shadow slave: Avatar of Apocalypse Chapter 35 35: Prophecy (G3 level of repetitive wordings)

The ruined battlefield had finally fallen silent.

Not long ago, the entire ancient platform had trembled beneath the overwhelming clash between Senrix and Elysia. Crimson flas had scorched the stone until parts of it lted into glowing rivers of heat, while silver arrows had pierced through pillars, walls, and even the air itself with terrifying precision. The echoes of their battle still lingered faintly within the surroundings, as though the ancient ruins themselves had yet to recover from the violence they had witnessed.

Cracks spread across the massive platform like wounds carved into old flesh. Burn marks stretched endlessly through the stone pathways, and countless shattered fragnts of rock rested near the edges of the cliff, occasionally falling into the endless black sea below.

Even now, the air still carried traces of heat from Senrix's flas.

anwhile, several silver arrows remained embedded throughout the battlefield, humming faintly with dormant essence beneath the dim crimson light of the false sky.

Sunny let out a long exhausted sigh as he helped Nephis drag the unconscious Senrix back toward the place where they usually rested.

"...Why is your brother so absurdly heavy?"

His voice sounded tired, irritated, and slightly breathless.

Senrix's armored body practically felt like dead weight made of iron and stone. Every few steps, Sunny felt his arms ache from supporting him.

Nephis, anwhile, was carrying Elysia over one shoulder with far less difficulty than he expected.

The silver-haired girl glanced at him calmly before answering in her usual indifferent tone:

"You're weak."

Sunny nearly stumbled from disbelief.

"...Excuse ?"

Nephis continued walking without changing expression in the slightest.

"You asked."

Sunny stared at her back speechlessly for several monts before finally muttering under his breath:

'This entire family is insane.'

A cold sea breeze drifted through the ancient platform, gently brushing against their exhausted bodies while the distant sound of waves crashing below echoed endlessly throughout the darkness.

Eventually, the two returned to the resting area.

And there—

They imdiately noticed sothing different.

Cassie finally seed calr.

The blind girl sat quietly near the center of the platform with her knees drawn close to her chest. Although traces of fear still lingered on her pale face, the overwhelming terror from earlier had mostly faded away. Her breathing had finally steadied, and her trembling had lessened considerably compared to before.

Seeing that, Sunny unconsciously relaxed a little.

After carefully placing Senrix down beside Elysia, he stretched his sore shoulders before walking toward Cassie with a tired smile.

"Hey, Cassie. How are you feeling now?"

His tone sounded much gentler than usual.

As he spoke, Sunny handed her the Flask of the Eternal Well without even realizing that she already possessed her own endless spring mory. At this point, exhaustion had clearly dulled his thinking.

Cassie accepted the flask quietly before taking a small sip.

Nearby, Nephis sat down beside her.

For a few monts, the silver-haired girl remained silent while quietly observing the two unconscious figures resting nearby.

Then Cassie hesitantly asked in a small voice:

"...What happened to them?"

Nephis looked toward Senrix and Elysia.

Her expression barely changed.

"They exhausted themselves fighting."

Her voice remained calm and flat, carrying the sa distant stillness it always did.

After a brief pause, she added:

"It ended in a tie."

Cassie blinked slowly.

"...Again?"

Sunny imdiately groaned.

"You say that like this is normal."

Nephis tilted her head slightly.

"It probably will be."

Sunny stared at the unconscious pair before muttering helplessly:

"That's honestly terrifying."

Cassie couldn't help but smile faintly after hearing that.

The atmosphere gradually beca quieter and calr after that.

The overwhelming tension from earlier slowly faded little by little beneath the endless sound of the sea.

Then Nephis turned toward Cassie once more.

The silver-haired girl quietly studied her pale expression before speaking in a calm voice:

"Everything seems fine now."

Her pale grey eyes lingered on Cassie silently.

"Did you dream of another vision?"

The question caused Cassie to tense slightly.

Nephis continued quietly:

"You don't have to force yourself."

A brief silence passed.

"But you can tell us. If you want."

Cassie lowered her head slightly.

