Shadow Slave

Sunny was instantly wide awake. Sitting up, he hurriedly rubbed his eyes and then glanced at the blind girl, ready to listen.

Nephis approached them and sat down, her face barely visible in the dim light of the early dawn.

"Past or future?"

Sunny blinked.

'Right. I should have asked myself.'

Cassie thought for a bit and then hesitantly answered:

"Past… I think."

After a short pause, her expression changed to that of certainty.

"No, I'm sure of it."

Changing Star slightly tilted her head.

"That's good. So… what did you see?"

Cassie deeply inhaled and fell silent for several seconds, remembering. Her face paled a little, but this time, she was ready to face her fear.

"I saw the Ashen Barrow deep at night, enveloped in a raging storm. The winds were bending the branches of the great tree, as if desperate to break them. The island was illuminated by the constant barrage of thundering lightning bolts, with rain falling from the skies like a flood."

She paused, catching her breath, and continued:

"The Carapace Demon was there, standing in the middle of the storm like an unshakable fortress made of polished steel. Arcs of electricity were dancing between the spikes on his armor, but the demon did not pay it any attention. He was just as Sunny described… prideful, sinister and terrifying."

Cassie closed her eyes.

"When I looked into his eyes, I felt… a sense of emptiness and corruption. He observed the storm until it began to dissipate. The winds weakened, the rain stopped. The great tree stood unbroken, just as magnificent as it was before. But then, the last bolt of lightning fell from the sky and struck the ground beside it."

Sunny was listening to her tale with great attention, hopeful to hear a piece of useful information.

'So, that monstrosity is not afraid of lightning. Shame. With its metal carapace, I was almost tempted to try and lure it from under the tree during a storm.'

Apparently, that wouldn't work.

ready to

let alone the miraculous tree. However, when it hit the ground, it ignited the fallen leaves that cover

adventure through the Dream Realm, the girls mentioned that the light he had seen from the giant knight's statue a few nights prior was

like a lure for the monsters of the Forgotten Shore… including the terrifying creatures that lurked in the depths of the dark sea. That's why, ever since, they were careful to never light a

guess of what had happened next in Cassie's vision, he waited

Barrow with its body. It looked like a… like a mass of bones and rotten flesh connected by black seaweed, with thousands of horrible eyes staring at me hungrily from

green. Just remembering the abomination made Cassie feel

Demon did not hesitate to lunge at the creature, completely ignoring the fact that it

Nephis suddenly spoke:

did the demon

The blind girl hesitated.

I didn't see the battle itself, only its beginning and its end. At the break of dawn, the Carapace Demon crawled back into the shade of the great tee. He was severely wounded, with several of his legs missing and his scythes covered by a spiderweb of cracks. The

paused for a moment and then said in a quiet

inside. Rivers of azure blood were flowing from the wound, mixing with

Cassie sighed.

was able to recover from his wounds. His scythes restored themselves, his legs grew back. The fracture on his

Nephis were silent for

Star was the first to break

it's not impenetrable after

she looked at Sunny and

plan coming

himself from the swarm of thoughts.

an inkling of how we should proceed, but Cassie's vision gave me additional

Nephis raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?"

her a

might just work. Well… maybe. In any case, it's going

at him expectantly. The blind

How are we going to deceive

Sunny crossed his arms.

idea from that ancient fellow Neph likes to talk about. We're going

pause, and then said with a mysterious

"... a trojan ass."

complicated expressions.