Chapter 3232 Guardian of the Shadow Realm

In the desolate expanse of the Realm of Death, a lonely shadow was walking across obsidian sand. Its gaze was tranquil and hollow, devoid of the painful passions of life. The shadow had crossed the rivers of the Underworld and lost the essence of who it had been once... perhaps it had never possessed such a thing, to begin with.

Now, all that remained was its silent pilgrimage to the heart of the Shadow Realm — a pilgrimage that would inevitably end in the shadow turning into a radiant constellation of scattering sparks of soul essence long before it reached its destination.

Of course, not all shadows shared that fate. There were exceptions, albeit those exceptions only served to prove the rule. The shadows of the most powerful beings could sometimes endure the long journey to the heart of this desolate land. Others — maybe even fewer in number — would somehow maintain a fragment of their sense of self and an overwhelming determination to continue existing, becoming Shadow Creatures instead.

And there were those who, like this shadow, were unfortunate enough to attract the attention of harrowing predators.

Even if the shadow was not aware, a grim gaze had already fallen on it, and the darkness around it began to flow unnaturally, revealing the formless shape of a malevolent creature.

It was a Creature of Darkness that had descended from the Abyss to feast upon the shadow pilgrims and swallow them into its harrowing maw.

Now, the creature was unfurling its shapeless body into a vast shroud, aiming to envelop the tranquil shadow...

But before it could, an unseen blade traced a line across its body, severing it in half. In a split second, dozens of these lines appeared, eviscerating the Creature of Darkness and vanquishing it from existence.

A ghostly wail seemed to echo above the sea of black dunes, then dissipated into the wind.

Standing atop one of the dunes, Shadow watched the tranquil shade continue on its way to the heart of the Realm of Death. His tunic was tattered, and his hair was disheveled. His eyes were sunken and unfocused, a distant expression resting on his pale face.

In his hand, he held a long splinter of obsidian shaped into a narrow blade. Turning to look into the distance, he grimaced and whispered in a hoarse voice:

“Damn god... why is he even allowing these ghastly things to enter the Shadow Realm?"

Shadow God and the Shadow Realm were inseparable — they were simply two forms of the same being. So, by allowing Creatures of Darkness to enter the Shadow Realm, Shadow God was basically inviting them into his own body.

Shadow had nothing much to do, so he made a hobby out of hunting them down. Mostly, he simply slumbered in the darkness, but when dreams and nightmares disturbed his peace, he would prowl the outskirts of the Shadow Realm for a while, observe the shadows of the dead, and guard them on their last pilgrimage.

Cursing quietly, he glanced away from the tranquil shade and went the other way.

“Well. Maybe that is exactly why he allows them to enter."

Shadow was not the only one hunting the Creatures of Darkness. The Realm of Death was not as uninhabited as it would be in the future — there were other Shadow Creatures here, as well. Most of them were Soul Serpents, with an occasional Shadowspawn sometimes appearing in the distance.

The serpents fed on the Creatures of Darkness, even if sometimes they failed and were devoured instead.

It was almost like... like watching white blood cells fight against a foreign infection.

“Right.”

Just like a human would not consciously battle every harmful bacterium that entered their body, perhaps Shadow God did not need to personally bar the Creatures of Darkness from entering either. The Soul Serpents were akin to a defensive mechanism of his body.

Shadow was not sure that going that far with his metaphor was wise — gods, after all, were entirely different from humans — and he was not particularly interested in contemplating the issue either.

However, he did ask himself a question.

"If that is the case and the Soul Serpents are like white blood cells... when what the hell does that make me?"

Wasn't he doing the same thing?

Had he become a tiny function of Shadow God's body without even knowing?

"That's troublesome. That makes me a little angry."

The last thing he wanted was to be put to work by that lazy, irresponsible god. Shadow God had refused to do his duty and grant Shadow death, so why would Shadow respond by being diligent and useful instead?

"Should I not kill the Creatures of Darkness anymore?"

He remained motionless for a few seconds, then turned to look at the tranquil shade, which was now some distance away.

For a second, a hint of malice flared in his lightless eyes.

“Should I hunt the shadows instead?"

Shadow stared at the shade for a while, then glanced away. The hint of emotion disappeared from his eyes, replaced by indifference.

