Shadow Slave-Chapter 2386 Vermin Sprint

These chapters are modified using AI, the entire text may or may not have been invented by the admins. I do not know why you are reading this, but you asked for it yourself

---

When the conclusion arrived, it arrived abruptly.

Slayer was sprinting through an opening between two floods of pests, her blade whistling as it moved at tremendous velocity, cutting apart individual rats who had succeeded in leaping at her from the churning mass of their companions.

The corridor she had carved was about to vanish, and no retreat was possible — Kai was delayed with his next shot, so no pocket of refuge had been formed by a devastating blast.

Slayer was already channeling essence into her weapon, preparing to trigger its enchantment right after using it just a moment before — it was inefficient and risky, but their options were limited.

It was then that Sunny detected a compressed and crushing mass of barely restrained energy hurtling toward them from behind at horrific speed.

Nearly simultaneously, he perceived a rapid shadow soaring across the obsidian bridge... the shadow of a projectile.

In the following instant, the arrow blazed overhead and struck the mountain near the summit.

There was no blazing explosion, this time...

But what happened next was orders of magnitude more devastating.

The mountain quaked as an incredible amount of concussive energy and noise was discharged instantly. Countless rats were immediately crushed by the annihilating shockwave, transforming into a scarlet mist. Beyond that, no pocket of safety was formed on the incline this time — instead, the unbreakable stone simply fractured, and massive tons of it were hurled high into the atmosphere.

The geyser of broken stone stretched into the heavens, widening as it climbed.

Then came the thunderous boom of the impact and the mighty tremors that caused several portions of the cracked slope to crumble.

The devastation near the summit was far worse, though.

Actually, the entire summit was destroyed, collapsing under its own mass and tumbling down. A tremendous rockslide transformed the western side of the mountain into a scene of chaotic ruin, rolling clouds of debris blocking the sight as countless rats were flattened and entombed under the massive stones.

Then, the wreckage that had been launched into the sky descended, crushing even more.

...That was the outcome of Kai using the final enchantment of the Supreme bow Sunny had forged for him — the proven and reliable [Death Dealer], modified to incorporate his newest understanding of weaving.

Kai must have channeled most of his essence into this single shot, sending his most lethal arrow flying.

And there was only one explanation he would have done that.

Sunny wanted to smile.

The destruction of the mountain's summit, the countless rats destroyed by the initial strike and the rockslide that followed... all of it was merely a byproduct. Kai's real target was one rat — the origin of the Rat King.

He must have discovered the invisible thread and followed it to the source rat's location.

After that, his mission was straightforward... he had to strike that single moving rat among a million identical pests, from dozens of kilometers distance. What could have been easier than that?

And he succeeded.

Sunny was certain of it, because he could already detect the swarm's behavior shifting.

His heart was filled with savage joy.

The first transformation was somewhat subtle and difficult to explain. The rats weren't confused, and the Will of the swarm didn't weaken in its terrible, overwhelming power — but it became more chaotic and uncontrolled, abandoning all semblance of direction. That was because the rat swarm had broken free from Snow Tyrant's dominion.

The second transformation was far more significant, though.

It only took Sunny a moment to notice that something was missing. And when he focused on that glaring absence, he understood that no fresh rats had emerged to replace the ones destroyed by the rockslide.

With the death of its creator, the swarm stopped its endless expansion. The Rat King was Rat King no longer... now, it was simply a massive horde of famished abominations.

And these nightmare beasts were already beginning to consume each other.

Sunny spent a heartbeat watching the terrifying sight of countless rats attacking each other to tear each other to shreds.

Maybe if this was permitted to persist, if all the innumerable rats were allowed a chance to devour each other... then, at the conclusion, a new Rat King would have emerged. A single horrific creature who had fed on the meat of its relatives, and absorbed the essence of the entire swarm to become the source of a new rat pestilence.

But Sunny and Slayer were present to stop that from occurring.

Well... primarily Slayer.

'Go on! Move!'

She didn't make Sunny request twice.

Before the violent tremors rocking the mountain could stop, and long before the dust of the massive rockslide settled, Slayer had already resumed her savage massacre. She was almost joyful, butchering vast sections of the rabid vermin with each elegant sweep of her blade.

This time, the openings carved in the swarm by her weapon sealed much slower. And after a while, they didn't seal at all.

Soon enough, Kai joined them, too. He arrived in the form of a dragon, scorching the slopes of the mountain with the sonic blasts of his eerie songs.

The sun was rapidly sinking behind the horizon, and the mountain was groaning, barely sustaining its own weight — after all, the rats had chewed on it in their hunger, consuming its foundation.

Sunny, Slayer, and Kai were competing against time.

There were too many rats to eliminate, some of them trapped under the stone wreckage, but still breathing. Perhaps they would have failed to wipe every single one of them out, but fortunately, Kai's sight could pierce the slopes of the mountain, while Sunny's shadow sense could encompass the mountain entirely.

In the end, he detached himself from Slayer and released his essence outward, creating countless shadows to finish off the remaining survivors.

And then, just before the sun vanished behind the horizon, Sunny finally heard it...

[You have slain an enemy.]

Releasing a long breath, he settled on the ground and looked west.

The fight against the Cursed Beast, the Rat King, was finished.

They triumphed.

---