Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2016

2016 /2448

Chapter 2016 Fallen Saints

As the enormous body of the obsidian giant toppled to the ground, Sunny was already moving away to avoid the retaliation by the remaining six Saints. Still dazed by the agony of receiving a soul wound, he ground his teeth and whispered something to himself quietly.

Just a few words...

'You have slain a Transcendent Beast.'

His shadow grew stronger. …The words tasted bitter.

Almost at the same time, there was another trickle of subtle power entering his soul. Saint and Serpent had claimed one more life. And just like that, in less than a minute, three human Saints had lost their lives. 'Damn it!'

The fury of the Saints of Song descended upon him like a hurricane. Another arrow found its way into his Shell, shattering its internal structure. A slingshot hit him like a cannonball, exploding with a devastating roar and mangling his entire left side. Still missing an entire arm and reeling from the pain of his soul being cut, Sunny stumbled. He righted himself before the giant wolf and the three-headed hound tore into him with their fangs, though. Moving with uncanny foresight, he dodged their feral, but chillingly precise attacks and dashed back.

His mangled side healed. A new arm emerged from the depths of his towering onyx body…

Only that body was not that towering anymore. In fact, it was barely half as tall as it had been once. Which made aiming for his real incarnation much easier. But that was fine. Because for once, time was on Sunny's side — he just had to survive long enough to rip the benefits. The Saints of Song did not know it… most likely… but he was a Transcendent Terror. Which meant that his reserves of essence were six times deeper than those of his enemies. Of course, his Aspect was also much more potent — so, usually, Sunny drained his essence at a speed that would make most Saints feel appalled, therefore suffering from having to ration it just as much as everyone else, if not more.

However, not in this battle. With his ability to use Shadow Step stifled by the shattering of space, and his ability to use Shadow Manifestation limited by the lacking number of shadows present on the battlefield, Sunny was not burning through nearly as much essence as he usually did. He only had to maintain and move the Shadow Shell.

Of course, his Aspect was also much more potent — so, usually, Sunny drained his essence at a speed that would make most Saints feel appalled, therefore suffering from having to ration it just as much as everyone else, if not more.

But his enemies were in a different situation… especially those who had assumed their Transcendent forms. So, even though Sunny's Shell was slowly shrinking, their reserves of essence were also diminishing. Soon, they would have to release their Transformations and return to being human — but he would still be flush with essence at that time, thus gaining a great advantage. Sunny just had to endure the battle until then.

Doing so while facing six enemies instead of seven was not easy, but it was at least doable. It would be much better if there were only five, though…

Sunny quickly evaluated the battlefield. Which one was he going to take out next?

But it was not really up to him. It was up to his enemies. The first Saint that made a mistake that their allies failed to cover for would be Sunny's next victim.