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Shadow Slave by Guiltythree

Shadow Slave
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Growing up in poverty, Sunny never expected anything good from life. However, even he did not... Read more
Growing up in poverty, Sunny never expected anything good from life. However, even he did not anticipate being chosen by the Nightmare Spell and becoming one of the Awakened — an elite group of people gifted with supernatural powers.

Transported into a ruined magical world, he found himself facing against terrible monsters — and other Awakened — in a deadly battle of survival.

What’s worse, the shadow powers he received happened to possess a small, but potentially fatal side effect… Collapse
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  1. Offline
    bored worm
    + 4 ⋅ 2 -
    Early review as of chapter 800+:
    it's a pretty good read, there are a couple places that one might struggle getting through but I think it's worth it. I have various problems with the novel but we are gonna talk about that later.
    First, if you don't know yet if you want to read it or not, here are some quotes from the novel:

    "It's just pain".

    "Trojan ass". (I'm not giving any context hehe)

    "At the end of it all, they were still tossing a coin, hoping that its fall was not going to spell their doom."

    "What was the point of having no master if he lived like a slave?"

    "I haven’t told a single lie to these people. I gave them just enough truth to make them deceive themselves, just like you taught me. But what, now that it was turned around on you, it is suddenly not fair?"

    "So You’re a Spider, So What?"

    "Cut into the stone by unknown means, a single sentence was left behind on the otherwise unmarked grave.
    “Her nightmare is over” "

    “Why? Are you the only one who is allowed to grow and change? Can’t I change too, Sunny?”
    ---------------
    If you haven't read the novel, I advise you not to read any further or just read the general problems. If you are an unreasonable die hard fan, do both of us a favor and do the same.

    General problems:
    1. Mc's flaw is not explained well -->
    Instead of " Flaw: [Clear Conscience]. Flaw Description: [You cannot lie.]"
    it should be something like this "When you are asked to by others, an automatic response is generated based on your knowledge and the truth of the matter. You are forced to do everything in your power to present this response in a way they can comprehend. If you try to withhold the answer, you will feel exponentially increasing mental pain.
    At all times, any statement you make must not be a lie."
    The original description explains sh$t.
    Mc also never really experiments with his flaw. Here are some of the things that he should have experimented on:

    1) see if a second question would overwrite the first one. This could have been easily done with the help of Neph and Cassie when they were stranded.

    2) see if he can speak partly in different languages or the language of the system. Even if it doesn't normally work, he can later use this method to see if someone knows that language. (can be used against spies or to pinpoint those who know much about the system language).

    3) Fights are way too dramatic. In every fight, just as 10% of the fight has passed, everyone are supposedly in dire situations. And this is the case for everyone and all the time. Fights are gonna lose their meanings if everyone just have infinite gears all the time.

    4) See if shadows or echoes are considered outside his will or not. Answer a question and as he is answering, have a shadow or echo at hand with the bell or the rock. Or if it is worth it at all.

    5) Do everything in his power to answer a direct question without answering. Otherwise, at any point of time he can be asked what his true name is or what his aspect's rank is and he will be in deep trouble.

    2. The nightmare goal is confusing. In his first nightmare, he just did random things and the assumption was that, the first nightmares are cleared when the strongest nightmare creature is killed. What a clear description. How about other nightmares? And what does the rating imply? I wish he had asked these questions before going for his second nightmare.

    3. No betting? Mc says getting memories is a pain in the ass, but we are not informed if there is a betting feature (does anyone doubt that there are bets?). Does anyone doubt that he would have had a much easier time getting memories through this way?

    4. No echoes? Mc once states that normal rate to get echoes is 4 to 5 echoes per 1000 enemies killed. Like memories, we are never informed if there are places to buy echoes. Many of them will prove to be useless to others but they can all be treasures for Mc, since he can make them grow. specially if he can have a better channel for memories.

