Shadow Slave

Under Sunny's watchful eyes, the Echo began to change.

The light falling from the Shadow Core seemed to seep into the flesh of the stone creature, making it shine with dark radiance. Wisps of shadowy fog emanated from beneath her impervious plate armor, slowly merging with it. It looked as though the Stone Saint was engulfed in ghostly black flame, being remade by it.

What little color there was on her body was washed away and replaced with nothing but darkness. Only two crimson fires burning in her ruby eyes remained, slightly changing their hue and becoming more menacing.

Of course, all these changes were happening on the surface. If not for the traumatic transformation that Sunny had gone through to inherit a part of Weaver's forbidden lineage, this would have been all he saw.

However, with his eyes altered by the agony of consuming the drop of divine blood, he was able to see much more.

Beneath the surface, the essence of the Echo was being changed as well, in a way much more fundamental than its outer appearance.

The shining embers that served as anchors for the weave of diamond strings had lost their radiance, becoming as transparent and empty as the Shadow Core itself. The diamond strings were gone, replaced by a sea of darkness. That darkness had a form, a shape that perfectly followed the lines of the Stone Saint's body.

It was as though a living shadow was now inhabiting it, usurping the role that had been played by the pattern of the sorcerous strings once.

Although similar in appearance to the original Echo, this new creature was a completely different type of existence. Sunny had never seen anything like it before.

It was created by his Aspect, after all.

The process of transformation, meanwhile, was coming to the end. The ray of dark light cast by the Shadow Core was disappearing, its reflection drowning in the calm water of the silent sea. The black flames were already fully absorbed by the stonelike armor of the Saint, gone with the dark radiance of her smooth granite skin.

shadows of the visor, she looked like an

tool rather than an actual being. Now, however, there were hints of mysterious will in her crimson eyes, a subtle sense there was a nascent spark of sentience burning somewhere deep within her

This was a Shadow.

Sunny's mind, the faintly familiar voice

a

***

later, the smile disappeared from his lips, replaced

body. He felt… weakened. The loss of a hundred shadow fragments was finally making its effect known.

journey through the Labyrinth, however, some of his physical might was unmistakably gone, leaving him

known that this would happen, and decided to proceed with the

was well

from different sides. The Stone Saint's eyes silently followed his movements, sending glints

I wonder what

noticed that there was a new cluster

Shadows: [Stone Saint].

monster, Sunny was about to concentrate his attention on the runes, but then

you feeling, buddy? You aren't,

away and pretended that it didn't know him. It was seemingly indifferent to the appearance of a new shadow creature in his service, even though

Stone Saint is probably capable of slicing powerful monsters into tiny pieces with her sword,

for a bit and, seeing

step up