Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2466

Chapter 2466 Changing the World

The Mirage City Center for Troubled Youths — a charitable organization set up by the Valor Group to help delinquent youths find their place in society — was situated some distance away from the ramshackle diner.

Sunny remembered how to properly fuel the Devil Detective's archaic PTV and stopped at a gas station, then checked his mental map of Mirage City and hesitantly plotted the course.

As they drove, the quaint vistas of the ancient city slowly ceased to look so odd. He was getting used to the odd architecture, the abundance of noisy PTVs, the lack of quarantine zones, and the flat nature of it all.

The people were the strangest, though, even if it took him a while to realize what that strangeness was…

It was the lack of fear.

The people of Mirage City all had their worries, of course, but their eyes lacked the subtle alertness that all humans of the waking world shared. A Nightmare Gate could open in front of them at any moment, after all; a Sleeper who had slipped through the cracks could turn into a Nightmare Creature and go on a rampage.

The humans of the waking world had grown accustomed to the constant threat of a sudden, senseless death and did not allow it to interfere with their lives. But that fear still left a mark on them.

Here in Mirage City, though, there was no such threat. People were not immortal, but all the dangers they faced were mundane — they did not suffer the existential dread that the inhabitants of reality did, and were not ruled by a great and sinister power they were powerless against… the Nightmare Spell.

Sunny wondered what it would have felt like, to live in a world that was free of the tyranny of Nightmares. To live without fear…

'They would probably invent fears of their own, and live in a prison built of those.'

Effie looked at him for a while, then asked in a lazy tone.

"Hey, partner. I've been thinking…'

Sunny suppressed a groan.

That didn't bode well.

"About what?"

Effie lingered for a moment, then shrugged with a grin.

"It's just that, wasn't this adventure supposed to prepare me for becoming a Sovereign? But instead, I ended up becoming mundane — three whole Ranks further away from Supremacy than I used to be. How come Kai gets to battle dreadful fallen deities, but I am stuck fistfighting third-rate thugs while dodging the advances of an Other who thinks that he's my husband? That's just… not fair!"

Sunny gave her a sidelong glance. "This adventure is indeed meant to help prepare you for the Fourth Nightmare. But Kai and you are different people. What you need to learn is different, too."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And what is it that you think I must learn?"

He exhaled slowly.

"Well, about that… actually, I am not too sure. You are a deceptive person, but in a different way from me."

Effie stared at him in confusion for a while, then exploded with laughter.

"Me? A deceptive person? What are you talking about… I am an open book!"

Sunny scoffed.

"This is exactly what I am talking about. There are two of you, really — there is Effie… Raised By Wolves… a cheerful and easygoing woman who glides through life without taking anything too seriously. This is who everyone meets. But beneath it all, there is also Athena, Born From Being Eaten Alive, an astute and calloused person who had to fight desperately for each step she had taken in this world. This one, most people fail to see… but I know that she's there."

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