Shadow Slave

The King of Nothing was preparing, too. Only, unlike Cassie, he wasn’t drawing runes on the black stone. Instead, he was simply bringing some of his vessels to the Ebony Island.

Looking at them, Rain could not help but feel her stomach churn.

‘Creepy, creepy, creepy…’

Mordret of Nowhere seemed like the most inhuman of the Sovereigns for more than one reason. It was not just that his soul was split among millions of vessels… it was also that most of those vessels were not human. Instead, they were Nightmare Creatures. The Chained Island bordered the Hollow Mountains in the north and the Glass Hell in the west, so it was an important confluence point for the King of Nothing. It was also a gate leading south, across the regions of the Dream Realm conquered by the King of Swords decades ago, and over the Black Mountains, where the heartland of the Dream Realm lay.

So, there was always a constant procession of ghastly abominations passing through the Ebony Island. Some came from the Hollow Mountains, while some came from Godgrave — the latter especially gave Rain chills, because she still vividly remembered watching too many of her comrades being torn apart and devoured by the hideous creatures of the scarlet jungle.

The nightmarish vessels of the King of Nothing came to Chained Island through one of the Mirror Gates and left through another, traveling toward the Black Mountains, where a fierce battle was raging across countless peaks. They had rarely lingered before, but now, things were different.

As Rain watched, a colossal abomination that resembled a hideous tick dragged its swollen belly across the ash, numerous revolting shapes moving beneath its gray skin in a nauseating pattern. Reaching the edge of the island, it turned to face the Ebony tower and fell to the ground heavily, burrowing all eight of its segmented legs deep into the obsidian bedrock.

A swarm of eerie, transparent abominations — Rain recognized them as the crystalline insects from the Glass Hell — followed, carrying heavy plates of forged metal. Moving with flawless precision, they began constructing an iron cradle around the gargantuan tick, as if wanting to protect it from threats coming from neighboring islands.

Looking at it, Rain couldn’t help but feel like she was watching a squad of army engineers build fortifications around a fixed artillery position.

On the other side of the island, something that looked like a hill of long black hair was laying on the ground. There was a ghastly abomination hidden under the mountains of black hair, though — a thing that looked like a hybrid between a spider and an ape, its long limbs ending with enormous hands.

A crowd of mundane humans was dismantling an ancient ruin near the monstrosity, all wearing the same absent expression. Dozens of them strained to move each enormous block of obsidian, piling them near the abomination.

To Rain, it looked like soldiers preparing projectile ammunition for an enormous trebuchet.

Some distance away, a swarm of Nightmare Creatures that resembled crystal wasps was spilling over the edge of the island like a glass river. They crawled down its inverted slopes and hid on its dark side, far away from where anyone could see them.

They were stealth aircraft deploying to protect the island from aerial attacks from the Sky Below.

Somewhere else, a dozen horned beasts were pulling a massive shape covered in black fabric across the obsidian. Rain was almost sure that it was meant to serve as an air defence battery.

Things like that were happening all across the Ebony Island.

…In a few areas, groups of small abominations were planting scarlet seeds into the ash. The same was happening on all islands surrounding the Ebony Tower.

‘Crazy bastard. Is he creating mine fields out of the scarlet jungle?’

Rain was suddenly covered in cold sweat. That loathsome jungle was only contained by the incinerating skies above Godgrave. What was going to happen if someone brought it away from that white abyss? Would it consume all of the Dream Realm like an unstoppable tide?

She shivered.

‘Well… probably not.’

After all, the scarlet jungle had existed for thousands of years, but never moved past the arm bones of the dead god.

So, perhaps the King of Nothing knew what he was doing, after all.

“Rain. Stop staring at those things.”

Rain flinched again and hurriedly looked back at the runes.

She hesitated for a few moments, and then sighed.

“The one in the basement is nice. The other one, though… is a bit of a horror show.”

Cassie smiled.

“He can hear you, you know?”

Rain coughed, then shrugged nonchalantly.

“Well… if he has manners, he’ll pretend that he didn’t!”

Cassie shook her head slightly and focused on drawing the runes.

After a while, though, she said quietly:

“It was north of here, many years ago. When I first met Mordret.”

Her hand grew still, and she turned her head to face north, as if trying to see something in the distance.

“Now that… that was a horror show. It all ended with a battle between two Saints. One of them died, and as a result of their clash, an entire island was destroyed. That is why there is only one Citadel on the Chained Isles now, not two.”

With that, Cassie continued working on the defensive array and said somberly:

“I wonder what will happen when two Supremes clash here, instead…”

Rain did not know how to answer.

At the same time, inside the Ebony Tower, Mordret was leaning on a wall with his eyes closed. He was breaking the blockade on the River of Tears…

At the same time, he was encircling Ravenheart. At the same time, he was battling vicious predators in Godgrave. At the same time, he was invading the great Hive under the Glass Hell. At the same time, he was waging war on humanity in the Black Mountains.

And much more.

He was watching Song of the Fallen and the Princess of Shadows, too.

“…Well, if he has manners, he’ll pretend that he didn’t!”

Still keeping his eyes closed, Mordret smiled.

“Cheeky girl.”

Finally opening them, he looked at the divine flames burning in the great brazier at the center of the dark hall.

The white flames reflected in his mirror-like eyes, and for a few moments, it was as if white sparks were dancing in them.

With a sigh, Mordret looked away from the flame and descended the stairs to the ground floor of the Ebony Tower.

Then, he descended deeper, underground. Walking to the large mirror standing in the circular chamber, he looked at the reflection of himself sitting there on the floor.

Mordret studied his other self for a while and then smiled.

“Made a little friend, did you?”

After a short pause, the part of him that was imprisoned in the mirror smiled.

“I did. Then again, I doubt I would have been able to befriend anyone unless you allowed it… so, thank you, brother.’

Mordret scoffed.

“It’s just that I know how boring it is, being trapped in a mirror. You at least got a whole miniature realm to enjoy and explore, complete with windows to the outside world. All I had gotten was a stone cell. Look… compared to our father, am I not generous? Am I not merciful?”

The other part of him remained silent, then shrugged slightly.

“I couldn’t say. I never really had the opportunity to get to know him, after all. From what I hear, though, anyone would seem generous and merciful compared to our father.”

Mordret laughed.

“That is true, as well…”