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Chapter 1730: Heartbreaker
Shadow Slave

The battle continued, with the three of them slowly losing ground. The Great Devil was pushing them further and further back, toward the fireline established by the Wolf Army.

Now that they were closer to the heart of the city, there were many Nightmare Creatures around. Jet would have loved to go on a rampage and cut some of them down to replenish her essence, but sadly, the ancient fiend was too powerful and overbearing. She could not allow herself even a momentary distraction if she wanted to survive.

The abominations, too, seemed to abandon their demented frenzy and scattered to avoid the rolling whirlwind of destruction that was the battle against the Heart of Kanakht.

Jet, Effie, and Kai were already battered and beaten. Both their souls and bodies had received plenty of wounds — well, in her case, not the body. Nevertheless, they were still holding up well. Pain and injuries were nothing new to them. Each possessed a rich experience of crawling out of the most harrowing of hells.

All Saints did… but these three, in particular, had experienced too many horrors to be deterred by a few scrapes, no matter how frightening the adversary was.

It was also because of their experience that they cooperated seamlessly, not only resisting the unholy powers of the Great Devil, but also slowly luring him into a trap.

The Heart of Kanakht was like a tide of devastation. He was Insidious, lethal, and seemingly immortal. No matter how many times they forced the giant limbs of moving sand to collapse, the sand simply reformed into its previous shape again. No matter how many of the souls the fiend had consumed they destroyed, his wailing legion seemed endless.

And yet…

The moment of his death was swiftly approaching. There were a few things Jet needed to achieve to make sure that her plan worked — she had to learn the limits of both the giant sand projection conjured by the Great Devil and his actual body, create an opportunity, and make use of that opportunity with flawless timing.

Finally, everything was ready. Raising her scythe, Jet yelled:

«Now!»

In the next moment, the three Saints moved like three parts of the same body.

The dragon dove down, opening his maw to release a haunting song. That song crashed into the great mass of sand and produced an earth-shattering blast, dissipating the vague form of the towering man for a moment.

Almost at the same Time, Effie tossed her shield into the breach created by the blast. The shield tore through the air like a cannonball, colliding with the gaunt figure hidden in the hurricane of sand. That figure was the actual body of the Great Devil — of course, just like the giant projection he had used to fight them, it was also made of sand.

Effie's shield could not truly destroy or even damage it. But the dreadful power contained in her throw was so vast that it shattered the torso of the fiend, turning it into a cloud of sand for a split second.

Soon, the sand would be pulled back to rebuild the body of the abomination.

But not just yet.

Jet's icy eyes glinted with dark satisfaction.

«It seems I was right

There, in the chest of the Great Devil, revealed when his body broke apart…

A black human heart was revealed, hovering in the air like an amalgamation of countless curses.

The Heart of Kanakht.

If Kanakht was indeed a cursed king whose body had been cut apart and scattered to prevent him from coming back to life, then wouldn't the true core of his remnant, the Great Devil, be one of those body parts?

The wraith was just a manifestation of the sinister will that still dwelled in the vile heart, and the body of sand was just a shell to protect it.

Just like the mountain of bones had protected the corpse worm.

But now…

The Heart of Kanakht was stripped of its protection.

Before the Indestructible sand had a chance to coalesce back into the form of the gaunt man, Jet lunged forward with astonishing speed.

Her scythe flashed…

And cut the black heart apart.

The strike was swift and precise, almost surgical. However, a devastating shockwave thundered from the point where the mist blade pierced the heart, spreading in a wide cone and toppling a few buildings.

Jet staggered and pulled her scythe back, suddenly feeling utterly exhausted.

«Did it do it? It'd better have… otherwise, we'll be in deep trouble

The whirlwind slowly came to a halt.

The invisible hurricane died down.

Rivers of sand spilled to the ground, forming tall dunes.

The wails of tortured souls grew quiet, and then disappeared entirely.

Jet looked up, at the broken figure of the Great Devil's shell.

Its contours gradually blurred, and then, it crumbled like a sand castle.

