Shadow Slave novel Chapter 3241

Shadow remained silent for a long while, looking at the Oracle of Thetis... at Cassia. However, in truth, he did not see her. Instead, his gaze was directed inward, exploring the dark and hollow vastness of his mind. Out there in his mind, countless ruins were hidden in the darkness, their half-forgotten silhouettes revealed vaguely — they were the forlorn memories of his past lives, an endless expanse of suffering and desolation.

But what about this life?

This life of his... what had it been like?

It had been quiet.

At first, he had hidden himself in a dark cave. He met Tatal, and then he lost her. He was full of wrath when the people of the Shadow Tribe sacrificed a human life to him, so he destroyed them. He was empty and lonesome when he encountered Snuggle... Smile of Heaven... and agreed to go on a journey with her. Then, he drove her away and plunged into the darkness of the Shadow Realm.

And now, he was here.

This life of his had been long — far longer than most of his lives — but also strangely empty and uneventful. Most of it had been spent slumbering in the darkness or doing nothing.

But now, he had a choice... quite possibly the most important choice in all his lives. The Oracle offered him solace.

She also offered him death.

But, in truth, the essence of the choice she had given him had nothing to do with either.

Instead, it was a choice between forgetting and remembering.

If Shadow chose to forget, his suffering and exhaustion would be alleviated. If he chose to remember, though, they would only grow heavier, more intolerable... but he would finally have hope. He would receive a chance to learn the reason why he had to endure this harrowing eternity, as well as how to end it.

The Oracle had told him to consider his choice for a couple of days. Initially, Shadow considered doing just that, thinking that he would spend these days agonizing over the decision.

Immediate relief or an uncertain promise of future salvation? Oblivion or remembrance? Solace or struggle?

But instead of leaving, he found himself replying no more than a few seconds after the Oracle had turned her back to him.

"There is no need to wait."

She turned slightly, surprise written clearly on her beautiful face.

Shadow smiled darkly.

"I am ready to choose now."

There was no point in deliberating.

In truth, he did not know what the right decision was. He did not even know how to argue for one choice or the other. His head was empty, and his heart was silent... and he knew that even if she gave him two hundred days to consider the choice instead of just two, nothing would change.

Shadow was confused and uncertain, lost in the dark ruins of his own mind. Perhaps the Oracle was right... maybe he was indeed an incomplete being. And if he was incomplete, having forgotten the very foundation of what made him a person, then how could he hope to build a solid argument for deciding something that important?

He was standing at a crossroads, with no waystone to help him choose the right path. Utterly lost.

So how could he choose?

He could as well let someone else guide him. When Shadow was thinking about what decision to make, he suddenly remembered a chance meeting from long ago... from his days traveling with Smile of Heaven and Noctis.

He remembered the day he met Hope, and his mind traveled back to the conversation he had shared with her.

What was it that the Demon of Desire had told him then?

‘Do not save yourself from sorrow, little shadow.'

Those had been her words.

When Shadow asked Hope how she endured suffering, she answered...

‘I simply suffer.’

What Hope had told him felt oddly relevant to his current dilemma.

So, since Shadow did not know how to choose the right path, he decided to listen to her advice. He chose to let Hope guide him.

The Oracle faced him, an expression of surprise still clear on her face.

She lingered for a while, then asked hesitantly:

“Are you sure?"

Shadow smiled slightly.

"Not at all."

He shook his head, the smile draining from his face, and glanced into the distance. Beyond the windows of the Jade Palace, ash was falling from the sky.

Shadow remained silent for a long while, then sighed.

“But then again, I will never be more sure that I am now."

Far away, the sun was drowning in a raging blizzard. The radiance of the day was dimming, and the darkness of the night was slowly swallowing the world.