Shadow Slave novel Chapter 1718

The world quaked, and then, Rain was suddenly enveloped by absolute darkness.

It was as if an Impenetrable wall rose to surround her from all sides. The deafening cacophony of terrible sounds coming from the outside was muffled and dampened by that wall, and nothing but slight tremors reached her.

For the moment, at least, she was safe.

But those sounds…

Feeling a cold dread grasp her heart, she took a shaky breath and tried to comprehend them.

There was the sound of trees snapping. There were the screams of the air being torn. There was the roar of the ground being upturned.

These were the sounds that she could recognize.

But there were other sounds, as well.

Inhuman howls. Chilling groans that sounded like… like the world itself was weeping. Eerie and revoltingly organic rustling, as if a mountain of flesh was ripping as it expanded while consuming itself.

And many more that Rain simply could not describe, and was afraid to fathom.

The ground was shaking violently, and she was struggling to stay standing.

Her fingers turned white on the hilt of her sword.

«Teacher… be safe. Please…!»

But how could anyone stay safe when facing the Skinwalker? Countless people had fallen to its menace and were consumed, becoming vessels of the abomination's corruption. Mundane humans, Awakened, Masters… even Saints.

Not even the Sovereigns could eradicate this living curse.

Shrouded by darkness, Rain realized how painfully weak and helpless she was.

Just a few moments ago, she had been full of pride, praising herself for slaying an Awakened Demon.

But now, she remembered that in the world of the Nightmare Spell, she was nothing but an ant.

An ant who couldn't even do anything when her teacher was fighting to protect her.

«Strong… I want to be strong.»

She had not changed at all. She was still the same girl who had been powerless to protect herself, let alone anyone else, when the tide of Nightmare Creatures descended on her school.

…The world continued to scream and quake for several minutes.

Then, an eerie silence suddenly enveloped it. The tremors stopped, and the terrible sounds ceased.

Rain remained motionless, keeping her eyes closed.

She didn't dare to think about how the battle had ended. The thought of imagining her teacher… her teacher not being there anymore was too appalling. More appalling than what would happen to her if he was truly gone.

Suddenly, the wall surrounding her disappeared. She knew that it had because light suddenly shone through her eyelids, and cold wind scraped against her face.

The air was permeated by the smell of wet wood and soil.

«Please…»

A moment later, a familiar voice spoke from somewhere near:

«Brat, you can open your eyes now.»

The relief Rain felt at that moment was strong enough to make her sway.

She slowly opened her eyes and looked around, then froze in shock.

«N-no way…»

The frozen forest… was gone.

It was obliterated entirely, and everywhere she looked, nothing but a barren expanse of flattened and upturned land could be seen. The trees had been reduced to mere splinters, and the ground itself was broken, with dark fissures covering it like bottomless scars.

Here and there, the splinters were wet with blood. Buried under them, broken corpses of the unfortunate Nightmare Creatures who had populated the forest lay, their macabre sight mercifully hidden by the debris.

That scene of devastation stretched as far as the eye could see.

The entire landscape had been drastically changed in a matter of minutes, redrawn by the fury of the harrowing battle.

The scale of the dreadful destruction… was simply unfathomable.

Rain took a trembling breath and finally looked at her teacher.

He was standing a few steps away, as nonchalant as ever.

His hair was ruffled, and there was a smudge of something dark on his check… but other than that, he was the same pale, roguish scoundrel she knew.

Of course, Rain struggled to perceive him in the same light.

She had known that her teacher was a powerful being, of course… but this was the first time she really witnessed his power.

Where were the vessels of the Skinwalker?

Rain tried to compose herself.

«The.., the Skinwalker?»

Her teacher remained silent for a few moments, then silently took a step back.

Behind him, three human corpses were piled on top of each other, each missing the head and with a deep wound where their hearts should have been.

«Three vessels of a Great Nightmare Creature!… Rain swallowed.»

Her teacher had just killed three Great abominations. Just like that.

There was something else. Did she imagine it, or were there tiny shards of a broken mirror glistening on the ground in front of the corpses?

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