Her fingers tightened around the flask.

For a long ti, she remained completely silent while the cold wind drifted through the ruined platform around them.

Finally—

She spoke.

"I… don't know."

Her voice sounded uncertain and distant.

"Maybe it was just a nightmare."

Sunny and Nephis exchanged a glance.

Neither of them truly believed that.

After all, ordinary people did not dream within the Dream Realm.

Yet Cassie slowly continued:

"I can't rember everything clearly."

She frowned slightly.

"It feels broken… like shattered pieces scattered everywhere inside my mind."

Sunny carefully considered his response.

He did not want to pressure her too much, especially after seeing the condition she had woken up in earlier.

"You don't have to explain everything perfectly."

His voice beca quieter.

"Just tell us whatever you rember."

He paused briefly before adding:

"Maybe together we can figure out what it ans."

Cassie remained silent for several more monts.

The sound of distant waves endlessly crashing against the cliffs below filled the silence between them.

Finally—

The blind girl slowly nodded.

Then she began speaking.

"At first…"

Her voice trembled slightly.

"I saw darkness."

Not ordinary darkness.

"Boundless darkness."

Cassie slowly raised her head.

"It stretched endlessly in every direction, deeper than the ocean and heavier than the sky itself."

Her expression gradually beca pale again as she rembered.

"And it was sealed."

A cold wind passed through the platform.

"There were seven enormous seals locking it away."

Her breathing slowly beca uneven.

"They looked ancient… impossibly ancient… as though they had existed long before humanity itself was ever born."

Sunny quietly frowned.

Cassie hugged herself slightly.

"And behind those seals… sothing was moving."

Her voice beca quieter.

"It felt alive."

The atmosphere gradually grew heavier.

"It wasn't simply large."

Cassie's fingers trembled slightly.

"It felt infinite."

A long silence followed.

"I couldn't look directly at it."

Her breathing beca shaky.

"I felt like if I truly saw whatever was hidden there… my mind would completely collapse."

Even Sunny felt uneasy listening to her description.

Then Cassie whispered:

"The seals began breaking."

One by one.

"Every ti one shattered…"

Her expression twisted slightly.

"The darkness behind them beca louder."

Sunny frowned.

"Louder?"

Cassie slowly nodded.

"It wasn't a sound."

Her voice beca strained.

"It felt more like… sothing awakening from an endless sleep."

The sea breeze suddenly felt colder.

"Eventually…"

Cassie's trembling worsened.

"Only one seal remained."

Her breathing beca uneven.

"And then…"

A long pause followed.

"That seal broke too."

Silence filled the platform.

Cassie lowered her head weakly.

"After that… my vision shattered."

Her voice sounded distant and fragile.

"It felt like my mind broke into thousands of fragnts."

She slowly tightened her grip around the flask.

"And every fragnt reflected a different image."

Sunny quietly listened without interrupting.

"Most of them were horrible."

Cassie's face beca paler.

"So I already forgot."

Then—

Her expression changed slightly.

"But one remained clearly."

The cold wind howled softly around the ruined platform.

"I saw the castle again."

Sunny imdiately focused.

"The human castle?"

Cassie nodded slowly.

"Yes… but this ti it wasn't the sa."

Her voice beca quieter.

"It was night."

A strange unease entered her expression.

"The sky above the castle was completely black… endless and empty."

Her breathing slowed.

"And within that darkness… there was only a single lonely star burning above the heavens."

Her voice carried faint emotion.

"It looked beautiful."

Then—

Cassie's trembling worsened.

"And suddenly the entire castle burned."

The atmosphere instantly beca colder.

"Flas swallowed the walls… the streets… the towers… everything."

Her breathing beca unsteady again.

"Rivers of blood flowed through the halls and roads beneath the burning sky."

Sunny grimaced slightly.

But then Cassie whispered:

"Yet strangely… the blood did not belong to humans."

A long silence followed.

"I saw monsters dying everywhere."

Her voice beca distant.

"Countless monsters."

Her trembling slowly worsened.

"A man clad in radiant golden armor sat upon a throne built atop mountains of corpses."

