Shadow Slave

Gunlaug looked just like the last time Sunny had seen him.

…Like a golden demon born of some harrowing hell.

The Bright Lord was tall and had broad, powerful shoulders. His body was clad in a strange armor that seemed to be made out of molten gold. It was both solid and liquid, flowing over his mightly muscles and covering him from head to toe.

Not even Gunalug's eyes were exposed.

In the place where his face should have been, there was nothing but a smooth and empty expanse of polished gold. The great hall of the Bright Castle reflected in it, and all the people gathered there did, too.

As soon as Sunny saw the golden mask, he felt the oppressive aura that radiated from the Bright Lord. Even knowing what was going to happen, he couldn't help but shake a little and bite his lip.

The mind assault of the golden armor was truly hard to endure. Even with the protection of the Puppeteer's Shroud, he felt it pressing on him, making it hard to breathe. Deep inside, a primal, bestial fear was clawing at his heart.

But this fear did not belong to him. It was fake. With a dark grimace, Sunny strangled it and made it disappear.

Walking out of the darkness of the alcove like a golden apparition, Gunlaug glanced at the mass of people below him and sat on the throne. His pose was relaxed and casual, as though he was here to leisurely resolve a trivial matter, not decide someone's fate.

Hundreds of fates, perhaps.

However, despite his laid-back attitude, everyone gathered in the great hall swayed a little, pressed down to the ground by the incredible force of his presence.

The Bright Lord lingered for a few moments, and then said, his serpentine voice full of mirth:

"Ah, what a sight. All my precious wards gathered here, united in the desire to see justice prevail. This dedication, this fervor for the rule of law… oh, it just makes my blood boil with appreciation. Don't you think it's wonderful?"

He laughed and turned his head slightly, peering directly at Nephis. She lowered her head a bit, an almost imperceptible tremor running through her body. To Sunny, though, it seemed as though the plates of marble beneath her feet were about to crack from the terrifying pressure of Gunlaug's gaze.

she endured it without showing much of the tremendous

paused and then echoed his words, a note of some dark emotion finding its

Changing Star of

greeted her teeth, struggling to remain steady under the psychic onslaught of the golden armor. When she

"...Indeed."

a bit. Although his face was hidden behind the golden mask, Sunny had a feeling

Finally, he spoke:

was under the impression that you would disagree. I've been told by my most loyal aids that you are

at his lieutenants, making

hidden in those words was clear: Gunlaug was letting Nephis know that he had known that

care. Maybe even silently

'Damnation…'

much did he

the Bright Lord looked at Effie. After a few seconds had passed in tense

that it is in these tragic circumstances. If only you had listened

shook his head and

something that can be forgiven. Look at yourself! Instead of a noble Hunter, you have turned into a wild beast. But that is what happens when people refuse my grace. They

words echoed in the silence of the

by the force of his undivided attention. But then, she grinned and answered, her

said two

"Fuck off."

and raised his

a drop of remorse left in her corrupted, rotten soul. That is why, with a heavy heart, I have to sentence this once-promising young woman to death. She has to answer for her crimes, and leaving her alive would put you, my wards, in danger. I am

rose from the crowd. Slum dweller or an inhabitant of the Castle, everyone

"Don't you dare, bastard!"

"Kill that murderer!"

"Effie! We're here!"