shadow slave: Avatar of Apocalypse Chapter 45 45: Demon and Lover vs the Guest

Sunny stood completely frozen beneath the enormous canopy of the obsidian tree, his entire body trembling uncontrollably as the horrifying shrieks echoing from within the Hollow Mist battered his mind like waves crashing against fragile stone.

The sound was beyond human—it was warped, ancient, hateful, like countless dead things screaming together from the bottom of the dark sea.

Every instinct in his body begged him to open his eyes.

To look.

To understand what stood inside the fog.

And yet—

He resisted.

His teeth clenched painfully hard. His nails dug into his palms until his hands hurt. Even breathing beca difficult beneath the crushing pressure smothering the Ashen Barrow.

Then suddenly—

Everything stopped.

The horrifying shrieks vanished completely.

The abrupt silence felt almost unnatural.

Slowly, the rustling of scarlet leaves returned.

The distant sound of waves followed shortly after.

Sunny nearly collapsed from relief alone.

Then Cassie's soft voice whispered beside him.

"You can open your eyes now."

Sunny almost obeyed imdiately.

Her voice sounded perfectly normal.

Gentle.

Sweet.

Familiar.

But then—

His body suddenly stiffened.

Sothing was wrong.

Terribly wrong.

The realization crept into his mind like ice.

There was no warmth of breath near his skin.

No trembling.

No closeness.

And most importantly—

The angle made no sense.

Cassie was shorter than him.

So how could her lips possibly be directly beside his ear?

Cold sweat instantly rolled down Sunny's back.

The voice spoke again, softer this ti.

"Open your eyes…"

Then suddenly—

"OPEN YOUR EYES!"

The sweet voice shattered into sothing monstrous.

The scream exploded across the island like a thousand corpses shrieking together in agony. Hatred and hunger dripped from every syllable.

Sunny's entire body shook violently.

But he still refused.

Seconds stretched endlessly.

Each one felt like an eternity clawing across his nerves.

Then slowly—

The voice retreated.

"No matter…"

"No matter…"

The pressure surrounding the tree weakened slightly.

Beside him, Nephis released a slow breath she had clearly been holding. Cassie trembled against his shoulder, gripping his sleeve tightly with pale fingers.

Then—

CLANG!

A deafening tallic impact erupted beneath the tree.

The Carapace Demon roared furiously, smashing its gigantic scythes together with enough force to shake the entire Ashen Barrow. The violent shockwave tore through the Hollow Mist surrounding the tree, temporarily creating a sphere of clear air around the steel behemoth.

Sunny still kept his eyes tightly shut.

The next mont—

BOOM!

The entire island trembled violently.

Sothing massive collided beneath the branches.

The obsidian trunk shook.

Scarlet leaves rained downward like blood-colored snow.

The battle had begun.

Sunny instinctively reached outward and grabbed Nephis and Cassie tightly, pulling them closer while terrifying sounds echoed throughout the island.

tal scread.

Sothing wet splattered.

The Hollow Mist hissed angrily.

The Carapace Demon roared again, sounding like entire towers of steel collapsing into one another.

But then—

Sunny suddenly froze.

Soone was missing.

"…Where's Elysia?"

Beside him, Senrix visibly tensed.

Sunny could feel the young man trembling slightly despite his usual calm deanor.

Even with his eyes tightly shut, Senrix's grip around Sunny's shoulder tightened.

His Attribute, Indomitable Human Spirit, was clearly struggling to suppress the overwhelming fear pressing against their minds.

"She left," Senrix muttered quietly.

Cassie imdiately stiffened.

"What?!"

Senrix swallowed once before continuing.

"She said the demon alone wasn't enough to stop that ugly thing…"

His voice lowered slightly.

"Then she laughed and told … 'A blind archer is still an archer, Rix.'"

Before anyone could respond—

TWANG!

The sharp sound of a bowstring echoed through the Hollow Mist.

Then another.

And another.

And another.

Rapid.

Precise.

Deadly.

Sunny's eyes widened despite remaining shut.

Elysia was fighting.

Blind.

Inside that nightmare fog.

Below the giant tree, absolute chaos erupted.

The Carapace Demon tore through the Hollow Mist like an enraged steel fortress, flas still burning across portions of its polished tallic body and illuminating fragnts of the battlefield with violent flashes of orange light.

Within those brief flashes, impossible shapes moved inside the mist.

Too many limbs.

Too many eyes.

Too many mouths.

The Guest.

The thing hiding within the Hollow Mist.

Another distorted shriek erupted from the fog.

The mist surged violently toward the giant tree—

And suddenly—

THUNK!

An arrow pierced through the darkness.

A sharp screech followed imdiately afterward.

Standing atop one of the giant roots several dozen ters away, Elysia calmly drew another arrow.

Her long pink hair flowed wildly in the freezing wind spilling from the dark sea, moving like silk within the darkness surrounding the battlefield.

Her eyes remained completely closed.

Yet sohow—

She never hesitated.

TWANG!

Another arrow shot into the fog.

The projectile curved through the darkness before striking sothing hidden deep inside the Hollow Mist.

The creature shrieked again.

Elysia tilted her head slightly, listening carefully.

Then calmly stepped sideways just before several black tendrils burst from the fog where she had been standing monts earlier.

The Hollow Mist was trying to kill her.

And she was listening to it.

Sunny could barely comprehend it.

Elysia moved between the massive roots with unbelievable calmness, relying entirely on sound, instinct, and mory while arrows continuously left her bow in rapid succession.

Each shot interrupted the Guest's movents.

Each arrow forced the creature to recoil slightly.

And every mont it hesitated—

The Carapace Demon attacked.

CLANG!

The gigantic steel monster crashed into the sea horror again, its enormous scythes tearing through writhing tendrils and rotten flesh alike.

The Guest retaliated instantly.

A massive shape burst from the fog and slamd into the demon hard enough to crack the ground beneath them.

The entire island shook violently.

The Carapace Demon roared with fury.

The Guest scread back.

And in the middle of that horrifying battlefield—

Elysia continued firing calmly with closed eyes and pink hair dancing wildly in the cold wind.

The battlefield beneath the crimson tree descended into complete madness.

The demon fought like a territorial beast defending its sacred ground to the death.

The Hollow Mist surged endlessly like a living nightmare trying to devour everything around it.

And Elysia—

Elysia moved like a ghost between roots and darkness, supporting the steel demon from afar with impossible precision despite never opening her eyes once.

Beside Sunny, Senrix suddenly let out a strained breath.

His eyes remained tightly shut.

"…That idiot really went to fight a sea horror blind," he muttered weakly.

Even Nephis seed unsettled now.

anwhile, Sunny listened to the sounds of battle raging beneath the tree and realized one terrifying truth.

Their group was completely insane.