Sunny unconsciously glanced toward Senrix.

"Beneath his feet… hundreds of nightmare creatures lay dead."

Cassie continued softly.

"A woman carrying a bronze spear stood alone against an endless tide of abominations."

Her voice beca quieter.

"An archer fired silver arrows into the heavens themselves… as though trying to pierce the falling sky."

Nearby, Elysia remained peacefully unconscious.

anwhile—

Cassie's expression grew increasingly pale.

"I saw a cloaked hunter beneath a crimson moon slaughtering monsters endlessly."

Her breathing trembled.

"And then I saw shadows."

Sunny froze slightly.

"Not darkness."

Cassie slowly shook her head.

"Sothing deeper."

Her voice beca strained.

"A sea of shadows swallowed a titan so enormous that it looked capable of crushing mountains beneath its hands."

Her breathing faltered.

"And beside it…"

She whispered quietly.

"A silver blade moved so fast that even the world itself seed unable to follow it."

The atmosphere beca heavier.

"Then I saw three youths standing alone against an entire army."

Her voice carried faint disbelief.

"And above them… thousands upon thousands of hawks filled the sky like a living storm."

Silence followed.

Finally—

Cassie slowly raised her head.

Her face had beco deathly pale.

"In the end…"

Her voice nearly broke.

"I saw a crimson spire."

Sunny felt chills crawl down his spine.

"It pierced the heavens themselves."

Cassie trembled violently now.

"And at its base…"

She swallowed weakly.

"Seven severed heads guarded seven ancient locks."

The air around them seed suffocating.

"And at the very top…"

Cassie's voice nearly disappeared.

"There was an angel."

A long silence followed.

"A dying angel."

Sunny suddenly felt deeply uncomfortable.

"And then hungry shadows began consuming it alive."

Cassie's face twisted painfully.

"When the angel bled…"

Her voice trembled violently.

"I suddenly felt like sothing unimaginably precious had been taken away from forever."

Even Nephis narrowed her eyes slightly.

Then—

Cassie beca even paler.

"After the shadows devoured the angel…"

Her breathing beca unstable.

"A second sun appeared."

The atmosphere shifted instantly.

"It tried taking human form."

Cassie slowly shook her head weakly.

"But failed."

Her voice beca fearful.

"It beca more beast than human."

Sunny felt increasingly disturbed listening.

"The sun began devouring everything around it."

Cassie's trembling worsened.

"But then…"

Her expression softened slightly.

"Sothing embraced it."

A long silence followed.

"A love that felt endless… eternal… beyond words."

Her voice sounded emotional and fragile.

"It held the beast gently."

The winds around them quieted.

"And sohow…"

Cassie whispered.

"It regained its heart."

Nobody spoke.

"At the very end…"

Her breathing beca softer.

"The sun finally beca human."

Cassie slowly lowered her head.

"And it stood alone upon this cursed shore."

Silence.

Then—

Cassie whispered one final ti.

"I felt sorrow."

Her voice cracked.

"So much sorrow… rage… loneliness… pain…"

She trembled violently.

"It felt like my sanity itself was being torn apart."

A long silence followed after that.

Only the endless roar of the black sea remained.

Finally, Sunny rubbed his face tiredly before sighing deeply.

"...Maybe it really was just a nightmare."

Cassie looked toward him uncertainly.

"Your earlier visions weren't like this, right?"

She silently shook her head.

Sunny scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"Well… people normally don't dream in the Dream Realm."

He forced a shrug.

"But you do."

His tone beca gentler.

"So maybe this was just so strange side effect of your ability."

Cassie hesitated.

"You really think so?"

Sunny paused briefly before nodding.

"Why not? It's possible."

Outwardly, he looked calm.

But inwardly—

He felt deeply uneasy.

'A dying angel being consud by shadows…'

Sunny grimaced internally.

'Yeah… I should definitely stay far away from angels in the future.'

Then he suddenly realized sothing disturbing.

'...When did sentences like that stop sounding insane to ?'

And beneath the crimson skies of the Dream Realm—

A new day quietly began.