Shadow Slave Chapter Summary 616-630

Chapter 616 Black String

Sunny’s innate ability to perceive the weave of magic, a gift from Weaver’s ichor, allows him a foundational understanding of spellweave, even if the intricate purpose of the Red Colosseum’s colossal runes remains elusive. While he cannot create or manipulate such enchantments himself—a feat that would require centuries of study without guidance—he realizes that destruction is far simpler than creation. Within his cramped cage, surrounded by the stench of Nightmare Creatures, Sunny conceives a desperate gambit: disrupt the arena’s sorcery by damaging enough runes to break the flow of soul energy. Although destroying the massive, near-unbreakable runes is unlikely, causing a smaller, temporary disruption—perhaps enough to briefly negate his binding enchantment—seems achievable.

This realization sparks a nascent plan as Sunny prepares for his next foray into the arena. He settles cross-legged, the cage rocking, and focuses his shadow essence into his monstrous hands. Since acquiring Bone Weave, his tactile senses have become remarkably acute, allowing him to feel the concentrated essence as a tangible, tingling sensation. Hesitantly, he pulls at this essence, and to his surprise, a strand of darkness, resembling the wisps from Saint’s armor rather than the radiant strings of Memories, extends from his fingertips.

This newfound ability to manipulate his own shadow essence, though nascent, offers a glimmer of hope amidst the crushing despair of their enslavement. Sunny’s resilience is tested daily as the cycle of combat and meager sustenance continues, a torment that even Elyas observes with concern. Their captors, too, seem trapped within the same brutal loop. Yet, Sunny’s obsession with the Demon of Desire and the secrets etched in stone fuels his fight, a defiant pursuit of knowledge that might just be his salvation, or his ultimate undoing.

Chapter 617 Simplest Weave

Elyas wakes to the sound of Sunny’s cage rattling and the subsequent crash against the bars. Sunny, driven by his desperate gambit, shoots an arm through the bars, its claws scraping as he grips Elyas’s own gibbet. “Wha… what are you doing?” Elyas questions, confusion etching his young face. Sunny growls, his gestures a crude but honest attempt to communicate his intention: to examine Elyas’s steel collar. He pulls their cages closer, his multiple hands gripping the bars, the fourth reaching for Elyas’s throat. Elyas, however, shows no fear, only trust, as Sunny studies the collar’s runes and soul essence flow.

The brief, dangerous interaction ends as the threat of an approaching priest forces Sunny to release his hold. He has seen enough; the collar’s pattern is the key to disrupting the soul energy flow. Time is of the essence. Days later, Sunny lies broken at the bottom of his cage. His fingers, mangled and two missing entirely, are a testament to his progress. He has woven a complex cradle of black shadow strings, a hypnotic pattern only he can see. These ephemeral strands, unable to interact with the material world, have instead carved themselves into his flesh, the constant pain a grim reminder of his pursuit.

Despite this horrific cost, Sunny’s understanding of spellweave is rudimentary at best. He relies on fragmented memories and intuition, a fragile foundation for his grander plans. The missing phalanxes and mangled digits are a stark reminder of the inherent dangers of his endeavor, especially without the proper tools. Yet, the knowledge of Weaver’s needle, locked away in his Soul Sea, offers a sliver of distant hope, a potential means to wield his newfound shadow manipulation more effectively and to finally unravel the secrets binding them.

Chapter 618 Plan Of Escape

Sunny, his heart pounding, presents Elyas with a finished, soul-shard imbued construct, but finds his companion withdrawn, his eyes hollow. The youth’s recent silence and despondency are a stark contrast to their shared ordeal, a bleakness that mirrors the dwindling number of Nightmare Creatures within the Red Colosseum, signaling the impending end of the Trials. Sunny, grappling with his own fading hope and questioning the reality of their captors and even their own identities, dismisses the futility of their captors’ rituals.

Driven by an urgent need to proceed, Sunny refocuses on his arcane work. He meticulously enchants a soul shard, recognizing the intrinsic link between soul cores and the strength of spellweaves, even as he improvises with the shard in place of actual embers. After stabilizing the shard in an ambivalent state, he carefully unravels his intricate shadow string pattern. He then painstakingly integrates this weave, along with the ethereal soul shard, directly into the steel of his collar, a perilous fusion of magic and metal.

