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Shadow Slave

Six Plagues

Spoilers ahead: this article covers the full story.

At a glance · Six Plagues
Alias
Heralds of the Estuary
Type
True Defiled
Novel
Chapter 1309 Mad Prince
Article contents
  1. Six Plagues
  2. Speculation
  3. History
  4. Truth
  5. Background
  6. Trivia
  7. References
See also: Defilement
Show/Hide spoilers



The Six Plagues, also known as the Heralds of the Estuary, were the most feared and loathsome of the Defiled. They include the Mad Prince, Soul Stealer, Undying Slaughter, Torment, Devouring Beast, and the Dread Lord.[1]

Six Plagues

  • The Dread Lord was the true ruler of Verge, and all Defiled submit to his commands. His powers were unknown because no one ever survived facing him.[1]
  • The Soul Stealer was said to possess the ability to wear the skin of those he kills.[1]
  • The Devouring Beast was ferocious and feeds on human flesh.[1]
  • Torment is known for subjecting her victims to harrowing torture.[1]
  • Undying Slaughter was consumed by insatiable bloodlust.[1]
  • Mad Prince was a raving lunatic who seems to be as murderous as he is tormented by his own madness.[1]

Show/Hide Status

Plagues Chapter Appeared Undefiled Selves Status
Dread Lord 1506 (Dragon)
1508 (Powers) 		Kai Deceased[2]
Soul Stealer 1500 (Mentioned)
1505 (Soul) 		Mordret Deceased[3]
Devouring Beast 1417 Effie Deceased[4]
Torment Cassie/Echo of Slain Sybil - Deceased[5]
Undying Slaughter 1406 Jet Deceased[6]
Mad Prince 1313
(In Sunny's Dream) 		Sunny Disappeared[7]

Speculation

Note: There is hidden information in this article. Click Show Spoilers to reveal. The description of Six Plagues was extremely ominous as it sounds like the corrupted and twisted versions of the members of the cohort, except for Nephis, who was incorruptible. There might be a time distortion that has occurred inside the Tomb of Ariel and that it was possible for them to fail in conquering the Nightmare and succumb to corruption.[8]

However, the Six Plagues were more powerful than the members of the cohort, and an entire civilization of powerful Awakened had not managed to slay them. Nephis and her cohort were likely pitted against Nightmare Creature resembling the perverse versions of themselves due to a little nudge from the Spell, which was known for its ghastly but poetic twists of fate.[8]

Since it was revealed that the entirety of the Great River was an infinite loop.[9]The Six Plagues were not future versions of the cohort but rather their past, from the previous revolution of the Great River.[10]

The existence of Six Plagues revealed that they had challenged the Nightmare for at least two cycles, but there could be more. No one remembered previous revolutions, and they would repeat actions repeatedly until one of them became aware of the loop.[7]


History

Truth

Reveal

Cassie's past self, destined to become Torment, managed to create a suppression enchantment to protect herself from the truth but knew the Mad Prince was coming for her. Despite this, she didn't escape instead she created countermeasures to achieve her goals, even after her soul and sanity were consumed by corruption. To escape the madness of Corruption, she received help from the Mad Prince, who was able to preserve a fragment of his humanity due to Sin of Solace's wraith. With his help, she turned her Defiled self into an instrument of her will.[11]

The Mad Prince made the Dread Lord use his authority against her. He added fuel to the paranoia the tyrant of Verge felt toward Torment, and then put the idea of what commands to give her into his mind. The Mad Prince and Torment were capable of resisting their vile natures, to a degree, and became perfect conspirators.[11]

After the Plagues reached the Estuary and used it to invade the next cycle of the Great River, Mad Prince, and Torment prepared for the arrival of new challengers. The Mad Prince trapped two of the Plagues on Aletheia's Island and two more in Twilight. Then, he completed the Key of the Estuary and entered the Source, becoming Sunny.[11]

The Mad Prince entered the Source to ensure that the Key of the Estuary was possessed by Sunny at the start of the Nightmare, protecting him against the truth harbored by the Sin of Solace.[11]