    If I ever make a follow up on problems with things that Mc didn't do, I will explain these two points in more depth.
    ---------------------
    Problems with the things Mc did:
    1. I can get behind his creepy persona when he reached the academy. It's his personality and his comments are what he thinks. But then he goes to extreme lengths to prove that oh I'm an absolute liar on top of being a creep with the goal being to attain outcast status and have no one even try to converse with him. It was funny as hell but if any of Caster's lackeys, or just anyone who was there asked Mc like :
    "Oh your eminence, since you are so impressive, can I please know your true name? So I can know who I will be worshipping for the rest of my life?"
    "Ohhh nice results then, what is the rank of your aspect?" "Oh divine you say, what is your divine being's true name then?"
    It would have been a done deal right there and then. Also, He never took into account that others might have ways to determine whether he tells the truth or not. And considering that these are greenhorns, it makes sense for someone from the academy to be keeping them in check from the shadows.
    Not to mentions that he has the fated attribute. He doesn't have the experience of us readers but a blind person = seer,
    more disabled = seer tropes make me reluctant to say anything when there is someone like that.
    Instead of courting death like this, he should have gone to the blind girl and tried to make friends with her. With his already creepy persona and him joining the true outcast, he would have achieved his goal. Then if needed, he can plan for the absolute rage bait.

    2. If:
    1) someone wants to ask you questions.
    2) you know the person is a spy.
    3) you have that glaring flaw.
    4) you know the questions are about the cohort's abilities (Neph in particular).
    With all that in mind, are you gonna ever be in the same room with them? alone? and then consume a drink they give you? Are you out of your goddang mind? Because Mc was or author wanted him to be. With his flaw, he should very comfortably sit out of anything that involves being asked. With all of those unreasonable conditions, he says something that he should not have. Which comes back to bite his a## in a critical time and change the course of story. Honorable mentions are:
    1) He has never drank anything containing alcohol.
    2) No consideration that this can be a very special drink.
    3) What is the cost of a drink in the hell that is forgotten shore?
    Combine these all and it's a recipe for disaster.

    3. He gave the echo of blade master Kurt to Shadow saint. Because good mentality is important and Kurt was everything he didn't want to become. However, it was not at all wise to consume Kurt just as he got him. Instead, he should have tried to experiment:
    1) Can he learn the principle behind Kurt's shadow strike? effectively adding another card to his arsenal.
    2) Can Kurt's shadow manipulation be used in addition to his own abilities? To consume less shadow energy, or better usage in general.
    3) Since Kurt has this attribute [Awakened] Ability Description: “This Echo has the innate abilities of a carrier of the Spell.” Can he learn shadow dance? I very well think he could. Even if there is a small chance that this can happen, even the slightest possibilities of getting another drop of Inchor or another soul serpent is absolutely worth it.
    4) Can Kurt learn shadow step? or maybe a glimpse of it?
    5) Does Kurt have a method to get a legacy of sorts? Can Kurt be used as a battery, since they are both shadow elements and 'human'?
    And there are tons of other things, like how he might be able to ask the shadowed echo about the unique things he has been very curious about but only masters know of. There are definitely reasons to let go of Kurt, but the synergy and the endless possibilities are almost certainly worth it. Though even if he had wanted to let Kurt go, that decision should have only been made later; It was way too hasty.

    Thank you for reading; if anyone wanted to talk about the things I mentioned, just hit me up.
    Before I forget, there is a review by Wizzy that might be helpful as well.
    I'm gonna stop here and maybe make a follow up on the problems with things Mc didn't do.
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    1. Offline
      Eightsixtwo_
      + 1 ⋅ 1 -
      Alot of this is shot down or explained if you pay attention while reading, I won't respond to some that are. There's A flaw in your thinking when it comes to the "system",
      and the people that populate the earth,


      1. 2) is a good point but I don't think its necessary or applicable, language isn't something G3 ever mentions. I assume everyone alive speaks the same language... Besides I think the people at the colosseum in the 2nd nightmare.

      1. 4)/5) he has to answer physically he is compelled to answer himself, there's no way around it. When asked a question he has to move his mouth and give an answer or he'll experience excruciating pain in the depths of his being. He's run tests and these are the conclusions (by my knowledge) that's what makes his flaw such a danger, we've seen him slip and we've seen the consequences.

