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…

his head and read, an amused

...[Marble Saint].

…Marble?

'How fitting…'

Core. She appeared in a whirlwind of black flames, standing in

Sunny couldn't

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 armor he had purchased with Kai's

white as alabaster… at least the small portion of it

seemed much stronger, aware,

that was not

him was what hid beneath the armor. Within the shadow that populated

now, there

at her

to a higher

runes describing the Shadow appear. A moment later, his hopes

Shadow: Marble Saint.

Shadow Rank: Awakened.

Shadow Class: Demon.

She is a Shadow Demon

Attributes: [Battle Master],

had not been there

Abilities: [Weapon Sage],

trying to suppress

not a typical Nightmare Creature. But to think that she

with anticipation, he read

Saint can effectively wield any

[Shadow Saint's armor can accommodate

then turned his head and stared at the taciturn monster… no, not

Demon.

finally appeared

"Ah. How wonderful…"

grown tremendously stronger, but she now also had the ability to use any weapon he would provide for her, as

The potential combinations, the flexibility… all it took was

shook his head and

Saint

now, he understood that he had been