Shadow Slave

Effie did not feel too good.

But, at least, she was free.

A terrifying plague was devouring her from within, and a river of black blood was flowing from the brutal wounds delivered to her by Azarax. Effie felt like she was at the end of her rope.

But the rope that had bound her hands was now cut, and she managed to escape. Azarax had made a mistake when he left his dagger in her body. At first, Effie entertained the thought of turning its blade against him — the mighty King of Kings was distracted, after all, and had turned his back to her. One strike, and the Nightmare would be over...

Her mind was dim, and her thoughts moved slowly, but even in that foggy state, her sharp survival instinct told her that trying to kill Azarax was a fool's errand. She would never manage to bring him down — not in one strike, and not in her current state. Maybe when the plague had ravaged him more thoroughly, but not now.

So, Effie chose to escape instead.

Using the fact that Azarax was dazed and distracted, she crawled to the back of his palatial tent and used the dagger to cut its fabric.

Outside, the camp of the Steel Horde was like a disturbed anthill. The warriors returning from the city were pale and covered in soot. Those who had remained in camp were either dead or rattled. A whole swath of the encampment was completely destroyed and on fire, flames consuming what little was left of the Steel Horde's provisions.

That had to be Jet's doing.

The soldiers were running around trying to put out the flames, while some simply slumped on the ground in exhaustion. There were many wounded... and many of the wounded looked at their trembling hands in horror, dark blood seeping from beneath their bandages.

The air was thick with smoke and ash.

Effie used the chaos to make her way out of the camp.

In truth, she did not quite remember how she had managed to escape it. She seemed to have killed a few soldiers on the way, since the blade of the dagger she was still clutching in her hand was smeared with blood — red blood, not black, which meant that it wasn't her own.

But even if she had killed a few, the rest did not seem to have noticed her escape. Not immediately, at least... by now, they definitely had. Effie knew it because she was being pursued.

With her mind foggy, she couldn't quite understand where she was. She had found herself in a forest, surrounded by countless dead trees. The ground was barren, and the sun was setting, plunging the world into twilight. Effie leaned on a tree, breathing heavily, pressing one hand against her mangled torso.

But it was like trying to stem the flow of a river with a single stone. Azarax had not been miserly when stabbing her, so she received more wounds than what could be covered with one hand — the blood was still flowing, heavy drops falling into the black soil.

That wasn't ideal, since leaving a blood trail while being pursued seemed like a bad idea. And there was something weird going on, as well...

In the places where Effie's blood fell onto the barren soil, it seemed to bloom. Green grass, vines, and flowers sprouted from the earth, growing with astonishing speed. Even the dead trees nearby seemed to come to life, young buds swelling on their branches.

‘What... the hell is...'

Thoughts churned slowly in her head. She didn't understand what was happening, but was vaguely dismayed by it. A blood trail was already bad enough, and now there was an even more conspicuous trail of thriving greenery left in her wake. The forest was coming back to life wherever she passed, so one only had to follow the vivid green to find her.

And the pursuers, whoever they were, were already catching up. She could hear the sounds of movement in the distance.

Effie doubted that Azarax had chosen to pursue her personally — after all, he would have reached her in mere moments if he had. The King of Kings had to be busy trying to salvage the situation at the moment, reigning in the rattled Steel Horde.

Plus, he must have believed her to be as good as dead — if Effie was honest with herself, she would admit it, too — so the soldiers pursuing her were probably experienced trackers, seasoned veterans, and a Saint or two to make sure she would not escape.

Usually, she would have turned the situation around and made these hunters into her prey, but at the moment, Effie was not even sure that she could survive a few more minutes. Fighting seasoned warriors of the Steel Plague was out of the question.

And she still wanted to live... she was desperately resolved to survive, even if common sense dictated that she was too weak and compromised by the plague to survive her fatal wounds.

Who cared about common sense, anyway? Sense never survived collisions with reality when powerful Awakened were concerned, so Effie decided to ignore the glaring truth of her impending and inevitable death as well.

She groaned and pushed herself away from the tree, dropping the dagger and leaving a bloody handprint on it.

Step, step, another step...

With each one, more blood flowed from her wounds, and she felt a little weaker.

But she still took the next one, and the one after that, and the one after that, stumbling forward as the sounds of the pursuit grew louder behind her.

Something strange was happening to her faltering body, and to her tired soul as well. But Effie ignored it and focused only on what lay ahead, willing herself to keep walking even when all she could feel was the insurmountable imperative to fall and grow still.

Maybe the green saplings bursting from the ground were the result of her burning, overwhelming desire to live.

So, Effie continued to stumble forward, one agonizing step at a time.

Until there was nowhere left to go.

The forest disappeared abruptly, opening into a vast expanse of water. In the crimson glow of the blazing sunset, the water was painted vibrant red, glistening like a placid sea of freshly spilled blood.

Effie froze, a stifled laugh escaping from her lips.

‘...End of the road, I guess.'

She could not walk on water, and with the sounds of the pursuit right behind her, it seemed that her journey was coming to an end.

