Savior in Shadow Slave

Murphy felt it again—that faint, crawling unease. The kind that whispered when something didn't fit. His gaze lingered on the broken remnants of the Marionette, then shifted to his companions who were preparing to sleep.

'Are they prepared for what lies beyond? For the Hollow Mountains… and that river?'

He exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing as he studied each of them in turn.

Akame stood firm, her raven black hair catching the dim glow, Midnight Shard repairing itself in the soul sea.

But he knew better than to be fooled. Her soul saturation had already climbed to 65%. Her Aspect, [Aegis], made her a fortress in flesh—capable of felling a Fallen Beast with sheer ferocity and endurance.

But that power came at a price. He'd watched her dance on the edge of collapse every time she clashed. In truth, every second of their last battle could have been her last—if not for his constant, precise healing.

'She could easily die in the Hollow Mountains,' he thought grimly. 'One mistake, and the door will open for her.'

Then his gaze slid to Elizabeth. The white serpent coiled protectively at her feet, scales faintly shimmering under the crimson light. Soul saturation—57%. Not weak by any means. She could probably tear through two, maybe three Carapace Centurions on her own. But against a Fallen Abomination? Alone?

Unlikely.

And yet… Elizabeth was an anomaly. Her Attribute, [Hated], defied neat calculations. It burned unpredictably, it could potentially even make her an immortal.

'Just who—or what—does she hate so much? Could it be because of that?'

He turned his head and saw Lucas and Akame discussing their battle.

The thought gnawed at him, cold and persistent.

Lastly, Lucas. The young man knelt, cleaning his spear with meticulous care, his expression calm as always as he analyzed the battle with Corpse Collector.

Lucas had grown—immensely. His spearwork had sharpened into something elegant and lethal, honed by necessity and hunger. His Aspect granted him that uncanny precision, the ability to spot flaws in opponents, and finding paths. It was why they were still alive.

His concoctions—the poisons, the volatile compounds—were nothing short of brilliance. His soul saturation now hovered at 71%, the threshold that few could claim that they reached as of now.

Given time, Lucas could level a town. Erase it from the map in a cloud of smoke and fire.

But head-on? A clash without preparation? That was the flaw he couldn't yet patch. Against an Awakened Demon… Lucas wasn't ready.

Murphy's jaw tightened as his gaze swept over the three of them—his companions, his family in this hell.

'They're still not ready.'

He exhaled slowly, his eyes narrowing.

'I can't just take them to the Hollow Mountains. Even if I ignore the sheer distance, the Corrupted horrors lurking in the ever-rising Dark Sea would tear them apart. We've been lucky so far—thank God we were all thrown into relatively safe zones.'

Safe. The word tasted like ash.

If someone heard him calling this place "safe," they'd probably slap him hard enough to swell his face for a week. But he's not wrong. Compared to the nightmarish zones out there—where Great and Cursed Abominations roam freely—this is mercy. People thrown into those places… nothing in this era ever returned from those places. Some die within minutes, just by being seen.

A faint shiver crept up his spine.

'So why us? Why here?'

The Forgotten Shore although treacherous wasn't an impossible challenge. It was a zone even future Sleepers had managed to clear—eventually.

'If Spell hates me as much as I know it does, why didn't it throw me into the jaws of some Unholy Titan the moment I woke?'

His thoughts lingered, darker now.

'No… maybe there's something here. Something strong enough to wipe me out—or something the Spell wants me to do. A trap disguised as mercy.'

Murphy lifted his gaze toward the colorless sky, searching for answers in the silence above.

'What do you want, Spell? What game are you playing with me?'

Akame's voice broke the heavy silence, startlingly cheerful for someone drenched from head to toe in blood as dark as tar.

"So, where are we going next?"

Murphy's gaze lingered on her, then swept over Lucas and Elizabeth. He looked at them not as comrades, but as people whose lives were hanging on the edge of a blade. His voice was calm, deliberate.

"Dark City. We'll clear every monster there, take every shard memory. After that… we head to the Hollow Mountains."

Elizabeth's breath hitched. Her voice trembled between disbelief and fear.

"Hollow Mountains? Isn't that… a death zone?"

"Yes," Murphy said simply. His tone was neither hesitant nor reassuring—it was cold fact.

"But that's where the last key lies."

All of their expression grimed considerably as all of them went deep into thought.

Murphy's calm answer didn't seem to settle anyone.

"So, when are we leaving?" Lucas asked, his tone clipped but steady.

"Tomorrow morning," Murphy replied. "When the Dark Sea recedes."

At that, Akame visibly shivered. It was subtle, but both Lucas and Elizabeth noticed.

Lucas raised an eyebrow. "Why are you reacting like that, Akame?"

Akame's gaze instinctively flicked toward Murphy, as if asking for permission. He met her eyes—silent, steady, and just firm enough to say tell them. After a brief pause, she exhaled and spoke.

"The last time we flew over it," she began, "a swarm of hundreds—literally hundreds—of Awakened Beasts attacked us. It was chaos. We were pretty much annihilated, and if Murphy hadn't paid a steep price, we'd all be nothing but fish food right now."

