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Chapter 1090: Tyrant
Shadow Slave

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panic

panic 17 Aug 2023, 15:55

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Someone sent these chapters to me by mail:

1089 Falling Star

Effie was having a hard time standing her ground against the giant centipede… in fact, she was barely holding on. Even though a furious barrage of bullets, enchanted arrows, and magical projectiles was raining on the ghastly carapace of skulls, the abomination did not seem slowed down at all. Its massive body moved with dire speed, thousands of scythe–like legs tearing up the ground with each motion.

The difference in size between the Tyrant and the fearless huntress was just too big. Effie’s only saving grace was that her body, despite being hundreds of times smaller than that of the ghastly centipede, seemed to contain truly astounding strength.

She had received several glancing blows from the abomination, which would have tuned almost any other Master into a broken corpse. Effie, however, was able to shake them off and continue to fight.

…Of course, there was no such thing as trite invulnerability. The huntress was fine for now, but she was still dancing with death.

The round shield she wielded possessed an enchantment called indomitable, which functioned similar to Sunny’s own [Feather of Truth] and allowed Effie to change its weight at will. Her spear was not able to deal serious wounds to the Tyrant, but its strikes must have stung – Sunny saw the creature recoiling after the buntress managed to land a solid blow.

…All that allowed Raised by Wolves to tie down the Skull Centipede, at least for a short while.

However, it did not mean that she would win.

It took all Effie had to simply match the menace of the Corrupted Tyrant’s massive body – all her Abilities, all her skill, and all her powerful Memories – while the abomination had not revealed any of its powers yet.

And that moment… had already come.

As Sunny watched, Effie managed to push the centipede back once again. The shockwave of the impact threw her back, as well – the huntress slid through the dirt, leaving two grooves in it. Her spear shot down, piercing the ground and bringing her to a sudden stop.

A moment later. She was already lunging forward, ready to deliver another strike… however, the Tyrant seemed to be fed up with their furious clash.

The skull Centipede raised its appalling head, the branches of the dead trees growing from the carapace of skulls swinging in the wind. Sunny’s eyes widened slightly as he felt a sudden chill run down his spine.

It was as though the wind that brushed against the skeletal branches was full of tormented whispers.

A small black dot appeared in the air between the two trees. The dot warped and twisted, collapsing in on itself… and then began to grow, devouring the fabric of reality itself. It seemed as if an abyssal gate

Was starting to open in the air above the creature’s head.

‘Crap!’

Sunny instantly knew nothing good was going to happen if the circle of darkness was allowed to finish forming. He made a move to step forward…

But at that moment, a stream of light tore the sky asunder, falling from somewhere high above with inconceivable speed. It streaked across the battlefield like a flaming comet and crossed paths with blinding radiance.

A low boom resounded, followed by the sound of shattering wood.

Kai had arrived.

The plan of the battle the four Masters had come up with assigned each of them an important role.

Sunny was responsible for luring the Tyrant to the ambush site and creating an obstacle for the bone fiends crawling out of the river. Jet was meant to lead the defenders and make sure that the trenches were not overrun.

Effie’s role was to stall the centipede – and, more importantly, distract it. But it was Kai who was the key to their success… or failure.

The whole plan depended on whether the Tyrant would be able to unleash its harrowing powers. To prevent it from happening and reduce the Skull Centipede to a mere giant beast, the trees growing from its head had to be destroyed. That was what Kai had to accomplish.

He had hidden himself high in the sky and bid his time, waiting for an opportune moment. Then, the archer plunged down, burning his essence and using gravity to reach truly astonishing speed.

And now, he delivered his attack, using that speed to close the trap they had set. The flaming comet was Kaim himself, and he held a slender, shining saber in his hand.

All of it happened in the blink of an eye. The streak of light crossed the creature’s head, something flashed, and then a loud explosion boomed, washing over the battlefield.

A split second later, Kai fell into the river. His speed was still so tremendous that he slid across the surface of the water without plunging into it – and slowed down after being pushed a hundred meters away from the shore.