The Spell whispered into her ear:

[You have slain a Great Devil, the Heart of Kanakht.]

[…You have received a Memory.]

Jet smiled and looked at the bleeding pieces of the black heart with contempt.

After a few moments, she shook her head and looked away.

You should have stayed in the safety of hell, fool. Why come to this dire and dangerous world?»

The battle wasn't over, still. There were still plenty of Nightmare Creatures in the city, and it would take some time for the government forces to slaughter them all. lіghtnоvelworld/cо~m. But with the most powerful Gate Guardians gone, the three Saints should be able to oversee the cleansing without too much problem.

Then, they would have to gather the survivors, treat the wounded, and transport all civilians away from the ruined city.

Work, work, work. There was no end to it. Jet could not remember the last time she had not been overworked… well, the Third Nightmare was a bit relaxing, in that regard.

Perhaps she would take such a vacation again, sometime in the future.

But first…

Jet absorbed the shattered soul of the Heart of Kanakht into her mist blade. At the same time, she took a deep breath, feeling a few soul fragments being pulled into her core. Making it a little bigger, and capable of containing a little more essence.

Her expression changed slightly.

«Walt, what is

There wasn't just one fragment, or even a few. A whole flood of them was suddenly pulled into her soul, too many to count.

Countless.

What the hell is this?!»

A long time later… The battle was over.

The Nightmare Creatures had been eradicated, and although the seven Gates still remained, barriers were built around them, with soldiers keeping watch in case more abominations arrived.

The city… was beyond saving. It was damaged too much, and too many people had died. The survivors were slowly emerging from the shelters, while the soldiers were searching the ruins for those who had not been lucky enough to find a way to safety.

Jet had no heart to look at the lost faces of the civilians, so she retreated to the top of an artificial hill, observing everything from a distance.

She had replenished her essence greatly after participating in the final cleansing. So, she was feeling alright.

Kal and Effie were sitting nearby, staring at the ruins with exhausted expressions.

After a while, Effie suddenly said:

«That was a bit scary, wasn't it?»

Kai stared at her silently for a while, and then shook his head.

«Scary… you know what was scary? Watching a titan fly across the sky like a balloon. Now that… that gave me a fright!»

Despite her fatigue, Jet smiled.

«Damn. I missed that… what a pity.»

Effie grinned.

«What's the problem? Next time, I'll throw a titan in your direction. You'll get the front row view!»

But then, the smile disappeared from her face. She sighed, lingered for a bit, and added wistfully:

«But, anyway. Battles like this one will only become more frequent in the future, won't they?»

Jet hesitated, then nodded simply.

«I guess.»

The huntress lowered her gaze.

All three of them remained silent for a while, not knowing what to say.

Despite the fact that today's battle had ended in triumph- and a historic one at that — none of the three seemed particularly joyous.

Instead, their faces were somber, and their eyes were harsh.

Eventually, Effie broke the silence.

«Well, whatever. Now, about that Memory you received… please, tell me it's a weapon!»

Jet gave her an odd look.

«Sorry. It's not a weapon. Actually, that Memory… it's a bit strange.»

Effie cursed, then leaned back in irritation and glared at the sky.

«What is it, then?»

Instead of answering, Jet simply extended a hand and summoned the Memory. Soon, a peculiar object appeared on her palm.

She raised an eyebrow, looking at it with a vexed expression, and said slowly:

It's an hourglass.»

Shadow Slave
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  1. Offline
    Pro100zver25
    Pro100zver25
    + 19 ⋅ 1 -
    1731: Slaying Blade.

    NQSC was still shivering in the embrace of winter, but the smell of spring was in the air. The deserted alleys of the outskirts were drowning in dirty snow and deep shadows, with no one to clean the former and no lights to dispel the latter. Many of the decrepit human hives stood empty, their tall walls forming lightless wells.

    The people who used to populate the hives had long abandoned the cradle of humanity for the vast and dreadful expanse of the Dream Realm.