Lucas froze mid-breath, his face tightening into something between shock and horror.

"Wait. Hundreds?" he asked, his voice cracking slightly.

Elizabeth's expression, on the other hand, shifted to something bordering on awe. She blinked, her tone calm but tinged with disbelief.

"So, you're saying Murphy fought hundreds of Awakened Beasts… at once?"

Murphy, who had been quietly brushing coral dust from his coat, let out a faint sigh.

"It wasn't hundreds. More like… ninety-eight. Maybe ninety-nine."

"Wow. That makes me feel so much better," Lucas deadpanned, throwing his hands up. "Oh sure, just ninety-eight. No big deal. What's next, Murphy? You're gonna tell us you wrestled a Corrupted abomination while you were at it?"

Murphy tilted his head thoughtfully. "No. Corrupted abomination are quite high in the food chain. So, they don't fight unless they have a reason."

Lucas stared at him. "...You're not even denying that you could, are you?"

Elizabeth giggled, leaning on her serpent's coiled form. "I'm starting to think Murphy's not human. What do you think, Akame?"

Akame crossed her arms, lips curving into a smirk.

"Oh, he's human alright. Just… the kind of human who makes you question why you even bother training."

Lucas muttered something under his breath about unfair comparisons, but Murphy just stretched, completely unbothered.

"If you're done flattering me," he said dryly, "we have work to do tomorrow. And no, Lucas, there won't be any Corrupted horrors… probably."

"'Probably?!'" Lucas groaned, dropping his spear in exaggerated despair.

Elizabeth poked at the Murphy's leg with a small coral twig, her tone mock-casual.

"So, Murphy… just for curiosity's sake, are you sure you're a dormant human?"

Murphy glanced up, brow slightly arched.

"Last I checked."

"Because," Elizabeth continued, her grin widening, "normal dormant humans don't fight ninety-eight Awakened Beasts and come out of it with barely a scratch. That's not normal—that's Ascended-level nonsense."

Akame snorted, pulling the blanket tighter around her shoulders.

"Forget Ascended. I'm starting to think Murphy's secretly the Spell's evil twin or something. You know, just walking around pretending to be on our side."

Lucas leaned in dramatically, whispering, "Or maybe he's not even real. Maybe he's just a hallucination we're all sharing. Think about it: we all nearly died. What if Murphy is just some trauma-induced fever dream?"

Murphy sighed, rubbing his temple.

"If I were a hallucination, would I be the kind that makes you train until you vomit?"

Lucas pointed a finger at him. "EXACTLY. That's proof. No normal human would do that!"

Elizabeth's laughter rang out, bright and melodic despite the exhaustion. "Honestly, Murphy, even if you were a god, I'd believe it. A lazy, sarcastic god of suffering and unfair training regimens."

Murphy gave her a flat look.

"God of suffering? That's Lucas, not me. I just make sure you survive long enough to complain."

Lucas groaned. "You mean suffer long enough to complain." He tossed a pebble into the fire, grumbling under his breath. "Next thing we know, he'll say something like, 'Oh, I casually arm-wrestled a giant sea leviathan last week.'"

Murphy tilted his head slightly.

"Leviathans don't have arms."

The silence that followed was deafening.

Akame stared at him. "...Murphy. Are you telling us you've seen one?"

He didn't answer immediately, just poked the fire with a stick.

"Sleep. We leave at dawn."

Lucas pointed again. "SEE? He didn't deny it!"

Elizabeth giggled so hard she nearly fell over. "Oh gods, I can't wait until Murphy's secret divine form pops out during a fight. What do you think it'll be, Akame? Angelic wings? A giant glowing halo? A crown of light?"

Akame smirked. "Nah. Knowing Murphy, it'll just be something ridiculous. Like an apron that says 'World's Best Trainer'."

Murphy's only response was a long, tired stare that made all three of them burst into laughter.

For a brief moment, their exhaustion, their wounds, and the looming horrors of the Dark Sea all felt distant—like they belonged to another lifetime.

Murphy leaned back.

'Let them laugh,' he thought. 'Let's enjoy what little time we have of peace. At least the next 7 to 8 months will be hell.'

Elizabeth's grin still soft with amusement as she looked at Akame as if encouraging her, Lucas muttering something under his breath about "sleeping with one eye open in case Murphy is a god," and Akame, who had leaned just slightly hesitating into Murphy's shoulder, her eyelids growing heavy.

'Akame will never admit it, but she's scared,' he mused, glancing at her. 'Scared of the Dark Sea. Scared of the Hollow Mountains. And yet… she laughs.'

Murphy exhaled, the weight of his plans pressing against his ribs.

'Clearing the Dark City. The Hollow Mountains. The Lords with their keys. Nether's plan. Kaenaria's revival…'

For now, though, none of that mattered. He pulled the blanket slightly higher over Akame's shoulders, his expression softening just for a second.

'For now, I'll let them have this.'