The head of the Skull Centipede, meanwhile, was flung to the side. One of the dead trees crowning it was completely shattered, its trunk exploding into thousands of sharp splinters. The circle of darkness collapsed and disappeared without a trace, never receiving the chance to fully form.

Sunny let out a relieved sigh.

‘It worked…’

The Tyrant opened its inaw, letting out a blood–chilling screech.

The bone fiends trembled, becoming disorganized and somewhat sluggish.

The soldiers roared with dark glee, invigorated by the sight of the giant: creature losing one of its horns. Effie was already advancing, her spear ready to strike.

Kai had managed to regain his balance and pushed himself off the surface of the water, shooting back into the sky and summoning his bow.

A black arrow suddenly shot out of the cloud of darkness surrounding the Shadow Lantern. Empowered by Saint’s Transcended strength and the [Death Dealer] enchantment, the arrow struck the neck of the Tyrant with harrowing force, annihilating layers of skulls and ripping a huge chunk of flesh out of it.

…However, Sunny did not pay any it much attention.

Because right at that moment, the Spell whispered into his ear:

[You have slain a Fallen Monster, Malignant Root’s Sapling]

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

Sunny froze, his face turning deathly pale.

‘Here we go again…’

[...Your shadow pulsates with newfound might.]

*****

1090 Tyrant

[Your shadow is overflowing with power.]

[Your shadow is taking shape]

[Your shadow…]

Sunny did not have to summon the runes to know that he had finally accomplished his goal… after absorbing thousands of shadow fragments, his soul was ready to form a new Shadow Core.

This fifth one. He was about to become a Tyrant.

A conflicting mess of emotions rose in his heart, of course, Sunny felt a sense of joy and triumph – his power was about to take a significant jump, after all. The bleak, dreadful months he had spent in Antarctica, enduring hardships and grisly defeats, made this moment possible. In a sense, this was his reward, and so, the invisible scars he had been left with were not for nothing.

On the other hand, this boon came at a very unfortunate moment. In the past, Sunny had been mostly able to time his advancements in a way that: allowed him to go through the process in relatively safe conditions. A battlefield where hundreds of Awakened were fighting against an army of Fallen Nightmares Creatures and Corrupted Tyrant, however, was in no way safe.

And on top of that… he had already gone through this ordeal three times. He knew how much it was going to hurt.

‘Hell yes! And also… damn it!’

Sunny glanced at the Skull Centipede, Who was reeling from the dreadful blow dealt to it by Saint’s arrow. A huge chunk of flesh was missing from its neck, with bone dust and rivers of fetid blood spilling into the river. Effie was moments away from reaching the wounded abomination, her sculpted steel body glistening in the sunlight, and Kai was preparing to draw his bow.

One of the dead tress had been destroyed, which was supposed to rob the Tyrant of its most terrible powers… however, the outcome of the fight was still far away from being set in stone. A corrupted Tyrant was still a Corrupted Tyrant. Sunny felt that Effie, Kai, and Saint had a good chance of emerging victorious from that fight, but he couldn’t be sure.

Jet and the Awakened soldiers were struggling to hold black the tide of bone fiends:

Sadly, for now, there was nothing much Sunny could to do help them.

The rest of the battle was up to others to win.

As a hint of terrible pain appeared in his soul, Sunny hurriedly jumped backwards, hiding between two mounds of dug-up dirt. Two figures emerged from his shadow – one was a fearsome black stallion, the other a scrawny little imp.

He gritted his teeth and looked at his Shadows.

“Protect me.”

Then. Sunny lingered for a moment and threw a glance at Nightmare. A cold smile appeared on his lips.

“Oh, and if the little bastard does something stupid… you have my permission to eat him, Nightmare.”

The dark destrier snorted in calm agreement, while the imp stared at him with shocked outrage and fear.

Sunny grinned, then turned white as a sheet and swayed. His hand rose, grabbing at his chest.

