Shadow Slave

As soon as they left the familiar confines of the labyrinth and stepped into the vast expanse of the ashen wasteland, Sunny felt strangely uncomfortable. It was as though he had unknowingly turned slightly agoraphobic while traveling through the complicated madness of the crimson maze.

He had grown accustomed to being surrounded by tall walls of coral, with endless tangled paths stretching in all directions for as far as he could see. Despite the fact that the labyrinth was hiding numerous dangers, it also offered a strange sort of safety.

At least in the case of Sunny, who had the advantage of being able to see beyond its twists and turns thanks to his stealthy Shadow Scout.

Now, with grey sand beneath and nothing to break the line of sight, he had lost that advantage. The idea of not being able to hide from the enemy made him feel naked.

'Keep cool. There's no one here.'

That thought, which was supposed to calm him down, had the opposite effect instead. Indeed, there were no Nightmare Creatures anywhere in the desolate wasteland… but why was that?

What made them so eager to avoid this place?

Nephis was walking in the front of the group, with Sunny right behind her. The Echo was in the rear, moving at a slow pace. He looked around and, after a bit of hesitation, said in a low voice:

"I don't like this."

Nephis glanced at him with her usual indifferent expression. Turning away, she simply said:

"Stay alert."

They continued forward in silence, sand squeaking under their feet. A dozen or so minutes later, Changing Star raised her hand, gesturing them to stop. Turning to Sunny, she asked:

"Has your shadow noticed anything?"

He shook his head.

"No. There are some irregularities here and there, like small knolls or shallow pits, but nothing is moving. Mostly, it just seems flat and lifeless."

He turned to Cassie and asked hesitantly:

"Do you hear anything?"

In some cases, her keen hearing was more effective than his shadow sense. When they were caught by the strom, Cassie had been able to sense that something was wrong long before her seeing companions noticed anything.

However, this time it was of no use. She simply shook her head, indicating that there were no unusual sounds around them.

Nephis sighed and lowered her head, thinking. Then she cast a gaze at the distant Ashen Barrow.

"Let's continue."

the direction of the group slightly, aiming to approach one of the

was already noon. The sun was right above their heads, making their shadows small and shapeless. Sunny's own shadow had returned and was now hiding beneath his feet, looking

day was its

the knoll, trying to determine its nature. There was nothing remarkable about it except for the fact that everything around was flat, and it was not. The knoll was about

well, most likely. Maybe it could provide them with

Changing Star was about to stretch her hand and touch the surface of the knoll, Sunny's shadow suddenly noticed something moving in

toward the Echo

"Hide!"

he dismissed the hulking scavenger. Suddenly losing her mount, Cassie flung her hands up and fell. Catching her in the princess carry, Sunny darted toward the knoll and lowered himself to the ground, placing the blind girl between himself and

looked at him with a silent question in her

"Danger?"

shadow was already peeking

of the labyrinth rose from the grey sand. Suddenly, one of them collapsed, knocked over by a massive figure. Surrounded by the cloud of ashen sand,

crimson carapace that looked like ancient armor that had

Sunny silently cursed.

because each battlefield had been carefully prepared to stack advantages in their

kill one in a direct confrontation, at least not without suffering serious

Nephis, Sunny

centurion had just walked out

Cassie, meanwhile, lightly touched his hand

"Where is it heading?"

then concentrated on the shadow's vision. Soon, he

this knoll and it doesn't change course, there's a

a second and

eye on it and tell

small and silent as possible, the three of them pressed their bodies to the knoll. There wasn't a lot of space to hide, so they had to endure being cramped against

word. Sunny might have even

thinking about, fool?! Concentrate on

concentrate with

'DEADLY! MONSTER!'

mind out of the gutter, Sunny

drawing closer. Soon, he was able to see every crimson line and every spike on its weathered carapace. However, his eyes were glued

was gleaming with hypnotic inner light. It

A transcendent soul shard.

scene, back when a pair of centurions were retrieving two of

was their

the magnificent tree standing atop the Ashen Barrow. With its onyx branches