One of the two had to stay behind because Torment had a message to Cassie that could only be delivered face-to-face. She infiltrated Fallen Grace, modified Dusk's shackles, and wrote an accord about previous cycles. Torment met Cassie in the Temple of Dusk, delivering the message. However, as she was still a Defiled, after completing her mission, she attempted to consume Cassie but was held back by the authority of the Dread Lord, resulting in her death by Cassie's hand.[12]

Background

Wind Flower mentioned that the Six Plagues were yet to appear when she was brought to Aletheia's Island and that she only knew about their existence through the things the Mad Prince mumbled in a fit of frenzy.[13]

Speculated events leading to creation of Six Plagues

The original cohort faced a different challenge due to the Six Plagues, who had taken control of Verge and led forces of the Defilement to devour the River People's cities. The cohort could have found powerful allies to help them slay the First Seeker, but during the first cycle, something went wrong, and the cohort ended up entering the Source instead of laying siege to Verge. Sunny may have attempted to find the Estuary alone and crossed the boundary, leading to an unknown number of cycles.[14]

Influenced by the [Hideous Truth] enchantment of the Sin of Solace, he became immune to losing his memory of past cycles, becoming a variable that disrupted the system. He could have continued searching for a way to conquer the Nightmare failing cycle after cycle or searching for the entrance to the Estuary hidden in the mist. At some point, he was already infected by the cursed knowledge of the Defilement. Eventually, he returned to the beginning of the Nightmare with the seed of corruption in his mind, which changed everything. The other cohort members were also infected, and Nephis died at their hands.[14]

The Mad Prince, once freed from Shadow Bond, was enslaved by Kai, a member of the corrupted cohort who sought to conquer the Nightmare and obliterate the River People's civilization. They traveled into the distant past and became foreign invaders of the new cycle. Sunny suspected that the Source and Estuary were responsible for this paradox. Over time, the corrupted cohort grew stronger and fell deeper into corruption, leading to the birth of the Six Plagues.[14]

The Dread Lord wanted to conquer the Nightmare but the Mad Prince conspired against his master. The Mad Prince had a desperate obsession with rewriting history and ensuring Nephis' survival. He prepared for the arrival of the cohort members, trapping Undying Slaughter and Devouring Beast, meeting Wind Flower, and creating the Estuary Key. He massacred Weave and sent a dream message to Ananke instructing her to meet Sunny and Nephis in the future.[14]

The reality of the Great River had been altered by the Six Plagues, and the Mad Prince manipulated it further. After all preparations were done, he entered the Source and ceased to exist, transferring the Estuary Key to Sunny. Ensuring he is not poisoned by the Defilement immediately after entering the Nightmare, unlike in previous cycles.[14]

Mordret knew about the Six Plagues from the records from which he had spied in Twilight's frozen reflection. The Dread Lord used the Mad Prince as a deterrent against Verge's other Defiled champions, particularly Soul Stealer.[15]

Trivia

  • In Chapter 1334, Sunny told Nephis about the connection of Six Plagues to them. That they are the corrupted versions of the cohort except Nephis who is possibly murdered because she is incorruptible.
  • In Chapter 1418, it seemed that the plagues all Transcend.
  • In Chapter 1453, there was an internal strife between the Six Plagues that seemed enough for the Mad Prince to try eliminating two of his fellow Defiled champions.
  • The Six Plagues' existence was a paradox.[14]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Chapter 1309 Mad Prince
  2. ↑ Chapter 1521 Sharpest Arrow
  3. ↑ Chapter 1518 Ruin
  4. ↑ Chapter 1475 Defiled Saints
  5. ↑ Chapter 1554 Familiar Face
  6. ↑ Chapter 1478 Soul Reaper Jet
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 1488 The First Plague
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chapter 1317 Difficult Questions
  9. ↑ Chapter 1486 Colorful Ribbon
  10. ↑ Chapter 1487 The Source
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Chapter 1555 Partners in Crime
  12. ↑ Chapter 1556 Dangerous Knowledge
  13. ↑ Chapter 1453 The Other Guest
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 Chapter 1489 A Variable
  15. ↑ Chapter 1520 Dreadful Soul

Sources & history

Six Plagues · Shadow Slave Wiki

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Retrieved 2026-11-04 · Article version 1