Shadow Slave

Inside the giant nest of spiderwebs, a desiccated corpse of the colossal Matriarch lay shriveled on the floor, its iron carapace shattered by some devastating blow. The creature was long dead, but the sight of it was still terrifying.

The vast abdomen of the brood mother, however, appeared to have been severed much later than her fatal battle against the Lord of the Bright Castle. It almost looked as if it was… torn apart from within. Inside the terrifying wound, Sunny noticed the shattered remnants of five giant, metallic eggs.

The size of them was about the same as that of the five monstrous Fallen Beasts that had destroyed the original Stone Saint and her brethren back in the Dark City.

'So… that was where they came from.'

Looking away with a shiver, Sunny noticed numerous cocoons of spiderwebs attached to the walls of the nest all around the dead Matriarch. Inside them, withered carcasses of Nightmare Creatures of all shapes and sizes were preserved in a strangely good condition.

This was a true museum of terror.

The Nightmare Creatures appeared as though they were kept alive inside the cocoons for a long, long time before finally succumbing to death and turning into mummified corpses. Perhaps the abominable spiders stored them there for later consumption.

Or… not.

Noticing a few cocoons that had been broken open and what was inside of them, Sunny had to try hard to stop himself from vomiting.

The iron spiders did not use the monsters caught in the cocoons for food.

...They used them as incubators.

The creatures in the broken cocoons had been devoured from within. A few of them still had hundreds of small, moist eggs embedded into their flesh, with embryonic spiderlings moving weakly behind the slightly transparent shells.

'Curse… it all…'

Damn these spiders, damn the Labyrinth, damn the Forgotten Shore… and especially damn the damned Nightmare Spell that had brought him here. Sunny suddenly felt tired of this long, feverish, neverending nightmare he had found himself in.

the worse was still to

out to his companions. Then, he led them deeper into the nest, where, attached to the wall, hung a cocoon that was different from

one hid a rough silhouette

consumed by their

sword cut it

took a step forward. Approaching the cocoon, he stopped

"Be careful."

face. As ghostly green light emanated from the blade of his sword, he swung

cut through the metal wires of the cocoon, splitting it open. A shriveled

full of ghastly resentment. Then, Sunny bent over and

was just

place did not die an easy death. In fact, being eaten alive from the inside by a hundred of tiny Nightmare Creatures was probably the worst fate imaginable. At least Sunny couldn't think of

still, he

forever. Despite the overall condition of the corpse, Sunny

young man who had attended the Academy with them, the one who had called him a shorty when Sunny first approached Caster to create

at their condition, Effie

you guys know

moments of silence,

His name is… his name was Stephen. He was the youngest heir of the

'Stephen…'

were preparing to venture

forgotten all about it. Sunny would never wish this fate on anyone, let

other three Sleepers sent to the Forgotten Shore this year never made it to the Dark City, which meant that they had perished somewhere in the Labyrinth. However, finding one of them served as a stark reminder of how fragile their own lives

not today, death could be waiting for them tomorrow. Perhaps years from now, it would be their corpses that someone

and turned away. Then, she said, her voice suppressed