Shadow Slave: Eternal Madness

Raphael looked at Nephis in front of him with blazing anger in his eyes.

"Give it back."

Nephis looked behind at Raphael and sighed.

"Raphael, I already told you I can't give it back."

Raphael's face twitched.

"What do you mean you can't? You are the one who took it!"

Nephis replied again with the same response.

"It wasn't my choice to take it in the first place."

"But you did! Do you know how much I suffered to get all that amount?"

"It was only 300. Don't overreact."

A bulge appeared on Raphael's face.

"That 300 may be little for someone like you, but it was everything for me!"

Nephis didn't answer. She was already tired from yesterday and didn't even rest. The reason was none other than Raphael. She didn't trust him.

Raphael looked at Nephis, anger still in his eyes.

'Is she ignoring me?'

Raphael summoned his runes to check his status again.

Name: Raphael.

True Name: —

Soul Core: Dormant.

Soul Fragments: [0/1000].

Memories: [Warrior Trust], [Hunter Scythe].

Echoes: [Dreadghoul].

Attributes: [Fated], [?ᛁ@# ?4ᚨᚢᛚ€£], [Instant Regeneration].

Aspect: [Undying].

Aspect Rank: [Sacred.]

Aspect Description: [You are one who deceived death, escaping its grip and breaking its chains. But beware, for death will not let you escape again.]

Innate Ability: [Immortality].

Ability Description: [You are immortal in Blood, Bone, Flesh, Soul, Spirit, Mind, and Shadow. In essence, you cannot die.]

Aspect Abilities: [Self Sovereignty].

Aspect Ability Description: [You can control your Body, Soul, Spirit, and Mind to your desire.]

Flaw: [Masochist].

Flaw Description: [You will feel pain three times more intensely than a normal person.]

His Soul Fragments were gone—there was nothing.

'All of my hard work went for nothing… no, not nothing.'

He looked at Nephis.

'She took everything, and because of that, she became a Devil.'

In the novel, Nephis was only 250 Soul Fragments away from being a Devil, but when she absorbed his Fragments, she became a Devil.

Raphael looked at Nephis and asked:

"Won't you rest? You must be tired after everything that happened yesterday."

"No," Nephis replied without looking back.

"By any chance, do you think I will attack you in your sleep?"

"No, you are far too weak to do that."

Raphael's face twitched.

'She is really getting on my nerves.'

Nephis stood up and went to Raphael.

"It's your turn. Go."

"As you command, Lady Star of Ruin. Ah, sorry, I mean Lady Changing Star."

Nephis stopped in her tracks and looked back at Raphael, who was holding back his laugh.

"Call me that again, and I will—"

"Hahahaha—what are you gonna do, kill me? Yeah, good luck with that."

Nephis took a deep breath.

'He is more annoying than Eiffe!'

Nephis sat down and summoned Sunny's runes. When Sunny became her slave, she could see his runes. She didn't have time to check them before, but now she finally could.

…

"What?!" Nephis screamed at the top of her lungs.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, bitch?"

Nephis looked at Raphael and asked:

"What did you call me?"

Raphael looked her dead in the eyes and said:

"Bitch."

Nephis's face twitched for a second.

'Not now, Nephis, not now. There is something more important.'

Raphael took a glance at Nephis.

'She must be examining Sunny's Runes,' he thought.

Nephis continued to stare at Sunny's runes, her expression shifting between confusion and shock.

'Blood Weave, Weaver Mask, Child of Shadows, and Fated. How? I thought he had the Shadow God lineage, but Weaver, the Daemon of Fate? How does he have his lineage? And that Mask… it's a Divine Memory.'

Nephis needed more details, so she began reading the descriptions of his attributes, aspect, and aspect abilities.

'So he was blessed by the Shadow God, the God of Death, and he also has Weaver, the Daemon of Fate's lineage. Does this mean… he has two Divine lineages?!'

Raphael's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Nephis looked up to see Raphael sitting in front of her, watching her curiously.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in front?"

Raphael smirked and pointed at her face.

"Your face… your mouth was wide open, like you'd seen something impossible."

"I see… go back to your place and continue leading Tank to the Dark City."

Raphael stood up and began walking toward the front. Suddenly, he stopped and glanced back.

"Hey, will you tell me why you were in shock?"

"No. It's none of your business."

"You know," Raphael said with a sly grin, "you can ask me anything, and I'll answer truthfully. You see, I'm quite knowledgeable."

Nephis sighed, feeling the weariness from both her physical exhaustion and the mental strain of dealing with him.

