Shadow Slave: Eternal Madness

Raphael looked around him and sighed.

Hundreds of cut, crushed, and torn bodies littered the broken asphalt of the mountain road. Blood flowed down the hill, pooling into crimson puddles at its base. The carcasses of the Fallen abominations towered above the corpses of their lesser ilk like mounds of rotten meat.

Raphael retrieved his great sword from one of the Fallen abominations and approached Sunny.

Sunny looked at Raphael and smiled.

"Good job there. Without you, it could've been ten times harder."

"I just did what I was ordered to do."

Sunny sighed and turned to the cohort.

"Luster, go inform the Army Command that the road is secured, then bring the Rhino to the crest and park it on the slope. The rest of you, rest while you can. Oh… and also, good work."

The members of the cohort exchanged glances, lively smiles spreading across their tired faces.

"We did alright, didn't we?"

With that, they walked away from the mass of mangled bodies and sprawled on the ground, steam rising from their blood-covered armor into the cold air. Soon, the Rhino arrived, its headlights painting a much more morbid picture of the recent battleground. The soldiers rested and recovered their essence. Since no one was seriously injured, Quentin wasn't in a hurry to tend to the wounded.

No one stood guard either, as Sunny's shadows could fulfill that role better than any human.

Everything seemed peaceful and safe… but Sunny was not fooled.

Down in the valley, the ugly rift in the fabric of reality still pulsed with eerie darkness, silently calling to him. The Gate remained open. Although they had defeated the initial wave of Nightmare Creatures that had emerged from it, more could arrive at any moment.

The first wave was usually the most dangerous, but not always. It typically consisted of the abominations that had been closest to the Seed of Nightmare when it bloomed. However, as long as the Gate remained open, more monsters could wander through it into the real world.

After an hour, Raphael heard a low rumbling growing closer, with subtle vibrations spreading through the surface of the broken road.

He turned toward the source of the sound as a long column of army vehicles climbed the slope.

Soon, towering war platforms reached the crest of the hill where the Rhino was parked, lingered for a moment, and then continued down into the valley. The army vehicles and mechanized infantry arrived next, accompanied by a good number of Awakened.

One of them stopped near the cohort's resting spot and glanced at the carnage below. His face paled.

The man remained silent for a while, then glanced at Belle, who was relaxing on a boulder nearby.

"You… you guys killed all these abominations by yourselves?"

The swordsman simply smiled.

"Sure did."

The Awakened stared at him incredulously.

"But there are hundreds of them!"

Belle blinked a couple of times, then shrugged.

"So? We're Irregulars."

The soldier opened his mouth, then closed it, then opened it again.

Belle, meanwhile, thought for a moment and added:

"Ah, don't be too impressed. Our captain and vice-captain probably killed most of them. We just stayed back and tried to make ourselves useful."

The Awakened soldier was clearly impressed. He looked at the swordsman with begrudging respect, remained silent for a few moments, and asked:

"...Who are your captains?"

Belle suddenly laughed.

"Our captains? They're the Devil and his Harbinger! The Devil himself..."

"Gather up!"

Hearing Sunny's voice, Raphael rose from the stone he was sitting on and walked toward him.

As the cohort assembled around Sunny, he pointed to the glimmering crystals.

"Those with unsaturated cores, share the soul shards among yourselves and absorb them. We have ten minutes to get ready to move out. Our next task is to support the assault on the flank of the abominations making a ruckus on the other side of the mountain. Only Dormant Abilities and passive enchantments this time, so don't get too rowdy. Once the threat is eliminated, we can get some sleep. Understood?"

There were no questions. Ten minutes later, the Rhino joined the column of army vehicles and rolled forward in the direction where flashes of light and explosions raged.

The flanking battalion passed the small valley, climbed high up the mountain slope, then crested a narrow pass to behold a massive battle below.

Around two thousand Nightmare Creatures were pressing down on the defensive line of a well-organized human force. The soldiers weren't in a hurry to attack and focused on keeping the abominations at bay. Explosive shells, slugs unleashed by towering war platforms, mechanized infantry fire, and several hundred Awakened worked in tandem to contain the raging horde.

Just looking at the battlefield gave Raphael a splitting headache.

'Why did I come here again?'

He shook his head and sighed.

At this distance, the six Nightmare Gates that had disgorged the horde were already whispering in his ears.

If the six gates weren't bad enough, another Gate opened directly behind the army, trapping them in an encirclement.

"Captain… do you accept resignation letters?"

"I'm not in the mood for jokes, Gehrman."

'…but I'm not joking.'

"Gehrman, you see that gate there behind the army? That's your goal."

"Yes, Captain."

Raphael didn't waste time. Summoning his wings, he flew toward the gate.

As he approached, he saw its Guardian. Without hesitation, he descended swiftly, reaching it before it noticed him.

Raising his great sword, Raphael crushed its head with a single blow.

As he pulled his weapon free, he noticed abominations converging on him.

Raphael sighed and activated one of his armor's enchantments.

Attribute Trait: [Berserker].

Attribute Trait Description: [The more blood you shed, the stronger you become.]

Raphael charged at the abominations, cutting and crushing them with his great sword.

Each kill made him stronger, but the sheer number of enemies seemed endless.

To his left, he heard the sound of hooves pounding against the ground.

A black horse trampled through the abominations, crushing them underfoot and tearing them apart with fangs.

Its rider, clad in intricate onyx armor, wielded an air of menace.

Raphael recognized them immediately: Nightmare and Saint.

Continuing his slaughter, Raphael fought his way toward them.

"Did your master send you here to help me?"

There was no response, only the sound of Nightmare sneering at him.

"Yeah, figured."

The battle raged on for another hour. Together, Raphael, Saint, and Nightmare exterminated all the abominations in the area.

The next day, rumors of the unknown warrior and Mongrel spread like wildfire.

———————————————————

So as you guessed this chapter I copied a lot like really a lot. And I think this whole volume will be the same, will at least until the end of this volume were a lot of things will change.

Please have patience, believe me V4 will be a masterpiece full of plot twists and revelations for the lore of this story.

See you tomorrow👋