[SHADOW SLAVE] / Clash With Fate

The storm continued for a day but became somewhat calmer after the battle with the horrors, which greatly relieved the tense cohort. After the storm subsided, the giant statue had traveled a thousand kilometers south. They now had only about a day left to reach the Hollow Mountains. Frankly, Sunny was nervous about the Hollow Mountains because of what he knew lay there.

From its deadly fog to the great and cursed beasts, and perhaps even the unholy ones that exist abundantly there, as well as its connection to the underworld. All these things were extremely deadly and gathered in one place.

"I just hope I don't end up on the brink of death. That would be very frustrating."

By midday of the second day of travel, a dark, ominous line appeared on the horizon. A vast mountain range emerged, tall and piercing the sky, with snow and fog covering its peaks. The mist flowed down into the hills and valleys below.

The coral terrain began to decrease more and more until the crimson protrusions became rare. The labyrinth seemed hesitant to approach the mountain range or unable to expand into it.

When the giant statue neared the borders of the Crimson Labyrinth, its steps began to slow and then it staggered. It seemed as if the giant was struggling to advance. Its body bent as if fighting against an unseen, imperceptible force. Then finally, it stopped.

Sunny, Effie, Caster, and Nephis were already descending from the statue while Cassie and Kai remained above. Kai grabbed Cassie and descended to stand beside the Saint, who was already there and looking at the giant statue with clear disdain. After a while, the rest of the cohort came down to the ground.

The giant statue shuddered, then turned and began heading east along the Hollow Mountains. Sunny turned his head and looked at the Saint; she seemed to carry great disdain for the giant statue. The reason was that one of the seven heroes of the Forgotten Shore, the Builder, had tried to imitate the creations of Nether, the Demon of Destiny—that is, the stone Saints—but he ended up creating mere imitations of them.

"You despise it, don't you?"

The Saint turned to him and then nodded. After the tremors subsided and the stone giant disappeared into the horizon, the group began walking, searching for a place to camp, and then continuing their pursuit of the expedition of the First Lord of the Bright Castle.

The cohort climbed through the hills and then found a good spot to camp. They set up their camp and quickly began cooking their food before sunset.

Night fell, and darkness descended to cover the mountains entirely and the vast stretch of sky and land. Sunny stood guard over the sleeping cohort, and lurking in the shadows was the serpent, ready to help if anything happened.

Sunny was looking at the Dark Sea, which was about two kilometers away. The Dark Sea did not dare to approach the Hollow Mountains—or perhaps there was a force preventing it.

Sunny continued watching for a long time until his gloomy shadow glimpsed movement. A dark body, twenty meters long, moved closer toward Sunny.

"Me And my damn luck!… The weakest monster here will at least be Corrupted!"

The serpent slithered out of the shadows and hissed at the distant creature. Then it approached Sunny and flowed through his body into his arm, transforming into an odachi. Sunny called his shadows to coil around him. When he felt power surging within him, he felt a little relief but was not entirely reassured.

Sunny quickly charged toward the creature. He didn't want to risk fighting next to the cohort—a single strike from the abomination could be enough to turn them into bloody mush.

Sunny closed the distance to a few hundred meters from the monster and could now clearly see its shape. It was twenty meters long, with four arms, a single horn protruding from its head, a whip-like tail, and sharp fangs jutting from its mouth. The creature was humanoid and very familiar to Sunny.

"A Shadow Spawn?! Is that a Shadow Spawn?!"

Sunny gazed into the depths of the monster's soul, and in its core gathered a mass of profound darkness that formed the monster's Core. The Shadow Spawn sensed Sunny and turned its head, then charged at him like a mad beast.

"It's a Corrupted Beast—nothing to be afraid of, right?!… I mean, I'm not about to fight a Corrupted beast alone!"

The Saint emerged from the shadows, but before she could do anything, the Shadow Spawn struck at her. She barely managed to block its claws and retreat with her stone sword. Sunny managed to fall back and sent two shadows to reinforce the Saint.

The battle between the Saint and the Shadow Spawn was simply devastating. Sunny didn't try to approach them, instead keeping his distance. He tried to think of a way to help the Saint, and then an idea struck him.

