Shadow Slave novel Chapter 1273

Chapter 1273 Collapse

"Sunny! Wake up!"

Sunny opened his eyes and tensed. Sensing the world through the shadows, he couldn't feel any danger, but there was urgency in Neph's voice. Something was wrong.

As his mind entered a state of battle readiness, he pushed himself off the ground and briefly studied the fissure. It was still night, so everything was enveloped in deep darkness... that darkness, of course, could not hinder his sight. Sunny saw every detail of their small camp and of the weathered walls of black rock surrounding it.

Everything seemed fine.

Saint, who was guarding them from high above, was also calm.

He turned to Nephis and asked, "What is going on?"

She pressed a finger against her lips and whispered, "There was a sound."

The next moment, he heard it too. A dull, echoing crackle that came from somewhere below, spreading through the rock in a subtle vibration. Like a stone breaking.

He frowned. 'What is this...'

Sunny and Nephis froze, listening to the eerie sounds coming from within the carapace of the Black Turtle. They had not dared to venture there after salvaging the meat. The shell had been hollowed out, but they didn't know by how much, and even though they had heard the sounds of Nightmare Creatures inside the carcass of the Great Monster from time to time, this crackling was entirely new.

A small whirlwind of sparks appeared in the air, manifesting into a softly glowing paper lantern. Placing it on the lid of the Covetous Coffer, Nephis lowered her head and pressed her ear to the ground.

There was another cracking sound, and she suddenly flinched.

At the same time, Sunny's pupils narrowed as he noticed something that was out of place in their fissure.

A small, thin crack appeared on the floor of the ravine. Just as Neph flinched, it suddenly grew, spreading through the black rock in both directions.

Then, it climbed a few meters up the wall, and when the cracking noise disappeared, a small piece of rock splintered and tumbled down.

Neph's face suddenly grew pale. "I think it's going to brea..."

Before she could finish, there was another sound, this one so loud that it was almost deafening. Sunny felt the ground suddenly shift under him, and then the entire island shook violently.

"It's breaking!"

Before he even knew what was happening, Sunny jumped. As Nephis and he soared into the air, the floor of the fissure below them suddenly split and collapsed, revealing a vast cavern of darkness and crimson flesh below.

Their small camp was instantly swallowed. Except for the Memories like the Coffer that were dismissed and disappeared in a whirlwind of sparks, everything else - the fire pit, the sleeping bag, the bed made of soft moss, and the rest of it - fell into the darkness in a rain of stone shards.

But the collapse was not over yet.

As Sunny collided against the vertical wall of the fissure and grabbed onto the rocks, the walls tilted, too. A horrible stench of blood entered his nostrils, and he saw the small crack he had noticed before expanding. Countless new ones appeared, as well, and the entire ravine suddenly moved.

'Goddammit!'

Struggling to outrun the disaster, Sunny pushed himself off the wall and jumped higher. He was aiming to repeat the process and send himself to the surface with the next jump, but the spot that he was aiming for suddenly broke off and plummeted down in an avalanche of stone. Cursing, Sunny manifested the shadows to create a foothold instead.