The result is a collar that now appears akin to a Memory, its nexus almost indistinguishable from the arcane embers. With a second, complex enchantment woven in, Sunny attempts to dismiss the collar. The metal band turns deathly cold as two energies clash, causing both enchantments to falter. A profound shift occurs, a sensation of an awakened inner self, filling Sunny with a mixture of fear and exhilaration as he summons the runes, his voice barely a whisper: “One…”

Chapter 619 Seven Seconds

With a whisper of “Seven,” Sunny emerges from the shadows, the obsidian shell of his transformed body now a beacon of swirling light as he begins to summon his Memories. Elyas, witnessing this terrifying spectacle, gasps, “How…?” as Sunny’s shadow manifests as a fearsome black odachi, and then the stoic Saint appears, her dark figure exuding an indomitable aura. Sunny, a grim joy on his face, gifts Saint the greatblade, and with a directive to “Kill them. Kill them all!” she vanishes into the darkness, the Soul Serpent poised for destruction.

As Saint unleashes her bloody work, a bestial scream echoes through the dungeon, but Sunny’s attention is elsewhere, focused on a familiar whispered promise: “[Your shadow grows stronger.]” The air thickens with the nascent power as a somber shortsword, woven from tenebrous fog, materializes in his hand, signifying the completion of his transformation as he utters, “One.” This dramatic unleashing of power marks a significant shift, hinting at a calculated strategy unfolding within the grim confines of their ordeal.

Chapter 620 Death

Sunny, fueled by grim resolve, bends the enchanted iron bars trapping Elyas, using the Cruel Sight’s divine flame to soften the metal. With a surge of power from his shadows and a desperate pull, he cracks the cage, his monstrous strength warping the steel. Just as he frees Elyas, the Red Priest, their Ascended jailer, arrives with terrifying speed, an immediate threat catching Sunny off guard. “Damnation…” Sunny pulls Elyas through the breach, pushing him away to face the onslaught.

Sunny attempts to block the Priest’s devastating strike with his transformed weapons, but his exhausted body falters, a critical misstep costing him dearly. The Priest’s great blade cleanly severs Sunny’s head, his disbelief frozen in his lightless eyes as his body collapses. Elyas, witnessing the brutal end of his protector, staggers in shock, grief and wrath warring in his eyes as he vows revenge.

The Priest, unconcerned by Elyas’s defiant outburst, turns his attention to the freed slave, raising his monstrous blade once more. The promise of a final, brutal confrontation hangs heavy in the air, leaving Elyas to face the indifferent murderer, his hope for escape extinguished by Sunny’s tragic sacrifice.

Chapter 621 Path To Freedom

Miraculously, Sunny’s severed head reattaches, though the agonizing pain suggests survival is a hollow victory. The silent aftermath of Saint’s intervention confirms they are the last captives, her shadow essence a meager balm to Sunny’s depleted reserves. He knows they must escape the Red Colosseum before the Warmongers discover their liberation.

Rising, Sunny meets Elyas’s awestruck gaze, the slave still bearing the damning collar. Sunny, however, can do little for it now, his focus on their desperate flight and the latent power now accessible through his bond with the Spell. When Elyas stammers, “Demon… how? How are you still alive?”, Sunny simply gestures to the Undying Chain breastplate, a relic that concealed his might. Elyas questions the armor’s origin and Sunny’s prior restraint, only for Sunny to reveal the War God’s binding masked his connection to the Lord of Shadows, suppressing his blessings.

As Sunny silences Elyas with a gesture, Saint emerges, her indifference a stark contrast to the pulsing danger. Elyas, humbled by her decisive action, bows to the taciturn figure, “You… you have my gratitude for coming to our aid, v—venerable lady Shade!” The escape from this nightmarish arena has begun, but the true cost of their freedom and the challenges ahead remain shrouded in darkness.

Chapter 622 Wooden Sword

The approaching dawn necessitates a swift escape from the Red Colosseum, as the Warmongers’ arrival threatens to complicate their flight. Sunny, prioritizing survival over Elyas’s collar, plans their route, recognizing the growing distance as their primary advantage. While unfamiliar with the western Chained Isles, Sunny opts for a southeastern course towards a ruined fortress near Effie and Kai’s former location, a region within Hope’s shattered kingdom that he knows. This area, less dominated by the War faction, also borders the Iron Hand island, a pre-arranged rendezvous point. As they race towards the island’s edge, hoping to utilize the Heavenly Burden and Dark Wing for transport, a chilling realization dawns: salvation is just out of reach.