      2. The nightmare goal is ever changing depending on whatever nightmare they're in. There's a reason its like this Again if you played attention while reading you could've gleaned it But I'll explain.


      3. Good point but low efficiency at 800 He's still crushing low tier memories to feed to shadows right? Why would he waste time betting for them when he can just buy them or hunt for them himself.

      4. Its mentioned at some point that most don't sell echoes because they're so useful and if they did they'd sell it to the clans to get buck for their bang.

      --------------------------


      1. True, immature plan but going your route there's nothing stopping them from asking him questions. just being a creep and hanging out with a dead girl walking might not be that much of a deterrent, why not throw being a huge liar on top of it?

      2. In a perfect boring world sure, I feel that was a writing choice to truly forge Sunnys distrustful nature. That one incident built Sunnys secretive character for the next couple hundred chapters. Besides its believable enough I've made some horrible decisions at 18 while drinking, you've probably as well. Why should Sunless be a perfect character who's perfect at everything and never makes any mistakes. This isn't that novel and this isn't that character.

      3. 1)/2) these very well may be possible and were a mistake not to explore them.

      3) No, Kurt is not a shadow therefore the principles don't transfer. and even if he could as I said before (be careful this explanation can be considered a heavy spoiler)


      4) honestly I don't think so, on one hand Saint doesn't and cannot truly use shadow step because again she is not a shadow. On the other hand I believe there is an exception but that relies heavily on other factors which Kurt lacks.

      5) rapid fire round) no, no Sunnys shadows use his essence, spoiler
      . True but that choice was based on emotion. At the time Sunny isn't the psychopath he pretends to be, using a human echo was just too inhumane for him.

      I enjoyed reading your review, though it looks like I'm just shooting you down I thought it proper to respond to such a passionate review. Some of these points have merit but many were already explained in the chapters you've read and others you'll read about later. I can't blame you, information in SS is fed to you like a IV drip, if you skim you'll miss a few drops. I especially liked the Kurt segment at the time I was pissed that sunny fed him to saint but later on I realized he wasn't as useful as he appeared. Though it would've been cool seeing two shadow users jumping Sunny's enemies! reader
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      1. Offline
        bored worm
        + 2 ⋅ 0 -
        Hey! Thank you for reading :)

        1. The parts I mention about his flaw are mostly because if at any point he were to be asked a direct question, he would be left with no choice but to tell the truth (other than using 'simple trick' which ties to his Mongrel identity). This can be very devastating and I expected him to test various things to see if he can even slightly lessen the burden. I don't think he can do much against it but that is all the more reasons to experiment, regardless of results.

        1.2) The language part --> For example imagine that both Mc and Mordret have the knowledge of a unique or lost language. If he is asked a simple question by a Mundane human and he can answer it in that language, he will know that something is wrong with that person. I doubt that he can give answers in different languages but it's feed for thought.

        1. 4) 5) He himself is compelled to answer to the best of his abilities. But, if beings or things outside his will try to interfere with his answering, what happens then? For example, if he has Shadow Saint equipped with the flute, and if Shadow Saint blows into the flute in the midst of his answer, what happens? Can he only buy time? Will there be any effect? His so called tests ended in the forgotten shore, and even then we were only informed of the results and not about the process. (As much as I remember)

        2. Bro, I'm paying attention; don't do me like that please T_T. 4
        He used what he saw in the reversed course of history to know about the soon to happen fight. If any goal could be seen in the first nightmare, it was defeating creatures and he got back after Mountain Tyrant was killed. Suppose he had the ability to kill every human in the caravan as soon as he was summoned (hypothetically); if he killed them all and went out of the mountain range, would he have cleared the first nightmare? or if the shadow beast guarding that temple killed the Mountain Tyrant, would it have ended then? I thought the goal was vague and that to undertake his 2nd nightmare, I wanted him to at least ask others like Master Jet and Teacher Julius about what they know of the nightmares. It mainly stems from the fact that he only got "excellent" at the end of his 2nd nightmare.