    Sunny was leaning against a wall in one of the alleys. He was clad in the fearsome carapace of the Onyx Mantle, hiding his face behind a mask — not exactly a suitable attire for the waking world. His appearance would have probably frightened the mundane passersby, if there were any. Granted, he was standing in the shadows, so no mundane human could see him anyway.

    «Feels so strange. I can barely recognize the place.»

    The outskirts of today were too different from the overpopulated, suffocating slums where he had grown up. Times were changing, and NQSC was changing with them.

    Sunny had believed that the world was unchanging, once upon a time. The great upheavals of history — the decimating wars, the descent of the Nightmare Spell, the legendary achievements of the First Generation — had happened long before, reshaping the ways of humanity. But by the time he was born, everything seemed lasting and stable, and so, he simply took that stability for granted.

    It was a strange feeling, to realize that he was living in the very thick of history instead. Who knew that there had never been any stability, and that the reality he knew was fleeting like a mirage?

    He sighed and touched his mask briefly.

    The mask he wore was the Memory he had created, [Definitely Not Me]. Unlike Weaver's Mask, which resembled the ferocious face of a demon, this one was quite human, and entirely expressionless. With impenetrable darkness nestling in its eyes, the emotionless mask was quite eerie.

    It was also not as comfortable as Weaver's Mask, which hurt his craftsman's pride a little.

    He sighed.

    «That lazy guy in Bastion is really worthless.»

    Calling himself names was perhaps not very healthy, but certainly amusing.

    Sunny looked down.

    Many things were happening at the same time. Nephis had received the orders of the Clan Valor elders and was supposed to meet him today to relay their will. In the distant Song Domain, Rain had made her way to the roving camp of the road construction crew and was hired as a laborer. The guy in Bastion… truth be told, there was no time to be lazy.

    From playing the role of the Memory Purveyor for the Fire Keepers to preparing to forge a sword for Nephis, that incarnation of his was the busiest right now. Not to mention that he had to craft a few Memories for Rain in advance of her Awakening.

    The war was drawing closer, and time was running out.

    …Nephis, meanwhile, was running late.

    Sunny was growing bored. To dispel the boredom, he sent some essence into the Handy Bracelet and summoned the runes.

    He studied them for a while, went over his Memories, and finally settled his gaze on the list of his Shadows.

    Soon, the runes describing the Soul Serpent ignited in the darkness.

    Shadow: Soul Serpent.

    Shadow Rank: Transcendent.

    Shadow Class: Terror.

    Shadow Description:

    [When the end came, Shadow was the last of the gods to be destroyed. Many have resented him for creating death, but in the end, death embraced all.]

    His gaze lingered on the description.

    Sunny had read these runes for the first time a long, long time ago. Back then, it all seemed so strange and mysterious. Now, however… although he knew more about how Shadow God had created death and what it meant, the description of Soul Serpent still touched upon a great mystery.

    One of the last great mysteries that Sunny still could not solve.

    He knew how the war between the gods and the daemons had started, and why. But how did it end? How were the gods destroyed? What could have killed the creator of death?

    For now, there was no answer.

    Shaking his head a little, Sunny continued to read the runes.

    Shadow Attributes: [Shadow Guide], [Soul Weapon], [Soul Beast], [Spirit Guide], [Soul Companion].

    Three of the Attributes had been there before the first enhanced Sunny's essence control when Serpent was in its tattoo form, the second allowed Serpent to become a weapon, the third allowed it to assume the form of a beast.

    The [Spirit Guide] and the [Soul Companion] Attributes were new.

    He concentrated on them.

    Attribute: Spirit Guide.

    [Spirit Guide] Attribute Description:

    [Soul Serpent enhances the rate at which its master can absorb elemental essence.]

    Of course, both the name and the description of the Attribute had been written by Sunny himself, and were the result of his own observations and consideration. Actually, he did not know if this new power of Serpent's was a separate Attribute or an evolution of the [Shadow Guide]. However, there was an important distinction between the two that had made him divide the them.