‘Argh… this is the worst…I

A familiar, but no less dreadful agony overwhelmed his entire being. Sunny was momentarily blinded and deafened,, losing all sense of the world around him.

Something was rising from the depths of his soul, tearing at with sharp edges. The torment of it was nothing short of exquisite. He had experienced this pain several times before… but it grew more and more unbearable with each time.

Human souls were not supposed to possess many cores. Neither were they able to sustain them. It was only because of Sunny’s Divine Aspect that his soul had become stronger, growing vast anti powerful enough to endure the strain. Nevertheless, this was not in its nature. Therefore… the birth of a new core brought with it immeasurable pain, with each successive one hurting more…

The first time Sunny had gone through the process, he had been rendered absolutely helpless, thrashing on the ground and wailing like a dying beast. The second time had brought him to his knees, making his screams echo in the desolate halls of the ruined Chalice Temple. The third time… Sunny had managed to remain silent.

…Up to the point when the body of the Shadowspawn he had been occupying started to change, too.

The pain had grown more intense with each new core, but Sunny had also grown more resilient. He had been through so much, and had experienced so much… the journey through the endless procession of nightmares alone would have been enough to drive anyone mad…

and so, this time, Sunny endured.

He did not fall down, remaining on his feet. He did not scream.

He did, however, lose all track of time, and of what was happening around him.

All that remained was agonizing pain and the sensation o0f something being born within his soul.

It lasted for an eternity.

But then. Eventually…

The eternity had ended.

Sunny realized that he could hear again. He knew that because he heard the voice of the Spell whisper into his ear softly:

[Your shadow is complete]

And, mercifully, the pain ended.

I’le inhaled deeply, trembling.

He felt… stronger.

His body had become stronger. His reserves of essence had grown the most, by far.

And… he was a Tyrant.

‘A tyrant.’

Sunny exhaled.

A complicated emotion grasped his heart.

Finally, after years of struggling and chasing after something that often seemed unreachable, he had caught up with Nephis. sure, she was still ahead of him by a sizable amount of fragments… but they were of the same Class now. They were both ascended Tyrants.

strangely enough, Sunny did not care too much.

He had wanted desperately to be as strong as Changing star once. There had been a lot of reasons for him to harbor that desire, some better, some worse. And now that he had reached that goal…

Sunny knew that his former understanding of what real strength was had been reached that goal…

Sunny knew that his former understanding of what real strength was had been terribly misguided. And so, he did not really care.

Still… it felt nice, to be equal to her on paper. Even if what was written in shimmering runes was not that important.

‘Now… for the important stuff.’

Sunny shifted, turning his head to observe the battlefield.

There was another Tyrant nearby, and that: Tyrant posed a threat to his friends and the soldiers… so, the creature had to be dealt with.

******

1091 Fifth Shadow

Sunny was still reeling from having his soul torn apart, then sewn back together. However, the battle was raging, so he had no time to recover in peace… that was fine. He was long used to fighting in the most dire conditions, anyway.

It took him only a moment to assess the situation.

It seemed that he had been out of it for quite some time. The battlefield was ravaged and upturned, with the river itself slightly changing course. Its water, which had been clear once, now seemed muddy and coxious. Effie and Kai were still fighting the ghastly centipede in the shallows, with Saint supporting them from the darkness. The three seemed to be doing fine.

The soldiers, however, were straining to hold their ground. The slope of the river shore was littered with shattered bones, and hundreds of the Tyrant’s abominable minions had already been destroyed.

But there were hundreds more, and now Saint was busy turning the Skull Centipede into a pincushion and weighing it down with the help of the [Burden of Peace] enchantment of Morgan’s Warbow, there was no one to serve as the wave breaker against their tide.

There was only Jet. Soul Reaper moved like the beautiful visage of death among the bone fiends, erasing one after another from existence, but she was one woman. No matter how fast and lethal, she couldn’t be in several places at the same time.

Sunny hesitated, trying to make a decision.

