Shadow Slave novel Chapter 1757

Sunny had felt bold not too long ago. Transcendence had increased his power tremendously, and reuniting with Serpent added another fearsome Shadow to his dark legion. He had braved the dark depths of Earth's oceans, slaughtered his way across the Antarctic Center like a Grim Reaper, slain the Winter Beast, and crossed the Chain Isles as if he was walking a walk in the park.

His power had gotten to his head, and he had thought himself truly strong.

…The Hollow Mountains disabused him of that notion.

Wandering the endless expanse of flowing mist, lost among jagged peaks, Sunny was reminded of how weak and insignificant he was in the grand scheme of things.

Effie had once said that the Dream Realm was a dark paradise… but as far as Sunny was concerned, it seemed more like hell.

If the conquered regions of the Dream Realm were hell, however, the Hollow Mountains were a deeper and much more dreadful abyss. The horrors that dwelled here were beyond all reason, unfathomable and indescribable, possessing the power to reshape the world with the chilling malice of their alien wills.

Great abominations, and even Cursed ones… Sunny saw their grotesque shapes moving in the mist from time to time, making him shudder.

Sometimes, a vague silhouette of a vast creature would pass his hiding spot, wreathed in wisps of fog. Sometimes, an entire section of a mountain would come alive, sliding away to reveal itself as a gargantuan tentacle that had been wrapped around the towering peak. Sometimes, he would hear eerie sounds echoing in the mist, and feel as though his very mind was being consumed by them.

If not for the Onyx Mantle, which granted him a high degree of resistance to soul and mind attacks, those eerie cries alone would have been enough to kill him.

This was a land of death, after all. Humans had named such regions Death Zones for a reason there was no place for mortals here.

…And yet, Sunny was here.

He might have been humbled by the dread of the Hollow Mountains, but he was not deterred by it. Even if he was not powerful enough to face the creatures dwelling in the mist, he was strong and resourceful enough to survive them.

As time went on, he learned to resist the will-eroding pull of nothingness better. It still strained him, but pushing against the dissolution of his self had eventually become a habit. He moved stealthily and stayed out of sight, making sure not to attract the attention of the Great Nightmare Creatures, and retreated at the mere suspicion of a Cursed One being close by.

Of course, he was not always able to escape.

As months went by, Sunny failed to evade the attention of powerful abominations a few times. Navigating the mist was difficult, and his senses were impaired… so were theirs, but that simply meant that many things were up to luck.

And Sunny had no luck to speak of.

When he was forced to fight, the battles were chilling. The black rock shattered, and the mist boiled from the furious forces unleashed by the combatants — Sunny had to give it his all to simply survive, testing the absolute limits of his Transcendent power and using every ounce of cunning dwelling in his devious mind.

Sometimes, he killed the enemy. Sometimes, he repelled their assault and escaped.

Sometimes, he hurt them enough for their will to be shaken, and let the mist finish the job.

…It was strangely convenient. Unlike the Nightmare Creatures, Sunny never surrendered to nothingness — no matter how badly he was hurt, how terribly his flesh was mangled, and how much agony he was in, his will and desire to exist never wavered.

That was an advantage humans had over the abominable beings of Corruption, it seemed. The abominations had never had a strong sense of self, to begin with, while humans prized themselves for being highly individualistic.

Sunny had never thought that there would come a time when his only enemies would be Great Nightmare Creatures, but here it was.

The Hollow Mountains were a natural preserve for the most dreadful of beings. Only those whose will was strong enough to exist in nothingness could survive here, after all…

Sunny was one such being, as well, it seemed.

He had wandered the steep slopes of black rock for months, persistently searching for safer paths and seeking shelter in shallow caves when his body needed rest. Being surrounded by terrible enemies who were much more powerful than him and hiding from them like a tiny bug in order to survive… ah, it felt a little bit nostalgic.

Sunny felt as small and powerless as he had on the Forgotten Shore. But, at the same time, his mind was as clear as it had been there. He just had to survive, using all possible means there was just life and death, with nothing in between.

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