"Stop, Shadow Spawn!"

The Shadow Spawn hesitated slightly, giving the Saint time to counter its attacks. Sunny was a [Shadow Master] and held authority over shadows. True, he couldn't directly command the Shadow Spawn to obey, but he could reduce its momentum through commands.

The Saint struck the Shadow Spawn's claw with her sword and severed it after it faltered because of Sunny's command. But the Shadow Spawn's tail lashed out like a whip, sending her crashing against the hillside and leaving a crater there. The Shadow Spawn charged forward, eager to finish off its prey, but then heard another hateful command.

"Stop!"

Sunny issued a command to the Shadow Spawn, causing it to hesitate—and that was all he needed. A colossal dark serpent, tens of meters long with jaws large enough to swallow a horse, lunged and bit one of the Shadow Spawn's four arms. Its fangs sank deep into the flesh until they reached the bone. The serpent tore into the flesh and pulled with all its might. The Shadow Spawn's arm was reduced to a wreck, but not without cost—the remaining claws slashed through the serpent's scales deeply. If Sunny hadn't reinforced the serpent with two shadows, it might have suffered mortal wounds and been forced to retreat.

The Shadow Spawn went into a frenzy, consumed by bloodlust, and charged at the injured serpent for revenge. Its tail lashed the serpent's body but caused only a superficial wound. The two giants clashed, tearing into each other, while all this time the Saint was waiting for the perfect moment—and it came.

The Shadow Spawn fell to the ground under the serpent's weight, and when it tried to take more of the serpent's flesh, it vanished. It tried to rise, but what met it was a knight who collided into it with such force that it staggered and fell back to the ground.

The Saint's sword sliced through the arm that the serpent had already mangled, severing it completely. Then she barely managed to cut off the other arm in quick succession. The Shadow Spawn let out a scream and tried to save what was left of its limbs by killing its enemy, but then it heard another hateful command.

"Stay where you are."

Its arms slowed down, giving the Saint time to evade. The Shadow Spawn lifted its battered body, but this time it collided with something tiny—so small that one of its claws was longer than it was—but this tiny figure carried something deadly.

Sunny decided to intervene in the fight after the Shadow Spawn had sustained horrific injuries from battling both the serpent and the Saint. He called back his four shadows to himself, then, with all his speed and strength, crashed into the Shadow Spawn, holding a long spear, and drove it into where the creature's heart should have been.

"Die, damn you, you Basterd!"

Dark blood poured from the wound in the Shadow Spawn's heart. But Sunny knew it possessed another heart, so practically, what he was doing was suicide. The Shadow Spawn's tail moved and struck Sunny's Mantle of the Underworld, sending him flying.

"Ohhh damn you, bastard—you owe me four ribs!"

Sunny coughed up blood from his mouth, then called the serpent to him. The serpent appeared beside him, its body torn everywhere, with deep and dangerous wounds here and there, and the marks of the Shadow Spawn's tail. It seemed as if the serpent was looking at Sunny with sorrow, but Sunny didn't care as he spoke. Sunny pointed at the Shadow Spawn, which was moving slowly.

"Listen, Serpent—go and bite that bastard's head off."

Four shadows slid from Sunny into the serpent and coiled around it. The serpent lunged forward with terrifying speed. As it approached, the Shadow Spawn tried to strike it with its remaining arms but heard a faint voice say:

"Don't move!"

Its arms froze for a moment, allowing the massive serpent to wrap around it and slam it to the ground. The crushing force of the serpent's body shattered the Shadow Spawn's bones and pinned it in place. The Shadow Spawn let out a desperate scream, but the serpent showed no mercy. It lunged its jaws at the creature's neck and tore it off with brutal force. The Spell spoke excitedly, proclaiming the vile death:

[You have slain a Corrupted Beast: Shadow Spawn]

[Your Shadow grows stronger]

[You have received a Memory: Promise of Solace]

[Your shadow overflow with power]]

[your shadow taking shape]

"Ah here it comes"

Sunny world turned into darkness. As the pain of making the tyrant core came.