Shadow Slave

The night passed with no incidents. In the morning, Sunny was woken up by the sound of the surging waves and opened his eyes to see the sun slowly rising from beyond the horizon.

Rubbing his face, he sat up and looked around, noticing that most of the cohort was still asleep. Only Kai, who had been the last one to stand watch, was awake, sitting on the edge of the arch and admiring the dawn with a dreamy look on his face.

Sunny wanted to call out to him and warn the charming archer not to sit this close to the edge, but then remembered that Kai could fly.

'Yeah. Like I would forget it again!'

Using the opportunity, he dove into the Soul Sea and summoned Stone Saint from the depths of the Shadow Core, where she was sleeping in the embrace of nurturing black flames. Just like before, the Shadow did not appear from a sphere of light like an Echo would, but stepped out from a whirlpool of dark fire.

Then, she stood motionlessly in front of Sunny like an actual statue, seemingly indifferent both to his presence and the wounds covering her body.

Sunny walked around the Stone Saint, studying the extent of damage done to her by the undead horde. The armor of the taciturn knight was battered and broken, pierced in several places by the claws of the countless skeletons she had fought. The ruby dust wasn't flowing from the breaches anymore, but he could see deep gashes on her smooth, grey skin.

'Bastards.'

Who dares to hurt his Shadow?

Shaking his head, Sunny dismissed the Saint, sending her back into the restorative darkness of the Shadow Core.

The damage, while extensive, was not really threatening to her existence. In a couple of days, his pet monster should fully recover.

In fact, she already looked better than she had yesterday.

Leaving the Soul Sea, Sunny inhaled the fresh air, lingered for a few moments, and then turned to Kai:

"Hey, Night. Are you stupid? Don't sit this close to the edge!"

at him and raised

fly, remember?

Sunny scoffed.

the cursed sea. I am worried about something dragging you off

happy with himself, he grinned and

way

***

everyone needed some time to rest and recuperate, they decided to spend a day on the marble

staring at the sight that wasn't really funny, but filled him

real world, when he had time to consume some entertainment, Sunny had noticed a certain popular trope. In most dramas, webtoons, and cartoons aimed at young boys and teenagers, the heroes would inevitably end up spending a day at the

quite know why such a trope existed, but suspected that it was just an excuse to show the female

had

Sunny had never imagined that he was going to end up in such an episode

'This is… simply hilarious!'

from laughing out loud, Sunny glanced at

Memories inside the Soul Sea for a bit of

himself — were currently wearing nothing except for some loincloths and, in the

crude undergarments weren't really swimsuits, and the marble arch could barely be considered a beach even at night… but still, the situation

a something

'Ha!'

in a rather good

was a fire in the middle of the arch, with roasting meat filling the air with an appetizing aroma.

was cut from stone, as if she was a sculpture of an ancient goddess come to life. Sunny tried to count her abs and got distracted halfway through by… uh… not so

had to

'Pure thoughts!'