A sigh from the darkness precedes a brutal impact that sends Sunny sprawling, his Undying Chain breastplate cracked and his body rendered numb. Unable to breathe, he struggles for air as a delicate foot pins his wrist, crushing his attempt to reach his weapon. Looking up, Sunny faces a vision of breathtaking beauty in a red tunic, her eyes like silver stars. Solvane, the Transcendent Immortal, greets him with a sad smile, stating, “I am afraid that this is as far as you go… ah, we meet again, child of shadows!”

The terrifying realization that the Priestess of War herself has arrived to hunt them chills Sunny to the bone. He frantically considers his options, including deploying Soul Serpent and Saint, but dismisses the idea, understanding that an Awakened and an Ascended Demon stand no chance against a Transcendent, an ancient being chosen by the gods. Their desperate flight for freedom has just encountered an insurmountable obstacle, leaving their fate hanging precariously in the balance.

Chapter 623 Ardent Desire

Sunny, still reeling from Solvane’s impossibly swift and brutal attack, finds himself disarmed and utterly vulnerable. His gaze falls upon the wooden knife, a simple implement that now ignites a terrifying revelation. The entire brutal spectacle of the Red Colosseum, with its zealous worship of struggle and death, suddenly clicks into place. This cult, born from the ruins of Hope’s shattered kingdom, prizes glory above all else, a glory achieved through overcoming impossible odds. The arena’s constant battles, the enslavement of abominations, all serve a singular, twisted purpose: to forge a warrior worthy of facing their own Undefeated Saint.

The chilling truth dawns: the Trials are designed not to find champions, but to create an opponent capable of killing Solvane herself. The cycle of bloodshed, the relentless pursuit of glory, has a final, ultimate test. The victor of the Colosseum’s deadly games is granted a wooden blade and a chance to fight for their freedom, not against a final monstrous foe, but against Solvane. This entire hellish arena, this feverish nightmare, exists for her to find a warrior worthy of defeating her, a warrior capable of granting her death, a death she craves but cannot simply accept.

Eternal Solvane, the Transcendent Immortal, chained by her duty and her faith, cannot relinquish her existence without a glorious struggle. Her greatest desire is to be defeated, to die a death worthy of her god, a death earned through valiant combat. Thus, the ultimate prize of the Red Colosseum is not freedom from the arena, but the chance to face the Priestess of War, to confront the seemingly invincible Solvane and end her millennia-long torment, if they possess the strength and the glory to do so.

Chapter 624 A New Day

Elyas, his voice filled with a desperate hope, takes the wooden knife from Solvane, declaring, “This is our chance. This is what we’ve been fighting for all this time.” He believes his mother’s tales of liberation are true and that the Lord of Light will guide his hand to freedom for them both. Solvane, radiant, encourages him, “Be brave, boy. The gods are watching!” Despite Sunny’s own struggles against an unseen force, he witnesses Elyas, brimming with newfound confidence and combat experience gained in the arena, prepare to face the seemingly invincible Priestess of War.

Elyas launches an attack, his movements swift and artful, a testament to lessons learned from Sunny’s own fighting style. He feints, intending a hidden strike from below. Yet, Solvane, with sharp eyes, anticipates the move. Just as the wooden blade nears, Elyas falters, a fatal red line appearing across his chest before he collapses, his lifeblood soaking into the ground. Solvane sighs, a whisper of sorrow escaping her lips, “…Not today.”

Sunny, bound and witnessing this brutal end, roars in defiance, his mangled body screaming against the unseen restraints. He vows to kill Solvane, to rip her apart. Solvane, retrieving the bloodied knife, turns her dark gaze upon Sunny, the weight of millennia in her eyes, and asks, “What about you? Are you willing to fight me, little demon?”

Chapter 625 Comfortably Numb

Driven by an unyielding rage, Sunny finds himself back amidst the floating islands, a shadow clinging to the underside of a desolate rock, a stark contrast to his previous desperate hope. The Red Colosseum has left him grievously wounded, his chest a torn ruin where one of his two hearts once beat. Sustained only by the fragile Blood Weave, he feels an overwhelming lethargy and numbness, the vibrant emotions of his past—joy, grief, even hatred—extinguished by the relentless brutality he has endured. He has retreated, a casualty of their failed escape, finding a semblance of safety in the dark embrace of a Nightmare, cloaked in the protective onyx of the Mantle of Underworld.

