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."

direction of the group slightly, aiming to approach one of the knolls that Sunny

their shadows small and shapeless. Sunny's own shadow

day was its least

except for the fact that everything around was flat, and it was not. The knoll was about as tall as Sunny, somewhat oblong and covered in the same grey sand as the rest

there was no harm in checking… well,

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

Sunny jumped toward the Echo and hissed to

"Hide!"

Cassie flung her hands up and fell. Catching her in the

Star put one hand on Cassie's shoulder and looked

"Danger?"

his palm open, telling her to wait. His shadow was already peeking from behind

over by a massive figure. Surrounded by the cloud of ashen sand, the figure moved forward, stepping onto

black and crimson carapace that looked like ancient armor that had been splattered

Sunny silently cursed.

times. However, that was because each battlefield had been carefully prepared to stack advantages in their favor, with plenty of planning and devious scheming

wasn't sure that they would be able to kill one in a direct

to Nephis, Sunny

centurion had just walked

Cassie, meanwhile, lightly touched

"Where is it heading?"

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

stay hidden behind this knoll and it doesn't change course,

Star thought for a

tell me as soon

of them pressed their bodies to the knoll. There

word. Sunny might have even enjoyed the

fool?! Concentrate on the dealy monster!' he

to concentrate with

'DEADLY! MONSTER!'

his mind out of the gutter,

able to see every crimson line and every spike on its weathered carapace. However, his eyes were glued to something

centurion's scythes, a beautiful crystal was gleaming with hypnotic inner light. It

A transcendent soul shard.

a similar scene, back when a pair of centurions were retrieving two of such crystals from the remains of the

that was their

Barrow. With its onyx branches and vibrant scarlet leaves, it looked