Shadow Slave

Sunny fell into the soft embrace of spiderwebs, screaming, his whole body convulsing in spasms of terrible pain. The unbearable agony radiated through his nervous system, his mind drowning in the endless torrent of torturous, excruciating, harrowing suffering.

It felt as though every muscle, every fiber, every molecule of his body was being torn apart and reassembled, only to be torn apart again. His eyes, especially, felt as though there were two white-hot metal rods inserted in them, making all the other pain pale in comparison. Or maybe they had become searing spheres of molten metal themselves…

He clawed at his face, leaving bloody marks on it. However, seconds later they were already gone, erased by some unknown force. His voice was soon gone, too, leaving Sunny without an outlet to express his horrible torment.

The process was the opposite of the gentle rebirth he had experienced after passing the First Nightmare. It was violent, ruthless and unnatural, forcefully reshaping Sunny's body into something that it was not meant to be.

That nothing was ever meant to be.

Powerless to stop it, Sunny had no choice but to endure the agony. All he could do was try not to go mad from pain. Tears were streaming down his face, leaving bloody trails in their wake. There was no end to torture.

…Then, after what felt like an eternity, there was. The pain subsided, lessened, and finally vanished. Sunny was left lying on the thick carpet of spiderwebs, utterly drained and depleted.

In the silence that was broken only by the hoarse sound of his ragged breathing, the Spell's voice whispered:

[You have acquired a new Attribute.]

[One of your Attributes is ready to evolve.]

***

Sunny remained motionless for a long time, slowly coming back to his senses. The memory of the terrible ordeal was still echoing in his mind, making him shudder from time to time. He was afraid to open his eyes and look at his body, afraid to see himself changed in some horrific, repulsive way.

'Have I become a monster?'

dread, Sunny shut his

monster. In fact, he didn't feel different at all. From what he could tell,

though nothing

Just

over. Everything was the same. He shifted his perception and studied himself again through

He was still human.

something did change, but he couldn't quite describe it. It was as though his vision was slightly different from before. The world seemed… deeper, somehow. Sunny only noticed the difference because of the contrast between his

were more or

of ichor… that came from

and touched

they were also different. He

It came from a small scratch on his cheek, one that

noticed a barely visible hint of the golden shine. As if the radiant drop of golden liquid he had absorbed was still there,

light, it wouldn't be

hell… have I

glanced at the Pupetter's Shroud, simultaneously thinking about the golden shine. Something switched in Sunny's head, and suddenly, he saw the

His eyes widened.

a nexus and anchor of countless diamond strings that stretched to different parts of the armor, weaving

void of the

traces of logic behind the seemingly chaotic placement

of understanding came naturally to him, as though it

to...

expanse of still water appeared in front of his mind's eye. There was the looming Shadow Core, the shining satellites of his

turned his head to try and catch sight of that something, knowing that he would not