Shadow Slaves
Chapter 7: Three Slaves And A Hero

‘Roll up, you bastard!’

Sunny pressed himself onto the wagon, pushing with all her might. The four powerful oxen that normally pulled him were now dead, and instead, three weary slaves tried to do the job. Even with the slope of the road helping them, the speed of the cart was extremely slow. In comparison, the tyrant was moving faster.

Pushing the Hero backwards with a deadly sweep of his forearm, he lifted the other two to his neck and tried to grab the chain wrapped around him like a noose. However, this time the Mountain King's terrifying physique turned into a disadvantage: its long and terrifying bone claws were perfect for shredding flesh, but it was not the best tool for proper manipulation. It took the tyrant some time to hold the chain without cutting his own neck.

Back then, the wagon was almost at the edge of the cliff.

‘Come! A little more!’

What happened next happened very quickly. The wheel behind the wagon finally slid off the road, hanging over a seemingly bottomless dark hole beneath it. The creature turned around, staring expressionlessly at the three slaves with its five eyes dying like milk. The wagon turned, causing Shifty and Scholar to be thrown off their feet, then froze, dangerously balanced on its central axis.

Sunny is the only one left. He glanced at the towering monster one last time, and then slammed his shoulders into the front of the wagon, putting all his weight behind it.

The wagon eventually lost its balance and rolled to the edge, scraping its bottom deafeningly onto the jagged rocks. Sunny fell forward and landed on his knees, barely saving himself from falling off a cliff with him. Turning his head towards the tyrant, he gave him an evil smile.

The Mountain King moved to lash at the skinny slave, but it was too late. A moment later, the chains on his neck tightened, and he was pulled back with incredible force, flying past the edge of the cliff like a rag doll. The creature fell into the darkness silently, as if refusing to believe that it was defeated by a small human.

‘Go and die, bastard.’ thought Sunny.

Then he took one deep breath and fell to the ground, completely exhausted.

‘What is this? Did I pass the trial?’

He rested on the icy rocks, looked up at the night sky, and waited for a vaguely familiar, but elusive voice that announced his victory. But instead of that, wave after wave of pain that he had previously ignored finally began to overtake his abused body.

Sunny groaned, feeling pain all over his body. The skin on his back, slashed by the slave whip and pierced by the bone spikes of the newborn larvae, suffered greatly. He also began to shiver, once again being consumed by the terrible cold.

‘I don't think.’

His mind was slow and muddy.

‘What else should I do?’

A dark figure appeared on it. It was a Hero, looking calm and as handsome as ever. There were dirt and scratches on his armor, but other than that, the young soldier looked fine. He extended one hand to Sunny.

“Standing. You will freeze to death.”

Sunny sighed, accepting that her First Nightmare was not over yet. Then he clenched his teeth and slowly got up, ignoring the Hero's helping hand.

Around them, there was a scene of total slaughter. Except for the three slaves and the Hero, every member of the caravan was killed. Their bodies were scattered on the ground, severely deformed or torn to shreds. Here and there, disgusting carcasses of larvae are seen. The shadows cast by the bonfire danced happily over the stone platform, seemingly unperturbed by this unnatural sight.

Sunny was too tired to care.

Shifty and Scholar were already awake, staring at Hero with exhausting fear. With or without shackles, they were slaves, and he was still a slave driver. Noticing their tense gazes, the soldier sighed.

“Close to fire, all of you. We need to warm ourselves up and discuss what to do next.”

Moments later, the four of them sat around the campfire, absorbing the pleasant heat. Shifty and Scholar are close together, keeping a safe distance from the Hero. Sunny sits apart from everyone not because she has a special reason not to trust one person more than another, but simply because she dislikes people in general.

Growing up, Sunny was always not a match. It was not that he had never tried to get close to someone, it was just that he looked lacking in ability. Like there's an invisible wall between him and everyone else. If she had to express it in words, Sunny would say that she was born without the small but important equipment in her brain that everyone seems to have.

As a result, he is often confused and confused by human behavior, and his attempts to imitate it, however diligent, inevitably fail. This weirdness makes others uncomfortable. In short, he was a little different and if there was one thing that people hated, it was a different thing from them.

Over time, Sunny learns to avoid getting too close to anyone and adjust comfortably to her wasted role. This habit was beneficial to him, as it not only made him independent, but also saved him from being stabbed in the back by a shady character on many occasions.

That's why he wasn't happy to share the rest of this Nightmare with three strangers. Instead of trying to start a conversation, Sunny sat quietly alone, daydreaming.

After a few minutes, Hero's voice finally broke the silence:

“Once the sun rises, we will collect whatever food and water we can find and return down the mountain.”

Shifty gave her a defiant look.

“Why should we go back? To be chained again?”

The young soldier sighed.

“We can part ways once we leave the mountains. But until then, I'm still in charge of your life. We can't continue because the road through the mountain pass is long and difficult. Without those supplies stored in the cart, your chances of making them are not high. That's why coming back is our best hope.”

The scholar opened his mouth, planning to say something, but then thought better and remained silent. Cursed cunning, seemingly convinced by the Hero's rational words.

“We can't go down.”

The three of them turned their heads towards Sunny, surprised to hear her voice.

Shifty laughed out loud and glanced at the soldier.

“Don't listen to him, Sire. This kid, uh, touched by the gods. He's crazy, that's what I want to say.”

The hero frowned, staring at the slaves.

“You two are still alive thanks to the bravery of this boy. Aren't you guys shy about cheating on him?”

Shifty shrugged, indicating that he was not ashamed at all. The young soldier shook his head.

“I want to hear the reason. Tell me, why can't we go down?”

Sunny shifted, uncomfortable being the center of everyone's attention.

“Because the monster is not dead.”