Shadow Slave

”Wow.”

Rain was leaning on a glass wall, staring into the distance with an absent expression. She remained silent for a while, then let out a sigh and repeated herself:

”Wow...”

A second later, a frustrated voice resounded in her ear:

[What are you spacing out for, huh?!]

Rain glanced side to side, then fanned herself with a hand.

“No, but did you see him? The Lord of Hell. Wow.”

Sunny let out a stifled curse.

They were currently on the outer edges of Red Hill, just behind the city wall. Night had already fallen, and a silver moon was climbing the starlit sky. Countless lanterns ignited all across the glass city, their light glistening as it reflected from countless transparent walls. It was truly a gorgeous sight... but not the sight that had left Rain speechless.

The enormous wagons stood in front of transparent warehouses at the moment, being unloaded of their cargo. The guards were preparing to go on leave, while the Ascended merchant himself was at the head of the caravan, discussing something with the ruler of the city, Dar of the Maharana clan.

The Saint had descended from the height of the Citadel personally to receive a shipment of building materials meant to reinforce the seals in the tunnels beneath the city. Rain had only glimpsed him from a distance, but was left impressed nonetheless.

Her brother was full of indignation, though.

[What is there to see?]

Rain scoffed.

”What do you mean, what is there to see? His arms! Gods... they’re like tree trunks...” Rain was shocked when the enormous arrow vaporized the glass Nightmare Creature, but after seeing the archer, she could believe that it had traveled a thousand kilometers across the sky.

Saint Dar was imposingly tall, with shoulders so broad that they were like a mountain plateau. His skin was dark, while his luscious hair and thick beard were raven-black. His face possessed a rugged kind of handsomeness to it, as if carved from stone by a sculptor, while his eyes were stern and fierce.

His most striking feature, however, was his body. It seemed to have an entire geography to it, having been sculpted entirely out of flawlessly defined, adamantine muscle.

Rain was pretty sure that each of his powerful arms was as thick as her waist. She clicked her tongue in admiration.

”It’s insane!”

By then, her brother was already seething with outrage.

[Crazy? You know what’s mad? That this wannabe has the gall to call himself the Lord of Hell! What precisely has he done to deserve that title? A pathetic copycat is what he is!]

Rain finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and laughed.

”Well, he’s the ruler of the Glass Hell. I doubt that he came up with that nickname himself”

Saint Dar had been a soldier of the Song Army during the war, but now ruled a Citadel east of Godgrave. That went to show that there were no artificial divisions in the Human Domain anymore.

In any case, Rain wasn’t really that interested in the local ruler... even if he was truly an impressive specimen... but more so in teasing her brother while waiting for the caravan guards. Some of them had already gone to town to collect news, while the rest were planning to find a local tavern and relax after the long and deadly journey.

”Rani!”

Just then, Pill called out to her, signaling that they were ready to depart.

Soon enough, Rain found herself in a cheap tavern, sampling local cuisine and cooling herself down with refreshingly cold ale. The fact that the floor of the tavern was transparent, revealing the web of tunnels stretching into the unfathomable darkness of the depths, was a little unnerving... but the food was delicious.

”To Rani!”

”Rani!”

The guards were busy celebrating her contribution to their safe arrival at Red Hill. She smiled and raised her glass, giving them a little bow.

“That’s me! If you’re so grateful... the bill is on you.”

They laughed.

Just then, the scouts they had sent into the city returned. The guards pushed tankards of ale toward the newcomers and then stared at them expectantly.

The scouts quenched their thirst.

”It’s true”

One of them shook his head in bewilderment.

”There is indeed a new Supreme by the name of Asterion... well, I am not sure if we can call him new. In fact, he was a member of Broken Sword’s cohort and among the first Saints of humanity. He opened a Dream Gate in NQSC and came to Bastion a few days back. Lady Changing Star even lowered the Ivory Island to the surface of the lake to welcome him... now, he apparently resides in an abandoned church on the outskirts of the city — the one near the city gates.”

Pill raised his eyebrow with a dubious expression on his face.

”So this imaginary Sovereign is real, after all? Bah! So where was the bastard during the war? Hiding in the bushes? Or did he conquer the Fourth Nightmare just last week?”

He laughed and shook his head with a derisive expression.

The other guard shrugged.

“That’s the thing. According to rumors, he became Supreme with Queen Song and the King of Swords — when they challenged the Fourth Nightmare during the Chain of Nightmares. But those two turned on him as soon as the Nightmare was conquered and imprisoned him in a magical array. The array slowly deteriorated after their deaths, and he finally broke free.”

Pill still seemed suspicious. There was a disdainful expression on his face, at least. He remained silent for a while, then asked

somberly:

“So what is that Sovereign about, anyway? What does he want?”

Rain was getting the feeling that her former colleague was not fond of any Sovereigns who were not Nephis of the Immortal Flame clan.

And who could blame him? Supremes did not have a particularly good track record with humanity. Two had began a bloody civil war, while the third was a sinister recluse who supposedly liked to kidnap people. The Lord of Shadows, meanwhile, was believed to have turned on Changing Star in an attempt to usurp all the power for himself and died by her blade.

‘Power truly corrupts’

Rain focused on her meal.

The scout, meanwhile, finished his ale and shrugged.

“He seems... alright? Sane and reasonable, that is what people say — apparently, he

wants to help. He was like an uncle to our lady when she was a child, anyway.”

Pill scoffed.

“So was Anvil of Valor”

His tone was dark.

The lively atmosphere around the table suddenly turned somber. The guards remained silent for a long while — but eventually, one of them spoke in a hesitant tone.

“Still. What if he really is like they say? Just imagine what having another righteous Supreme would mean for us. For all humans.”

The other guards did not answer, but Rain could see that their eyes ignited with hope and wistfulness.

The guard who had brought the news even allowed himself a hopeful smile.

“We’ll know for sure in a day or two. Lady Changing Star is set to make an announcement.”

The conversation turned away from the new Supreme after that.

The wagons had to be repaired, and the damaged Echo needed time to restore itself, so the caravan ended up lingering in Red Hill for an additional day. Rain used that time to explore the city and take in its many peculiarities.

Eventually, however, it was time for the caravan to leave, and for her to enter the Citadel and use its Gateway to travel to NQSC. From there, she would walk through the Dream Gate with the latest group of settlers and return to Bastion.

Before departing, Rain found Pill to say goodbye.

He seemed regretful.

”It was nice to see you again, Rani. It’s a shame that you have to go... where are you headed, anyway?”

She shrugged.

“I’m returning to Bastion. I have some work lined up there.”

Rain hesitated for a moment, then smiled and slapped the older man on the shoulder. “That’s where that imaginary Sovereign resides now, as well. Who knows? I might even see the bastard with my own two eyes.”

She was joking, naturally. She was planning to stay as far away from the man called Asterion as possible, and her brother seemed hellbent on preventing the two of them from meeting at all costs.

Rain expected Pill to chuckle, or at least smile...

However, his reaction was a little strange. Instead of giving the caravan’s running joke a lighthearted sendoff, he regarded Rain with an unamused scowl.

In fact, his expression was downright disapproving.

She raised an eyebrow.

“What’s wrong?”

Pill studied her silently for a few seconds, then sighed and glanced away.

His voice sounded even:

”I am saying this as a friend, Rani... but you might want to watch your tone. That is no way to speak about a Supreme. Especially not about Lord Asterion.”

With that, he patted her on the shoulder and walked away.

Rain remained standing motionlessly, deeply disturbed.

A cold shiver ran down her spine.

‘What the hell just happened?’

She stared at Pill’s back for a while, then frowned and turned toward the distant Citadel.