Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2437

Chapter 2437 Abjuration

Nephis had grown vastly more powerful after attaining Supremacy. However, there was nuance to that newfound power - not all of it came easily, and not all of it could be used freely in any situation.

Take her Supreme Aspect Ability, for example. Sunny had gained the Ability to summon the shades that rested within him into existence, thus becoming a walking army, an army of indestructible shadows that grew with each living being he slayed, no less, which made him a truly frightening existence.

Nephis had gained an immensely powerful Ability, as well. However, her Supreme Ability did nothing to strengthen Nephis herself - instead, it strengthened the subjects of her Domain, allowing her to heal and strengthen them with her flames from a distance.

Which was why it was truly unfortunate that she had to face the Cursed Demon alone. Not that there were numerous people out there who could have assisted her in a battle against a Cursed Nightmare Creature.

But, naturally, she was never alone - not really. Her Domain encompassed all of humanity, after all.

Not every mundane human was a part of it, but most were. Among the Awakened, meanwhile, only those of the Shadow Clan or those exiled to the penitentiary Citadel in Godgrave did not belong to her Domain - the rest of them were tied to Nephis, either by their own longing or by being anchored to the Gateways her Transcendent vassals controlled.

Or possibly it was her who was tied to them.

She could feel them all, always. The flames of their yearning were like innumerable stars shining in an abyss of boundless darkness, all connected to her soul by strings of starlight. Some stars were distant and cold, so small that as to almost be non-existent - the others were like enormous bonfires, burning so brightly that their radiance was blinding, and their passion filled the abyss with warmth.

There were numerous stars in her Domain for Nephis to fathom them all individually, but drowning in their collective enormity was all too easy. Sometimes, she struggled to remember where her own identity ended and their vastness started. In those seconds, the same things that had helped her sustain her humanity helped her maintain her sense of self.

Her True Name. The precious bonds she had forged with other people. The affection she held in her heart.

And most importantly, her own ardent desire. Her own longing.

Her goal.

It was peculiar, really - before, Nephis had been wary of losing her humanity. But now, she was wary of experiencing too much of humanity, all of it, possibly. Of dissolving into the immensity of her Domain completely, becoming an elemental force as opposed to a person.

Possibly that was how the gods had felt. Possibly that was what being a god meant.

A true Apotheosis.

If so, Nephis wanted nothing to do with it.

An element was mighty like a force of nature, but it did not have direction. It did not have conviction. It did not have will.

It did not have what it took to achieve what she desired.

Walking toward the Cursed Demon, she infused her will with her desire, forging an unbreakable armor out of it.

'I am not alone. This creature, though, this creature is alone, and it will die alone, cut down by my sword and burned by my flame.'

Every day, new stars ignited in the starlit vastness of her Domain.

And every day, some of them were extinguished forever.

Nephis felt the loss of these stars faintly. There were numerous of them to mourn the loss of each individual flame, but she was always aware of how numerous fates were being broken and ground into dust by the ruthless world of the Nightmare Spell.

As the Cursed Demon stirred and surged forward, its long limbs pulling the monstrous mountain of grey flesh across the rubble with breathtaking speed, Nephis took that pain and infused it into her Will, forging an uncompromising sword out of it. frёeweɓηovel_coɱ