Shadow Slave

Soon, they were standing beneath the impregnable stone walls of the mysterious city. Behind them, the great chasm of the vast crater stretched to the horizon.

Somewhere ahead, the lone human citadel in this loathsome region of the Dream Realm awaited. It promised to deliver them from this dark place and bring them home.

Sunny really couldn't wait to be finally done with this nightmare.

The city wall was built from massive slabs of grey granite. Still wet from the cold touch of the cursed sea, the ancient weathered stones looked almost black. Despite the thousands of years that passed since the mysterious builders of the wall had disappeared into the fog of time, it still looked monumental and unassailable.

The joints between the granite slabs were barely wide enough to insert a narrow blade.

Looking up, Sunny tried to guess the height of the wall. It had to be sixty meters tall, at least — twice as high as the Awakened Academy defense barrier, which was constructed with the help of both modern technology and various Aspect Abilities.

For a few moments, he wondered about the people who had erected this wall, the city behind it, and the giant statues that still stood lonesomely on the desolate shores of this cursed land. Their creations had withstood the onslaught of darkness and time, but the creators were gone. Who had they been? What terrible fate had befallen the citizens of the ruined city?

But then, Sunny angrily shook his head. These mysteries had nothing to do with him anymore. He was going home, never to return to this awful pit of horror and despair. Let someone else solve them.

After a short rest, they decided that it would be easier to climb the wall instead of circling it in search of an entrance. Even if they were to find a gate, there was no guarantee that it would be open.

there was nothing to use as a hold, Sunny and Nephis resorted to using their swords by inserting them into

full of strength and endurance. Both of them were at the peak

hungrily crawled

the sound of the golden rope scratching against stone. However,

Nephis and

blind girl grasped his shoulder and asked, her voice

do

He licked his lips.

city lay in ruins. The beautiful stone buildings were broken and shattered, many of them turned into mere piles of rubble. There were no people walking along the wide streets, no clamor of voices to drive away the silence. Under the cold grey sky, the ruined city looked

terrible disaster had happened here, but it was clear that it was not natural. Many of the collapsed houses were blackened by fire, with claw marks cut into the still-standing fragments of walls. Here and there, monstrous bones of ancient horrors protruded from the ground, telling tales of desperate battles that must have had taken place on these streets once, a long time

There were strange shapes moving through the rubble, and even more hiding in the

ruined city was teeming with Nightmare

are

directions, enclosing the vast ruins into a strangely

serve not to repel the horrible monsters, but to keep the

interested in the wall. He wasn't even too interested in the monsters. Instead, his eyes were drawn to the tall hill towering above the ruins.

are built from radiant white stone, with tall towers and majestic spires piercing the sky. It stands above the city like a... a symbol of hope,