Shadow Slave

The Underworld and its eternal darkness were terrifying... but they were not nearly as terrifying as the endless expanse of white mist above the mountains.

And yet, Shadow disliked the Underworld much more.

The white mist robbed him of his senses and quietly eroded the very foundations of his existence. True darkness merely robbed him of his senses, so in theory, Shadow should have felt better once he and Snuggle escaped the white mist and dove into the depths of the Underworld. But in practice, it was quite the opposite.

Shadow felt deeply uncomfortable.

Maybe it was because the mist was a natural force — a literal manifestation of absolute absence — while true darkness felt... alive. Not only did it feel like a living being, but like a being that was a natural predator of shadows.

Shadow felt like he marched into the belly of a hungry beast of his own volition.

”What... is up... with this creepy place?”

Snuggle’s squeaky voice broke the silence, and a moment later, her small figure ignited with a brilliant radiance, chasing away the darkness.

Even if her light only illuminated a small area — far smaller than it usually did — Shadow immediately felt a little better.

He lingered for a moment, then glanced at a radiant doll who stood on his shoulder.

”This is the Underworld, where elemental darkness dwells. Most people have never encountered it, so they mistake shadows, which are the absence of light, for true darkness. However, true darkness is not an absence — it is a presence. It is an element opposite to light, and therefore an enemy of shadows.”

Snuggle scratched her head.

”Ah, I remember. It was born from the blood of a Void Being. No wonder it’s so creepy.”

She hesitated for a moment before asking:

“So, what kind of dangers can we expect to meet in the Underworld?”

Shadow had to consider his response for some time.

Indeed, what kind of creatures populated the Underworld in this era?

The Stone Saints would only be created many centuries later, so there was no civilization in the Underworld at the moment. Nether might have explored this dark realm already, but had he claimed it as his own?

Shadow was not sure. He couldn’t quite remember when the Demon of Destiny was supposed to have a falling out with Storm God, go to war with her realm, and then retreat into the Underworld to sulk in solitude. Even if their spat had already happened, the Underworld was vast. Chances were, they would not encounter Nether.

That only left the original inhabitants of the Realm of Darkness.

He sighed.

“There are probably some Creatures of Corruption hiding in the darkness. There are probably Creatures of Darkness here, as well. The former are quite dangerous, while the latter... are not necessarily hostile, but will undoubtedly try to kill the two of us in particular.”

Snuggle turned to him in dismay.

“What? Why us in particular?”

Shadow gave her a sideways glance.

”You’re a walking lamp, and I’m a shadow. There are two kinds of beings that Creatures of Darkness will attack on sight, and we’re both. Do you really need to ask?”

Snuggle tilted her head.

Currently, they were standing in a cave that wasn’t that different from the one Shadow had inhabited for countless years — apart from being filled with true darkness, of course. Further away, the walls of the cave narrowed into a natural passage that was only wide enough for one person to walk through, as long as their shoulders weren’t too wide.

Shadow did not really want to push through that narrow passage, but he had no choice. Letting out a sigh, he walked forward.

This time, he had entered the Underworld from the bottom of a deep gorge, at least, as opposed to from the peak of a hollow mountain. So, they were going to reach the middle stratum of the dark realm directly, perhaps even the lowest stratum, without having to descend from great heights.

“How are we going to survive all those terrible creatures, though?”

Snuggle did not sound very confident.

”I mean... don’t get me wrong! Even if Noctis is not here, I can still fight off plenty of abominations! But I am only a Transcendent, after all. More than that, I’ve only been a Transcendent for a few years... so if something truly ghastly attacks us, we’d better run!”

Shadow smiled.

”Don’t worry. I know this place like the back of my hand. Even if my powers are suppressed by true darkness, I’ll still be able to run.”

He wasn’t lying. There were many ways for Shadow to traverse the Underworld — he could transform himself into a creature full of light, for example. However, he hoped that there would be no need for that.

He indeed knew the Underworld well, including how to get to where they were going while avoiding the most hazardous places. That was because among his myriad lives, there had been lives spent in this eerie darkness, as well.

In Shadow’s mind, there were scattered fragments of memories that belonged to one of Nether’s children — one of his favorite creations, at that, who had eventually become known as the Prince of Darkness.

As one of the Princes of the Underworld, the Prince of Darkness had been a member of the first generation of his people — those like him had been created by the Demon of Destiny himself, as opposed to being born from unions among the Stone Saints. Therefore, he had witnessed the Underworld as it had been before the Stone Saint civilization blossomed in its depths. Even if Shadow remembered only fragments of that life now, it was still enough to build a detailed map of the Underworld in his mind.

He knew all the paths and treacherous depths. He knew which parts of the great rivers could be navigated, and which were no different from a death sentence. He knew where their tributaries flowed, and how to reach them.

Most of all, he knew how to reach the Abyss while avoiding the truly dreadful Creatures of Corruption who dwelled in the darkness. By the time Stone Saints spread across the Underworld, most of those abominations were long gone, having been slain by Nether — but the stories of his countless battles were like myths to his children, the battlefields treated as sacred sites.

By knowing where those sacred sites would one day be in the future, Shadow could infer where the powerful Creatures of Corruption dwelled at the moment.

And whatever he did not remember or had never known could be made up for by his mystical intuition.

If not...

Shadow gazed into the impenetrable darkness with a calm expression.

If he failed to avoid danger, he would destroy danger.

So what if true darkness was a natural predator of shadows? He was not powerless in its embrace, either. A true shadow was never powerless, because it was shapeless. A shapeless being could take any shape it needed, and kill any enemy it wanted. Predator, prey... both were the same in the face of death.

It was just that Shadow had promised not to kill anything.

Feeling his chest and back scrape against the walls of the narrow passage, he sighed.

‘I guess I can let those things escape alive...’

Soon, the passage widened. Not long after that, they entered an unfathomably large cavern.

Snuggle’s light did not reach far, and Shadow’s senses were suppressed by true darkness. So, neither of them could tell just how vast the cavern was — however, both of them felt that it could swallow entire kingdoms, or maybe even mortal realms. Snuggle suddenly seemed hesitant.

“Hey, Shadow... just how big is the Underworld?”

He shrugged. When his shoulder moved, the little doll had to spin her arms in the air to keep her balance, then quickly grabbed his ear for support.

Shadow grimaced.

“The Underworld is truly immense. There is a reason why the Hollow Mountains can be entered from so many mortal realms, after all — they stretch far and wide, and therefore, the Underworld does too. It might even be bigger than some of the Divine Realms.”

Snuggle coughed.

”And your powers are suppressed here, right? So, what... are we going to just walk to the Abyss? How far is that? And how long will it take us to get there on foot... won’t our feet fall off?!”

Shadow spared her an amused glance.

“First of all... am I not the only one who does the walking? For someone who lazes about on my shoulder, you sure have a lot of complaints.”

Continuing forward, he shook his head.

”And no, we are not going to walk all the way to our destination. There is a much faster way. Hopefully, we can finish this journey in a few weeks... a month or two, at most.”

Just as he said that, a distant sound reached them — it was the murmur of flowing water. Not long after that, they reached the shore of a small river.

In the soft radiance emanating from Snuggle, silver reflections danced on its surface. The water was cold and deep, its depths as dark as the world beyond the small circle of light.

Shadow remained motionless for a few moments, then sighed and manifested the few shadows sheltered by the light into the shape of a simple gondola. Stepping into it, he put Snuggle down on the forward bench and picked up the oar.

Then, he leaned down and pushed their modest boat off the shore.

As the slow current pulled it into the darkness, Shadow straightened and inhaled deeply.

The end of their journey felt so close.