Shadow Slave novel Chapter 3204

Chapter 3204: Hidden Menace

The ground shook, and as a terrifying roar thundered above the two armies, dust spilled from between the great stone blocks that formed the wall. Atop the battlements, many of the soldiers lost their balance and fell, dropping their weapons. Below, on the battlefield, the horses of Irian’s cavalry buckled in fear, making the riders curse as they struggled to remain in the saddle.

The infantrymen gripped their weapons, looking around with startled and frightened expressions.

Only a few people remained calm and collected, but even their expressions turned grim.

The Altar Sage, the Blade of Dawn, and the Beast of Twilight — the three Transcendent heroes looked around, momentarily forgetting about their conflict.

"W—what the hell?"

Noctis peered into the distance, where a massive hill was slowly crumbling. His voice sounded subdued.

Shadow, meanwhile, was leaning leisurely on the wall of a guard tower, his expression just as calm as it had always been.

He shrugged lightly.

"Who knows?"

Irian and Arelen, meanwhile, were observing the calamity with wary gazes. Then, briefly, they glanced at each other.

Far away, the hill had collapsed entirely, and something massive, monstrous, and malevolent moved slowly in the billowing cloud of dust. Suddenly, the radiant light of dawn grew pale and feeble, and the warmth of early summer turned into a piercing chill...

As though death itself had come to reap the two armies.

A moment later, the soldiers paled and staggered, some of them even fainting — that was because the overwhelming presence of the hidden menace washed over them, followed by the suffocating pressure of a vast and alien Will.

Sitting on Shadow’s shoulder, Snuggle turned her head to look at him, then stood up slowly and pulled on his hair.

Her squeaky voice was reduced to a barely audible whisper:

"H—hey! Are you not... overdoing it a little?"

Shadow just smiled faintly.

"Am I? It depends on how strong these mortal heroes are, I suppose."

He spoke quietly enough for Noctis not to hear — the young Transcendent was not listening to Shadow, anyway, his entire attention focused on the gargantuan figure moving slowly under the veil of dust.

Finally, the Altar Sage uttered a Verse, and a powerful gale tore apart the cloud of dust, revealing the true shape of the unknown creature.

Standing atop the wall, he was the first to behold it. His face paled, and his gaze turned grim.

Out there on the plain in front of the city, a towering abomination was slowly crawling out of the shattered earth. Its body was long and segmented, like that of a centipede, but its head resembled a giant human skull that was missing the lower jaw, with three empty eye sockets that hid impenetrable darkness.

The chitinous carapace of the giant abomination was so black that it seemed to absorb the surrounding light. The enormous skull, however, was vibrantly scarlet, as if it had been bathed in an ocean of human blood until the surface of the ancient bone fully absorbed it.

Finally climbing from the depths of earth, the monstrous centipede raised its long neck. Even with most of its body still on the ground, the scarlet skull loomed at least a hundred meters above it, turned in the direction of the city.

The three empty eye sockets of the titanic abomination stared at the three Transcendent heroes, eerily emotionless, the unfathomable pools of darkness hidden within them still and hollow.

What was not still, however, were hundreds of horrid maws that revealed themselves on the inner side of the creature’s belly, gnashing myriads of teeth as they revealed the crimson flesh of the monster.

Witnessing the great immensity of the abhorrent creature, the soldiers of Irian’s army, who stood between the city and the subterranean horror, took an unconscious step back — in the direction of the wall they had been meant to besiege.

Irian herself seemed rattled, as well. Looking at the eerie scarlet skull, she gripped her spear and whispered in a stunned voice:

"A Great Monster!"

She could not see the soul of the giant creature, of course. But merely by sensing the oppressive power of its presence, as well as the malevolent flavor of its Will, she could make a judgment.

Atop the wall, Arelen wore a grave expression, as well.

Noctis, meanwhile...

Seemed thoroughly appalled.

"A centipede! Ah, eww! Why did it have to be a damn centipede?! I hate them!"

He shuddered, grimacing in utter disgust.

Shadow spared him an amused look.

"That’s what you worried about?"

He was a little bit hurt.