        3. If the goal is to get memories, Chained Isles (if I didn't butcher the name) was not exactly a good place. There was crushing, there was tear(?), there were some extremely dangerous creatures and he had to spend time to identify creatures he could take on and to move between the islands themselves. All these time consuming factors made it so that he could only farm at an extremely low rate. Exchanging for memories also was only possible with the soul shards and getting them took a long time. Considering that he can make use of even the most useless memories, betting would be a far better alternative. This is because if he bets, he is connecting to a collective group and not just himself and a collective wealth is much more than that of a single person. For example, after getting out of the forgotten shore, he could have proposed to the 100 survivors to hold a tournament and establish a ranking; to challenge each other, use a memory of relatively equal value and the winner takes all. With the underlying idea that every few years they will come and do the same, as a way of reminiscing about the past and showcasing how much they have improved. In that year's case, he could have proposed another challenging tournament in which other awakened challenge those from forgotten shore. The underlying goal being to showcase their own worth so they can get the maximum benefits, other awakened can also see for themselves if the bunch from forgotten shore is any different and the format will be 5 or more memories to enroll in the tournament and then 1 memory each round to challenge from the previous ranking of the forgotten shore. This is getting too long but the principle remains the same, he had infinite possibilities at hand and this would certainly be much more profitable than any hunt he did.

        4. The echo part is not really important to me any more. It makes sense to sell to the great clans but what I had in mind was that Mc can get even the most useless echo and turn it into a shadow and then amass profit. Which is impossible since there seem to be restrictions on this ability.

        -----------

        1. There is never anything stopping others from asking Mc questions. But what he did certainly only stood to raise the chance of those questions being asked. My point was that he should have stuck with the blind girl first, then and only then commence his other plan if it was needed. And I think being a creep and siding with a dead girl walking will eliminate almost all the chances of dangerous questions.

        2. Is there anything you avoid at all costs? I can understand his cockiness in thinking that he could answer Harpy in a way that brought benefit to the group, however, that same distrustful nature should have been the reason not to accept anything. Drink, necklace, ring, anything for that matter. He can make horrible decisions while drinking but the point is that I don't believe that the cautious Sunny would ever drink anything in that situation or let's say put on a necklace Harper gives him. It's never the goal for Mc to be perfect but when he loses his true name because of such a decision, then I will have a problem with it. If you had his flaw, would you have done the same?

        3. I didn't have the heart to read the spoiler. If Kurt is turned into a Shadow by Mc, will it be able to learn shadow dance? Not the normal echo version. Well, I think the end choice remains the same but it would make more sense for him to just experiment a bit.


        Lastly, thank you so much for reading and sharing your thoughts. Now, I am at 1150+ and tbh most of the problems mentioned here probably won't have any effect on the end result. I do think he could have made Shadow Saint much more powerful and that could result in some key changes in the story. The two critical points here are 1) The funny rage bait at the academy, 2) Him being asked about his true name when he could have avoided it & 3) letting go of Kurt too soon.
        Better ways to acquire memories would fall under the "things Mc didn't do", so I wouldn't include it here. Would you like me to send a dm when I make another review? I think there are some points in the category of "things Mc didn't do" that are very interesting and thought provoking.
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      2. Offline
        Shahas_2
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        Brother, i started stacking from 890 and was planning to slowly catch up now,

        I read a few comments/reviews to re ignite my memory since i last read this when it only had like 900 chapters

        I have doubt ,sunny has divine aspect with a terrible flaw,I want to know what is nephis flaw, considering she also a divine something her flaw should be terrible too if a flaw is based on divine rank something not something innately born within the ppl

        Also why does a race or lineage like Shadow Slave exist?why is a slave lineage a divine aspect?slaves shouldn't have such a high status like divine like any normal human can enslave them 🤔
        I'm curious why a slave lineage is a divine aspect or god equivalent


