Shadow Slave

Because he wanted to.

For once, Sunny's heart wasn't full of fear and despair. Instead, it was filled with defiant indignation. He was tired of bending under the pressure of the world, furtively clutching to the tiniest glimmers of hope, always afraid, always willing to do anything, abandon anything, just to survive for another day. It wasn't enough anymore.

He wanted to make the world bend to his wishes instead.

He wanted to live like a human being instead of an animal.

In these past months, Sunny had changed without even noticing. Somehow, he had grown unsatisfied with his previous way of life, one where his sole goal of survival at all cost overshadowed everything else. Whether he lives or dies had always been the only thing that mattered. But now, how he lived mattered more.

What was the point of having no master if he lived like a slave?

Gritting his teeth, Sunny dove into the dark abyss.

The cold water embraced him like a burial shroud. He couldn't see in this cursed blackness, relying only on his shadow sense for guidance. Salt sipped into the bite marks on his hands and the cut on his neck, making them burn. Not paying the agony any attention, Sunny used his considerable strength to propel himself deeper and deeper into the darkness.

He could feel the giant tentacles moving in the water around him, pulling the pieces of the carapace boat into the gargantuan maw that was hiding somewhere far below. Once or twice, he had to desperately twist his body to avoid being touched by one of them.

But still, no sign of Cassie. His lungs were starting to burn.

Sunny dove deeper.

At this depth, the water pressure was starting to affect his movements, making each stroke feel heavier. Even with his body enhanced by the shadow, there was a limit to how much it could withstand. Sunny suspected that without the Blood Weave, he would have suffocated a long time ago.

What's worse, he felt as though he was getting closer and closer to the actual body of the unknown horror that had destroyed their vessel. He still couldn't sense its massive shape, but judging by the girth of the tentacles that surrounded him, the monster couldn't have been far.

And then, Sunny finally noticed something.

him, a small shadow

Cassie!

girl with as much speed as he could muster. As he drew near, he could discern the details

a smaller tentacle coiled around her body. She was still struggling,

forward and grabbed onto the tentacle, feeling slippery

touching that thing at all costs. But fighting underwater was tricky… if he wanted to deliver any sort of a

his body and slashed across the tentacle, right below the point where it was coiled around Cassie's lower torso. He knew that he wouldn't be able to do any serious harm with that strike, which

was still sharp enough the cut into the fleshy tentacle, causing a cloud of dark blood to gush

and shot sideways, as though trying to shake the attacker off. Flying through the darkness,

strength would have allowed that to happen.

was about to touch the wound, he changed his grip and pulled the

with

to turn his attention to Cassie to see how

sensed made him scowl. The blind girl was

to the surface as fast as

the tentacle, Sunny dismissed his sword and grabbed Cassie across the torso, feeling how cold her skin

tried to resist, not realizing that it was him and not the monster. Pressing the blind girl to his chest, Sunny turned

in agony, no air whatsoever left in them. His body was slowly losing its strength, full of terrible pain and thirsting for a breath

were so, so far away from

of the depths was now alerted to his location. Countless tentacles were already moving, surrounding them in an impenetrable barrier of flesh. A second or two later, they would be crushed to death in the devastating

know how

going to give up, no matter

onto Cassie and swam up. The tentacles were approaching, blocking all paths of escape. Sunny gritted his

next moment, the water around

filled a vast expanse of the cursed sea, obliterating any sign of darkness. The explosion of light was so intense that it pierced through Sunny's eyelids and hurt