His instinct to go for the biggest threat, personally removing it from the equation. However, the Tyrant was still strong and ferocious. Even without most of its powers, the centipede was putting up a dreadful fight. It was hard to say how long it would take to bring it down. the soldiers, meanwhile, would continue to suffer under the onslaught of the bone fiends until it did.

So what was he supposed to do? follow his habits and race to kill the Tyrant, or act against instinct and put his trust in Effie and Kai, concentrating on reinforcing the ordinary soldiers instead?

Sunny sighed.

‘Instincts are great. But humans rose above beasts for a reason and thanks to reason.”

in the end, mo matter how unnatural it felt, he could do no better than to follow the plan. The role he had been assigned was to lure the Tyrant to the ambush, and then put obstacles in the path of the bone army to make it easier on the awakened and the mundane soldiers.

So… Sunny was going to put himself between the abominations and the humans.

Before lunging into the fray, he dismissed Nightmare and the little imp.

They had already done their job by guarding him – throwing the two into the mass of Fallen enemies would do more harm than good.

Then, Sunny glanced down at the shadows gathered on the ground in front of him.

The first four were his old companions – the gloomy, happy, creepy, and haughty fellows. The fifth one, however, was new.

The fifth shadow seemed naive and good-natured. Even though it was not as boisterous, the guy resembled the happy shadow… a little bit too much, in fact, that Sunny couldn’t help but feel that its amicable disposition was just a front.

And behind that front, he could sense a hint of boundless deviousness. The shadow was up to no good… it was clearly full of all kinds of mischief!

He raised his eyebrow and sighed.

“...You’re a naughty one, aren’t you?”

The naughty shadow stared at him, radiating nothing but innocent surprise. Eventually, the shadow shook its head with utter sincerity. It seemed a little hurt.

It was as though the shadow was saying:

“Who? Me? Oh no, of course not! I would never…”

Sunny squinted his eyes.

“Yeah… right. Well, let’s go then. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re in the middle of a battle.”

The shadow looked at him, then scratched the black of its head and glanced at its siblings, as if unsure what to do. When the other four shadows moved forward to wrap themselves around his body, though, it quickly followed.

A feeling of overflowing strength permeated Sunny’s body. He inhaled deeply, getting used to his new limits, then caught sight of Effie breaking a dozen of the Tyrant’s legs with her round shield. Instantly, his limits were expanded even further.

Sunny smiled. summoned the Cruel sight, and dashed forward. At the same time, he used the [Blessing of Dusk] to establish a mental bond with Jet and coordinate their movements.

She moved to her right. Soul Reaper was going to be responsible for the western half of the defensive line, while Devil was going to rampage in the eastern part.

Shadows surged forward. In the next moment, the sound of breaking bones rolled over the battlefield.

***

In the end, it was Kai who brought down the Skull Centipede. Saint had debilitated and slowed it down with her arrows, which gave Effie an opportunity to deliver a devastating blow to the creature’s head, cracking its skull.

Of course, that alone would have never killed a Corrupted Tyrant. However, it did give Kai a chance to deal a fatal strike to the ghastly abomination.

Flying across the sky, he positioned himself above the centipede and drew his bow. This time, an arrow of incinerating flame appeared on its string. The heat of the arrow was so dreadful that it seemed as if the world itself was melting around it.

Luckily, Kai was protected by the armor made from the scales of a dragon. Unaffected by the immolating heat, he let the fiery arrow loose. it flew down like a streak of light, entering the creature’s skull through the thin crack

Then, a dreadful explosion illuminated Tyrant’s head from the inside. Tongues of flames and streams of smoke shot from its mouth, from the pit where the broken tree had been, and from the empty eyes of the countless skulls.

The centipede’s own indestructible, giant skull seemed as if was going to burst open, for a moment.

But in the end it didn´t. Trailing smoke and fire from its head, the creature swayed, and then heavily crashed to the ground.

The skull Centipede was dead.

With the. Tyrant gone. its minions lost all remaining cohesion. effie, Kai, and Saint were also freed to attack them front behind. Caught between them and the main body of the expedition force, the bone army swfly dwindled.