    It was that the [Shadow Guide] only functioned when Serpent was in the form of a tattoo, while the [Spirit Guide] did not. Whether it was the tattoo, the Soul Weapon, or the Soul Beast forms, spirit essence at least that of shadows seemed more active around Serpent, and nourished Sunny's soul better.

    Perhaps there was something else to that Attribute, but he did not know. In any case, it was quite useful.

    The [Soul Companion] Attribute's name and description, likewise, included some guessing on Sunny's part. He had assumed that it was an evolution of the [Serpentine Steel] Ability at first, but eventually decided otherwise.

    Attribute: Soul Companion.

    [Soul Companion] Attribute Description:

    [Soul Serpent can fuse with its master's Shadow Shell, granting it some of its Abilities.]

    Sunny felt that he had not explored the depths of this Attribute yet, but what he did know was that just like Serpent could augment his body as a tattoo, it could also enhance his Shadow Shell. The Abilities that the Shell could channel were [Soul Reaver] and [Slaying Blade].

    And speaking of Abilities…

    He lingered for a while, then continued to read the runes.

    Shadow Abilities: [Serpentine Steel], [Soul Reaver], [Grace of Shadows], [Formless], [Mark of Shadows], [Slaying Blade].

    The first four Abilities were quite familiar to Sunny. The first allowed the Soul Weapon form of Serpent to assume the shape of any weapon, the second granted Sunny a portion of essence of those slain by its Soul Weapon or Soul Beast forms, the third allowed Sunny to bestow Serpent on someone else, and the fourth allowed Serpent to assume the forms of shadows dwelling in Sunny's soul.

    The fifth and the sixth Abilities were new.

    [Mark of Shadows]… was a peculiar Ability, and one Sunny knew the least about, since there was no good opportunity to experiment with it.

    Ability: Mark of Shadows.

    [Mark of Shadows] Ability Description:

    [Soul Serpent allows the Lord of Shadows to mark his vassals.]

    Sunny honestly did not know how it worked, exactly, so he had allowed himself a few liberties when composing that description. He had been able to find out that Serpent could… create lesser versions of itself, for lack of better word.

    Theoretically, Sunny could place a serpent tattoo on someone, after which a little soul snake would be born in their soul.

    What was that snake capable of? Was it a new being or a manifestation of Serpent? He wasn't sure. Sunny had tried to mark his Shadows, but since they did not really have normal souls, the Ability did not work. He had also tried to mark Rain, but nothing happened. He guessed that the soul needed to be at least Awakened to nourish and accommodate the little soul snake, and for the Mark of Shadows to take root.

    And since there were no other volunteers, his experiments had ended there… for now.

    All he could tell was that the [Mark of Shadows] was connected to the [Grace of Shadows], or maybe even an evolution of it. It was a way to share some benefits of being the master of Soul Serpent without parting with it entirely.

    And finally… there was the [Slaying Blade].

    The most mysterious of Serpent's Abilities.

    What was written in the runes had mostly come from Sunny's intuition, corroborated only slightly by careful observation. Something like that… was hard to observe.

    Ability: Slaying Blade.

    [Slaying Blade] Ability Description:

    [When in its Soul Weapon form, Soul Serpent embodies the Death aspect of Shadow God. As such, it ignores the will of greater beings.]

    Perhaps Sunny should have capitalized the word «will». Creatures of higher Ranks, such as the Corrupted Tyrant, Condemnation, had a way of bending the world to their will…

    And what was the foremost will of all living beings?

    The will to survive. The will to continue existing.

    Therefore, killing truly powerful beings was not simply a question of cutting them down. The killing intent of the murderer had to overpower their will to exist, as well. Without the tyrannical will to kill, the sharpest of blades would fail to cut their skin, and the most gruesome of wounds would fail to extinguish their lives.

    …Unless Soul Serpent was involved.

    From what Sunny could tell, when Serpent assumed its Soul Weapon form, it was as deadly to the greater beings as it was to mundane creatures. He did not have a very rich experience of slaying truly powerful abominations, so this statement was inconclusive… but, from what Sunny had seen, it was also undeniable.

