Shadow Slave

As somber silence settled among the cohort, Effie grimaced.

"The weirdest part is, no one has even seen him come and go. Every time Harus was sent into the outer settlement, we only learned that people were dead in the morning. Doors, locks, and barricades can't seem to stop him, either. Once Harus is ordered to kill you, you just die. It is as though fate itself abandons you."

Caster frowned.

"So are you telling us that we stand no chance?"

The huntress shook her head.

"I'm saying that fighting him right now would be stupid. Not unless we learn how he is able to seemingly turn his victims… no matter how many of them there are… completely powerless."

With that, she glanced at Nephis, who lingered for a moment and then shook her head.

"Our friend in the castle doesn't know either."

Effie grinned.

"Ah, so that mysterious friend of yours is not omniscient after all. Well, in that case, my advice stands. We should run."

At that moment, Sunny finally spoke up:

"But, Effie… can we even run away from him?"

The smile disappeared from her face. Suddenly grim, she hesitated for a while, and then said:

"I know of a way. But… it's going to be dangerous. Very dangerous. However, I don't know how else to shake him off our trail. So you decide, princess."

silent for a bit, and then simply

now, reaching the resting place of the first

as if relieved. Then, she

me.

***

changed their course slightly. Instead of moving straight south, they were now traversing the ancient city heading for its eastern

the past few months, he mostly stayed north of the Bright Castle, sometimes venturing northeast. He stayed away from the western areas because they were closer to the Crimson Spire, and had not explored much of the south

last time he had been here was on the day of the bloody fight against the Spire Messenger. Back then, they were headed for the ruins of the lighthouse that had once stood near

of time to observe the surroundings. Pretty much all of his attention was concentrated on Harus, who

to stare at

go fight some Fallen

the scent of Changing Star's cohort. At one point, a lone Blood Fiend attacked him from the deep shadows of a dilapidated building. Gunlaug's executioner simply raised a hand and shattered the skull of the Nightmare Creature with

He didn't even blink.

I… I killed plenty of those,

of the murderous hunchback. Maybe because he couldn't get rid of the feeling that by the end of it all, only one

he wasn't sure

nearing the tall expanse of the city wall. Not too far away, the remnant of a giant tower lay broken on its side, stretching far away into the distance. The buildings that the tower had fallen on thousands of years ago were shattered and turned into

magnificent once. Perhaps it had even served as a symbol of the defiant will of the people of the ancient city,

inhabitants of the Dark City had just vanished, not

Sunny sighed.

"Where to now?"

gestured at the massive

"Inside."

a collapsed building near the collapsed tower. This area was populated by an especially vile

we enter the lighthouse,

Sunny did just that. Not having to look