Shadow Slave

Just like that, a week had passed. Miraculously, Sunny had survived.

Even more miraculously, he had somehow managed not to kill Effie... which was a big accomplishment in and of itself. In fact, by the end of it, their forced cohabitation had turned rather pleasant.

They were both solitary hunters, after all. There was an instinctive understanding between the two of them.

His overall combat skill and particularly comprehension of both his own battle style and that of the Stone Saint had improved by leaps and bounds. He felt faster, stronger, and better prepared to face the horrors of the Dream Realm.

Although he had yet to reach the same level of physical power that he had possessed before sacrificing a hundred shadow fragments to create the Shadow Saint, Sunny felt that the current him was far deadlier of an opponent.

Which was good, considering how fast the grim future was approaching.

...Currently, Sunny and Effie were sitting on the support beam of the main hall of the cathedral, looking down from the head-spinning height. Far below and away from them, the Black Knight walked through the patches of light and darkness, continuing his neverending patrol.

Effie scowled, then whispered:

"So this is the bastard?"

Sunny gave her a gloomy nod.

"Yeah. In the flesh… or whatever he has instead of it."

The unruly huntress gave him a long look.

"How the hell did you manage to live through a fight with that fiend?"

He grimaced.

"Barely. Also, calling it a fight is giving me too much credit. I just got myself gutted and crawled outside. He never leaves the cathedral, so I got away."

She shivered.

"Are you sure that he won't hear us?"

Sunny pointed down.

"As long as he doesn't walk past that column, and as long as we're not too loud and keep our voice down, we're safe. Trust me. I've been studying that bastard for two whole months."

Effie suddenly grinned.

"So… how loud are we talking about? Because I can promise to…"

Sunny rolled his eyes.

"Can you stop? We're in a temple, for gods' sake."

He didn't need to hear the end of the phrase to know that it was going to be highly suggestive and very inappropriate.

She quietly giggled.

"Fine, fine."

light of dawn was slowly turning brighter. It was almost time

to come to the final decision regarding Neph's request. Depending on his choice, he

Sunny quietly sighed.

to the huntress, he

Effie. Can I ask you

at him with a silent question in

"Sure. Go ahead, doofus."

hesitated, feeling the somber mood of the situation. Then,

me honestly… were you dropped on your head a lot when

then suddenly pressed both hands against her mouth to suppress a laugh. In the process, she almost fell down from the

do you want me to laugh out loud and get us both killed? What's up with that question?

looked at her with

normal. You're like a crazy person… and I know

The huntress smiled.

"Ah. That."

Then, she shrugged.

"It's simple, really."

the explanation, noticing an unfamiliar air of melancholy around the vigorous young woman. Her

bad as all of you seemed to believe. Everyone in this

She hesitated.

to me, it's a

at her

"How so?"

Effie sighed.

some of us, the real world was more

he was able to adapt so well to the ruthless terror of

What kind of a

appeared on the

kind we

at Sunny and

So you didn't

He shook his head.

She chuckled.

anything. The schools are basically propaganda camps, anyway. They teach kids

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

"The truth?"

him a

is dying. Well, not the world, really. Just the part of the ecosystem that we

moved in his memory. A year or so before Sunny was born, a whole continent was lost because a Category-Five Gate had opened

quickly

talking about what we, humans, have done to our planet without anyone's help. There were more than ten billion people on Earth a couple of hundred years ago, did you know? But now,

had worked. The towering barriers protecting the city from the deadly winds of the wasteland outside. He knew, of course, that the planet was not

he never really thought about it that much. To him, this

Effie shrugged.

how many of us would still be alive without the Spell? I honestly don't know. But if you ask me… I think that one day in the future,

ominous note, she stood up and stretched her whole body, making Sunny