Shadow Slave

Several hundred Sleepers stared at the disfigured body, horrified. Jubei's scale armor disappeared in a rain of light, leaving him dressed only in torn, bloodied rags. A surprised, dazed expression was still frozen on his face.

Awash in blood and broken, the man who had been proud and defiant just a minute ago was now nothing but a pathetic corpse. He was sprawled on the floor in a glistening crimson puddle, reminding everyone of one simple truth.

Never, ever dare to disobey Gunlaug, the Bright Lord.

Or you'll end up just the same.

Sunny was probably one of the only two people in the grand hall who wasn't looking at the corpse. Instead, he was looking at Harus.

Harus himself was staring at the wall, absolutely disinterested in the gruesome fruit of his dark labor.

'What else was I hoping for? Stupid. Hope… hope is a poison. It will only get you killed.'

Sunny knew all the facts, but only now had he finally understood how hopeless it was to even think about challenging the Golden Serpent.

Everything in the Dark City was designed to make him and his army invincible. That was how the damn hunchback had managed to defeat the experienced hunter from the outer settlement so easily, using nothing but his raw strength. He hadn't even had to show his Aspect Ability. Why was the divide in their physical prowess so vast?

That was because with every human in the Dark City possessing the same dormant core, there were only two things that could make someone more powerful than the rest: Soul Essence and Memories.

And both were monopolized by Gunlaug.

Only he possessed the manpower and knowledge to freely hunt in the Dark City. This way, he had become the only person with a reliable source of both Soul Shards and Memories in his possession.

Whatever crumbs the independent hunters were able to acquire would inevitably end up in his hands, too, because Gunlaug also controlled the primitive economy in this cursed place. By providing food and safety in exchange for the so-called "tribute", he made sure that all the resources would flow in only one direction.

Into his hands.

he could make his army stronger, which in turn would bring him more Soul Shards and Memories, which in turn would make his army stronger… and so

and everyone else here was too wide to ever be bridged. Sunny had no doubt

before reaching the bottleneck of their rank… although few ever did. Advancing to the next rank removed that bottleneck and enhanced their bodies according to the saturation level of the core. But with no way to advance, people in the Dark City could only rely on the raw amount of Soul

that within these ancient walls, sworn into servitude to a single man, there lived

the man Nephis planned

Sunny remembered Effie's words: "...no Sleeper can defeat Gunlaug, ever. It's simply

swinging in the wind

into this time? I really have to persuade her to give

somehow, he doubted that Changing Star even knew how to give up. At least not when it came to her mysterious

'Curses!'

to Gunlaug's farewell

to leave. As soon as they were gone, the body of Jubei was unceremoniously dragged away, and a group of

places, and the crowd of Sleepers was invited to return to their breakfast.

Cassie away, he glanced at the plates full of food

there's a first time

***

done nothing but frantically gather information. Knowing that he will be leaving the

their tactics and secrets. He observed how Guards were trained. He learned which Artisans were important, and which were not. The only caste he tried to avoid

stone carvings that

paid tribute for came to an end. On the dawn of the eighth day, Sunny and Cassie once again appeared in the large hall with beautiful stained

fact that there was nothing outside these gates but a dirty slum, Sunny

people even

he finished this thought, Sunny realized that he didn't actually know what life in the outer settlement was like. Perhaps the castle

it actually be? I guess they just never

gates, but then stopped when