        Ahh reading must be a pain without commas
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        1. Offline
          LordofPotatoes
          + 0 ⋅ 0 -
          For the slave thing its because its supposed to be that he is the shadow of a divine being, eg: a god. So hes a godly shadow. Nephis flaw is that she will feel excurciating pain, enough that it burns away her humanity, the more she uses her aspect.
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          1. Offline
            Shahas_2
            + 0 ⋅ 0 -
            Sunny has(slave,cant lie,fated)disadvantages while nephis only had one flaw
            Isnt sunnys divine aspect a lot weaker and lacking comapared to nephis who only has to suffer some pain
            Her aspect is from flame god or something right?
            Is the disadvantages given to mc by the aspect or by the spell?
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            1. Offline
              LordofPotatoes
              + 1 ⋅ 0 -
              i guess its supposed to be like this big restriction (Nephisis pain thing) but its never stated or like abused in any way, its like the pain isnt even there usually. The author just likes to nerf the mc and make him the weakest of the strongest.
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            2. Offline
              Eightsixtwo_
              + 1 ⋅ 0 -
              The flaw isn't something given, its something every being has ( that we've seen). They seem tailored to the personality or circumstances of anyone who has ability. Ex: kais surrounded by sycophants / He can see how false they really are. Cassie can see the future/ she cannot see etc. I don't know why Sunnys flaw is so fatal considering his true name restriction but his aspect abilities may be the strongest in the book. Though neph is no weakling at ch 2400 I'm sure sunny can kill her 1v1.

              ALTHOUGH imo its WILD that sunny has an extraordinary a restriction in his aspect. So far no-one else has this, I've always wondered why that is and know what I know now (hypothesis using heavily spoiler knowledge)
              I may be looking too heavily at it after all, every shadow has a master 💀 but what a nasty restriction, no other divine aspect holder has an extra restriction like that. Well ig well have to see what's up with the
              to know forsure.
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              1. Offline
                Shahas_2
                + 1 ⋅ 0 -
                The novels about to end at 3k chapter ryt? That what author said 2yrs ago.
                2.6k already. I hope author gives an explanation why sunny had such heavenly restrictions besides cant lie and being a slave
                The 'fated' attribute.why was he given such an attribute 🤔
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                1. Offline
                  Eightsixtwo_
                  + 1 ⋅ 0 -
                  Imo it looks about 2/3 the way through at 2500 so maybe 3800 chapter for complete book, unless g3 rushes the ending. We get some good information about fated around 2200 but we don't have a "why" yet
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    2. Offline
      Shahas_2
      + 1 ⋅ 0 -
      Thanks you
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    3. Offline
      Fenrer
      + 1 ⋅ 0 -
      brother thanks for the effort
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  2. Offline
    Jonathan Howard
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    clean dirty
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  3. Offline
    LordofPotatoes
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    how do i add spoiler tag? thanks to whoever answers
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    1. Offline
      Jonathan Howard
      + 1 ⋅ 0 -
      yo_3 yo_2 sigma exit exit
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      1. Offline
        LordofPotatoes
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        so helpful bro lol 3
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    2. Offline
      dsghghdasga
      + 3 ⋅ 0 -
      Don't look.

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      1. Offline
        LordofPotatoes
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        Ima crash out
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    3. Offline
      Eightsixtwo_
      + 0 ⋅ 0 -
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  4. Offline
    Daniyl
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    Please can someone update me once the mirror arc ends or if it already has, I haven't read in like a month.
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    1. Offline
      NarrenWache
      + 1 ⋅ 0 -
      Its over
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      1. Offline
        Daniyl
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        Phew, thanks bro. Now it's time to binge read.
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  5. Offline
    LordofPotatoes
    + 3 ⋅ 1 -
    This might be an unpopular opinion, and I do understand why, but I genuinely like the Mirror Arc, and sure it's just like the Chess Arc but with some extra gimmicks, but I really am enjoying the later chapters in it once we figure out more of the Mordret Stuff. The first few chapters though I disliked, as I've always hated dementia or memory loss arcs. Would have said more but don't know how to add spoiler tag.
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  6. Offline
    The
    + 3 ⋅ 9 -
    Dropping at 1649.

