Shadow Slave novel Chapter 1233

Chapter 1233 Coming to Terms With the End of the World

Not paying the Sin of Solace any attention, Sunny bent down and studied the rune.

It was carved into the wood, but not with any kind of instrument. The grooves were deep, but crude and uneven, with rough and shaky edges. It was as if someone used their nails to scratch the rune into the wooden surface in a fit of madness.

The rune was a familiar one, too.

"Wish."

It had other meanings, too - desire, yearning, longing, aspiration... even hope, sometimes, depending on the context. Sunny knew that rune all too well. How could he not, after spending so much time on the Chained Isles?

But its most fundamental meaning was just that, a wish.

He stared at the rune for some time, thinking.

Who had carved it into the ancient wood? And why?

Had it been carved before the piece of wood he was using as a raft ended up as flotsam, or after?

What did it mean?

Sunny hesitated for a bit, then tentatively scratched at the wood with his nail. It was really tough - much tougher than mundane wood would have been. This raft of his turned out to be really sturdy. He wouldn't be able to leave a scratch on it without losing a nail or two...

"What are you doing?"

Sunny glanced at the Sin of Solace, who was looking at him with a bewildered expression.

'Playing dumb, huh?'

He pointed to the rune.

"Were you trying to hide it from me?"

The apparition tilted its head in confusion.

"Hide what?"

An angry expression appeared on Sunny's face, and he gritted his teeth.

"Stop messing with me, you pale bastard! You have been standing here this whole time, as if trying to prevent me from noticing the rune!"

However, deep inside, he felt a hint of doubt. Was... was he now seeing things? Was the rune not really there?

The Sin of Solace suddenly laughed.

"Gods... your expression, it's priceless. What about the rune? So there is a rune. Why would I care? In fact, why do you care? You seem completely beside yourself."

Sunny frowned, remained silent for a while, then let out a sigh.

Indeed, why would he care about some rune? Yeah, it might have possessed some meaning, like hinting at something about Hope. But a single rune was not enough to learn anything.

Maybe he was just so bored that he made a big deal out of nothing.

Maybe he was just trying really hard not to think about other things.

Like the fate of East Antarctica. Or Rain.