Shadow Slave

Grasped in the Shadow's fist was a strange, beautiful, and ominous gem. It was utterly black, as though suffused with impenetrable darkness. The glossy black surface seemed to devour light, turning the vast hall of the ruined cathedral even darker than it had been before.

Deep within that black void, crimson flames burned with a menacing red glow. It was pulsating in a slow and bizarre rhythm, drowning everything around in dim red light. Painted by it, the Stone Saint seemed to be drenched in blood. The gem she held looked like a bloody, still-beating heart that she had torn out of someone's chest.

Gazing at it, Sunny felt a strange sense of foreboding.

'What the hell is this thing?'

The gem looked sort of like a soul shard, but… different. He had never seen a black shard, to begin with, or one radiating such an intense glow. It also didn't seem like a piece of a broken core. On the contrary, it appeared… whole?

'Is that what a soul core of a Nightmare Creature looks like?'

No, not a soul core.

A soul?

Stunned, Sunny counted the crimson flames burning in the depths of the black gem. One, two, three… four.

Four flames for the four cores of Fallen Devil.

The thing that his Shadow held in her hand was the Black Knight's soul… or some sort of his essence, at least. By how had it turned into a material form?

Did the Stone Saint do it? If so, how… no, why?

'What is she doing with it?!'

As Sunny and Nephis looked in stunned silence, the Shadow finally moved. Bringing the black gem close to her face, she lingered for a moment. A hint of a dark, macabre emotion appeared in her eyes.

And then, the Stone Saint… swallowed it.

Sunny blinked.

'...What?'

opened her mouth, bit into the eerie crystal, and swallowed

was devoured. The red glow it

the Stone Saint fell

I didn't dismiss her. What the

at him with a

What did she

the truth and deceive anyone. Opening his mouth,

"I have no idea."

rusty steel that remained after the devil had been destroyed, Sunny moved it

no shards left.

silent for a few

Finally, she said:

Echo is

***

everyone was recovering from the fight and tending to their wounds, Sunny walked to a secluded corner and dove into

expanse of still water met him with familiar silence. Glancing at the rows of motionless shadows standing at the edge of it, Sunny noticed that the Black Knight

just as empty as the rest of them. There was no trace of the menacing

Sunny grinned.

you bastard. Make yourself at home. You're not going anywhere else ever,

deep, dark satisfaction grasped his heart. Staring at the motionless form of his sworn enemy,

was just a shadow now, after all. Kicking him would have been like kicking the air. Plus, Sunny wasn't vindictive to that degree.

I won't deny it, you got me good. But I'm still breathing while

were bigger, stronger, and more powerful than Sunny. Many of them had either threatened his existence or felt compelled to treat him like dirt

still here despite all of them, neither destroyed nor subjugated.

would be the ones cowering in front of him or be destroyed by him. Just like

dark expression, Sunny turned away and walked to stand beneath the black sun

…But nothing happened.

to the same effect. Suddenly worried, he willed the runes to appear in the air in front

did not come true. The Stone Saint was still listed as his

is going