"Okay then, if someone has two Divine lineages, will they have both?"

"No," Raphael replied without hesitation. "They'll only have one."

"Why?"

"If someone has two Divine lineages, then the two lineages will fight for dominance over the body."

"I see… then if someone has a God lineage and a Daemon lineage, which one will take dominance?"

Raphael grinned inwardly.

'She's giving in!'

"It depends on the lineage. Can you give me more information?"

Nephis hesitated for a moment. She knew she was giving away too much information, but the answers she was getting in return were too valuable to ignore.

"Let's say Shadow God lineage and Weaver, the Daemon of Fate lineage."

"Then Weaver's lineage will take dominance," Raphael said confidently.

"Why?"

"I can't tell you."

"Why can't you tell me."

Raphael locked eyes with Nephis and said:

"Do you know what Weaver said about knowledge? [Weaver believed that knowledge was the origin of power], And for every power there must be a price. And I bear such price Nephis, so I can't tell you why I say that or where do I know this knowledge from."

Raphael was saying the truth, he knew what will happen in Antarctica, how many people will die, but he can't do anything. Raphael was burdened with his knowledge.

"I see."

Raphael smiled. "Now that I've answered your questions, could you answer mine?"

"Fine. I can see Sunny's runes, and he can see mine. It's an ability he has."

Raphael touched his chin, pretending to be deep in thought.

"I knew Sunny had a connection with the Shadow God, but I didn't think he had one with Weaver. This… is really interesting."

Nephis sighed, exhaustion settling in her bones.

"I'm going to sleep for a while. Don't even think about doing anything stupid."

Raphael chuckled but didn't reply, heading back to the front to lead Tank.

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After four days, they finally reached the Dark City.

Raphael looked at Nephis and asked, "So what's the plan?"

"We'll stay here for a month gathering supplies for our journey."

"By the way," Raphael said, "you didn't tell me where we're going."

Nephis scanned the crumbling cityscape as she replied, "At first, my plan was to cross the Hollow Mountains, but I realized that was impossible. The remaining options are the South, West, and East. The West is unknown—no one has dared to go there. From what I know, the South is blocked by a Burned Forest, which leaves us with the East."

Raphael nodded thoughtfully.

"To be fair, I was going to suggest going East anyway."

Nephis narrowed her eyes. "Weren't you the one who told me not to go East? Why change your mind now?"

Raphael sighed.

"Nephis, if you're planning to find another gateway, I'm sorry to disappoint you, but there's only one gateway in the East, and it's protected by a Great Abomination. So my plan is to find a Category Two Nightmare Seed and conquer the Second Nightmare."

Nephis raised an eyebrow. She had considered the same plan.

"If you're trying to find a Nightmare Seed, why East? Do you know where it is?"

Raphael shook his head.

"Yes, but I don't know how to reach it. What I do know is that someone I met in the East knows how to find it."

"I see… that someone isn't human, is it?"

"No, he isn't. But you don't have to worry; he's not a monster either."

"Then tell me, what's in the East?"

Raphael sighed.

"In the East, there's the Nightmare Desert. In the middle of it is a Pyramid built by Ariel, the Daemon of Dread, also known as the Keeper of Truth. It's said he built it to bury the truth, which is why it's called the Tomb of Ariel."

He took a deep breath and continued.

"The Tomb of Ariel isn't the important part. What matters is what happened in the Nightmare Desert. When the war between the Gods and Daemons started, the Nightmare Desert became their battlefield. That's why it's called the Battlefield of the Gods. Every night, the soldiers rise from their graves to continue their never-ending war."

"Do you think we can survive there?" Nephis asked.

Raphael met her gaze and smiled.

"Yes, with my experience, we will. And we don't need to go deep into the Nightmare Desert—we only need to go there to find my friend. The Seed is in a different area."

"Then it's decided. We'll go to the Nightmare Desert. How long will it take to reach your friend?"

"Without the Dark Sea, maybe around six months."

"Then let's gather whatever supplies we can for the journey."

"Sir, yes sir," Raphael replied with a chuckle.

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It had been five months since Raphael first met Nephis. Right now, he was on top of Tank.

He looked at Nephis and asked:

"What do you think, Neph?"

Nephis, the one in question, looked at Raphael with a stupid look on her face.

"Have you really been living here? By the gods, I really pity you, Raph."

"Hahahah— I told you the Forgotten Shore is nothing compared to this."

Right now, the Nightmare Desert was in front of them.

'Sigh... never thought I'd come back to this hell by my own will.'

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Not really happy with how the chapter came out, but I'm really tired, so fuck it.