It wasn’t long before it was completely annihilated.

Looking at the battlefield, which was covered in broken bones. Sunny took a deep breath.

‘I can’t believe it. A plan actually worked. I think that’s a first…’

*****

1092 expeditious Retreat

The battle was over, but the soldiers had no time to relax and celebrate their victory. they did not even have time to collect the soul shards and other spoils from the army of slain abominations. Instead, as soon as the fighting ended, everyone got busy preparing for an immediate retreat.

That was the nature of the war in Antarctica. No matter what terrible of a fee you defeated, a dozen more were just beyond the horizon. They were in enemy territory. The ferocious battle against the Skull Centipede had not taken a lot of time, but it had created a lot of noise.

Already, several hordes of Nightmare Creatures were lowing across the plain, converging on the location where the battle had taken place.

Unless the expedition force wanted to drown in an endless flood of abominations, it needed to disappear as soon as possible.

Sunny, Jet, Effie, and Kai were gathered in front of the Skull Centipede’s massive corpse, careful to steer clear of the water. They did not know what the poison was exactly, but the river was visibly tainted.

Even in death, the Corrupted Tyrant continued to spread death and destruction.

They had just retrieved the five Transcendent soul shards from the ghastly carcass – that was the extent of the trophies the expedition force was going to carry back with it.

The huntress looked at the hundreds of dead abominations laying on the ground and sighed.

“Damn, what a pity. That would be enough for an entire cohort of Sleepers to saturate their cores.”

Sunny felt a bit regretful, too. the monetary value of these shards would have been astronomical…

granted, now that the Chain of Nightmare had flooded the walking world with abominations, the price of shards was not what it had been before. He knew it from his occasional correspondence with Aiko.

He shook his head.

“That might be true, but what’s the use of having all these shards if we die before reaching a siege capital?”

Kai nodded.

“Indeed. We have already reaped the main benefit – preventing the Tyrant from growing stronger and reaching one of the human settlements. Our casualties were light, too… that’s a win in my book.

Anything else is irrelevant.”

Sunny knew that his friend was right. But, nevertheless, he could not help but sigh with regret.

At least his luck had been good, granting him several Ascended Memories. None seemed particularly useful, so be promptly fed them to Nightmare. That was already a good result for one day.

After a short pause, sunny said:

“In any case… good job, everyone. That went much smoother than I thought it would. Especially you, Kai – that was an insane shot!”

Sunny knew a thing or two about archery. Shooting an arrow through a thin crack in the skull of a moving target, while flying at high speed… that was one for the books. The charming archer had been the one to destroy the skeletal trees, as well.

Kai smiled shyly.

“Thank you. ah… to be honest, I can’t quite believe it. I never thought that I would kill a Corrupted tyrant one day.”

his green eyes turned slightly wistful, as if he was recalling the past.

Sunny blinked a couple of times.

“...What on earth are you talking about? Can’t believe it? says the guy who jumped into the mouth of a dragon to kill it!”

Kai coughead, while glanced at him and raised an eyebrow.

“A dragon? what kind of a dragon are we talking about?”

The archer shook his head.

“It was just a transformed Saint. In the Nightmare.”

“...Ascended Nightingale killed a Saint?”

Her voice suddenly laughed.

“What about it? I killed one, too. A huge pain of bastard! And that one..”

She pointed at Sunny.

“... he actually killed the same Saint twice. Speak about holding grudges.”

Let rubbed the back of her neck with a neutral expression.

“Huh. And I thought my Second Nightmare was exciting…”

At that moment, Kai turned his head slightly, as if listening to something. He was most likely receiving a message though his comm.

Anti indeed, a few moments later, he called out to them:

“Everything is ready. We can depart in three minutes.”

Sunny let out a relieved sigh. The two companies had been quick to organize themselves for a rapid march, and so, they would be able to leave before any the migrating hordes arrived.

Kai looked at Sunny and Jet, then at Effie. Then, he asked hesitantly:

“Oh… are we going to take my ride, or yours?”

