Shadow Slave

The embrace of impenetrable darkness was broken by the furious white light of Changing Star's incandescent sword. Illuminated by it, six people were standing on the shore of a raging river. Their faces were pale and grim.

The canyon had disappeared, consumed by the rising surge of the black water. Now, the cursed sea was flowing over its edges, ready to swell and flood the narrow passages of the great Labyrinth in an unstoppable wave.

Sunny felt cold water wash over his feet and shivered. The rest of the cohort reacted exactly the same — even Kai, who could escape into the lightless skies at any moment, seemed to be deeply unnerved by the closeness of the encroaching sea.

Among the six of them, only three had truly experienced the perils of this dark abyss. They knew that the real dread came not from the sea itself, but from the terrors that hid in its cursed depths.

Like the host of the of whispering voices that they had heard beneath the branches of the Soul Tree.

Or the gargantuan creature that had almost cost Nephis her life.

However, Sunny was not going to make a remark to educate the rest of the cohort. After all, what they were trying to do right now was to summon one of these terrors from below.

One that was different from all the others.

"Sunny?"

Peering into the darkness, he lingered.

"I don't see anything… yet."

The water was already to his shins and rising swiftly. Sunny grimaced and struggled with the desire to turn around and run away without looking back.

If he was fast enough… if he was lucky enough… he could still make it to the giant statue before the torrent of darkness drowned him under its crushing weight.

Sunny glanced at

Forgotten Shore in her visions and shared it with Changing Star. Changing Star had devised a plan to make use of

to succeed. So, he was going

didn't fully trust either of his former companions, not anymore. But he trusted

was a subtle movement at the edges of his

"...It's here."

through the waves, attracted by the light of Changing Star's incandescent blade. The sea seethed and swirled around it, the black mass of water easily pushed away by the

burn even brighter, forcing the darkness to

"Get ready!"

ears. The creature was

…Well, no surprise.

awe, Sunny watched as the thing they were waiting for came closer. Soon,

hills that rose above water were its shoulders. And right

was nothing but

were seven headless statues on the Forgotten Shore, but only six marks on the map created by Nephis. Not because she had failed to

statue never stayed in one place for

the flooded canyon, his shoulder scraping against one of its walls. The

that got in its way. The debris rained into

— method of traveling to the edges

by the sheer scale of everything that was

it was really ironic. The next day after he had decided to

as though the whole

head, Sunny turned to the

"He's coming!"

of the cohort tensed and prepared themselves for