Shadow Slave novel Chapter 1371

Chapter 1371 Dark Garden

The Chain Breaker was sailing across the bloodred expanse of flowing water. Under the blazing crimson sky, no mystical force seemed to be influencing it... and yet, its course was being set by someone other than the person holding the steering oar.

The ship was being pulled toward the lost temple of Fallen Grace.

On its deck, three Masters were preparing for battle.

Sunny was stretching, his expression calm and focused. Not that Cassie and Nephis could see it - he had summoned Weaver's Mask a long time ago. In the battle against a corrupted oracle, it was both his best weapon and shield.

Cassie had summoned her armor and half-mask. The Quiet Dancer and a long dagger were resting in twin scabbards on her hips. Nephis was still wearing her white tunic, but there was a beautiful longsword in her hands now. Its hilt was black, with the symbol of a scarlet anvil being pierced by a sword etched into the pommel.

"How do we even fight an enemy who can influence the future?"

After Sunny asked the question, both he and Nephis turned to Cassie.

The blind girl frowned slightly.

"...How should I know?"

Who else would know but her?

Sunny hesitated for a few moments, then said awkwardly:

"Wouldn't a person who can perceive the future know how to kill one of her kind best?"

The blind girl shifted, then turned to face him. After a short pause, she smiled faintly and asked:

"What, haven't you thought about how to kill someone like me before? A lot?"

He coughed.

"...Never crossed my mind."

Hearing him, Cassie laughed.

"It's like Nephis said, her power has to have a limit. Say she can alter the path of one arrow... then, hit her with two. If she can alter the path of a hundred arrows, hit her with a hundred and one."

Sunny nodded. Indeed, this was the method he had come up with when pondering how to deal with Cassie... purely out of academic curiosity, of course. Since she could perceive a few seconds into the future, the only way to defeat her was to either exhaust her essence or create a future that was inescapable. Then, knowing it would be of no help.

The same principle worked against someone with the power to alter the future, in theory. Assuming that the Defiled sybil could raise the probability of certain events happening, the key to defeating her would be creating a situation where all possible outcomes led to her death.

He sighed.

"So, the brute force approach... I hate it."

Nephis stared at him incredulously.

"Meaning that you like it?"

Sunny shook his head earnestly.

"No."

She hesitated for a few moments, then let out a quiet sigh.

"This mask... is confusing."

Was it? Sunny did not think that it was that confusing. All it did was reverse his Flaw, making it so that he could only tell lies. As it turned out, always lying was much more liberating than always telling the truth... that was because there were countless lies, but only one truth.

That said, he wouldn't want to live while always wearing Weaver's Mask. Lies might be liberating, but he did not think that a person who only deceived could be a part of a community... at least not in any kind of meaningful way.

And no one survived in the Dream Realm alone. But, much more importantly...

Being cursed to always tell the truth had landed him in hot water more than once, but looking back at his life up until now, Sunny clearly saw how it had benefited him, as well. Without the Flaw, he would have continued to lie and deceive, remaining isolated and untrusting. The mindset that had saved his life countless times in the outskirts would have become the end of him in the perilous world of the Spell.

He would not have grown close to anyone, and would not have made precious friends. And that, most likely, would have led to him dying in some ditch, miserable and alone.

...Sunny still had plenty of chances to die in a ditch, but at least his death was not going to be quite as bitter.