Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2331

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The sun had risen above the realm of clouds and mountains… above the world of Ariel's Game. The ethereal, glistening bridges turned to snow under its radiance.

Sunny was standing on the edge of the caldera, his battered armor slowly repairing itself, as he glanced north - there, far away, the surviving Crystal Wasps had landed on the slopes of the snowy peak and disappeared into the myriad entrances to the Ice Hive.

'The adversary move is over.'

Taking a deep breath, he glanced west. There, the giant body of the Snow Worm was coiled around the volcano, its pale flesh standing out starkly against the black ash.

Then, he glanced east… somewhere out there, the clockwork giant was standing in the ash, as well.

The Ash Castle had withstood the siege, but the other two volcanoes were now conquered by the Snow Domain. As Sunny watched, a startling change took place.

Two pillars of lava shot out of the conquered volcanoes, rapidly solidifying in the cold air. At the same time, the snowstorm veiling the distant mountains moved south, consuming the world. It flowed past the Ash Castle, sparing it the elemental fury, and completely obscured the neighboring volcanoes.

Just then, Kai landed on the ash beside him.

'What is going on? Why did they retreat?'

Sunny hesitated for a while, struggling against the powerful winds as he glanced into the swirling mass of snow that swallowed the world, sparing only the billowing clouds of ash above the Ash Castle.

'They retreated because their time ran out. It seems that Snow figures can only move at dawn.'

He paused for a moment, then added slowly:

'I guess the Ash figures can only move at dusk, then.'

Sunny imagined ash blowing across the sea of crimson clouds, turning into obsidian bridges in the fiery glow of the dying sun. Yes… that would make sense.

He glanced at Kai.

'As for what is going on… I think we will see soon. Two more squares were conquered by the Snow Domain.'

Just as he finished speaking, the violent winds suddenly settled down, and the great snowstorm passed. Dark clouds still boiled above the Ash Castle, but the rest of the world was resting under a clear blue sky now.

The other two volcanoes… had disappeared.

Or rather, transformed. The deep calderas were buried under solidified lava, turning into sharp peaks. The thick layers of ash had been blown away by the wind. The dark slopes were stripped bare, and then covered in snow.

Two snowy peaks stood where the fuming volcanoes had been just minutes ago, and the Ash Castle was now completely surrounded by the Snow Domain. It was the last black square left on the board.

'Well… that sucks.'

Sunny sighed, then patted Kai on the shoulder.

'I'm going to be quite busy, but you can rest until evening. We'll do something exciting then.'

Kai blinked a couple of times.

'Sure, I'll… wait. What are we going to do in the evening?'

Sunny simply shrugged.

'I have no idea, yet. But… it is bound to be exciting! Doesn't it?'

With that, he turned back and headed back to the Ash Castle.

***

Some time later, Sunny was sitting on the floor, feeling a little miserable.

'These damn daemons.'

Ariel had done something incredible, hiding forty - nine mountains inside a game board and populating them with powerful abominations. The Demon of Dread was truly great and awful.

But, that godly bastard…