Shadow Slave novel Chapter 1948

Chapter 1948: Familiar Barrier

Serpent was indeed of immeasurable value to Sunny in his endeavor to master the next step of Shadow Dance. Given its ability to assume the form of any shadow resting in Sunny's soul — those equal or inferior to Serpent in Class and Rank, at least — the Legacy Shadow could be used to gain access to a vast repository of shapes for its master to study in profound detail.

As long as Sunny was using an incarnation to augment Serpent, he could experience complete unity with countless beings, from Dormant Beasts to Corrupted Terrors.

In fact… now that Sunny considered it, wasn't Serpent's [Formless] Ability more or less identical to what he was trying to accomplish? What he wanted to achieve was to learn how to mimic not only the outward shape of a being, but also their Attributes and mystical powers. And that was what Serpent had been able to do all along.

The final goal had been in front of Sunny all that time.

The problem, however…

Was that the same obstacle that had prevented him from slowly learning the essence of Serpent's forms with the help of Shadow Dance in the past was preventing him from truly delving into the state of unity with these beings now — the threat of losing himself in the formlessness, forgetting who he was and what separated him from the beings he shadowed.

If anything, the risk was even more dire now, because he was not simply peering into the essence of the alien beings. Instead, he was fusing with them entirely, becoming one with their bestial forms.

Sunny had managed to maintain a strong hold of his sense of self while experiencing the state of unity with Saint and Fiend — perhaps because they had been born of his Aspect and dwelled within his soul, to begin with. Augmenting Serpent was not a problem, either — it was just when Serpent used [Formless] that he was suddenly overwhelmed by the feeling of otherness.

Sunny persisted for quite some time, then uttered a few curses and called his incarnation back. He stared at Serpent for a while with a grim expression, then clicked his tongue and looked away.

«I am still cripplied…»

Being banished from the Nightmare Spell and losing his True Name was still making life hard for him, even after all these years. Sunny thought that he had finally managed to adapt to his fateless existence well enough, but now that an alluring opportunity was right in front of him, his deficiency was showing its ugly head once again.

He remained motionless for a while, then let out another resentful sigh.

«Whatever. I'll find a way to break through this barrier eventually… there are plenty of other things for me to explore right now, anyway.»

In fact, with everything else he had to do, diving into the endless well of knowledge contained within the [Formless] Ability of his serpentine Shadow might have been too much for him at the moment … even with seven bodies, Sunny was in no position to explore it thoroughly just yet.

He continued to experiment with building the Stone Saint Shell and the Scavenger Shell for a while, eventually losing track of time. Sunny even chose to augment the Marvelous Mimic, becoming a transdimensional house for a short while…

That was quite a bizarre experience, to say the least.

If Nightmare had not been busy lulling a Cursed One to sleep, Sunny would have summoned him here, as well.

…Eventually, something thundered in the basement, and the entire Brilliant Emporium shook a little.

Aiko, who had been sleeping on an opulent wooden chair, flinched and floated into the air. Wiping drool off her face, she looked around in a daze.

«What, no way! I wasn't sitting in your precious chair!»

Noticing that there was no one around, she calmed down a little… only to notice that the door to the basement was open, revealing a dark entrance.

An insidious voice resounded from the darkness, making her skin crawl.

«Hey, Aiko… can you come down for a moment?»

The petite woman hesitated a bit, suddenly uneasy.

«Uh, boss…. actually, I have to leave… urgently. My great dog is terribly sick and my family aunt has been run over by a PTV… wait, no, the other way around…»

The darkness spoke again:

«It won't take long. Come down…»

Aiko let out a heavy sigh and glided into the basement with a resigned expression.

Her boss was sitting on the floor with a mad look on his face and a frightening glint on his eyes.

She landed softly on the floor and scratched the back of her head.

«Hey there, boss. I must warn you — If you finally lost it and decided that you want to eat me or some such… I'll be expecting a huge bonus come payday!»

Sunny stared at Aiko with a dumbfounded expression.

«…Who wants to eat you? Tsk, don't flatter yourself!»

He shook his head.

«Honestly, sometimes, I have no idea what is happening in that head of yours… you are such a weirdo. Anyway, don't move. I'll be quick.»

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