    Legit 10 chapters later
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    1. Offline
      kumb
      + 1 ⋅ 0 -
      So you said you'd drop it but then continued reading for 7 more chapters?
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      1. Offline
        The
        + 3 ⋅ 2 -
        I just skipped that 10 chapter flashback
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        1. Offline
          mimo
          + 4 ⋅ 3 -
          my guy the flashback was genuinely so peak it literally only speaks about what sunny did in the past 2 years he disappeared and sunny did so much in those 2 years
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          1. Offline
            tsid73
            + 7 ⋅ 6 -
            everything is peak for you people, low standards
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            1. Offline
              Redist_King
              + 0 ⋅ 0 -
              Sunny getting his revenge on winter and the soul tree wasn't peak??💀
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        2. Offline
          royal roach
          + 0 ⋅ 0 -
          flashback show what sunny did for the last three years. i mean, seeing sunny get revenge on winter beast and soul devourer was pretty cool to me.
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    2. Offline
      Nothing923
      + 2 ⋅ 1 -
      Cassie the goat tho? she planned everything for sunny to break away from his fate which she techincally caused but it was going to eventually happen as its his fate. Sunny here was a stranger to cassie whats she supposed to do and everyone immedalitey forgets if taught.
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      1. Offline
        The
        + 3 ⋅ 3 -
        She tried killing the mc long ago.
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        1. Offline
          Nothing923
          + 0 ⋅ 0 -
          When? She did betray him to prioritize Nephis but she knew that Nephis would do nothing bad to sunny. I don’t remember Cassie trying to kill him.
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          1. Offline
            The
            + 4 ⋅ 3 -
            What you saying bro, her betrayal would have killed him.
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            1. Offline
              Nothing923
              + 1 ⋅ 1 -
              Well ig ur right, she was more shocked that sunny was well AND that Nephis wasn’t there. I think all Cassie knew was that they would fight and she chose Nephis over him. Don’t think she knew that one of them had to stay behind or they would have planned for a scapegoat like caster.
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    3. Offline
      The
      + 2 ⋅ 0 -
      I am at 2284,i am fine with cassie now
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      1. Offline
        Shino22
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        You're a hypocrite but at least your body is honest continuing until 2284 regardless what you said about dropping this at 1649 whoknows
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    4. Offline
      BRAGO
      + 3 ⋅ 2 -
      Cassie is a lying bitch
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  7. Offline
    Shrey2812
    + 7 ⋅ 8 -
    • 5.0
    5.0
    Read this novel upto chapter ~2300, one of the greatest pieces of literature of all time. Just trust Guiltythree and jump right in. Don't want to say much because this is literally as good as they come.
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  8. Offline
    The
    + 0 ⋅ 0 -
    Added so much from minecraft
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  9. Offline
    Pochi1991
    + 3 ⋅ 25 -
    any novel with 2k+ chapters is a bad novel
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    1. Offline
      Dreamless Cadaver
      + 8 ⋅ 0 -
      that... seems really counterintuitive.
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    2. Offline
      Sniffer Bjorn
      + 2 ⋅ 0 -
      no.
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    3. Offline
      006_faceless
      + 4 ⋅ 1 -
      sorry, Cuban are really retarded due to mutated genes from nuclear fallout. Please understand.
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      1. Offline
        The depressed panda
        + 2 ⋅ 0 -
        Didn't need to burn so hard
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    4. Offline
      kumb
      + 1 ⋅ 0 -
      It’s just one horrible take after another with this guy lmao
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    5. Offline
      Yuno
      + 3 ⋅ 0 -
      That's Just Rage bait lol, like lotm/COI, and Ri, They're peak fiction, Its just a matter of Attention span..
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  10. Offline
    Torastrus
    + 7 ⋅ 20 -
    Shadow Slave always was poor man's Dark Souls, but the arcs have been pretty bad to mediocre at best for a while now. Guiltythree just seems to be milking this series dry.
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