Shadow Slave:The legacy fallen in a world of nightmares Chapter 87 87: alone

Samael slowly climbed down from the colossal tree.

Every movent felt like it weighed tons.

As soon as he reached the ground, he carefully placed Liu beside the trunk and leaned against the tree before slowly closing his eyes.

The revelation of that distance…

Or rather—

The complete lack of aning behind that distance…

Was destroying sothing inside him.

An entire week walking.

Suffering.

Fighting.

Almost dying countless tis.

And in the end…

The beach was still absurdly close.

As if the forest had been playing with him.

As if the entire continent had been silently watching his suffering.

Then Samael noticed sothing.

The scent of wet blue roses had disappeared.

His heart faltered slightly.

Throughout that entire week…

That soft aroma had remained beside him.

Even during the worst monts.

Even while walking without sleep.

Even while bleeding.

But now…

It was gone.

Samael was not stupid.

He had realized long ago that Haru had sohow connected him to her through the effect of her Aspect.

But now even that had ceased.

The silence felt even greater.

More empty.

His gaze slowly fell upon Liu's unconscious figure beside him.

She continued sleeping peacefully.

As if completely unaware of the hell surrounding them.

— Looks like I really can't take it anymore…

Samael muttered with a weak little laugh.

— Congratulations. You killed .

"That's not true."

The response imdiately echoed inside his mind.

Samael squeezed his tired eyes shut.

— Because of you, I'm going to die.

"It was our choice. Stop running away."

Silence returned.

Then Samael let out a low laugh.

Weak.

Almost pathetic.

— Why am I arguing with soone who's unconscious?

Self-deprecation truly was his last reliable companion.

The sky above remained dark.

Rain slowly fell between the trees.

And strangely…

Samael felt peace.

It was an absurd feeling.

Knowing he might be dying…

And still feeling peace.

After a few seconds, he opened his eyes again.

Then stood up.

Slowly.

Painfully.

His gaze landed on the corpse of the Pasture Beast.

— I refuse to die.

Samael walked toward the creature's body and placed his hand on the cold flesh.

This ti…

He had no intention of using only part of it.

He would use everything.

Every remaining drop of essence inside his body poured into his Aspect.

His Soul Core shone violently.

Soul Core: 150/400.

The dead flesh of the creature began to deform grotesquely.

Bones creaked.

Blood evaporated.

Its entire body seed to be reconstructed by so invisible force.

Then—

The Spell's voice echoed inside his mind.

[You have received a mory.]

Samael imdiately opened the runes.

Na: Folly

mory Rank: Ascended.

His gaze wavered slightly.

— Ascended…?

This should have only been an Awakened mory.

Perhaps…

The circumstances of its creation had affected the result.

Or perhaps his Aspect was even stranger than he imagined.

He continued reading.

mory Level: 7

Description:

[the mory created by the honest trickster to keep himself goingfor through his foolishness he condemned himself and will now be infectedby the worst thing of all: hope]

Samael remained silent for a few seconds.

Then opened the enchantnts.

Enchantnts:

Enchantnts [Last Pillar, Dependency]

"Only two enchantnts…" Samael thought with slight disappointnt.

— Only two…

There was a trace of regret in his voice.

But then he began reading.

[Last Pillar]This mory can slightly heal its user by cutting the flesh of other beings.

[Dependency]The heavier the burden of others the user carries, the stronger this blade becos.

Samael stood motionless.

Then he felt sothing.

His heart.

Beating normally again.

During the last few minutes, he had truly believed his body was beginning to give up.

That was still far from solving his situation.

He was still practically a walking corpse.

But even so…

Hope began poisoning him once more.

And hope…

Was a cruel poison.

— Let's go…

Samael returned to Liu and tied her onto his back once again.

Then slowly advanced through the forest.

A few hours later—

A Nightmare Creature erged from between the trees.

It was different from the Pasture Beasts.

It possessed gray fur, a feline snout, and three long tails slowly swaying behind its muscular body.

It was still enormous.

But smaller than the Pasture Beasts.

The creature's eyes imdiately locked onto Samael.

Then it charged.

Fast.

Violent.

Samael tried to throw himself aside.

But he was too slow.

He had to block.

CLANG!

The impact launched him several ters backward.

Even so, he managed to regain his balance.

The creature charged again.

This ti, Samael did not attempt to dodge.

He simply took a single step sideways.

The new sword moved in a precise arc, partially redirecting the weight of the attack.

The creature lost balance for an instant.

Its torso was exposed.

And Samael did not waste the opportunity.

SLASH!

Two deep cuts tore through the creature's body.

The new sword cut absurdly well.

And imdiately Samael felt his wounds cool slightly.

The pain lessened.

Only a little.

But even so…

It felt like emotional relief.

Unfortunately, it did nothing to lessen the exhaustion.

The creature attempted to rip his head off with a brutal bite.

Samael dodged by centiters.

Right after, one of the tails ca crashing toward him.

CLANG!

He blocked using the tilted blade, redirecting part of the force.

Even so, his arms trembled violently from the impact.

But that created an opening.

Samael twisted the sword.

SLASH!

A deep wound appeared across the creature's back.

Another slash struck one of its hind legs, nearly severing the limb completely.

The beast roared and lunged again using its front claws.

Samael failed to completely avoid it.

Claws tore through his chest.

Pain exploded across his entire body.

But the opening appeared.

And Samael seized it.

The black blade pierced through the creature's neck.

THUD.

Its head fell into the mud.

[Congratulations. You have slain a Fallen Demon — Demon Fox.]

As soon as the creature died, Samael's wounds finally stopped bleeding.

They were still open.

Deep.

But blood no longer poured out.

Breathing heavily, he tore several pieces of flesh from the creature before continuing onward.

Until night fell.

When darkness arrived, Samael improvised a small shelter between a massive stone and the trunk of a tree.

Sitting inside, now in his female form, he slowly heated the creature's at over a small improvised fla.

He found no water that day.

So they would have to endure the thirst.

After eating silently, Samael fed Liu once more in the sa humiliating manner.

But he no longer felt embarrassed.

Only tired.

Then he remained seated, staring at the shelter's entrance.

Watching.

Waiting.

"How many days has it been since I slept?"

He had completely lost track of ti.

His body felt heavy.

His eyes burned.

Even so…

He remained awake.

At dawn—

Sothing was wrong.

Very wrong.

His body was far too cold.

But at the sa ti…

Burning.

His face alternated between extre paleness and feverish red patches.

His vision wavered slightly.

"Did I get sick?"

Samael wasn't sure.

And honestly…

It hardly mattered anymore at that point.

As soon as his Flaw returned him to his male form, he resud walking.

He used his transformation to asure the passage of days.

It was the only clock he still possessed.

During the journey, he encountered another Demon Fox.

This ti he avoided confrontation.

He had probably entered their territory.

His body burned with fever.

Yet at the sa ti trembled from cold.

Each step felt heavier than the last.

His vision constantly blurred.

"I have to keep going."

His steps slowed.

But never stopped.

Sweat ran down his face despite the freezing cold.

"I can't…"

The thought died midway.

Samael simply no longer possessed enough energy to even finish sentences in his own mind.

In the end…

He stopped earlier than usual.

Built another improvised shelter.

And collapsed beside Liu.

His body burned.

Even so…

He felt cold.