Shadow Slave

The slum dweller pressed his finger against his lips and hissed in exasperation:

"Take that back! Are you crazy?"

Sunny blinked.

"What? No. Well, I was crazy for a while. But now I am not."

The young man looked at him with doubt and shook his head:

"Still, don't jinx yourself. Do you at least have a Memory to keep you safe?"

The question of arming themselves was a big problem for Neph's followers. More than half of them didn't have a Memory armor or a weapon, having to make do with mundane armaments fashioned out of anything that was at hand. It was one of the reasons why fighting against the Guards and the Hunters was so hard for them.

The other guy, the one who used to pay tribute, sighed and call out to his friend:

"Have you lost your mind? You are talking to a member of Lady Nephis's personal cohort. Of course he has Memories."

With that, both of them looked down on their own makeshift swords.

These two were among those who wielded Black Claws, blades made out of the talons of the Spire Messenger Sunny and the rest had killed. Their bases were wrapped with leather, allowing a person to use the long curved talon as a weapon.

Considering that these talons came from a Fallen Monster, as far as weapons went, they were some of the best. Wielding them efficiently was not an easy task, though.

The slum dweller grimaced.

"Right. Damn! I am proud to wield one of the Black Claws, don't get me wrong. But if each of us had a proper set of Memories… those bastards wouldn't be picking us off one by one anymore, that's for sure."

with a complicated

Memory can change a

he turned around, the smile

though. All of you

left the two Sleepers behind,

they were right. The lack of

belly of the ancient citadel. The Bright Castle was enormous in size and had countless twisting corridors. Some were comparatively easy to navigate, while some

their hearts prowling these corridors, as well as much more terrifying

the patrols of the Guards or the Hunters. Following in their

Castle, moving through a dark corridor with careful steps. It was then then that he heard the sounds

'...Ugh, what a bother.'

he made the turn and witnessed a scene that was typical in the

was trying to

someone small and skinny to the wall, strangling them with gauntleted hands. A broken oil lantern was burning on the floor, making the shadows of the two struggling

in an expression of rage and dark delight. The face of his victim, meanwhile,

dark hair and brown eyes, which were currently

moments before she lost consciousness, though, a hand appeared from the darkness and slid a strange transparent dagger across the Guard's throat. Hot blood shot into the air, and

her bruised neck. A few moments later, she looked up and cautiously studied

Currently, he was wiping his dagger on the

was disturbingly nonchalant, not at all like someone who had just killed another human being. There was neither disgust and fear

was the face of a

the

"Uh… you're Aiko, right?"

He knew her a bit from his days in the Castle. Back then, she had

the only gambling den in the Dark City, which automatically made her establishment popular among the members of the Host. But it