Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2173

Chapter 2173 Paper Armor

The battle between Anvil and his flawless copy, despite decimating the underbelly of the Valor compound, had not lasted long. At least Jest wanted to believe that it was over.

Signs of chilling destruction surrounded him from all sides, but there were no deafening booms ravaging his ears anymore. There were no crushing shockwaves, and the world wasn't quaking. The dim darkness was illuminated by the spreading flames, and clouds of dust obscured the world like a veil. In such moments, Jest cursed his inability to use Memories. It would have been nice to be able to see clearly in this mess.

'...Has the boy become that powerful, then?'

Jest had battled plenty of Fallen Nightmare Creatures, and a few Masters as well. Ascended were indeed inhumanly strong, but not quite at the level of what Anvil had displayed immediately after coming back from the Nightmare. Was that the power of those with divine blood in their veins?

Jest carefully moved through the carnage, searching for Anvil. He found him soon enough, kneeling in the dust with a pale face. The young man was… in bad shape. His intricate armor was nearly destroyed, and blood was pouring from a dozen hideous wounds on his body. One of his arms was hanging limply, sharp fragments of bone protruding from the mess of torn muscles, and even his face was not spared.

He was covered in blood. However, his eyes remained calm and eerily cold. 'What a terrible way to return from the Nightmare…'

A shattered sword was collapsing into a whirlwind of sparks in Anvil's hand. Hearing Jest approach, he shifted and looked up. Jest had a thousand questions on his mind, but meeting the young man's gaze, he faltered. For a moment, he even doubted whom he was looking at… was it really Anvil? Or was it the anomaly?

Which one of them had won? 'The… the other one… wasn't wearing armor.'

As if reading his mind, the young man said evenly:

"It's me."

Anvil opened his mouth, as if wishing to say something more, but at that moment, his mask of indifference finally cracked. His expression changed, and he suddenly took a shaky, frightened breath. "Gwyn…"

Ignoring his wounds, Anvil jumped to his feet and looked around, as if in panic. They found Gwyn a minute later, buried in rubble and unconscious… but, luckily, alive. Hugging her, Anvil let out a shaky breath. "Thank the gods… thank the gods… thank…"

And looking at him, Jest realized something that should have been obvious, but had eluded him until now. It was that Anvil's armor of indifference, which had seemed impenetrable, was merely a facade. In truth, it was merely a flimsy disguise made of paper.

"But I won't fail anymore."

Jest wanted to say that the boy was learning all the wrong lessons. But he wasn't sure that he had that right… most of all, he wasn't even sure that the boy was wrong. The Nightmare Spell was a cruel god. People said that time healed all wounds…

But in the world of the Nightmare Spell, time only dealt you new ones. Jest's tentative hope that Anvil would eventually recover from losing Gwyn was shattered two years later, when disaster struck and a Category Five Gate swallowed America. So many things were lost in that calamity.

Among those things were the lives of Immortal Flame and Smile of Heaven, who fell while buying civilians time to evacuate. And losing Smile of Heaven was the final straw that made something snap inside Anvil. That was what pushed his cold iron heart to make an unforgivable decision.

For the good of humanity, for himself… and for the glory of the Valor clan, as well. …Of course, that decision would not have been possible without the damn abomination, Asterion, waiting there with a smile on his lips after offering the lord of Valor a new deal.

A deal to help Anvil kill Broken Sword.