Shadow Slave novel Chapter 1375

Chapter 1375 Spoiled for Choices

The dark surface of the water exploded, and a gargantuan shape rose from beneath it. Sunny struggled to contain his revulsion as he saw its grotesque form... the creature looked so appalling and alien that he did not even know how to describe it. It was as if a mass of slithering eels was wearing a messy cloak of tangled seaweed, its countless limbs ten times longer than its vague, slender body.

'How... how did it even manage to stay hidden?'

The great hall of the lost temple was flooded, but the water was not that deep. As the revolting depth dweller continued to reveal its twisted shape, the dark water boiled, and countless Drowned revealed their presence.

These ones were similar to the abominations that had attacked the Chain Breaker in the past, but also different.

Their bodies were humanoid, with powerful black tentacles instead of a pair of legs - however, instead of gaunt outcasts who were overgrown by barnacles, the true Drowned looked much more strong and fearsome. Their weapons were of much higher quality, and some even wore strange but durable armor made out of shell and bone.

The black eyes of the sentient Nightmare Creatures burned with bloodlust and malice.

'Damnation!'

Most of them were Corrupted Demons, while the few most powerful ones seemed to be Devils.

And then there was the sybil herself, of course. Sunny still couldn't see her clearly.

By the standards of the waking world, the three of them were a truly formidable battle force. Sunny was pretty sure that he and Nephis were among the most powerful Ascended humans to have ever lived, with Cassie trailing not far behind them. They were accompanied by two Transcendent Devils, a Transcendent Beast, an Ascended Terror, and an Ascended Monster.

Their Memories were also empowered by a Supreme Memory, the Crown of Dawn.

Still, this battle was not going to be easy. It promised to be extremely perilous, in fact.

As Sunny's pupils narrowed, the time seemed to slow down. His mind entered the state of battle clarity, banishing all unnecessary thoughts. He lingered only for a moment, waiting for Nephis to make a decision...

Every battle force needed a commander, and for their cohort, the burden of command lay squarely on Changing Star's shoulders.

"I'll handle the depth dweller. Sunny, if you will... slaughter these Drowned. Cassie, you will have to occupy the sybil."

Sunny was already moving, the blade of the Sin of Solace slashing through the air. As he did, though, a transient thought entered his mind...

This was it. This was what he knew best. After the endless onslaught of bloody warfare in Antarctica, he had thought that he was sick of and nauseated by battles, bloodshed, and violence. But after experiencing these strangely peaceful months in the Third Nightmare...

Had he secretly missed the dark splendor of combat?

What made sentient abominations so dangerous was their intelligence, and the Drowned seemed more than smart enough to fight as a single force instead of a group of powerful, but uncoordinated creatures. Many of the strategies he had used to slaughter weaker enemies were not going to work as effectively against them.

So, he chose to concentrate on two of the multitudes of tools available to him.

The first was the Crown of Twilight and the rudimentary control over water it gifted him. Although the great hall was not entirely flooded, it still gave an advantage to the Drowned, who could move with equal ease on land and in water. Terrain advantage was of utmost importance in any battle, so Sunny was going to try and turn the tables on his enemies.

The second was the Sin of Solace. Currently, all Memories Sunny had summoned were augmented by the Crown of Dawn - including his already fearsome jian. Its long jade blade was more than powerful enough to cut through both the Corrupted abominations and their armor, and therefore, augmenting his strength even further with Shadow Shell was simply unnecessary.

The best decision Sunny could make was to fully concentrate on his swordsmanship, cutting out all things except for those that were in service of it.

'Let's show them...'

Landing on a toppled column, he moved fluidly and delivered a lethal slash to the neck of an attacking abomination. _{freewebnσvel.cѳm}

However...

From just that first strike, Sunny realized that this battle was going to be much more deadly than he had ever thought.