Shadow Slave novel Chapter 1890

1890 /2448

Now that Sunny could see through Saint's eyes, the ravaged hall of the ancient Citadel was revealed to him once again. It had changed drastically in a short span of time…

The outer wall was partially missing, torn open by Fiend's charge. Splinters and debris littered the cracked floor. The scarlet vines and the roots of the trees that had protruded from the ceiling were decimated, filling the air with a sweet fragrance while they bled viscous — and undoubtedly toxic — sap.

Everything was drowning in darkness.

Before, Sunny had always seen darkness like a billowing cloud of nothingness — an impenetrable black barrier that was uniform and featureless, obscuring the world from his senses. However, now, he saw it in a new light… or rather, the opposite of light.

To Saint's eyes, darkness was rich and full of nuance. It flowed all around them, its fluid torrents creating beautiful patterns in the air. Moving, ebbing, changing… almost like a living creature. The dark splendor of that scene was subtle and breathtaking.

Sadly, Sunny had no time to enjoy the beauty of darkness, because Lightslayer was not wasting even a moment.

To his surprise, Revel herself was like a part of the elemental darkness she had unleashed. When she moved, her body seemed to become one with the flow of it, dissolving into ethereal dark liquid before coalescing back into a tangible form — because of that, she could travel to any point in the hall with such tremendous speed that it almost seemed instantaneous.

The Reflection, which mirrored her appearance perfectly, was the same.

'A movement Aspect Ability? Or a partial Transformation?'

Sunny did not know.

A split second later, Saint was attacked from both sides.

Revel was far too strong and powerful for a Transcendent Beast, which meant that at least one of the Abilities granted her a physical augmentation — quite similar to Saint's own [Mantle of Darkness]. Although it was hard to judge, Sunny suspected that the extent of that augmentation was greater than even Effie's own potent physical enhancement.

Effie's Dormant Ability was universal, though, while Revel's seemed to only work within the bounds of true darkness. So, there was some kind of balance to her unreasonably powerful Aspect, at least.

Of course, another of her Abilities allowed her to summon a flood of elemental darkness to anywhere she was. That was quite a problem.

Revel attacked from the left, while the Reflection attacked from the right.Both strikes were insidious, devastating, and potent… however, Saint was undeterred.

Blocking one blow with her shield and deflecting another with her sword, she easily avoided the sharp blades and took a small step while shifting her weight. Simultaneously, she bent the elbow of her sword arm and rotated her wrist, binding Revel's sword and pulling her closer.

Although Saint faced two powerful enemies alone, her own augmented power was no less fearsome than theirs. On top of that, she was much taller than both of them, and possessed much greater mass.

As for her skill… she wasn't called a Battle Master without reason.

[Battle Master] Attribute Description: "Born on the battlefield, the Onyx Saint is proficient in all forms of combat."

Her actions, while small and frugal, allowed her to create a little distance between herself and the Reflection while simultaneously drawing closer to Revel. With their swords still entangled in a bind, she ruthlessly struck with the rim of her shield, aiming to crack open Revel's skull.

Lightslayer was forced to disengage — dissolving into a torrent of fluid darkness, she instantly moved several meters back. At the same time, the Reflection used the opportunity to deliver a blow to Saint's momentarily unprotected side.

But the graceful knight was already bringing her shield back, pushing the enemy's blade down with its rim. The sharp do scraped fruitlessly against the side of her greave.