Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2165

"I don't get it. I just don't... what are you thinking?"

Jest was dismayed.

The kid, Asterion, had seemed strange from the very beginning. The mere fact that Anvil, who was turning twenty-three soon, would recruit a youth who did not look older than sixteen to accompany him into the Nightmare made no sense.

Given his age, Asterion could not have Awakened years ago, and would therefore have no experience. Unknown, inexperienced, untested... someone like that should not have become a member of any cohort attempting to challenge the Second Nightmare, let alone one consisting of warriors of Anvil's caliber.

More than that, the kid simply gave Jest the creeps. He was perfectly pleasant and friendly, spending most of his time wandering the Citadel with a curious look on his face, but there was something about Asterion that seemed slightly... off.

As if he was not quite human, but merely a thing wearing human skin.

No one else seemed to notice, but Jest did. And so, he pressed Anvil for an explanation, even though that was not how they usually talked.

"Where did you find that guy? Who is he? Why do you want to take him into the Nightmare?"

Anvil simply stared at him indifferently, not showing any emotions.

Eventually, he shrugged.

"Since when do I need to justify my decisions to you, Ascended Jest?"

Jest let out a bewildered scoff.

"Wow. Ascended Jest, really?"

Anvil stared at him some more, then sighed.

"I want to take him into the Nightmare because he is worth it. As for the rest..."

When Jest heard the brief explanation, he did not know what to think, or how to feel.

It was a strange thing, to learn that an old enemy you had thought was gone forever suddenly appeared out of nowhere, alive and well.

"Path of Ascension? Those lunatics, really?"

The zealots of the Path of Ascension had disappeared decades ago... no, to be precise, they had disappeared around sixteen years ago, soon after Immortal Flame conquered the Second Nightmare.

Jest knew about their twisted beliefs, albeit not in detail. If he remembered correctly, they saw the Dream Realm as some sort of Promised Land, and the Spell as a divine guide meant to lead humanity — or at least a few chosen ones — out of the dying world where they had been born to find salvation.

Or some such nonsense.

As far as all the cults that had sprouted after the Nightmare Spell's descent went, this one was not the most malignant. The zealots of the Path of Ascension mostly kept to themselves, maintaining peace with the mainstream factions as long as they were left alone. ṙ𝙖₦ꝊΒЁṨ

If there was one thing that separated them from the crowd, it was that the core of their cult consisted of genuine powerhouses — those who stood out among the Awakened of the First Generation, no different from people like Warden or Nightwalker. It was why Warden had often felt regretful about not being able to bring them into the fold due to how strange and extreme their views were.

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