Shadow Slave novel Chapter 654

Sunny read the runes with curiosity:

Memory: [Shadow Lantern].

Memory Rank: Divine.

…He fell from the bed.

'What?!'

Another… another Divine Memory?

Feeling cold sweat rolling down his face, Sunny wiped it off with a trembling hand and slowly clenched his fists.

'Should... should be interesting…'

He looked back to the runes, trying to calm his wildly beating hearts.

Just what kind of a Relic had he received?

Sunny got ahold of himself and continued to read the description:

Memory Tier: I.

Memory Type: Tool.

'A tool… makes sense. It is a lantern, after all. But what does it do? Lanterns are supposed to produce light and illuminate things. That's not exactly what shadows are known for, is it?'

With a concerned frown, he looked back at the runes.

Memory Description:

["Death is just the shadow of life," said the Goddes of Life. "And peace is just the failure of war. Have you ever been something that had not been stolen, made empty, and vile? Have you ever done something that was not futile and hollow? Can you even exist without being cast by another? Look at how weak you are, how small you are. Am I supposed to be frightened of a small shadow?"

Made pale and feeble by the radiance of day, Shadow laughed and rose from the ground. As he did, his figure swallowed the land, devoured the heavens, and blotted out the light of the sun. Soon, there was nothing left around them but darkness. And from that darkness, a hiss came, making Life tremble:

"Life is just the prelude to death, and war is just the key to open its gates. Everything you cherish, everything you nurture, everything that starts with you will one day be mine, be welcomed by me, swallowed by me, and find peace within me. This is the mercy of Shadow. Hollow… futile... you might have come first, my sister, but when your cruelty ends… I will be all that remains…"]

Sunny shivered.

'D—damn… was Shadow God always that creepy?'

Due to his closeness and affinity to shadows, he had never thought about the God of Shadows as terrifying. After all, even other gods had not held Shadow in high regard, at least from what Sunny knew. His temples had been burned and destroyed, his followers turned into slaves… even his aspects and attributes seemed to pale in comparison to others.

God of peace, death, solace, and mysteries… that sounded humble and rather inconspicuous when compared to something like Goddess of the Black Skies, the god of storms, depths, of the oceans, of darkness, stars, travel, guidance, and disaster.

…But things that preferred to remain unseen and unheard were often the most dangerous, weren't they?

Sort of like Sunny himself.

He shook his head, pondered about the description for a bit, and then smiled crookedly.

'I guess War God did not like Shadow God at all… well, that's not surprising. In many ways, they are the opposite of each other. No wonder every time I meet someone from the War camp, I end up either having my heart torn out or, even worse, lured into a Nightmare so cursed that all other Nightmares ought to give it face.'

He sighed, then continued reading the runes:

Memory Enchantments: [Gates of Shadow].

Enchantment Description: [This lantern devours light and can contain, and then release, an infinite amount of shadows.]

Sunny blinked.

'Huh?'

The enchantment didn't seem like much, for a Divine Relic… that was unless one really thought about the meaning behind those words.

Infinite…

He suspected that in this case, the word was used to describe an actual infinity instead of a fake one, like with the Endless Spring. If that was the truth… yes, an object that could contain infinity was indeed worthy of being divine. It simply broke all the laws of reason.

…Then, when it thought that no one was watching, the shadow shuddered and hugged itself for a moment.

'What a strange Memory…'

What was the use of it?

Sunny summoned Saint and tried to repeat the experiment, but to no avail. The tenebrous knight remained motionless when he told her to enter the beautiful black lantern, not showing any signs of knowing how to abide by the order.

'I guess it doesn't work with Shadows…'

He frowned, then lowered the lantern to the ground and brought it closer to wild shadows hiding in the corners of the cabin. Then, feeling extremely stupid, Sunny thought aloud:

'Uh… do you want to come inside?'

The shadows moved slightly, flowing toward the lantern, and then swiftly slid through the black door.

A hint of a smile appeared on Sunny's bestial face.

'Ah… now we're talking. That… that I can work with…'

Satisfied, he closed the door of the lantern, and then dismissed it.

Sunny was still a little bit sad that the Relic had not turned out to be a destructive weapon, but his disappointment waned. While not as immediately useful, the lantern would allow him to carry friendly shadows… an infinite amount of them, no less… with him at all times. That would counteract the main weakness of his Aspect — the fact that most of his Abilities only worked within the veil of darkness — to a large degree.

And, without a doubt, as his powers grew and the number of his Abilities increased, having a swarm of deep shadows at hand would only grow more useful.

Plus, he had a feeling that he had not discovered all the secrets of the Shadow Lantern yet...

But now it was time to study his last, and most important reward.

It was time to meet an old friend.

The Shadow of the black steed whose name was Nightmare…