Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2186

Chapter 2186 Master of Puppets

Cassie remained silent for a few moments.

'Self-evident...'

Was that the answer she had expected? Or the opposite of it? She was not sure, since Ki Song — the Raven Queen — was a nebulous existence. She was much more reticent and withdrawn than Anvil, ruling the Song Domain from the depths of her obsidian palace.

Who knew what was on her mind?

Cassie smiled faintly.

"If you see the war as failure, why did you start it?"

The dead queen studied her quietly, then sighed. "Are you really in the position to ask me questions, Song of the Fallen?"

There was no particular threat in her voice, but Cassie shivered. What position was she in? Blind, stripped of her Aspect, driven to her knees, and at the mercy of her captors… it was hard to imagine someone more powerless. And yet, that was exactly where Cassie wanted to be. That was the position from which she was planning to break the Song Domain. But Ki Song did not have to know that. Cassie raised her chin slightly. "I guess I am not. However, I know a lot of secrets… one of them in particular would be of great value to Your Majesty."

Ki Song raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You want to barter with me…"

Before the dead boy even finished speaking, the dead girl laughed. Then, both of them abruptly grew silent. The Queen looked at Cassie coldly, making her heart beat like a bird trapped in a cage. "But I don't need to pay. Any secret you have, I can simply take."

She raised a hand in a fluid, elegant motion…

And at the same time, Cassie's own hand rose, mirroring what Ki Song had done. She turned her head, studying it in horror. "Y—you… you…"

The Queen smiled coldly. "You have drunk of my blood. Now, you are my puppet. You will do as I command, whether you like it or not."

Cassie struggled to suppress the trembling that had overwhelmed her body. She failed to do so, so Ki Song did it for her. As her slender hand turned into a fist, Cassie's body grew motionless. Only her eyes, hidden by the blindfold, were moving erratically. '...I see. Makes sense.'

Cassie shivered, suddenly realizing that Ki Song was not merely limited to controlling the movements of her puppets. No… her control went much deeper than that. Which meant that if the Queen so wished, she could make Cassie's own body rot and decompose, as well.

'That… would be a new nightmare, even for me.'

Ki Song grew silent for a while, looking at Cassie with a distant look. Then, she sighed. Her sigh was immaculately natural — to a degree that Cassie could not truly believe that she was looking at a puppeteered corpse that did not even need to breathe, not of a living woman.

Every little detail was flawless. The posture, the slight tilt of her head, the smallest facial expression… it was hard to believe that Ki Song was controlling every tiny muscle in her body consciously to produce the illusion of natural life. She had not just mastered all levels of puppeteering — she was an artist.

The Queen shook her head elegantly, and then said using the dead girl's mouth:

"In truth, this war of ours was inevitable."

Her gaze turned a little distant. "It was set in stone the moment Smile of Heaven died..."