got a sense that his attempt to seem relatable had not worked. Some time later, Snuggle asked in a timid tone:

"A—anyway. What do you do here for fun?"

The shadow had to contemplate her question.

'What is fun?'

Was it something he enjoyed doing? Eventually, he said:

"I like to sleep."

The little doll stared at him with her beady eyes. Then, she giggled.

“So we have something in common, after all!"

Since Snuggle was going to stay... for a few days... the shadow decided that she needed a place to rest. He didn't want to return to the temple, so he led her to the largest and most opulent structure in the city — the manor where its former lord had lived.

As they entered, Snuggle looked around.

"Is this your house?"

The shadow shrugged.

"All houses in this city are mine."

Around them, the shades of the servants and slaves were busy dusting the floors and performing other tasks needed for the upkeep of the large manor. Their presence seemed to make the little doll uncomfortable, so the shadow called them back into his soul.

"Choose whichever room you like."

Seemingly satisfied, Snuggle scampered away to explore the house. The shadow, meanwhile, followed an instinct and went into the kitchen.

There, he halted in confusion.

‘Why did I come here?'

The shadow had not eaten anything since the dawn of time, and Snuggle was a doll — even if there was a Transcendent soul within it, she still couldn't consume food. Needless to say, there was no food to be cooked in the ancient manor, anyway.

The shadow frowned.

‘I guess treating a guest to some food is just a habit I picked up in my countless lives.'

Tatal used to steal the offerings from his altar, as well. So, it felt strange not to offer Snuggle anything to eat.

Shaking his head, he returned to the foyer.

“Shadow! I'll take the master bedroom!"

A squeaky voice resounded from somewhere deeper in the manor. The shadow shrugged, indifferent to her choice. And that was how his kingdom got a second resident.

As far as residents went, Snuggle was clearly a failure — she did not pay any tax, went around brazenly illuminating the peaceful darkness, and was surprisingly loud despite her small stature.

Still, the shadow somehow found himself enjoying her company.

It was not unpleasant, at least.

So... perhaps that was fun.

Snuggle spent the first few days recovering from her wounds and replenishing her essence. Then, she went to explore the city. After that was done, she began slowly and carefully scouting out the surrounding lands, observing the Nightmare Creature that populated them from a distance.

The more she learned, the more dismayed she became.

“Another Tyrant... what the heck? Is this place really hell? No, there would be an abundance of Devils in hell, so if anything, this place is worse..."

After a while, feeling curious, the shadow finally asked:

“That day when you fought the Great Beast. How did you do it?"

Snuggle stared at him in confusion.

"Did what?"

The shadow sighed.

“I saw it. You weakened the sea of Corruption in his soul — you destroyed some of it, even. I've never seen anything like it."

After hesitating for a moment, he added:

“Destroying Corruption is the domain of death. It should be impossible to cleanse a living creature of Corruption without killing it."

He should know. After all, he was an emissary of death.

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