He awakens, the gnawing thirst a brutal reminder of his survival, the pain a constant, dulled ache. Though his body slowly mends, his mind remains a wasteland, emptied of all but a hollow, indifferent rationality. Clinging to the stone, he summons the Endless Spring, a brief respite from his parched state, yet his lethargy persists. The weight of two months of ruthless combat has clearly broken him, leaving him too tired to even contemplate his next move.

Hidden far to the south, shielded by heavenly chains and the sheer difficulty of his discovery, Sunny is presumed dead. The shattered breastplate of the Undying Chain is dismissed to repair itself while he wraps himself in the Mantle, seeking solace from the world’s harsh gaze. Even if the real world could witness him, he no longer cares, his only desire for safety. Eventually, a sigh escapes his lips, the question echoing in the void: “…What should I do?”

Chapter 626 Hiding In The Dark

Sunny checks his progress and is heartened to see that Neph, though still far behind, is alive and fighting, her Soul Fragments growing. This sparks a resolve within him to persevere as well. He then turns to his own array of Memories and Echoes, only to be met with a bewildering sight: thirty-nine new Memories gained, yet not a single Echo from his recent battles against nearly a thousand creatures. “What the hell… how is this even possible…?” he mutters, the disparity in his gains leaving him both astounded and disappointed. He laments the lack of an Echo from the Red Priest, musing, “I would have made him into a Shadow… just to get a chance to kill that bastard again…” Despite the mixed bag of Memories, some splendid and others only useful for feeding Saint, he hesitates to discard them, recognizing their potential for study and experimentation with his Weaver’s Needle, a new capability he now possesses.

He realizes the Spell continued to reward him with Memories even while their connection was obstructed by the sorceries of Hope, a fact that raises its own swarm of questions. While the abundance of new Memories is a boon, the complete absence of Echoes after such intense combat feels like a cruel joke, especially given his normally good fortune with Memories. He decides to put the Memories to a different use, planning to study their unique weaves without fear of damaging valuable instruments.

Satisfied with this newfound purpose, Sunny finishes his synthpaste and dispatches a shadow to scout the conditions above, the lingering numbness of his past ordeal still present but now tempered by a flicker of strategic thought.

Chapter 627 Needlework

Sunny journeys towards the southern boundary of the Chained Isles, the Warmongers’ presence dwindling as he moves away from the Red Colosseum. This desolate region, untouched by the ongoing conflict between Solvane’s militant order and the Sun God’s followers, offers a temporary reprieve, though the lurking horrors of the Dark Side demand continued vigilance. Clinging to a floating island, Sunny dedicates his time to studying the intricate weaves of his newly acquired Memories, a painstakingly slow process. “Weaver’s sorcery seemed elegant, strange, and marvelous… but also inhumanly complex and elaborate,” he muses, grappling with the alien nature of this power.

Despite his inability to create new patterns, Sunny finds solace in his demonstrated ability to copy existing enchantments, a skill honed in the Red Colosseum. His current focus shifts to modifying these weaves, aiming to expand his sorcerous repertoire beyond a single trick. He selects the Silver Bell, his very first Memory, and a noiseless dagger, one of his arena spoils, for a daring experiment. He intends to alter the dagger’s sound-nullifying enchantment into one that amplifies sound, effectively transforming a silent weapon into a noisy one.

This ambitious undertaking is not for practical gain but to prove his capacity for altering enchantments. “I wanted to change the latter into the former,” he resolves, the challenge of transforming the silent dagger into a cacophonous one a testament to his burgeoning understanding of Weaver’s sorcery. The journey, though fraught with danger, becomes a crucible for his evolving powers, pushing the boundaries of what he thought possible.

