Shadow Slave novel Chapter 3198

Eventually, they did meet an abomination that Noctis had neither slain nor knew how to avoid. It was a Corrupted Tyrant and its brood — a nest of vile creatures that looked like leaves from afar, only to turn into a cloud of grotesque locusts with razor-sharp wings that blotted out the sky, painting the world in shades of dim emerald.

The Tyrant itself was like a locust queen, its brown carapace resembling a branching reef. When the giant creature moved, it was as if a section of the forest suddenly came alive, gazing at them with chilling malice.

"P—prepare to die, vermin!"

Noctis seemed pale as he faced the vast cloud of abominations. Shadow was not sure why exactly, though — it would be natural to feel a measure of fear in the face of such peril, but it was just as likely that the Transcendent youth simply disliked insects a great deal.

Perhaps it was simply because Noctis seemed at his weakest when the sun was high in the sky.

In any case, Shadow did not count the youth's chances of defeating the Corrupted Tyrant and her swarm high. Dealing with vast swarms of tiny abominations was quite tricky, after all — unless one had a suitable Aspect or an enchanted weapon, the fiercest of warriors could be rendered powerless in a battle like that.

Snuggle did not seem very adept at battling swarms of abominations, either. She could ignite the soul of the Corrupted Tyrant, weakening the creature and making it not much stronger than a Fallen Tyrant would have been... but that wasn't going to help them survive.

However, the Shadow could solve the problem easily.

He could annihilate the entire swarm in an instant by simply willing it to die. Eradicating great numbers of weaker creatures was exactly what he excelled at. He could tear the giant Tyrant to shreds in no more than a few seconds, as well. After all, he excelled at slaying strong creatures too.

But...

He couldn't.

Because he had been foolish enough to promise Snuggle not to kill anything.

‘Hmm... this is a bit problematic.’

Shadow was really not sure what to do.

As he contemplated calmly, the vast cloud of abominations drew closer, the swiftest of them already rushing down from the sky. The lumbering Tyrant was slowly approaching, as well.

Snuggle squealed and hurriedly hid in his pocket. Noctis, meanwhile, trembled and backed away until he was standing directly in front of Shadow, staring at the dim emerald world with apprehension.

"H—hey, Shadow. What do we do?"

He paused for a moment, then forced out a few more words.

"I can probably deal with a third... a half of these abominations! But someone will have to deal with the rest. Then, we can bring down the Tyrant together... right?"

A squeaky voice resounded from Shadow's pocket:

"Right! Go on, then!"

Noctis glanced over his shoulder with a startled expression.

"What do you mean, go on? You go on! Let's go together!"

The locusts had almost reached them by then.

‘What to do, indeed?’

Finally, Shadow came to a conclusion.

‘Right. That is also an option...’

With that, he raised a hand and placed it on the young hero's shoulder.

And then, he pulled the three of them — himself, Noctis, and Snuggle — into the shadows.

A moment later, they stepped out of them hundreds of kilometers away, on the shore of a placid lake.

There was no sign of the swarm of locusts of their enormous queen.

Noctis staggered and looked away in stunned silence.

He blinked a couple of times.

"Huh? Where are we?"

Shadow shrugged.

"Far away."

Noctis stared at him for a short while. Slowly, his face regained some color, and his tense body relaxed.

Then, he said in a tone of reproach.

"Listen, Shadow... we are friends, but don't you have any shame? Stealing my special heroic technique already! I shared it with you in confidence!"

Laughing, Noctis shook his head and let out a relieved sigh while patting his chest.

“What did I tell you? Running away is always an option!"

Shadow nodded seriously.

"Indeed."

He had never had to run away from something before, but that technique was really quite wondrous.

Noctis, meanwhile, inhaled a few times deeply, then froze for a moment.

Then, he glanced at Shadow in confusion.

“So, wait, you can just jump from one place to another in a second?"

Shadow simply nodded.

The corner of the young man's eye twitched.

“Then why, by the Moon, did we spend these past few days walking?! You could have just brought us to where we need to go!"

He glanced down with an aggrieved expression.

“Look at my clothes! They are so dusty! The hems are all frayed! It could all have been avoided!"

Shadow looked at him silently for a while. Eventually, he shrugged.

“I haven't gone on a walk since before silk was invented. So, I thought I should give it a try."

He smiled faintly.

"I quite liked it. I think we should continue walking everywhere."

Hearing his nonchalant voice, Noctis groaned.

***

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