Shadow Slave

Lowering his sword, Sunny stood in the silence of the empty room for a while. In the window, the distant axis of the Crimson Spire loomed, the light of dawn slowly painting it red.

A subtle smile appeared on his face.

"Aww. Thank you, Spell. What a nice birthday present."

Summoning the Endless Spring, he greedily drank delicious cold water and then sat on the floor, crossing his legs and drawing a few deep breaths.

'Let's take a look…'

Leaving his worries behind, Sunny dove into the Soul Sea and walked past the rows of motionless shadows.

A long time ago, there had been just a handful of them. Now, hundreds of dark silhouettes watched silently as he approached the tenebrous sun of the Shadow Core. Among them were all kinds of horrors, creatures whose appearance alone would drive weaker men insane. The Mountain King was there. The Black Knight was there, too. The terrifying Spire Messenger stood lifelessly on the tranquil surface of the water.

…And there were humans, too. Harus was among them, and so was Harper.

Sunny didn't pay them any attention.

Standing beneath the Shadow Core, he sighed and summoned the runes.

Name: Sunless.

True Name: Lost from Light.

Rank: Dreamer.

Shadow Core: Dormant.

Shadow Fragments: [977/1000].

…He was so close to accumulating the whole thousand. If Sunny really wanted to, he could have abandoned caution and pushed to reach it before the inevitable journey to the Crimson Spire. However, he was wary of delving into anything unknown right before the fateful confrontation.

He also felt that his time was better spent consolidating and perfecting everything that he had already learned and earned, not wasting it trying to acquire something new.

Still, it was not an easy decision.

With a sigh, he continued reading.

Memories: [Silver Bell], [Puppeteer's Shroud], [Midnight Shard], [Ordinary Rock], [Prowling Thorn], [Endless Spring], [Blood Blossom], [Moonlight Shard], [M… …old], [Weaver's Mask].

Echoes: —

Shadows…

read, an amused expression appearing

...[Marble Saint].

…Marble?

'How fitting…'

Shadow from the depths of the Core. She appeared in a whirlwind of black flames, standing

Sunny couldn't help but

and was now even more oppressive. Her graceful stonelike armor, which had looked as though it was cut from granite before, was now entirely black and glossy, like obsidian… or onyx. In fact, it was very much like the shattered onyx

contrary, became smooth and as white as alabaster… at least the small portion

much

not what made Sunny

hid beneath the armor. Within the shadow that populated Saint's body, there used to

now, there

at her for

to

describing the Shadow appear. A moment later, his hopes were proved

Shadow: Marble Saint.

Shadow Rank: Awakened.

Shadow Class: Demon.

a Shadow Demon

[Battle Master],

line had not been there before. Sunny held his

Abilities: [Weapon Sage], [Underworld

moment, trying to suppress a triumphant

known that Saint was not a typical Nightmare Creature. But to think that she would acquire an actual

with anticipation, he read

Description: [Shadow Saint can effectively wield any weapon-type

Ability Description: [Shadow Saint's armor can accommodate a charm Memory

a bit, then turned his head and stared at the

Demon.

satisfied smile finally appeared on

"Ah. How wonderful…"

had the ability to use any weapon

The potential combinations, the flexibility… all it took was to find

his head

sometimes thought that Saint was really

now, he understood that he