Chapter 628 From The Dark Side

Beneath the desolate skies of the Chained Isles, Sunny finds his fragile peace shattered by the emergence of colossal emerald bones from the very earth of his floating sanctuary. These ancient fragments coalesce into a terrifying, towering skeleton, an echo of a past, fearsome adversary, but far more imposing. As this silent sentinel turns its gaze northward, a chilling discordance disrupts the familiar celestial symphony – the heavenly chains, usually a constant hum, now rattle with an unsettling resonance. Sunny, ever watchful, descends into the shadows, his unease growing as he witnesses a true nightmare: a monstrous, tar-black abomination, at least twenty meters long, methodically crawling along the celestial tether, its form pulsing with palpable corruption.

The chilling revelation that this is no mere beast, but a “Corrupted Monster,” equal in power to the formidable Wormvine, ignites a primal urge for flight within Sunny. However, before he can escape, the emerald skeleton unleashes a massive boulder, a futile gesture against the encroaching darkness. The tar-fiend, unfazed, retaliates with a torrent of poisoned stone shards, forcing Sunny to narrowly evade a direct hit, the crater left by his near-miss a stark reminder of the pervasive danger.

The encounter escalates as the tar abomination convulses, its black flesh erupting with sharp, obsidian shards slick with foul ichor. These jagged projectiles rain down, pulverizing the emerald skeleton and tearing at the island’s slopes, reducing stone to dust. Sunny, narrowly dodging one of the deadly projectiles, feels the earth tremble beneath him, a grim testament to the destructive power unleashed. This violent clash between the monstrous tar-fiend and the resurrected skeleton, with Sunny caught precariously in the middle, signals a terrifying new threat on the fringes of the Dark Side.

Chapter 629 Pursuit

Sunny, now a horrifying quadruped, flees the tar abomination, his monstrous gait carrying him across the celestial chains. He rejects the safety of the Sky Below, knowing his maneuverability there is compromised, leaving him vulnerable to the creature’s vile projectiles. His only hope lies in reaching the darkness-shrouded segments of the chain, allowing him to slip away to another island. The tar-fiend relentlessly pursues, its form a churning mass of black tendrils. Just as the darkness descends, Sunny plunges into shadow, a desperate dive that narrowly saves him. The tar monster follows, unleashing a gurgling wail that racks Sunny with pain, a sound that reverberates through both skies.

Emerging from the shadows, Sunny sprints across ancient iron, teleporting to the next island, the tar-fiend hitting only empty air. This evasive maneuver drains his essence, leaving him gasping with pain, but he forces himself onward. He finds himself on a desolate battlefield littered with the wreckage of ships and the bones of forgotten warriors. Knowing a direct chase is futile, Sunny blends galloping with brief shadow jumps, pushing his demonic body to its limits to stay ahead. The tar monster plows through the debris, its tendrils shredding the ancient hulls. Sunny spots the remnants of a colossal pyre, a grim monument to the island’s past conflicts, but has no time for reflection.

He continues his desperate flight south, island after island, the tar abomination always gaining. Other Nightmare Creatures, usually hostile, now flee alongside him, united in their terror of the pursuing fiend, which singles out Sunny with singular focus. “Oh, gods…” Sunny mutters, the sheer speed and relentless nature of the chase wearing him down, his shadow essence dwindling while the monster’s hunger remains unquenched. The chase continues, a desperate gambit for survival across the desolate Chained Isles.

Chapter 630 Wicked Warlock Of The East

Sunny, still pursued by the relentless tar fiend, experiences a debilitating physical collapse. Clutching his chest, his monstrous form weakens, leaving him vulnerable and questioning his own mortality. Despite his dire state, he recognizes his current location as the Southern island, a crucial anchor point to the mainland. The tar abomination, however, refuses to follow him onto the island, an unsettling development that forces Sunny to make a perilous choice: risk another confrontation with the familiar horror or face an unknown threat lurking within this new territory.

He decides to gamble on the unknown, limping inland as night falls. The diminished pain in his chest offers little comfort as he seeks refuge in the island’s encroaching shadows, his meager shadow essence slowly replenishing. His objective is to reach the island’s southern edge and assess the condition of the boundary fortress. As he crests a hill, his progress halts abruptly. A shimmering white light dances in a nearby valley, an anomaly that piques his immediate curiosity and caution.

Hesitantly, Sunny commands his shadows to investigate the source of the luminescence, his instincts screaming caution. The pursuit has left him physically drained and mentally unsettled, but the presence of this light presents a new mystery on this desolate island. The tar-fiend’s uncharacteristic retreat and this strange phenomenon suggest this place holds secrets far beyond a simple chase.