Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2675

There was a vast expanse of open water between the various districts of the Eternal City and its heart, where the Palace towered like a dark mass of sharp, interconnected spires. It was both radiant and ominous, tapering to a sharp point — the highest of the spires was like a narrow spearhead thrust into the black sky, its soaring form outlined by silver light.

It glanced very much like the nexus of a celestial city that used to drift in the vacuous vastness of space.

Now that the Night Garden had escaped into the circular lake surrounding the Palace, its pursuers were falling behind. The Shadow Legion received a precious second of respite.

Sunny, Jet, Nightwalker, and Aether spent a few moments beholding the dark majesty of the Eternal Palace in silence.

“T'll be damned."

Nightwalker exhaled slowly.

"Well... more damned, I mean.”

Sunny could not help but smile.

“Have you been inside before?"

Nightwalker shook his head.

"Gods, no. I've never made it this far. The closer you come to the Palace, the more of those bastards wander the streets, and the more powerful they are... and while I am just as immortal as they are, I still had to be careful. After all, | wouldn't want to end up becoming a host to the Flesh of Kanakht myself.’

Sunny nodded slowly and glanced back at the dark edifice of the Palace.

He considered the situation for a moment. They were currently south of it, separated by its looming mass from the fierce battle between the Dutchman and the detestable immortals in the north. Judging by the distant clamor, the Night Garden had reached the heart of the Eternal City first... but not by much. The wraith army was most likely only an island or two away from making its way to the Palace.

And judging by the eerie silence in the east, the mysterious third contender was not too far away, either.

‘Quite vexing!

Sunny had to make a decision, and the decision he had to make was shrouded in peril and uncertainty. There were numerous things that he only vaguely understood, and some that he did not know at all. Therefore, any choice he made could only be partially sound, at best.

To start, he did not know the identity of the third contender. Sunny could commit significant forces to facing that enemy... but killing it was meaningless, since the Eternal City would just return the Nightmare Creature to life. So, it had to be restrained, just like the fallen immortals had been.

Subduing those abhorrent fiends had already been difficult enough, though, and the thing approaching the Palace from the east — whatever it was — seemed far more terrible than they were.

Then, there was the Dutchman and its wraith army. Killing them was difficult as truly destroying his shades, which nothing had managed to achieve so far. Jet, at least, seemed to have the ability to slay the ghost instead of sending them back into the maw of the Well of Souls... or whatever that horror was truly called. But would they stay dead, or would they be revived by the Eternal City as well?

Sunny did not know, but suspected that the wraiths would not be affected by the sorcery of this sunken hell, staying destroyed forever. That was because they were not living things, to begin with... What about Sunny and Jet, then?

His expression stiffened.

There were the corrupted immortals themselves to contend against, as well. In fact, at the moment, something unprecedented was happening in the Eternal City. Its dwellers, which had always been scattered across its vast expanse, were now all concentrated in the immediate area around the Palace.

Sunny had brought every Abomination from the southern reaches of the cursed city here, the Dutchman had done the same with those who dwelled in the north, and the third contender had pulled all the fields from the east. Now, there were tens or even hundreds of thousands of them in the heart of the Eternal City. That number terrified even Sunny.

He had to defeat the Dutchman, subdue the mysterious Abomination in the east, deal with the immortal swarm, find the fragment of Weaver's lineage... and destroy the Eternal City, somehow.

While keeping the Night Garden safe. Sunny pursed his lips, considering his options for the hundredth time.

In the end...

It all came down to the nature of the Eternal City. Everything was immortal here, which meant that nothing could be truly defeated — that was the cornerstone of all his problems. So, if that cornerstone was removed, the rest of the obstacles standing in Sunny's way would follow like dominoes, falling one after another. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Which meant that his course of action was clear.

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