Shadow Slave

A stray drop of rain fell on Sunny's cheek. The howling of the wind grew louder. A moment later, the whole world suddenly darkened, and he was assaulted by a furious gale. The water pelted him in the face, drowning the curse Sunny was about to yell.

'D—damn!'

The storm descended on them with terrifying violence. The corpses of repulsive locusts that were left on the platform suddenly moved. Then, picked up by the wind, they were thrown off the neck of the steadily walking colossus, disappearing into the darkness. Their black blood was washed away by the torrent of rain.

A blinding flash of lightning pierced the veil of clouds, followed by a deafening thunderclap.

As the stone became slippery and wet, Sunny felt his body being forcefully pushed away from its surface by the gale. Gripping the Stone Saint tighter, he gasped and grimaced. Pain pierced his damaged lungs.

'Worst… worst amusement ride ever…'

Fortunately, the heavy Shadow was not moved by the tremendous pressure of the hurricane. Firmly planting herself on the surface of the platform, she turned her torso and lowered a shoulder, cutting the wind with her solid stone body.

To her side, Nephis, Caster, and Effie were desperately holding on against the assault of the hurricane. With some effort, they were also able to resist it.

But the worst was still to come.

Hidden from the sun, the dark sea was rising from the depths. Sunny could hear the deep rumbling of the black water rushing through the twisting passages of the Labyrinth and washing over the mounds of crimson coral. Soon, the stone giant was walking through it, creating a furious whirlpool with each step of his gargantuan feet.

Another lightning tore the skies apart, illuminating the world made of nothing but wind, water, and darkness. Hit by an especially violent gust of wind, the Stone Saint slid a few centimeters back and sent Sunny's heart into a momentary panic.

The stone giant walked forward.

black water covered his knees, then his abdomen, then his chest. Following a long and torturous span of time spent holding onto the Shadow and enduring the onslaught of the storm, Sunny saw the raging waves flowing over the broken battlements on

His face became grim.

the stone platform they were sheltering on. However, with how high the waves were, things

washing over the platform. The members of the cohort were hit by a wall of blackness and instantly drenched from head to toe

was washed away… for

and the violent cacophony of thunderclaps were already enough to instill in them the feeling that the whole world was about to split apart and crumble. With the dark waves rising to strike at the stone platform over and

clung to the ancient stone, refusing to be taken away by the raging tempest. Sunny didn't know how much time had passed or how

fact, it was only becoming

what he was really afraid of. His true fear hid not in the skies that

inevitably, his worst fears

trying to see through the mass of ancient stone. Deep beneath them, he felt a gargantuan shadow rising from

unspeakable terrors of the dark sea was crawling from whatever abyss that had spawned it to face the marching

'Curse it all…'

Stone Saint beside him. For once, the archer did not seem dazzling. He was

gripping the hilt of her silver

hurting lungs, Sunny

"Be! Ready! The dwe…"

finish, her

the seething waves. Illuminated by a flash of lightning, it looked like a tall, grotesque black tower. It pierced the skies and froze for a moment, looming over the ancient

that he knew the sight of it. This was the same gigantic black tentacle he saw on his first night on the Forgotten Shore, the one that

even Corrupted Nightmare Creatures were