Shadow Slave novel Chapter 622

The dawn was approaching, which meant that they didn't have a lot of time left. Sunny and Elyas had to leave the cursed island of the Red Colosseum before the night ended and the crowds of War God worshippers arrived to spectate the sacrificial slaughter on the bloodsoaked arena.

Once they were elsewhere, pursuing them would become much harder — not only because the ancient magic of the Demon of Desire would remain far behind them, but also because the Warmongers would have to split their forces to search all the neighboring isles. The further the two of the escaped, the wider net their pursuers would have to throw.

By then, the zealots would have to deal with the Crushing, as well.

Sunny wasn't familiar with the western reaches of the Chained Isles, which belonged to the followers of War, since he had never traveled in this direction before. They could try to escape northeast, toward the Hollow Mountains and the Night Temple, but that region was unfamiliar to him, as well.

Directly to the east, a long distance away, lay the Ivory City where Elyas hailed from, and the prison of Hope. However, the eastern direction would be where the pursuers were most likely to concentrate their search, since running toward the domain of their enemies, the Sun God's people, would have been the safest choice.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Sunny pulled the young Awakened toward the southern edge of the Red Island. If they journey southeast, they would eventually reach the ruined fortress… well, it might not have been ruined yet… where he had once welcomed Effie and Kai. There, the influence of the War faction was bound to be severely diminished.

More importantly, that was the boundary to the part of Hope's shattered kingdom that Sunny knew and had explored before.

Before the start of the Nightmare, he and the other members of the cohort had agreed to travel to the Iron Hand island should they be separated. Sunny would be able to easily find his way there from the southern Great Chain that anchored the Isles to the mainland beneath.

Hidden in the darkness, Sunny and Elyas ran across the meadow, aiming to reach the edge of the island and one of the heavenly chains that rattled below from time to time, disturbed by the turbulent winds of the border between the two skies.

'Come on… come on…'

Once they were over the edge, Sunny could summon the Heavenly Burden and the Dark Wing to carry them to the chain, or even hide them in the darkness of the Sky Below for a while.

Their salvation was so close! It was already just a few meters away...

But then, his heart suddenly grew cold.

'No…'

...In the end, it wasn't close enough.

Just as they reached the edge, a quiet sigh resounded from the darkness, and suddenly, Sunny was laying on the ground, his vision blurred and his whole body numb.

There was no oxygen in his lungs, and no matter how hard he tried to inhale, it was of no use. His chest seemed to be on fire.

A few seconds of agony later, the shock of the terrifying impact that had cracked the breastplate of the Undying Chain and sent him flying to the ground began to fade, and Sunny was able to finally draw in a hoarse, desperate breath.

'C… curses…'

He moved his arm, reaching for the hilt of the red priest's cleaver that lay near, buried in the soft grass.

However, before his fingers closed around it, a delicate foot stepped on his wrist, and suddenly, it was as though the weight of a whole world descended upon him.

Sunny groaned, then gritted his teeth and looked up at the harrowing creature that had attacked them from beyond the edge of the island.

It was a graceful, breathtaking beauty wearing a simple red tunic, her face tender and solemn, her dazzling eyes shining like two silver stars.

Solvane looked down at him and smiled with sadness.

"I am afraid that this is as far as you go… ah, we meet again, child of shadows!"

***

Sunny stared at the beautiful Saint with grim resentment burning in his black, tenebrous eyes. He remained motionless, knowing that his worst fear had just come true…

The Transcendent Immortal herself had arrived to hunt them down.

He thought feverishly, trying to come up with some way to escape the Priestess of War… Soul Serpent and Saint were still hiding in his shadow, so he could command them to attack. pan(da-n0vel.c)om