Shadow Slave

In the center of the cursed city, a tall hill towered above the ruins. At its base, an arch made of pristine white marble stood amidst the devastation. It was unscathed and spotless, as though protected from the entropic touch of the all-consuming darkness by some sublime force. Beyond the arch, a wide road paved with white stones scaled the hill.

Sunny looked up as they passed beneath the arch, trying to imagine crowds of festively dressed people doing the same in the distant past. It was hard and a little heartbreaking thinking about how the ancient city must have looked before the mysterious calamity.

Not turning her head, Effie said in a wistful tone:

"There are areas in the ruins that many Nightmare Creatures tend to avoid for some reason. The castle is one of these places. I was told that back when the original group of Sleepers came here hoping to carve a foothold in the city, there was only a single Spire Messenger nesting in the throne room, with no other monsters around. Those madmen actually managed to kill it."

Nephis gave her a glance.

"Spire Messenger?"

The huntress chuckled.

"Big ugly bastards with black feathers and pale bodies, you must have seen them hunting in the Labirynth. They come from the Spire."

Changing Star hesitated.

"What are their rank and class?"

Effie shivered a little.

"Fallen beasts. That's why I said that those guys were a little mad. But they were a powerful bunch."

She grew silent and then added in a quiet voice:

"It must have taken a lot to kill them, in the end."

Brought into a solemn mood by that last statement, they continued forward in silence. The stone road coiled around the hill, slowly climbing its sheer slopes. Here and there, it was broken by long stretches of stairs and formidable, but strangely graceful fortifications. No one was standing guard, though. The whole road was empty.

one of the stone

there

Effie shrugged.

notice anything that approaches the hill, though. The whole city is in clear view from up there, and there are different protective measures

not enjoying the feeling of being watched by some

a long time walking up the coiling road of white stone, they finally reached the

looked even more

like a white mountain made by human hands. The frontmost tower was

stood as bastions, connected to it with arched aerial bridges and accompanied by smaller companion towers of their own. Behind them, the main keep soared even higher, as though trying to challenge the menacing Crimson Spire that loomed above the world far

and there, forming a complex and

structure was incredibly beautiful, striking, and at the same time radiated a feeling of

of human skulls hanging above the

grim reality by

makeshift hovels huddled on the stone platform. They were built from fragments of rubble, rotting wood and pieces of monster hides, chaotically clinging to the stones as if afraid

smell hit him in the nose a few moments later. It was the motley, but unmistakable stench of the slums. That stench was nothing like

couldn't help

'Gee. I'm home.'

their pitiful existences. They were dressed in a strange mix of dirty rags and shiny Memories, with those wearing armor standing out among the rest like rare oddities. Most of them were extremely young, barely older than Sunny himself. He could smell their exhaustion and desperation even from where he was

really wanted

had been through ever since becoming infected by the Nightmare Spell, the cycle had finally completed. He was right back to where he had started, only much worse

that the

wasn't fate, then he didn't know what

Star's voice tore him away from his

"Sunny? Are you okay?"

blinked a couple of times, then slowly turned to face her and said after

I was

voice must have sounded strange, because she gave him a long

relax