“Never mind. I just want to sleep."

But for now, sleep escaped him.

Wearing a grim expression, Shadow continued his journey across the outskirts of the Shadow Realm. He walked across the obsidian sand, cresting tall dunes. At times, he took the shape of enormous beasts and rushed forward, hearing the wind whistle in his ears. Usually, he would have turned into a giant serpent, but now, he did not want to anymore.

There was an essence storm ravaging the black wasteland in the distance — Shadow wasn't in the mood to be torn apart by its fury, so he kept his distance.

Such was his existence.

Endless, senseless... entirely devoid of meaning. He lived in the Realm of Death, having long lost track of time. Sometimes, he could find solace in the embrace of oblivion — those were times when he slumbered.

The Shadow Realm was vast and desolate, so even if his consciousness encompassed a vast area around him, with some luck, he would not sense anything — for years, or even for centuries. At those times, his consciousness would become like a frozen flame, his thoughts churning slower and slower — or not at all. That was slumber.

At other times, like now, he was restless, enduring the tedium of life one step at a time.

Step, step... another step.

Granted, this time felt a little different from his previous bouts of insomnia.

There was a subtle, but persistent feeling gnawing at him... as if something ominous was drawing closer.

Knowing of his innate sensitivity to the vibrations of the String of Fate, Shadow was not foolish enough to discount that uneasy premonition. But, at the same time, he did not care to pay it any attention.

Whatever it was that seemed to have set its sights on him could come — he welcomed it, really.

Perhaps after the source of that annoying sensation went away, he would be able to sleep once again.

At some point, he stopped atop a dune and looked around.

The landscape of the Shadow Realm was monotone, but from time to time, there would be strange obsidian structures rising from the black sand. Some of them resembled gargantuan buildings, while some looked like the weathered remains of vast cities. The shape of them was odd, while their scale was so immense that human dwellings would look like anthills in comparison.

Shadow did not know who had built these structures and what their purpose was, or how deep beneath the dunes their foundations were. However, he had an inexplicable suspicion that there had been no ocean of obsidian dust and no rolling dunes in the Shadow Realm once. Instead, all this black sand had come from countless obsidian structures being ground to dust by the roaming essence storms over eons. What had the Shadow Realm looked like before it was drowned by the sea of obsidian dust?

He did not know, did not care to know... and, most likely, was not qualified to know either.

What mattered at the moment was that the gnawing sensation that had been keeping him alert was now growing more and more intense with each moment.

Frowning, he looked around once more and extended his shadow sense outward, trying to determine if there was someone near him. But there was nothing — he could not see anything, hear anything, or sense anything.

Still, he took a step to the side and turned his torso slightly. In the next moment, a sharp blade carved from pristine white jade hissed as it severed the fabric of reality apart, missing him by a hair's breadth. Shadow slashed his crude obsidian sword in a graceful arc, feeling a slight resistance as it cut the shadows. The jade blade was impossibly swift, but the obsidian sword was faster — so fast, in fact, that it seemed to vanish from one spot and appear in another at exactly the same time.

There was a rustle, and a headless corpse fell to his feet. The head rolled down the slope of the dune, revealing glimpses of a ghastly face buried under a mess of ugly scars.

That face, despite its hideous deformity... looked strangely familiar.

Despite having slain his foe, Shadow did not relax. That was because there were two incongruities with what had just happened. The first one was that he did not sense a new shade entering his soul.

The second...

‘Where did that jade sword go?'

The headless corpse was sprawled on the black sand in front of him, but the pristine white blade was gone.

Shadow sighed.

"Whatever you are, come out."

He paused for a moment, and then added mercifully:

"I'll kill you."

In response, an eerie laughter suddenly resounded from the shadows, and a figure stepped out of them... no, rather, the shadows coalesced to form the figure.

The same ghastly, hideous face stared at Shadow with utter madness in its eyes, sharp teeth revealed in a vicious grin.

The man's voice, however, sounded calm.

“Didn't you already kill me?"

The madman studied Shadow for a moment, and then laughed.

"So this is the worm who replaced me. Ah, how disappointing... how vile."

Glancing at the headless corpse, he added:

"You are still a murderer, at least. Our talents aren't wasted!"