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?'

of dread, Sunny shut his

he could tell, he still had two hands, two

as though nothing

on. Just do

Sunny opened his eyes and looked himself over. Everything was the same. He shifted his perception and studied

He was still human.

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

they were more or less

drop of ichor… that came from the

hand and touched his

He just couldn't understand

one of his fingers. It came from a small scratch on his cheek, one that had not

his blood, Sunny noticed a barely visible hint of the golden shine. As if the radiant drop of golden liquid he had absorbed was still there, now a part of him, strongly diluted and fused into his own bloodstream. The

that in the light, it wouldn't be visible at

hell… have I done

when he accidentally glanced at the Pupetter's Shroud, simultaneously thinking about the golden

His eyes widened.

embers were shining with ethereal light. Each of them represented a nexus and anchor of countless diamond strings

like the inner void of the Spell, only

traces of logic behind the seemingly chaotic

him, as though it

to... study

the Soul Sea. A familiar dark expanse of still water appeared in front of his mind's eye. There was the looming Shadow Core, the shining satellites of his Memories, and the strange feeling that something was moving

and catch sight of that something, knowing that he