Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2714

"This is a first."

Standing on the ruins of the Palace Island, Nephis gazed at the huge, motionless figure of the Flesh of Kanakht. She had released her Transcended form, becoming human again — her eyes were dim and tired, the white flames that had burned in them long extinguished. However, the fire dancing on the rubble still reflected in their beautiful grey depths, so there was little difference from how they had shone before. The Great Titan... was asleep.

It lay on the bed of ash and molten lava, lulled into deep slumber. Sunny and Nephis stood some distance away, surrounded by their companions. They had poured everything they had into destroying the titanic Nightmare Creature, but it was all for naught.

Finally, after utterly exhausting themselves, they stopped.

Nephis turned and glanced at Sunny.

"I have never met an Nightmare Creature whom I could defeat, but not kill"

Sunny stared at the slumbering Titan with a peculiar expression.

"Yeah... indeed."

His mind was still reeling in the aftermath of the calamitous confrontation. The siege of the Eternal City, the mad rush to the Palace Island, the stand against the Dutchman and its wraith armada, and finally the battle against the Flesh of Kanakht... all of it had happened so recently and so rapidly, in quick succession.

So, he was failing to fully acknowledge both what had happened and that it was all but over.

"I don't think I've ever been in this situation, either."

It was preposterous, really. Usually, a battle ended when the enemy was dead — killing the enemy was synonymous with achieving victory. One could win a bloodless victory, of course, but defeating a Abomination and still failing to kill it was a bizarre novelty.

Sunny regarded the Flesh of Kanakht silently.

The thing was still alive.

It had been captured by the Dream Curse, but even now that Nightmare was a Supreme Terror, the maze of harrowing dreams was not going to hold a Great Titan indefinitely... or even for long.

The ghastly Nightmare Creature was going to shake off its slumber eventually.

"So what do we do with it now?"

Nephis hesitated for a few seconds, then glanced into the distance.

The distance... was not that far anymore. The barrier surrounding the Eternal City was failing. In fact, the rate of its destruction had been increasing exponentially — by now, a dozen hexagons composing the invisible dome blinked out of existence every moment, unleashing roaring waterfalls of dark water.

The outer ring of the ruin had already been swallowed by water, so now, it seemed as if a black wall was closing in on the Palace Island from all sides, erasing the world as it drew closer and closer. The inner ring was half-gone, too, and there were even several hexagonal pillars falling into the turbulent lake.

Nephis let out a quiet sigh.

"Do we need to do anything?"

She remained silent for a moment.

"The terrible weight of the Stormsea will soon descend upon the sleeping Titan. Even if the Abomination survives the pressure, it will most likely be immobilized. And even if it retains the ability to move despite carrying the entire Stormsea on its shoulders, it might not ever find human Citadels scattered in the waters far east of here. If it does, decades would have passed — the sea is vast, after all. Decades later, we will either be strong enough to vanquish it once and for all... or dead."

Sunny glanced at her incredulously.

"So are you suggesting we just... leave it?"

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