Shadow Slave: Eternal Madness

On the deck, Medici raised the Guiding Light.

A gray mist surrounded him, blocking even the light from the seven suns in the sky.

Behind him stood Wind Flower, controlling the wheel with skill far superior to his.

As the daughter of King Daeron and a Child of the Storm, her expertise was unmatched, surpassing even the House of Night Saints.

After some time, Medici spotted the silhouette of an island in the distance. He ordered Wind Flower to slow down to avoid crashing into the Estuary.

Once the ship was anchored, Medici walked toward the cave where the Daemon of Oblivion was buried.

Reaching the top, he saw an inverted cross made of silver, inscribed with the words:

"Here you shall be imprisoned.

Here you shall find the truth.

Here you shall be born again!

Hail Weaver, The Daemon of Fate!

Hail the Hanged Man, seeker of salvation!"

It was ironic. Thanks to the inverted cross, Medici and his siblings were born. Yet, he still remembered how broken his father had been for thousands of years.

Shaking his head, he walked past the cross.

Wind Flower, standing behind him, focused on the last line of the inscription. Though Weaver's name was mentioned, her attention was drawn to the one the message referred to.

She looked at Medici's back and asked, "Who is the Hanged Man?"

Medici stopped and turned to face her. After a moment of silence, he replied, "My... father."

Wind Flower's eyes widened in shock. She had assumed the Hanged Man was a god, a Daemon, or perhaps a Divine Titan. To learn he was merely a Supreme left her stunned.

Medici continued walking, finally reaching the tunnel. He glanced back at Wind Flower and extended his hand. She sighed and entered the Memory he held.

Medici entered the tunnel, passing through the source of defilement and the stone maze until he reached the inner sanctum of the hidden lake, where the guardian stood watch.

He felt eyes on him but refused to back down. Instead, he met the guardian's gaze.

After a few seconds, the feeling vanished. Medici chuckled and continued toward the vague shape rising from the water in the distance.

Entering the heart of the Estuary, he found himself in a vast cavern hidden deep within a towering mountain. Darkness filled the space, save for a single ray of bright light illuminating a small island rising from the glossy black water.

A beautiful tree grew on the island, its leaves a sea of pale magenta. As the branches swayed gently in the wind, the leaves fell onto the water's surface, creating ripples.

In the shadow of the tree stood a simple stone sarcophagus, its lid covered in withered leaves.

Medici approached the grave of the Daemon of Oblivion. He raised a hand and brushed away the fallen leaves.

With a smile, he spoke, "Should I call you aunt?"

There was no response, but Medici didn't mind. He stood there for a few minutes before looking up at the tree branches. To his surprise, he found nothing.

Then he noticed the tree itself had split open, forming a doorway made of wood. Runes covered the doorway.

Medici's smile faded. From the darkness, he sensed movement.

He remained still, waiting. Then it happened.

Something attacked him from behind, aiming for his exposed back.

But Medici reacted swiftly. He spun 180 degrees, raising his right hand to catch the attacker while summoning a shield of crimson fire with his left.

Before him stood a giant creature with a hunched back, a disheveled mantle of black feathers, a terrifying beak, and mighty wings.

Medici grinned as he parried its claws with his shield and caught its beak with his other hand.

"Let's not disturb the dead, don't you think?" he said.

With his left hand, Medici summoned a Memory and threw it near the Gateway.

Putting all his strength into his legs, he dashed out of the island, back to the inner sanctum of the hidden lake where the guardian stood.

The Vile Thieving Bird broke free from Medici's grip and flew away, its eyes filled with greed and madness.

Suddenly, the guardian attacked from behind, but the bird dodged at the last second.

Facing both Medici and the guardian, the Vile Thieving Bird quickly devised a plan.

Using its wings, it launched a barrage of feather-like bullets at Medici.

While Medici was distracted, the Vile Thieving Bird escaped!

Gritting his teeth, Medici gave chase.

His plan to use the guardian had failed miserably.

Even in its corrupted state, the Vile Thieving Bird was as cunning as ever.

Exiting the tunnel, Medici scanned the area for the creature.

It didn't take long to sense it, but a second was all it needed.

The Vile Thieving Bird lunged at Medici, its claws piercing his chest and reaching his soul.

It attacked his soul core, stealing something before retreating.

Medici glared at the creature, his teeth clenched.

His Awakened Ability, [Geokinesis], had been stolen—a part of his soul was gone.

In the sky, the Vile Thieving Bird screeched. The earth trembled and broke apart as stones and iron rose into the air, reshaping into needle-like projectiles.

Medici didn't wait for the attack. He began creating spears of crimson flame.

The two unleashed their wrath upon each other, turning the sky into a battlefield of fire and earth.

Explosions echoed everywhere.

Despite the devastation above, the true battle was one of wills and authority.

Medici was losing. Even with all his power, he was being overpowered.

'If only my father were here, he would have won...'

Shaking his head, he focused entirely on the Vile Thieving Bird.

The struggle continued for three minutes until Medici felt the earth tremble beneath him.

He looked up and spotted a small opening—just enough for him to act.

He leaped into the sky, dodging a spear of earth that surged from below.

Moving at a speed far surpassing sound, Medici reached the Vile Thieving Bird.

With his right hand engulfed in crimson flame, he punched its beak. The sound of cracking echoed.

The bird crashed to the ground. Medici didn't give it a chance to recover. Summoning a crimson sword, he descended upon it.

The Vile Thieving Bird launched feathers at Medici, but he dodged to the right, closing the distance.

Suddenly, the bird vanished!

From behind, the Cursed Terror reappeared, attacking Medici's back.

