Shadow Slave — Chapter 12

Shadow Slave Chapter 12 picks up with the wounded protagonist abandoning flight after taking a stab wound to his side, realizing he cannot outrun his pursuer in the dark. The attacker corners him with cold confidence, invoking the Shadow God as also the God of Death and offering to send him into his embrace, even asking if he has any last words. Forced to stop and turn around, the protagonist admits to himself that he cannot run and stands no chance in a fight, yet resolves to stay true to his promise and face what comes. Shadow Slave Chapter 12 shifts suddenly when a bell tolls, interrupting the execution and confusing the pursuer. The pursuer demands to know where the bell came from and what was done, growing angry at the lack of an answer, until a blind creature makes its presence felt and silence becomes survival. The protagonist apologizes to the one he calls hero, admitting he said he would watch him die but confessing he is a liar, then leaves him to die on his own. Dragged toward the mountain peak, he fights intense cold, pain, and the urge to lie down and sleep, clinging to the idea that reaching the top will end the nightmare. Shadow Slave Chapter 12 ends in exhaustion and disorientation as he believes he has made it and confronts the hero as a corpse, contrasting his own weak and timid self with the other's strength and ruthlessness. His bitter reflection on cruelty from the world he comes from gives way to mental fog, as he forgets what he was thinking and feels sleepy. Recognizing it as hypothermia setting in, he warns himself that falling asleep means death, leaving his survival hanging on staying awake.