Shadow Slave novel Chapter 273

Chapter 273 Chrysalis

Grasped in the Shadow's fist was a strange, beautiful, and ominous gem. It was utterly black, as though suffused with impenetrable darkness. The glossy black surface seemed to devour light, turning the vast hall of the ruined cathedral even darker than it had been before.

Deep within that black void, crimson flames burned with a menacing red glow. It was pulsating in a slow and bizarre rhythm, drowning everything around in dim red light. Painted by it, the Stone Saint seemed to be drenched in blood. The gem she held looked like a bloody, still-beating heart that she had torn out of someone's chest.

Gazing at it, Sunny felt a strange sense of foreboding.

'What the hell is this thing?'

The gem looked sort of like a soul shard, but… different. He had never seen a black shard, to begin with, or one radiating such an intense glow. It also didn't seem like a piece of a broken core. On the contrary, it appeared… whole?

'Is that what a soul core of a Nightmare Creature looks like?'

No, not a soul core.

A soul?

Stunned, Sunny counted the crimson flames burning in the depths of the black gem. One, two, three… four.

Four flames for the four cores of Fallen Devil.

The thing that his Shadow held in her hand was the Black Knight's soul… or some sort of his essence, at least. By how had it turned into a material form?

Did the Stone Saint do it? If so, how… no, why?

'What is she doing with it?!'

As Sunny and Nephis looked in stunned silence, the Shadow finally moved. Bringing the black gem close to her face, she lingered for a moment. A hint of a dark, macabre emotion appeared in her eyes.

And then, the Stone Saint… swallowed it.

Sunny blinked.

'...What?'

The Shadow opened her mouth, bit into the eerie crystal, and swallowed it.

Just like that, the soul of the Black Knight was devoured. The red glow it emanated disappeared, returning the world to its natural shade.

And a moment after that, the Stone Saint fell into the shadows and disappeared, too.

'Wait… I didn't dismiss her. What the hell is happening?'

Nephis looked at him with a perplexed expression.

"What just happened? What did she do?"

For once, Sunny didn't have to twist the truth and deceive anyone. Opening his mouth, he honestly said:

"I have no idea."

Walking over to the pile of rusty steel that remained after the devil had been destroyed, Sunny moved it around with his foot for a bit and then mumbled:

"There's no shards left. It's empty."

Changing Star remained silent for a few moments, then frowned.

Finally, she said:

"...You Echo is very peculiar."

***

While everyone was recovering from the fight and tending to their wounds, Sunny walked to a secluded corner and dove into the Soul Sea.

Shadow Rank: Awakened.

Shadow Class: Monster.

Shadow Attributes: [Battle Master], [Stalwart], [Spark of Divinity].

Shadow Description: [Shadow Saint was created by the treacherous Lost from Light in the cursed darkness of the Forgotten Shore.]

Shadow Fragments: [80/200].

So far, everything was the same. Even the number of shadow fragments he had fed her did not change.

However, there was a new string of runes shimmering beneath that number, where nothing had been before.

When Sunny saw it, his eyes widened.

The runes read:

[...The Stone Saint is evolving.]

He lingered for a few moments, and then looked up at the Shadow Core.

p??da n?vel Somewhere inside, his Shadow was resting in the waves of nurturing dark flames, her very being going through a mysterious transformation. It appeared as though consuming the soul of the Black Knight had allowed her to enter a stage of growth that Sunny had not anticipated.

How long would that evolution process take?

And what kind of a transformation the Saint was going through?

Sunny had no idea.

However, he couldn't wait to find out.