Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2544

“Where did he... go?"

Effie's tone changed halfway through the sentence as she realized the pointlessness of her question.

The answer was obvious.

“Into the bastard's personal Mirror Realm," Sunny gritted his teeth.

Of course...

He had known about Mordret's Ascended Ability for a long time. It allowed the Prince of Nothing to establish a physical space in the realm of reflections and store objects in it... as well as his morbid collection of vessels.

But that was not all he could place into his minor Domain.

He could pull people into the Mirror Realm, too.

Sunny had been drawn into it once himself, in Twilight. He remembered it vividly — the vast and somber expanse, a grey sky covered by stormy clouds, white mist swirling around his feet, and a radiant sphere shining like a pale sun above, its rays falling like silver pillars through the veil of clouds.

Mordret's Mirror Realm was a reflection of his Soul Sea... at least it had been when he was a Master. Now that he was a Saint, his personal Mirror Realm would have evolved into a minor Domain and come to resemble that of Soul Stealer, most likely.

He glanced at Mordret with a hint of dark resentment in his eyes. Mordret chuckled. "Yes, indeed. Back when I needed to hide him, all those years back, I was merely Awakened. I did not have such a convenient power yet... but I do now. Is there a better place to hide my Flaw than my own Soul Sea? Where would he ever be safer? Nowhere... as long as I keep him imprisoned in my soul, I will always be able to keep an eye on him. So, I had to retrieve him from the Palace of Imagination before the Dreamspawn did it for me."

He sighed.

“Of course, various obstacles got in the way. I did not expect Morgan to be here and poison the pathetic worm’s illusion with her bloodlust. I did not expect such an elaborate illusion to exist, either... this place had been quite different when I visited last, you see. Most of all, I did not expect to be stripped of my Aspect and be hunted down by the Castellan like a rat. That was quite a troublesome development, to say the least." A pale smile appeared on Mordret's lips. “Ah, but I endured and persevered. You suspected me of being the Nihilist, Sunless, but of course, I did not kill those people. Which is not to say... that I didn't kill other people."

He laughed.

"It's just I would never be so careless as to leave bodies lying around. I planned to dispose of them using the drainage collectors at first, but what would you know? There was no need. My victims, unlike those of the Nihilist, simply disappeared like mist.”

Mordret inhaled deeply and glanced at the harrowing vista of the drowned city with regret.

"Such a waste... ah, but no matter. I managed to survive the pursuit of the Castellan and even recover some of my power — not enough to unlock my Ascended Ability, sadly, and not nearly enough to take the axis of this entire world and get out alive. With all my spare attires destroyed, I needed someone who possessed a role in this bizarre world to do it for me — to get me close to my Flaw, at the right moment. You have my gratitude for that, Sunless."

He shrugged.

“Oh, and for bringing me all these mercenaries on a silver platter. With their lives and that of Madoc, I finally managed to regain access to my Mirror Realm. So... this is where we say goodbye, I guess."

Sunny smiled crookedly.

“What a polite farewell. Something tells me that this is not how you were planning to part with us, though... you were probably planning to kill us first before leaving to turn the tables and hunt down the Castellan like a rat, instead. However, you failed to anticipate one thing, didn't you?"

He glanced at Mordret with a chilling darkness nestling in his eyes.

“You failed to anticipate Saint."

Saint moved slightly at that moment, looking at Mordret with cold, frightening indifference.

His smile faltered for a split second.

"Why, yes. I loathe to admit it, but I really did not anticipate that your gorgeous companion would turn out to be one of Nether's children. What an ill-fated coincidence... or possibly a fortuitous one, who's to say? Ah, but you are wrong, Sunless."

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