She still took a few steps forward, reaching the edge of the water, and stepped into it. The waves reached her knees soon, and she stumbled, falling.

‘Doesn't even make sense...’

Why was there a sea in front of her? It was supposed to be in the opposite direction, behind the burned city. Effie couldn't have gone that way, because that was where most of the Steel Horde had been returning from during her escape. So, she fled away from the city.

She pushed herself upright and sat in the cool water, staring numbly as her dark blood mixed with it. A belated realization arrived. This had to be the artificial lake Azarax had created to divert the river. It was quite scenic, considering its purpose.

Effie inhaled deeply and looked up, at the crimson sky.

Behind her, she could hear the sound of heavy boots striking the soil, as well as the sound of countless bowstrings being drawn. Her mind was empty, and somewhere beneath that emptiness, the cold and undeniable knowledge that she was about to die floated in the darkness.

The warriors of the Steel Horde let their arrows loose.

Effie was pretty tired. She was hurting horribly. Cold water washed her burning body, soothing her pain... so, for a moment, she thought that maybe it was alright, to lie down in the cold darkness and rest. Instead, she used what little essence she had regained and activated her Awakened Ability, turning her skin as hard as steel. The arrows bounced off it, some shattering into splinters. A couple managed to sink in, but even then, their tips didn't penetrate too deeply.

‘Penetrate too deeply, huh...’

Suddenly, Effie's lips twisted into a crooked smile.

‘To hell with this.'

Lying down to rest in the soothing cold darkness?

Who had time for that?

Effie had no patience for the peace offered by death. She did not need its solace.

So even while the plague was eating her from the inside and sharp arrows pierced her flesh, she decided to struggle a little more.

She was going to see how many of her pursuers she would be able to kill before they brought her down... no, why consider that? She was going to kill them all, so there was no need to count.

Suddenly, Effie remembered her Second Nightmare. She remembered the Temple of the Chalice, and the children she had trained side by side with, enduring the harsh cruelty of the War Maidens and the subtle insanity of the Kingdom of Hope together... until all of them were gone, and she alone remained.

Still struggling.

That was the path of War God, wasn't it? The eternal struggle of all living things — the struggle to stay alive, to live.

To thrive.

‘Oh, War...'

Effie groaned.

‘...rot forever in your grave, you damn god.’

She tried to push herself to her feet, but there was too little strength left in her body, so she barely managed to move.

She kept trying.

And as she did...

Something inside her seemed to reach critical mass.

Something seemed to have reached completion.

It rose, suffusing her entire being, overflowing like a wellspring.

And then, the Spell whispered into her ear.

[You have received an Aspect Legacy, Blessing of War.]

As Effie gasped, clutching her bleeding abdomen, the Spell continued to speak.

[You have received a fragment of Life's Domain.]

[Your soul has given birth to a lesser domain, Garden of Prosperity.]

[You have become the master of a Soul Garden.]

‘W—what?'

Flowing from beneath Effie's hand, her black blood suddenly grew brighter, gradually turning red.

And she finally felt the change that had been happening to her reaching its culmination.

Even if Effie could not see it at the moment, a profound transformation was happening within her soul. If she were to enter her Soul Sea, she would have witnessed the sea that rested under a clear blue sky, illuminated by the warm radiance of a brilliant sun, seething and roiling.

Then, something vast slowly rose from beneath the undulating waves — it was a great island, with tall mountains rising to the sky and clear rivers running along its plains and valleys. Green saplings sprouted from the rich soil, and the barren island was swiftly covered by forests, meadows, groves, and grasslands. Flowers bloomed, and the branches of the trees bent under the weight of ripening fruit.

The thriving abundance of this elysian island was brimming with exuberant and inexhaustible vitality, and that vitality infused Effie's entire being, clashing with the plague that consumed her in a vicious war.

'What... kind of nonsense is this?'

Effie wanted to laugh, but she couldn't because at that moment, more arrows fell on her, more than a few managing to pierce her skin.

She swayed, feeling more blood flowing down her body.

If only she could stand up... then...

Her essence was almost consumed now, and even if her newly unsealed Aspect Legacy had strengthened her, she would still lose the ability to use her Aspect soon.

Once that happened, those arrows would kill her all the same.

But before Effie could run out of essence, she suddenly felt terribly cold.

An icy mist obscured the shore of the lake, hiding her from the eyes of the archers. Terrified screams resounded from the mist, muffled by its cold embrace.

Effie exhaled slowly and finally allowed herself to fall.

Just before she plunged into the water, though, someone caught her.

She looked up, at the icy blue eyes looking down at her from the darkness.

Effie sighed.

"Big Sister... I feel like crap."

Jet, who was holding her, nodded silently.

“You look like crap."

Effie tried to chuckle and grimaced instead.

“There's a garden... blooming in my soul... a soul garden..."

Jet frowned.

"You appear to be delirious. That's fine, but do try to get a grip. At least until we get out of here."

Cradled in her arms, Effie looked up and grinned.

"Get a grip, huh? What do you want me to grip, exactly?"

Tracing her gaze, Jet scoffed.

"Looks like she's doing alright, after all. Good... now, let's run..."