Shadow Slave

Everyone grew quiet. Even Gemma seemed to be slightly stunned by that proclamation. The only person to not react to it at all was Caster, who had entered the grand hall a bit earlier and was now standing by one of the walls, watching Nephis with a complex expression.

Her full name was shocking to hear for two entirely different, but equally earth-shattering reasons.

Firstly, she had called herself not by a human name, but by a True one. In the entire history of human civilization, only a handful of Awakened had managed to earn a True Name in their First Nightmare. Needless to say, none of them was among the thousand Sleepers currently trapped on the Forgotten Shore.

Even Gunlaug himself did not have one.

But Nephis did.

...And Sunny too, of course, but no one had to know that.

Secondly, she had announced herself to be a Legacy, and not just any Legacy at that, but one from the legendary Immortal Flame clan. A clan that had been responsible for propelling the entire human species forward not once, but twice — first by helping conquer the Second Nightmare, then the Third.

A combination of these facts was enough to set off a metaphorical explosion in the middle of the Dark City. If this was true, then she could be considered to be an almost messianic existence here on the Forgotten Shore.

Suddenly, the calmness with which she dared to challenge a fearsome Pathfinder to a battle to the death did not seem that strange.

The dazed looks in the eyes of all the Sleepers gathered in the grand hall had slowly begun to give place to a subtle, tentative, weak glow.

It was as though a tiny seed of hope was suddenly planted in the dead soil of their lightless, forlorn souls.

Either by accident or on purpose, Nephis chose that exact moment to summon her armor. Numerous sparks of light surrounded her in a whirlpool of soft radiance, and when they were gone, a striking black and white armor had appeared on her graceful body.

Everyone's eyes were immediately glued to the symbol on its breastplate. On it, seven shining stars were intricately engraved into the strange white metal.

"Th—that symbol!"

"It's Starlight Crest!"

"The crest of the Seven!"

Just like Sunny, many of the inhabitants of the Bright Castle were familiar with the symbol of the seven stars. Not only was it carved into the robe of the giant statue standing in front of the impregnable city wall, it was also often depicted in numerous stone carvings decorating the walls of the ancient fortress.

seemed to represent the seven heroes that had once vowed to vanquish the darkness

sweat running down

all a coincidence, or did Nephis plan everything? Does she not understand how these fools will react to such theatrics? If

did Neph say? Just follow her lead and try

How would he even do that? There had never

If there had been nothing but neglect and disregard in his eyes before, now there was a hint of dark wariness in

leader

nice to meet you. I must say, it's a very impressive name you have there. Makes one wonder where it

behind these words was easy to understand. Gemma was insinuating that Nephis

though this insinuation had removed a veil from everyone's eyes. Most people quickly lost their wistful expressions, once again looking at her either somberly or with dark anticipation. Only now, there were

of them were still staring at her with expressions full of hesitant,

of that in any way. She simply remained calm and

existed slightly apart from the dirt and despair of this

the Pathfinder was

***

jaw. His head was shaved on the sides, with the remaining hair weaved into a short braid. He appeared to be slightly older than the rest of the Sleepers gathered in the grand hall, with the exception of Gemma himself. Andel was probably around twenty-four years

among elites, and he was no exception. Even those who hated Andel

steps leading to the white throne. There, he

"I'm here."

with an

know why I've summoned

The Pathfinder smirked.

wench wants to challenge me? Good. I was very sad to let Harus have all

whispers sounded from the crowd, but no one dared to reveal their hatred toward the

turned downward. He remained silent for some time, and then said

you should have just told me. How about this? After you kill that

that, he gestured to the Guards that the fight could begin. Andel frowned a little, but then turned around with a dark smile

and Cassie were led to the side, where they joined the crowd of spectating Sleepers. By that point, there was a considerable amount of them gathered in the grand

were here just to see a macabre show, waiting with excitement for blood to flow. To them, it didn't matter who lived and who died, although none believed that the girl from the outer settlement had any chance of surviving in a duel against

even these people seemed to believe that Neph was doomed to die. They just

Sunny, Cassie, and Caster knew that the result of this fight was not as predictable as everyone seemed to

any time, Andel summoned his weapon and walked toward Changing Star. In his hand, a vicious, crudely