Shadow Slave

Sunny remained on the swinging hammer of the colossus for a while, resting and trying to catch his breath. However, very soon, the dark sea rose high enough to make his position perilous.

With a deep sigh, he stood up and dislodged the Prowling Thorn from the stones. Waiting for the colossus to raise his hand, Sunny jumped down. The wind whistled in his ears, and a few moments later, he landed on the wrist of the giant in a roll. As soon as Sunny got back to his feet, the stone surface beneath plummeted down.

Thrusting the kunai in another crack, he gritted his teeth and held on to his dear life. Soon, the ground he was standing on sloped down, and then turned into a vertical wall, with nothing but the dark abyss of the cursed sea visible below. Hanging off that wall, Sunny cursed and waited for the colossus to bring his arm back up.

When it finally happened, Sunny immediately dashed forward. He had several precious seconds before the pendulum swung again, and had to cover as much distance as possible with each swing of the giant's arm.

Too slow, and the cursed sea would catch up to him.

The closer he got to the elbow of the walking statue, the more inclined his path was. Eventually, Sunny had to climb instead of run. His hands were tired from fighting and supporting his weight, but he stubbornly continued moving forward and up.

Once Sunny reached the elbow and climbed higher, the amplitude of the swinging reduced considerably. Now he just had to scale the vertical wall and reach the shoulder of the giant.

Climbing the slippery stone was not easy, but he had gotten used to such tasks a long time ago. In any case, it was way better than that time Sunny had to race against the rising sea during a furious storm, only to get swept away by the black water and be saved by Nephis at the last moment.

This time, at least, he didn't need her to save his life.

That would be embarrassing...

Some time later, Sunny climbed over the edge of the circular platform, crawled to its center, and sprawled beside the other members of the cohort, who were waiting for his return with tense expressions on their faces.

"Sunny? Are you alright?"

bit disheveled, but still ridiculously gorgeous. Sunny stared

"...I'm alive."

Nephis called out to

"What were you fighting?"

Sunny grimaced.

I threw

the surface of the dark sea, which

No

rest up. I'll

***

stayed awake until the break of dawn and then woke the members of the cohort. When they

thought that he would not be able to fall asleep atop the walking stone giant. However, Sunny had underestimated how

of the stone platform was

sun was already high in the sky. Yawning, he sat up, summoned the Endless Spring and greedily drank some water. Someone had left a plate of food near him,

that hits

taste of Neph's cooking, he glanced at

laze around while

the golden rope strung between them as an improvised railing. More of these plates were shaped into makeshift

battlements on the left

were taking no chances. A trip through the Labyrinth, no matter how fantastical, was still full of danger. It was better to be safe

Sunny scoffed.

What's the wors… uh, no. I'm not going to finish that thought.

the stone beside him, the shadow