Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2657

Naeve paled visibly when he heard Nightwalker's admission. Even Bloodwave, who had maintained a stoic expression, scowled deeply. Jet frowned, as well... but Sunny did not show much of a reaction.

After all, he already suspected that something of the kind had happened. However, behind his mask of nonchalance, he was a little... excited.

Maybe it was a bit callous of him, to feel thrilled about Asterion's betrayal and subsequent murder of Nightwalker — an act that might have prevented the House of Night from nurturing a Sovereign of their own, eventually — but he was simply glad to finally meet someone who knew about the Dreamspawn's powers firsthand and was willing to share that knowledge.

Sunny lingered for a moment.

"Mental attacks? What is his Aspect, exactly?"

Nightwalker gave him a look of indignation.

"That is what you chose to ask about? Really?"

Sunny stared at him with a deadpan expression.

"Yes."

Nightwalker laughed.

"Are all Supremes this... never mind. I'm not one to judge."

Sunny raised an eyebrow, prompting Bloodwave to speak gruffly:

"You know how no one knows much about Nightwalker? That is not because of his elusive and mysterious nature. He simply used to avoid everyone - his closest allies included — as much as possible... because he hates people. He has always been a reclusive, antisocial bastard."

Nightwalker grinned. "True. It's not my fault that people are so hateful, though, is it?" Shaking his head, he added:

"And considering how I ended up, I'd say that I had not avoided people enough."

Nightwalker fell silent for a few moments, then sighed.

"Regardless, to answer your question... he's a mind reader."

Sunny's eyebrows flew up.

"A mind reader? What do you mean?"

Nightwalker brushed his face tiredly.

"The Dreamspawn... the last survivor of the Path of Ascension cult. He is a mind reader —although he did not start out as one."

Sunny and Jet looked at each other.

(Cassie, are you hearing this?)

He only had to wait a few moments before the answer came.

[Yes.]

Nightwalker, meanwhile, continued:

"His Dormant Ability allowed him to sense the emotions of other living beings. He was an... empath, of sorts. His Awakened Ability is a bit sinister — it allows him to feed on the powerful emotions of others, consuming them. It was his Ascended Ability that made me take him to the Eternal City, however. That one allowed him to influence the emotions of others with his own."

After pausing for a moment, he asked:

"So what did he want to find here, in the Eternal City? And why did he tum on you?"

Nightwalker scratched the back of his head.

"What he wanted to find here... I am not sure, since everything he had told me turned out to be a lie. No matter what it was, though, he must have failed to find it. You see, we were too weak, he and I. All we knew about this place was what I had seen here as a Sleeper, so we might have overestimated ourselves and underestimated the Eternal City. What could two Masters do here, really? He was already lucky to escape alive."

Nightwalker looked at Sunny with a dark expression.

"As to why he turned on me - maybe that was his main goal all along. I did not think that it was possible, but he wanted to absorb the lineage of Storm God. Divine lineages can't coexist with each other, but when it comes to the Dreamspawn, they somehow can... even if I learned it too late."

His silver eyes glistened dangerously.

"He could have entered the Lighthouse and attempted to receive the lineage like Thad done once, a long time ago, but he chose to stab me in the back instead. To his credit, I don't think that he was aiming to kill me. But I was too stubbom to surrender, so in the end, he did."

Nightwalker sighed.

"It was a hollow end... to survive all the horrors of the Nightmare Spell only to die by a human's hand"

Saying that, he looked away and added in a distant tone:

"And it was a bitter beginning, to come back to life in this cursed city, knowing that I am

destined to die here thousands of times more."