Gritting his teeth, Medici shielded his soul, but this time, the creature targeted his body, shattering his armor and hurling him into the mountain.

Cough!

Medici cursed inwardly as he looked up to see thousands of massive needles descending toward him.

He summoned a crimson shield to protect himself.

His back, where every bone, muscle, and piece of flesh had been destroyed, began to heal.

"It stole the distance..." he realized.

The Vile Thieving Bird had "stolen" the distance between itself and Medici's back, allowing it to teleport behind him.

Medici rose to his feet, his body beginning to change. He grew to eight meters tall, his form transforming into an iron-black metal skeleton engulfed in majestic crimson flames.

His Transcended Transformation ability, [Calamity Giant], had been activated.

The heat from the flames melted his surroundings, including the spears in the sky.

Medici looked at the Vile Thieving Bird and created a ten-meter-long crimson spear made of fire.

But he didn't stop at one. He continued until fifty crimson spears hovered in the sky, awaiting his command.

With a thought, he launched them all at the Vile Thieving Bird.

The bird dodged the first spear easily, but it exploded, creating more spears that attacked from all angles.

Caught off guard, the bird was struck by several spears, the crimson flames burning its body.

The Vile Thieving Bird screamed in agony as it teleported away from the flames.

But it couldn't rest. The remaining spears pursued it relentlessly.

The bird dodged and destroyed as many as it could, but eventually, the last spear was gone.

The Cursed Terror looked toward Medici and saw its doom.

A giant creature made of iron-black metal, engulfed in majestic crimson flames, stood before it. In its hand was a crimson sword so massive it seemed to reach the heavens.

The Vile Thieving Bird tried to flee, but no matter where it went, the sword loomed over it.

The Great River evaporated under the sword's heat.

The War Child is the Lord's rage, the Lord's punishment. His appearance heralds destruction.

The crimson sword descended, unstoppable and unbreakable.

The Vile Thieving Bird screamed, using most of its essence to teleport out of the sword's path.

But it was too late.

The left side of its body was severed, black blood gushing out. Crimson flames erupted, burning its feathers and skin.

The bird screeched in agony as its soul and body were consumed by the flames.

The Crimson Sword had cut through space itself. By stealing the distance, the Vile Thieving Bird had made itself an easier target.

Medici returned to his normal form, his soul essence completely depleted. Unlike his father, he had only one soul core.

He walked toward the Vile Thieving Bird, surprised to find it still standing.

He laughed and said, "You're really stubborn, aren't you? Unfortunately, you've already lost."

As Medici spoke, five portals appeared out of nowhere.

***

On the island where Oblivion was buried, Wind Flower stood near the Gateway, pouring her essence into the runes.

Before entering the tunnel, Medici had asked her to bind with the Tomb of Ariel. She had already taken too much time.

Finally, the runes radiated light, completing the bond.

Suddenly, the Gateway's runes glowed brighter, and a man with golden hair and a beard, wearing a simple white cloak, emerged.

Wind Flower stared at him in shock.

Adam glanced around before noticing her. He smiled and said, "You must be Wind Flower, right?"

She nodded.

"Thanks to you, we were able to reach this place."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Adam touched the Gateway and explained, "You must have accepted becoming a Saint within my brother's domain." He looked at her and continued, "So, when you bound yourself to the Gateway, you made the entire Tomb part of my brother's domain."

"What you didn't know is that Medici is me, and I am my father. In essence, we are all one being separated into seven. So, when you made the Tomb part of his domain, it also became part of mine."

Wind Flower wanted to ask more, but a portal appeared in front of Adam.

He looked at her and said, "I know you have many questions, but I don't have time to answer them."

With that, Adam stepped through the portal and vanished.

***

From each portal, a figure emerged: Adam, Amon, Amanises, and two others.

The first was a man with gray hair and eyes, pale skin, and a white-and-gray cloak. In his left hand, he held a book with a silver cover and infinite pages. The other was a woman with black hair, brown eyes, and light tan skin, wearing a business suit that set her apart from her siblings.

They all turned their attention to the Vile Thieving Bird.

"Man, I could go for some fried chicken," Amon remarked.

Eve looked at him and asked, "Does that even exist now?"

"I don't know, but Father liked it a lot back then."

Adam, ignoring the banter, looked at Medici and said, "You've done well, little brother."

"I don't need praise," Medici replied with a sigh. "Let's finish this."

The others nodded.

The Vile Thieving Bird tried to flee, but it was too late.

Fate, Fire, Destiny, Time, Darkness, and Imagination—all types of attacks were unleashed upon it. Yet, none of them killed it. They made sure of that.

Every bone, muscle, and organ was either destroyed or damaged.

Adam approached the creature, plunging his fist into its soul and retrieving a red string.

He walked back to Medici and returned his stolen ability. "Don't lose it again."

"Tsk," Medici muttered.

Using his restored ability, [Geokinesis], he summoned the inverted cross to his side.

Amanises wasted no time, using her darkness to nail the Vile Thieving Bird to the cross, sealing its power completely.

The loathsome Thieving Bird, hated by both gods and the Forgotten, had fallen to the Child of War and his siblings.

***

Two days... Two fuckin days! I've been writing, thinking about VTB abilities and how will the fight will go and end for two days. This chapter was supposed to be uploaded yesterday, but I didn't even start as I had no idea about VTB abilities.

Sigh.. I hope you liked the chapter at least. Also do you think the end of the battle was realistic or plot armor? 

And write some fuckin comments ok?

If you have any questions, you can find me in the official Shadow Slave discord. just go to the Fanfiction room, and search for mine, it's named after the FF name.

Leave a review on this fanfic, chapter and some power stones, so more people can read it.

See you again next time👋