    He wasn't sure how it worked, exactly — maybe his killing will was enhanced, maybe the will to exist of the enemy was weakened… or even completely ignored. In any case, he was certain that the Serpent's Soul Weapon form was unexplainably deadly.

    Which wasn't particularly useful to him, for now, since most of the enemies he fought did not possess that much of the Will.

    And yet, Sunny felt that as his power continued to grow, the caliber of the enemies he faced would also become increasingly inconceivable… and, therefore, the [Slaying Blade] would gain more and more importance in the future. Tremendously so.

    «If I live long enough to see that future.»

    As he thought that, there was a sound, and he sensed movement at the periphery of his shadow sense.

    Soon, a luxurious PTV awkwardly made its way through the snow and stopped some distance away from him. The passenger door opened, and a familiar figure climbed out of the vehicle, looking around with a deadpan expression.

    Sunny dismissed the runes and smiled behind the mask.

    Nephis had arrived.
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    1. Offline
      Kiber
      Kiber
      + 1 ⋅ 0 -
      1 глава?
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      1. Offline
        Lrb
        Lrb
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        FFFFFFFF
        F
        FFFF
        F
        F
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    2. Offline
      Аман Алинур
      Аман Алинур
      + 2 ⋅ 1 -
      👎🏻.
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    3. Offline
      Lrb
      Lrb
      + 1 ⋅ 0 -
      Acho que esse "atributo" da serpente de marcar os "vassalos" é a chave que Sunny precisa pra formar um domínio é quase literalmente igual a Envil só que envés de uma espada (algo físico) o dele é a serpente uma extensão do poder de Shadow e algo muito mais profundo que se liga na alma
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  2. Offline
    Kiber
    Kiber
    + 1 ⋅ 0 -
    Главы:(
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  3. Offline
    KingAbused
    KingAbused
    + 6 ⋅ 0 -
    May the skinwalker posses someone strong just imagine it

    possesed kai? (if skinwalker gains and can use vessels powers thatd be terrifying, using kais voice ability to manipulate them just to skinwalk posses them, antartica lo beast v2 basically)

    possesed effie? (charachter development for little ling)

    possesed jet? (terrifyng asf)

    looking forward to it, skinwalker been hella foreshadowed, some shit finna happen soon
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    1. Offline
      Knoxx_sama
      Knoxx_sama
      + 9 ⋅ 0 -
      Real
      But it's kinda abusrd 3 saints struggling agsinst a great devil

      My boy sunny taking care of three greats at once
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        Junior young
        Junior young
        + 0 ⋅ 0 -
        I agree
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  4. Offline
    Akarah
    Akarah
    + 15 ⋅ 0 -
    We’re seeing the gap between Sunny and the others saints rn, when they needed 3 of the strongest one of humanity sunny alone could have killed the great devil easier
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    1. Offline
      DanielPlay
      DanielPlay
      + 7 ⋅ 0 -
      Without a doubt, even because this great devil wasn't even that strong, I personally found him very weak. His only strength was the attack on the soul, the sand form was very weak and in just a few blows it was destroyed, easily leaving its core exposed.
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      1. Offline
        Lrb
        Lrb
        + 3 ⋅ 0 -
        Eu acho que o autor nerfou muito ele, antes era tido que criaturas do Grande pesadelo eram muito fortes e agora aparece um que de fato devia ser muito forte, mas foi derrotado igual um saco de bosta
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      ArMiks
      ArMiks
      + 11 ⋅ 0 -
      i found a simple and easy power chart on SS wiki:
      Rank
      1 Dormant
      2 Awakened
      3 Fallen / Ascended
      4 Corrupted / Transcendent
      5 Great / Supreme
      6 Cursed / Sacred
      7 Unholy / Divine

