Shadow Slave novel Chapter 224

Chapter 224 Pyre

Inside the giant nest of spiderwebs, a desiccated corpse of the colossal Matriarch lay shriveled on the floor, its iron carapace shattered by some devastating blow. The creature was long dead, but the sight of it was still terrifying. _{freewebnσvel.cѳm}

The vast abdomen of the brood mother, however, appeared to have been severed much later than her fatal battle against the Lord of the Bright Castle. It almost looked as if it was… torn apart from within. Inside the terrifying wound, Sunny noticed the shattered remnants of five giant, metallic eggs.

The size of them was about the same as that of the five monstrous Fallen Beasts that had destroyed the original Stone Saint and her brethren back in the Dark City.

'So… that was where they came from.'

Looking away with a shiver, Sunny noticed numerous cocoons of spiderwebs attached to the walls of the nest all around the dead Matriarch. Inside them, withered carcasses of Nightmare Creatures of all shapes and sizes were preserved in a strangely good condition.

This was a true museum of terror.

The Nightmare Creatures appeared as though they were kept alive inside the cocoons for a long, long time before finally succumbing to death and turning into mummified corpses. Perhaps the abominable spiders stored them there for later consumption.

Or… not.

Noticing a few cocoons that had been broken open and what was inside of them, Sunny had to try hard to stop himself from vomiting.

The iron spiders did not use the monsters caught in the cocoons for food.

...They used them as incubators.

The creatures in the broken cocoons had been devoured from within. A few of them still had hundreds of small, moist eggs embedded into their flesh, with embryonic spiderlings moving weakly behind the slightly transparent shells.

'Curse… it all…'

Damn these spiders, damn the Labyrinth, damn the Forgotten Shore… and especially damn the damned Nightmare Spell that had brought him here. Sunny suddenly felt tired of this long, feverish, neverending nightmare he had found himself in.

But the worse was still to come.

He was the first to notice it. With a dark grimace suddenly appearing on his face, Sunny called out to his companions. Then, he led them deeper into the nest, where, attached to the wall, hung a cocoon that was different from all the others.

Because this one hid a rough silhouette of a human body.

The six of them stood somberly around the cocoon, each consumed by their own dark thoughts. Finally, Nephis turned her head to Caster and said:

"Can you sword cut it open?"

With a short nod, the proud Legacy summoned the enchanted jian and took a step forward. Approaching the cocoon, he stopped and hesitated for a few moments.

"Be careful."

Glancing back at Changing Star, Caster lingered for a second, and then faced the cocoon with grim determination written on his face. As ghostly green light emanated from the blade of his sword, he swung it with the graceful precision of an expert swordsman.

The tip of the jian cut through the metal wires of the cocoon, splitting it open. A shriveled human body fell to the floor, making the Legacy jump back.

Nephis, Caster, and Sunny stared at it, their faces pale and full of ghastly resentment. Then, Sunny bent over and emptied the contents of his stomach.

…This was just too much.

The young man whose corpse they found in this harrowing place did not die an easy death. In fact, being eaten alive from the inside by a hundred of tiny Nightmare Creatures was probably the worst fate imaginable. At least Sunny couldn't think of anything worse.