Shadow Slave novel Chapter 3246

“Snuggle! I said Snuggle!"

As soon as the words escaped Sunny's lips, he covered his mouth with a palm. He trembled.

That was not what he had wanted to convey... but his damn Flaw struck while he was rattled.

‘...Oh, no.'

Oh, no!

Naturally, he had merely addressed Smile of Heaven by the name he was most used to. But did Nephis know that?

Judging by her subdued, but terrifying reaction, she did not.

What was it that Smile of Heaven had said after he addressed her that way for the first time?

‘I'd rather not... that was what she said.'

Neph's response, it seemed, was going to be much more fiery.

‘C—crap!'

Sunny fully expected to be blown off the bridge by an obliterating explosion. In fact, was the great bridge even going to survive? He was not sure.

And indeed, Nephis began to raise her hand with an emotionless, but frightening expression. Behind her, Slayer rested her palm on the hilt of her dagger, as if prepared to strike White Abyss the moment her master was attacked.

...Far behind, the Jade Queen's eyes turned cold while her beaming smile remained the same.

Sunny made some mental calculations. After that, he prepared to turn from a Titan into a Terror.

Before white flames had a chance to swallow him, however, Smile of Heaven jumped forward and hung on Neph's arm, pushing it back down with her weight.

"Nephie! Stop, stop! He's mommy's friend!"

Nephis froze.

Sunny froze, as well.

Both of them turned their heads and stared at Smile of Heaven silently.

Sunny's face remained still, but inside, he was dying from secondhand embarrassment.

‘What on earth... is she saying?’

Nephie? Mommy? Who talked like that? Even if she was, technically, Neph's mother, her daughter was already a grown woman. She was a few-thousand-year-old demigod, older than Smile of Heaven by a few Ages! Nephis herself was void of all emotions, and yet, it almost seemed as if she cringed slightly.

Smile of Heaven seemed to realize what she had said, as well. She slowly let go of Neph's arm, took a step back, and coughed awkwardly.

“Uh, what I meant to say was... uh... stay thy wrath, venerable White Abyss! This man is my dear friend!"

Nephis studied her with a hint of a dubious frown.

It did not seem that she doubted Smile of Heaven's truthfulness. Rather, she seemed to be perplexed by her mother's choice of alternative speech style.

Smile of Heaven smiled sheepishly.

“I used to inhabit a child's doll when we traveled together, and Snuggle was that doll's name. So, he didn't mean anything untoward just now. Still... Shadow! Think before you speak, damnit! Sable, just call me Sable from now on!"

Sunny blinked a couple of times.

“Alright.”

He was willing to call her whatever she wanted to be called. She might have saved his life a few moments ago, after all!

Nephis studied Smile of Heaven for a few moments, then tilted her head a little. Finally, she slowly lowered her arm.

Sunny let out a furtive sigh of relief. The suffocating heat was slowly abating, so it seemed as though she was not going to blast him to smithereens just yet.

That... that was progress, right?

Smile of Heaven — Sable — looked relieved, as well. Now that the two Titans were not about to clash in a cataclysmic battle... at least not immediately... she spared Nephis one more concerned glance, then turned to look to Shadow.

Finally, she could allow herself to feel stunned by his unexpected appearance.

“What... what are you doing here, Shadow?"

Sable paused for a moment, then shook her head energetically.

"No, before that! You're alive! Thank the gods!"

Sunny studied her silently, amused.

‘Thank the gods, huh?’

This time, their reunion was indeed possible thanks to the gods — literally. Thanks to a particular god, to be precise.

He lingered for a moment, then spoke:

"I assume that I am here for the same reason you are. The Oracle of Thetis — Song of the Fallen — sent me an invitation."

Noticing her curious and expectant gaze, Sunny lingered for a moment, then added:

“I descended into the Shadow Realm after we parted. But its ruler... he refused me."

Sunny smiled bitterly.

"He seemed to have figured out something that even I did not know — that I wanted to survive, after all. So, I just remained in the Shadow Realm, slumbering in the darkness. Until the Oracle sent someone to fetch me."

Sable listened to him attentively. As he spoke, a smile found its way onto her face — a hesitant one at first, then a beaming one.

“Oh, so you... you don't want to... do the thing you wanted to do anymore?"

By that, she probably meant that he had wanted to die.

Sunny remained silent for a moment, then shook his head.

"No. Meeting the Oracle was quite illuminating. She helped me set myself straight.”

Sable let out a relieved sigh.

“Good! That's wonderful! I am so happy... I should probably thank that Oracle woman, if we ever meet."

She fell silent for a moment, then coughed awkwardly.