Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2081

Sunny hesitated for a few moments.

Western First Rib… was a place that held great significance to the war, at the moment.

That was, of course, because it was where the lesser of the Two Crossings was located.

There were two paths to the West Collarbone Plain — the last bastion of the Song Army in Godgrave — from the Breastbone Reach, which was now controlled entirely by the King of Swords.

The one in the north connected the titanic breastbone directly to the right collarbone of the dead deity, and was called the Greater Stronghold. However, there was a second path further south, via the right first rib. That was where the Lesser Stronghold was located, and where Sunny had spent the last few weeks.

He studied the King of Swords for a few moments.

Why would Anvil want to go there through the Hollows? It seemed like a futile endeavor. Unless…

Sunny spoke evenly:

"The optimal path depends on who is meant to walk it."

His impassive voice resounded in the underground chamber like a sinister promise.

Anvil answered him calmly:

"Saints first. Then, after a safe pathway is cleared, Awakened soldiers. Large numbers of them."

That… could only mean one thing.

'...Crazy.'

Sunny suppressed the desire to shake his head in bewilderment.

He had expected that the King of Swords would send his Saints into battle to prevent the senseless loss of life among the Awakened soldiers — the Saints of the Sword Army had already proven their superiority, after all. And although each of them was more valuable to the power of the Sovereign than countless warriors of lesser Ranks, continuing the siege seemed pointless otherwise.

However, Anvil had a different plan.

He seemed to want to march the Awakened soldiers across the Hollows, cross from the breastbone of the dead deity to the titanic first rib beneath the surface, and bypass the Lesses Stronghold entirely — perhaps to attack it from the rear, perhaps to invade West Collarbone Plain directly.

It was a daring maneuver, and one that could work… if not for the fact that marching Awakened warriors through the Hollows was similar to giving them a death sentence. The Hollows were just too dangerous for anyone weaker than a Saint to survive.

No, even Saints could easily die here.

On the other hand… it was not entirely impossible. After all, Seishan had led her entire expedition force below the surface to conquer the Collarbone Citadel. However, she had done it out of necessity, having been left with no other choice. Even then, too many of Rain's comrades had perished during the relatively short march to the Citadel.

The great Hollow beneath the Breastbone Reach was much more vast, and much more dangerous as well. Worse than that, the distance between Vanishing Lake and the potential crossing to the First Rib was many times greater than what Seishan and her soldiers had traversed.

However…

Anvil had not asked Sunny to list all the reasons why this idea was crazy. He had simply asked him to point out the best possible route.

Crazy plans worked, sometimes. Sunny, of all people, had no right to say otherwise.

It was just that he had to, this time.

He sighed, then shook his head.

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