Shadow Slave

Despite the fact that Gunlaug's heavy presence permeated every centimeter of the castle, the Bright Lord himself was strangely elusive. He didn't show himself often, preferring to rule through his five proxies. Whether it was out of arrogance, paranoia or some other reason, Sunny did not know.

After the incident with Seishan, he was afraid to let his shadow walk too freely and tried to avoid going anywhere near the fearsome master of the ancient stronghold. Because of these precautions, he had not seen Gunlaug until their fifth day in the castle.

As it turned out, when Golden Serpent did show up, he liked to leave an impression.

Sunny and Cassie were about to receive their usual breakfast when the whole grand hall suddenly grew deathly silent. Feeling that something was wrong, they turned to the entrance — just in time to see a torrent of Guards pouring inside.

Sunny's heart skipped a beat.

'What's this?'

Fearing for the worst, he tried to think of the best way to escape… but luckily, the menacing soldiers of the Host paid them no attention. Instead, they quickly dispersed around the hall and moved the long tables to the walls, creating a large open space in the middle.

Cassie grasped Sunny's shoulder and whispered:

"What is going on?"

He hesitated, then answered uncertainly:

"I'm not sure…"

man had a solemn look on his face. His gaze was turned to the dark alcove at the far end of the

Sleepers turned to face the same direction. Sunny followed

darkness of the alcove and stood at the steps leading up to the throne. They were Gemma, Tessai, Seishan, Kido, and the last of the

involuntary shudder run through

no official duties in the Bright Castle, but everyone here feared him the most. It was a strange, pale

with no adornments and holding himself

punishment. If Gunlaug wanted everyone to know about his displeasure, there would be rivers of blood left in his wake. If not, there wouldn't

just disappear, as though they

was Gunlaug's

staring at them from the darkness. For some, those nightmares

most, however, was that looking at Harus was like looking at a dark mirror. Despite the fact that they were almost nothing alike, for

precise, of a possible

I am… I am much

stare, Sunny turned his head and looked at the tall

assumed that it was a man,

figure from head to toe, not leaving even his eyes exposed. It seemed simultaneously solid and liquid, almost flowing

empty expanse of polished gold reflected the frightened faces of hundreds of Sleepers back at them. Sunny saw his own reflection staring at him and suddenly

His legs trembled.

on the space around him was almost palpable. All the people near Sunny were going through a similar kind of experience as him. Their faces were pale, their eyes wide, drops of sweat appearing on their temples. Even the lieutenants seemed slightly uncomfortable, affected by this oppressive aura just like the rest