Effie scoffed.

“Does it matter?”

She grinned and answered her own question a moment later:

“Of course it matters! Do you think that I don’t know how pampered you are by your soldiers? That guy… ah, it’s really unfair! He has a fan club even in the army. They bring him all kinds of little grifts, including snacks. And sweets! So… I think we need to celebrate, and I think you’re treating.”

Kai looked away in embarrassment.

“That… those aren’t grifts! People are just concerned about their commander. I can’t really refuse, either… they become sad if I do…”

Sunny grinned.

“uh–huh. Whatever you say…”

The archer shook his head.

“Alright. Then we will ride in my APC. We can work on compiling a report for Army Command in the process, too…”

With nothing more to discuss, they hurried to leave the scene of the battle. Riding a personnel carrier at the head of a column of soldiers made Sunny remember the cold, dark days in the Antarctic Center…

granted, kai’s AFC was a little shabby when compared to the robust beautiful Rhino.

Still, it got the job done, and the charming archer really had some delicious stuff squirreled away in the nooks and crannies of the heavy machine.

The expedition force left the ravaged river shore behind and rushed across the plain, escaping the approaching mass of Nightmare Creatures. they masterfully navigated the landscape, avoiding the wandering swarms and keeping out of sight as well as they could. The column had to fight off a few packs of abominations, but these skirmishes were too inconsequential to pay them any attention. Things like that were unavoidable when a large force traveled across Antarctica.

Everything was going well.

But, of course… it had not gone well for long.

At some point, the loud sound of an emergency message rolled through the interior of the APC.

Sunny looked up and turned to the communication terminal, frowning.

As soon as the damned thing lit up, he knew that something had gone really, really wrong.

For the future: don't send me chapters, I can't deliver doses on time, it's better to write comments.

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1. Offline
  
  James005
  
  James005 17 Aug 2023, 17:41 ➥ panic
  
  + 14 ⋅ 0 -
  
  You are one lucky bastard
  And thanks ,
  
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2. Offline
  
  Chekko
  
  Chekko 17 Aug 2023, 19:18 ➥ panic
  
  + 9 ⋅ 0 -
  
  thanks for taking the time to post them
  
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Bloodriverdale

Bloodriverdale 17 Aug 2023, 03:47

+ 24 ⋅ 0 -

I love this novel, It has being a great journey to start this novel but.... But ... I want more ! So sad now i gotta wait.

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shutthefuckup

shutthefuckup 17 Aug 2023, 03:33

+ 18 ⋅ 0 -

Finally tyrant.

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Turnc4406

Turnc4406 17 Aug 2023, 01:57

+ 34 ⋅ 0 -

I'm ready for a mass release. That would be okay with me.

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1. Offline
  
  munch
  
  munch 17 Aug 2023, 06:26 ➥ Turnc4406
  
  + 22 ⋅ 0 -
  
  wet dream
  
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    The_Imm۞rtal
    
    The_Imm۞rtal 17 Aug 2023, 08:29 ➥ munch
    
    + 14 ⋅ 0 -
    
    Bruh said wet dream😭😭😭😂
    
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    1. Offline
      
      give me six digits
      
      give me six digits 17 Aug 2023, 12:26 ➥ The_Imm۞rtal
      
      + 7 ⋅ 0 -
      
      Bro needs to go touch grass or something😂
      
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  Xtro_1
  
  Xtro_1 17 Aug 2023, 13:48 ➥ Turnc4406
  
  + 14 ⋅ 0 -
  
  If that happens i would also have a mass release
  
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    Tanistanthalas
    
    Tanistanthalas 27 Jun 2024, 04:29 ➥ Xtro_1
    
    + 2 ⋅ 0 -
    
    Well played
    
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  orangutan
  
  orangutan 17 Aug 2023, 23:03 ➥ Turnc4406
  
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  I would permit it to happen
  
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Chapter 1090: Tyrant | Shadow Slave

Comments 26

Chapter 1090: Tyrant
Shadow Slave