      Class
      1 Beast
      2 Monster
      3 Demon
      4 Devil
      5 Tyrant
      6 Terror
      7 Titan

      so basically, everyone else with one core would be a Transcendent Beast : 4x1
      while Sunny is a Transcendent Terror: 4x6
      and Nephis is a Transcendent Titan: 4x7

      kinda simple but it at least shows the literal chasm between those with multiple cores, and those with only a single one in a numerical scale. makes kinda sense, or nah?
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        Dummybaron
        Dummybaron
        + 8 ⋅ 0 -
        And did we all just forget that they can literaly multiply their power by 7-8 times at max, like seriously its not even funny, they can hold their ground fighting Great Tyrants or get away from Great Terror by themselves. They escaped Cursed Tyrant inside his Territory! Divine aspects are Divine and normal people better not mess around with them. Not mentioning that Sunny has litteral Soul Bounded Transendent 7th tier armor as his SKIN and Bones that are almost unbreakable AND ALL THIS CAN BE MULTIPLYED BY 2-7 AT ANY MOMENT.
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    Dummybaron
    Dummybaron
    + 16 ⋅ 1 -
    I want to share my thoughts(mostly unreasonable) about this vol.

    1. Sunny will lose something significant, I mean that everytime Sunny gains power ups he loses part of his weaponary at least temporary(No Snake in Antarctica & 3rd Nightmare). So I think that Sunny will lose one of his Shadows(like Echoes) but not [Onyx Saint](hard to explain why) or [Marvelous Mimic] cus it more of a tool than weapon.

    2. Sunny will encounter another Shadow creature and very powerfull one. I think so because: Shadow element nature, Fragments for Soul Core, and what can posses more threat to a Shadow Creature then stonger Shadow Creature? Idk I just want to see actual Shadow Creatures not resurected like [Nightmare] and not half Shadow like [Fiend](before Sunny killed [Fiend] it eated Shadow Creature and gained affinity to Shadows)I was wrong as Warlock748 said Fiend took bite of Sunny's flesh.

    3. You maybe didn't noticed it but every volume of Shadow Slave doesn't ends with happy ending rather "techenecaly good ending but at what cost" or they are forced to enter the Nightmare: 1st vol reached Dark City but we learn that you can't escape Forgotten Shore(I know we learned it in flashback in 2nd vol but let's forget about it ok?). 2nd escaped but half or more of those on Forgotten Shore is dead and Sunny is a slave. 3rd enter Nightmare under threat of being killed by Great Clan, because Mordret is free and Anvil doesn't like it. 4th Noctis is dead and that alone is bad ending. 5th Winter Beast... 6th can't escape desert + Skinwalker. 7th No Fate? No memories? No bit...
    And now when there is a lot of stuff going on, War, Weaver parts(that some type of Holy Corpse body parts from JJB part 7 shit), Skin Walker(I'm sure this guy will play a major part closer to the end), I'm afraid what is going to happen in this vol.

    Thx for reading all this very appreciate it, once again it is my thoughts/hopes and I just wanted to throw them somewhere.
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      Warlock748
      Warlock748
      + 7 ⋅ 0 -
      A correction Fiend didn't eat a shadow creature but he took bite of Sunnys flash
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      1. Offline
        Dummybaron
        Dummybaron
        + 1 ⋅ 0 -
        Oh yeah, I forgot about it thx
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      yumtumtum
      yumtumtum
      + 4 ⋅ 0 -
      this vol could end with neph finding out about sunny. and that he is someone she knows and feels betrayed by cassie. (sunny gave reasons for not telling nephis to cassie) and those reasons might come to bite sunny in the butt.
      the power level diff might be several things
      he is further down the path than them
      his abilities and bonuses are coming into effect, like the lantern
      the spell is nerfing everyone as operating tax
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      1. Offline
        Knoxx_sama
        Knoxx_sama
        + 5 ⋅ 1 -
        I don't think she'd be disappointed though

        Perhaps the romance might even get more intense..😈🤣
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      Knoxx_sama
      Knoxx_sama
      + 1 ⋅ 0 -
      Shett
      The author is a damn sadist 😹😹💔
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